As far as contemporary absolute leaders are concerned, North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il certainly ranks as one of the most interesting. To say nothing of his policies, politics, and views, he has been seen as larger–and decidedly stranger–than life. Known as a gourmand despite the contradictions inherent in that lifestyle vis Communist practice, he has been […]
As a voracious reader and academic-in-the-making, I cannot help but be a bit of a Luddite in some instances. One thing that I tend to be very defensive about is the future for that object known as “the book.” The internet is great. You have navigated its wiles and have ended up here, reading this […]
The conspiracy theory craze of the 1990s–criticized and largely explored in some of Steve Beard’s journalism from his collections Logic Bomb: Transmissions from the Edge of Style Culture and Aftershocks: The End of Style Culture–helped further open up and prime the public’s willing desire to believe that the forces that seemed to control their bank […]
Ahoy, folks! Things have been slightly slow around The Modest Proposal offices as we gear up for another issue! Wanted to point everybody’s attention to a new jazz/improv/free/psych journal that recently began publication. EarTrip’s first issue is MASSIVE–over 200 pages!–and contains some fine writing about a variety of topics. I certainly can’t speak for everyone, […]
While some take a relatively dispassionate view of criticism (essentially that criticism is jaded and interchangeable, because those who “can’t” spend their time criticizing others out of childish envy), I’ve always subscribed to the notion that the critic shows as much individuation as the artist. They are able to attain a certain level of […]
Given the widespread coverage of the New Hampshire primary, I debated whether it was worth even writing about. Unfortunately, I think there’s a clause somewhere that requires all blogs to sound off on the issue, and so we boldly toss The Modest Proposal’s hat in the ring. Since everyone else is parsing the results, I’d […]
Depending on where you stand on Richard Dawkins, religion, plithy atheism, pop journalism, and one of many insurmountable cultural divides, “Happy Newton Day!” may or may not be your cup of tea. This New Statesmen piece, published less than two weeks ago, has fanned flames in both camps (the religious and the irreligious) and […]