Need To Know
Quite Useless
Not knowing can be painful... but knowledge may come at a hefty price.
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Platonic Irony | The Republic, Part IV
Quite Useless
What if everything you thought you knew about Plato's "Republic"... was wrong?
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Another Name for Chaos | The Republic, Part III
Quite Useless
An exploration of the art of philosophy, starring Plato, Simone de Beauvoir, Zhuang Zhou, Soren Kierkegaard, Diogenes of Sinope, Audre Lorde, and more!
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American Myths
Quite Useless
Joseph Campbell was a proponent of the power of myth in framing human life. But in America in the 21st Century, what myths do we have to live by?
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Madmen | The Republic, Part II
Quite Useless
Antonin Artaud was a self-described 'madman' and persistent failure in the theatre... He was also one of the great artistic geniuses of the 20th Century.
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Raising the Curtain, Lifting the Veil | The Republic, Part I
Quite Useless
Bertolt Brecht was the force behind some of the most popular and influential theater of the 20th Century. But he didn't make plays to entertain. He made them to wake people up to the insanity around them.
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Angels & Demons
Quite Useless
What lies at the intersection of art and commerce? Is it possible for these two categories of human endeavor to get along, or are they like cats and dogs, fated to engage in an endless struggle for dominance? (Okay, not really like cats and dogs, but you get the idea...)
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The Use of the Useless
Quite Useless
For the first episode of season two, I examine what the experience of creating and contemplating art does for us at the deepest level. A dip into the philosophy of art with some help from Tao master Zhuangzi, Thomas Merton, Simon Armitage, Duke Ellington, and Haruki Marukami.
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PREVIEW - The Use of the Useless
Quite Useless
Season 2 of Quite Useless is on its way! Here's a sneak peek at the first episode, in which I take a few steps in the direction of a general theory of art (and arts education), with reference to Zhuangzi, Thomas Merton, Simon Armitage, Duke Ellington, and Haruki Murakami.
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Choices | In the Waiting Room | Appetite for Distraction
Quite Useless
The Hero's Journey, as described by Joseph Campbell, is one of the most influential ideas in modern storytelling. Every Hero's Journey starts with a call to adventure.
info_outlineFirst Blood, the first installment in the iconic Rambo franchise, was released 35 years ago this fall. In this episode, I take a look at how the franchise has both reflected and influenced American culture--and question both the ethical and epistemic implications of the films' success.
This is the second part of a double feature on action movies and American culture (and one piece of a half-season mini-arc concerning the ethics of adaptation).
It's also the third episode in a row to mention Ronald Reagan!