Rewatching HBO's masterpiece, The Wire. Part of the Shadow Play article series.
Articles
Every society in history has limited speech in some way, yet some have remained freer than others. Published in "America on the Brink," Vol. 22 No. 3.
The new head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, ostensibly dedicated to
furthering American principles, is now endangering brave journalists who
have spent their careers defending them.
(Co-Authored with Jeffrey Gedmin)
A former President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and a longtime
observer of America’s public diplomacy weigh in on Michael Pack’s
“Wednesday night massacre.”
Normal People puts a postmodern twist on a classic tale of passion. Part of the Shadow Play article series.
Is China’s brand of coercive “soft power” a contradiction in terms? A new edited volume helps cut through the morass.
Correcting the record on Clarence Thomas -- again. Part of the Shadow Play article series.
Why the TV adaptation of My Brilliant Friend is better than the book. Part of the Shadow Play article series.
Beijing moves to co-opt the American film industry as it seeks to penetrate the world’s largest market.
Hollywood is choosing Chinese profits over American liberties.
An improbable tale of youth, age, and cultural change in the Catskills, with apologies to Washington Irving.
The rhetoric flying around about school busing after the most recent Democratic debates was beyond sloppy. And the actual history is far from tidy.
A binge-worthy series for grown-ups. Part of the Shadow Play article series.
Is the whole world slouching toward a Panopticon of digitally enabled surveillance and control? Published in "Reality and its Alternatives," Vol. 21 No. 2.
Before Beijing tried to dominate our wireless networks, it succeeded in dominating our film industry. That’s a saga in urgent need of telling.
The nation’s capital and its dream factory have long worked together to maximize the export of American films to the rest of the world, on the theory that doing so is both good business and good diplomacy. Is this still the case?
The Chinese have long paid close attention to the narratives being conveyed by popular culture. It’s about time we did the same.
Hidden signs of faith and redemption in two notable films from Europe. Part of the Shadow Play article series.
Rounding out the politically correct narrative about blackface.
The heroic actions, and difficult editorial decisions, undertaken by the Bosnian newspaper Oslobođenje during the siege of Sarajevo illustrate an important truth: Objectivity is not neutrality.
U.S. media is often clueless about foreign-language journalism funded by its own government. That is a topic worth shining some light on.
Hollywood's romance with China may be breaking up. Part of the Shadow Play article series.
How to resolve America’s monument wars? The experiences of Macedonia and Russia suggest some unlikely lessons.
The shrillness, vulgarity, and shamelessness on display in the Kavanaugh spectacle will only get worse—because it is in the self-interest of our bottom-line-obsessed media to let it get worse.
There is nothing wrong about our current conception of human rights that cannot be cured by the best elements of our own tradition.