Son of Saul: A Review

At the dinner for the Oscar nominees, Steven Spielberg first glances at László Nemes, then after a moment of contemplation slowly sits up and walks to the young director’s table. “I never thought we would have to wait this long for a film like this” After this first encounter something changes in recent Hungarian cinema

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Perspectivalism Without Relativism

This post originally appeared on Public Seminar. Republished with their kind permission.  Earlier this month, Susan Henking, President of Shimer College (my alma mater), wrote for Public Seminar what she called “my educated hope for Shimer and for liberal education,” a hope “rooted in a criticism of the ways we have been commodified, [forced to] meet

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The Danish Girl

You may say that The Danish Girl is an “Oscar movie”, a film whose making was not primarily motivated by the authentic artistic expression but money-grabbing. You wouldn’t be entirely wrong but you’d be largely inaccurate. This film is not a spoiled child of the Hollywood industry. It is not a grown-up either. It flourishes

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Into the City and Out of our Minds

Along with a flurry of new smiles and voices to acquaint oneself with, a sprinkle of tentatively sunny days, and the usual buzz of post-vacation excitement, the start of the Spring Semester at BCB brings with it a unique opportunity for new and returning students to explore the ultimately unknowable city that unfolds beyond our

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Bodies That Matter

One of the first things that the two women, a burlesque dancer and a party organizer, mentioned to me was how hard it is to be a woman in their businesses here in Brazil. I was interviewing them for an anthropological project on sadomasochism. In the room below us, a man was lying face up

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