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Kobe > Michael: And Other Reflections on Fathers
Read more: Kobe > Michael: And Other Reflections on FathersOne of the few widely shared sporting events many of us have been able to experience together during the “Covid Exile” has been ESPN’s “The Last Dance”—the uber-entertaining docuseries set to a masterful, boom bap 90’s soundtrack, offering an insider’s look back at the greatest team in history, led by its greatest player, Michael Jordan….
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Announcing: The Two Cities Podcast!
Read more: Announcing: The Two Cities Podcast!We are so thrilled to announce that coming soon in the next few weeks we will be launching The Two Cities podcast! Be on the lookout, and be sure to subscribe and spread the word when the new pod arrives. We began this blog back in the summer of 2011. Back then blogs were very…
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Was Voldemort A Terrorist?
Read more: Was Voldemort A Terrorist?Recently I co-wrote a chapter with Dr. Neil Shortland in a volume on the Harry Potter series dedicated to culture, politics, and international relations, called Cultural Politics in Harry Potter: Life, Death and the Politics of Fear (London: Routledge, 2019). The chapter we wrote is about how Voldemort’s strategy for immortality is much like how…
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From Academic to Blue-Collar Theologian
Read more: From Academic to Blue-Collar TheologianIt’s been seven months since I have been involved in Biblical-Academic pursuit. In that time I’ve transitioned to a fairly normal blue-collar job, taken up interest in a career path in fitness (shameless plug: if you’re looking for coaching, I do Powerlifting, Bodybuilding and General Fitness!), got engaged and started planning a wedding. My primary…
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Does the Apostolic Decree Command Christians Not to Eat Thanksgiving Turkey? Musings on Food and an Appeal to Reduce Meat Consumption
Read more: Does the Apostolic Decree Command Christians Not to Eat Thanksgiving Turkey? Musings on Food and an Appeal to Reduce Meat ConsumptionThe time was almost ten years ago precisely. Maybe you remember the shocking video I was watching. On my screen was Sarah Palin (in one of her many regrettable public moments), conducting an outdoor interview about pardoning turkeys, casually sipping her coffee, while two turkeys were being strangled to death behind her. I have neither…
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Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
Read more: Black Dignity in a World Made for WhitenessWhite Space Maintaining black dignity in white space is the name of the game of life for a black person in the Anglo-American realm. Conversational and cultural norms are undoubtedly white in this realm. This can be brutal in its exhaustion and confusion and can be seriously disorienting for black folk working and living in this space….
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Letting Go of Moving On: Slavery, The Ugly Past of Lynchings and the Problem of “Dealing” With the Past
Read more: Letting Go of Moving On: Slavery, The Ugly Past of Lynchings and the Problem of “Dealing” With the PastAmericans don’t like talking about slavery and its aftermath. Of course, many countries and peoples have their truly dark chapters, and none of their citizens “like” talking about those things either. But as is often the case, we do things different in America. Whereas Germany criminalizes holocaust denial and has erected an ineluctable memorial in the…
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My Confession as a Bad Juggler
Read more: My Confession as a Bad JugglerTina Fey once wrote that the worst question you can ask a mother has nothing to do about their age or their weight. (I respectfully disagree. As a younger, more clueless man, I once asked a woman when the baby was due. She slapped my arm and informed me her baby was already three-months old….
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Looking Back to 2005 and a Brief Moment of Sincerity in Pop Music (before the dark times)
Read more: Looking Back to 2005 and a Brief Moment of Sincerity in Pop Music (before the dark times)Irony in music is cyclical (even if we can swear that those cycles take us lower and lower as a society the way we swear the lights are dimming in a theater minutes before the house goes dark). I’m thinking about irony because the magic YouTube algorithm thought I might want to see David Bowie…
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Cultural Aspects of Shame in the Asian American Community
Read more: Cultural Aspects of Shame in the Asian American CommunityLast week, I had the opportunity to teach on the cultural aspects of shame in the Asian American community. While shame can be a heavy topic, I am passionate sharing my research on this topic, since it affects so many people. I am grateful for the students’ feedback as they expressed how this lesson helped…