Category: History

Speechless About Gaza

Screenshot from Twin Peaks - skinny man standing on stage facing a crowd saying "It is happening again."

“It is happening again.” A distressed old man on a mysterious stage speaks these words slowly and painfully in the climactic episodes of David Lynch’s brilliant “Twin Peaks”.

Genocide is happening again in more than one region of planet earth today. We talk about Israel’s violence in Palestine on the … Read the rest

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A Coder’s Long Quest: My Washington DC Years

Polaroid photo of the US Capitol in the distance and the shadow of the photographer across the Mall

I started publishing my memoir here on Litkicks 15 years ago. I wrote one new chapter a week for 53 weeks, covering the years 1993 to 2003 when I was a first-generation website developer participating in an amazing worldwide software revolution from inside the skyscrapers of Manhattan and my home … Read the rest

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Chronicles of the Malediction [two podcasts]

On left, Marc Eliot Stein, Ted Shulman and friends with Regina Opera. On right, portrait of Jamelah Vincent.

I spent the final days of 2023 desperately scrambling to complete two episodes for the two podcasts that represent the clashing sides of my brain.

I was possessed by a superstitious idea that I needed to launch both episodes before 2024 began – a superstition I probably manufactured as a … Read the rest

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Comprehending Trovatore

A battleship in Il Trovatore in Marx Brothers A Night at the Opera

Nearly three years ago, I announced a new podcast called “Lost Music: Exploring Literary Opera”. I truly had no idea what I was doing, and proudly said so. I’ve always been a medium-is-the-message guy, and the podcast medium just has an energy and a freshness these days that attracts … Read the rest

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Diane Di Prima’s Revolutionary Letters

Revolutionary Letters by Diane di Prima

I’m reading Diane di Prima’s “Revolutionary Letters” this morning. The great Beat poet died this weekend. I haven’t heard many details yet – the news hit social media late last night – but since this is the morning of October 26 2020 here in USA where our Supreme Court is … Read the rest

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