I did work on my birthday, which means I wrote an absolutely unhinged review of Beauty and the Beast (1991) that actually comes to a solid argument about how widespread the fuckery of toxic masculinity is in society. (Fair warning: the title absolutely does not match the tone of this review.)

What Cage has done for literally the past decade is exactly this, he finds a weird eccentric script by a first time filmmaker, signs on, his name brings in clout, he makes the film, and sometimes it's not very good. But it's still artistic as hell. This is why I *love* Cage.

Billionaire families have spent $1.7 BILLION on the 2026 midterms so far — a 5,200% increase since the 2010 midterms. Citizens United is among the worst decisions in history. It corrupts our system every day. Big Money is the root of our dysfunction.

This week I started to show my Witches students Hocus Pocus (1993) and they were like "this is a bit violent for kids right?" when the witches are hanged, and I was like "no, no, it's just from the 90s." And then I watched the rest of it at home and was like "yowza" so I wrote about that feeling.

I think it's a moral imperative for every single person opposing a Republican next month to make it absolutely crystal clear that they will vote to impeach and convict Pete Hegseth, naming this and ocean murders specifically. We don't have to be this. And we should shame them for wanting to be.

There are so many people, so many, that love film and want to dedicate their whole lives to making films, in front of the camera, behind it, in editing suites and casting rooms and makeup trailers. And that these locusts can come in and just devour the industry, take it from us all, is devastating.

I told my history students exactly what'll be on their exam and explained how each type of question tests their skills with primary source analysis, concept sequencing, comprehension, and note-taking, not rote memorization, and I don't think anyone has ever explained assessments to them before.

I don't even know what to say. This is horrifying. We all need to wake up and really look at our country with clear eyes. We have a cultural movement and a political party here which glorifies rape & rapists, and we have to push back with EVERYTHING we have. This must end. NOW.

Bless you for that. I'm 1st gen and I was so lost pretty much until my PhD 💀 I try very hard to explain how everything works so they're not caught out like that

Great point! I have a couple who are interested in teaching so I'm glad to know that

Right? They are mostly first years coming straight from high school so I guess I get that, but I'm so glad I took the time to explain it to them.

They were actually shocked that I was telling them the types of questions they'll need to be able to answer, and it led to a really great conversation about how I view teaching and my role as their professor. I highly suggest talking out your pedagogical thinking with your students, it was great!

I told my history students exactly what'll be on their exam and explained how each type of question tests their skills with primary source analysis, concept sequencing, comprehension, and note-taking, not rote memorization, and I don't think anyone has ever explained assessments to them before.

the tech industry is about to invent books

This week I started to show my Witches students Hocus Pocus (1993) and they were like "this is a bit violent for kids right?" when the witches are hanged, and I was like "no, no, it's just from the 90s." And then I watched the rest of it at home and was like "yowza" so I wrote about that feeling.

If Budweiser was trying to identify individual alcoholics and send them personalized "Chuck, you haven't had a drink in a while, here's a free case on us" ads we would rightfully call for them to be drawn and quartered

Trains! If you're like Young Ben whose Dad used to take him to watch freight trains dept the Cville station, or if you're like my Thomas the Tank Engine-obsessed older son (when he was a lot younger, natch), you might not need more of a hook than that to get you into this week's blog series. +

We're doing primary source engagement in my history classes today so I brought in some objects to interrogate including a CD of The Very Best of Hall & Oates. A student asked "how do I open it?" and I withered to dust before their eyes.