Cosmopolitanism in the 21st Century
This is, without a doubt, one of the best times to be alive. We live longer. We’re subject to less violence. We live in cleaner, more prosperous cities, and enjoy…
March, 2018 2
In Ohio, All Things Are Possible
There’s an old joke that claims 22 astronauts have been from Ohio. The joke-teller then asks: “What is it about your state that makes people want to flee the Earth?”…
Dancing Feet
Cable cars on tram lines on my morning commute. Bicycles in the sky in perpetual revolutions and cycles going nowhere when I daydream. Stranded boats on highway lanes and paddles…
Questionable tastes and precarious friendships: ‘Art’ reveals the complexity of post-modern friendship
Review of ‘Art’, a play by Yasmina Reza. Performed at Vienna’s English Language Theatre Jan. 15 – Feb. 24, 2018 Directed by Sean Aita For any young fool, a hefty…
Beyond the Café Window
Beyond the café window, there’s a young girl squeezing her schoolbooks between her clasped arms. Her round glasses sit low on her nose, and her long brown hair swings from…
Crypto Imagination and the Coming Nightmare
In one of the episodes in the newest seasons of Netflix’s Black Mirror, a young woman visits a strange museum across the way from a gas station in the hot…
Interwar Weimar: The crucible of architectural and political modernism
In 1919, Germany was a shadow of its former self. Its rise to great power status after a string of intoxicating Prussian-led military victories came to an abrupt halt during…
The Muteness of the Exiled and Cosmopolitan: Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Sergei Eisenstein
In an era dubbed by simple-minded journalists as “post-Trump America” or “the age of Brexit,” claiming to be a “global citizen” is synonymous with being cosmopolitan. That, however, is dangerously…
Going Bearish on Bitcoin: Cryptocurrencies are the tulip mania of the 21st century
Admitting you’ve changed your mind is daunting. Even more so when you’ve poured money, time, and effort into promoting a particular cause and idea. For me, that time has come…
Finding home base on Europe’s southeastern frontier
It’s summertime in Sofia. Young Bulgarians are out at the park beside the National Theater, sitting on benches, drinking beer and talking deep into the night. On the eve of…