Once Upon a Time...Film Critics Became Joyless—A Review

Tarantino is quintessentially American. He lets us linger and watch Tate in all her Technicolor radiance. He lets us love her. What’s more, he lets her watch and love herself.

Van Morrison turns eighty.

A review of Jason Zengerle's biography of Tucker Carlson, tracing his fall from gifted journalist to antisemitic demagogue. By Graham Daseler. 00:00 — Carlson’s childhood debate (playing Carter vs Reagan) 01:16 — Introduction to Zengerle’s book Hated by All the Right People 01:52 — Lesson: attacking opponents vs defending ideas 02:15 — Early career as a strong, independent conservative writer 03:23 — Exposé of Grover Norquist 03:43 — Transition to television and rise as a pundit 04:05 — Joining CNN’s Crossfire 05:10 — Realisation: television > print for influence 05:31 — Washington elite social life and prominence 06:17 — Jon Stewart confrontation and fallout 07:33 — Career decline: PBS → MSNBC → failures 08:41 — Founding The Daily Caller 09:23 — Shift toward click-driven, sensational content 10:05 — “There is no line” — collapse of editorial standards 10:29 — Competition with Breitbart and hiring extremists 11:10 — Obsession with TV exposure 12:06 — Return to prominence with Fox News (2016) 12:49 — Embrace of Trump-era populism 13:06 — Private disdain vs public support for Trump 13:28 — Ratings peak and influence inside the White House 14:27 — Shift in ideology and embrace of conspiracies 15:08 — Patriot Purge and January 6 claims 15:36 — Dominion lawsuit and internal contradictions 16:06 — Exit from Fox News (2023) 16:28 — Move to Twitter/X and podcast dominance 17:00 — Increasing focus on antisemitic themes 17:46 — Controversial guests (e.g. Churchill revisionism) 18:00 — Interview with Nick Fuentes 18:16 — Selective questioning and double standards 19:00 — Personal continuity vs ideological transformation 19:22 — Reinvention as anti-elite populist 19:54 — Turn toward fringe conspiracy content 20:14 — Carlson as symbol of media degradation 20:37 — Comparison to historical demagogues 21:27 — Parallel with Joseph Sobran’s trajectory 21:47 — Ongoing political influence despite setbacks 22:00 — Conclusion: enduring opportunism and audience-first approach

Aaron Magid's biography examines how Jordan's King Abdullah has navigated 25 years of regional turmoil through Western alliances and survival. Written by Michael M. Rosen

Henry Kissinger’s policies influenced Cambodia’s fate, but they alone did not cause the rise of the Khmer Rouge.

This presentation is written and narrated by Dr Karleen Gribble, a researcher specialising in maternal and child health with particular expertise in breastfeeding and lactation policy. Dr Gribble argues that the replacement of sex-based language like "women," "mothers," and "breastfeeding" with gender-neutral terms like "pregnant people," "birthing bodies," and "chest feeding" in healthcare represents a failure of evidence-based medicine, cultural imperialism, and abuse of institutional power. She traces how this language shift originated in the United States around 2010–15 and spread globally through academic journals, publishers, health organisations, and funding bodies. She contends that these changes are being implemented without any research demonstrating benefits, while the limited existing studies show women find the language confusing, offensive, or dehumanising. Dr Gribble argues this is particularly problematic because it violates public health principles requiring clear communication, may harm vulnerable women with low health literacy, and imposes Western gender ideology on non-Western cultures. She documents how researchers and health professionals who question this shift face professional retaliation, and how her own research proposals to study the impact of desexed language were rejected as offensive. Dr Gribble calls for urgent research on the actual health impacts of this language change and a return to evidence-based practice that prioritises clear, dignified communication in women's healthcare.

Progressive discourse has become highly adept at identifying oppression, exclusion, and harm. But it is far less capable of understanding the basic conditions of political order. By Roohola Ramezani

The British establishment tends to deflect attention from the dangers of Islamism by attempting to silence those who point them out.

If leading media critics don’t expect much, filmmakers won’t deliver much.

How Margaret Mead’s romanticised account of Samoan life became the founding myth of cultural determinism—and why it endures despite having been thoroughly debunked.