Monthly Archives: March 2009

Two Cents on AIG

Posted on March 17, 2009 by Timothy Burke

I had to run some errands this afternoon, and was in a bit of a hurry. Otherwise I think I would have stayed in the car and called in to NPR’s Talk of the Nation to disagree vigorously with Charles … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 9 Comments

Sense and Sensibility

Posted on March 16, 2009 by Timothy Burke

Some more thinking about journalism, the public sphere and policy formation. There was a spirited discussion of breastfeeding last week at a number of blogs, particularly 11d and Crooked Timber. I said my piece in the 11d thread, basically recounting … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Politics | 13 Comments

Cramer and Stewart

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Timothy Burke

I’m very much enthused by the proposition that Jon Stewart and his merry band of TIVO-ing staffers should step up their attacks and go after much of the rest of the media. The basic drive behind the Daily Show‘s criticism … Continue reading →

Posted in Information Technology and Information Literacy, Politics, Popular Culture | 21 Comments

The Protection of the Uninitiated

Posted on March 12, 2009 by Timothy Burke

I don’t have much to add to various reactions to the Watchmen film. To put it simply, I enjoyed it far more than I expected to, especially after I found 300 impossible to enjoy as simple dumb fun because it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture | 7 Comments

Mindful of Money

Posted on March 10, 2009 by Timothy Burke

Swarthmore, like virtually all American colleges and universities, is presently engaged in serious collective scrutiny of its spending habits. The hope in our case and many others is that small, incremental frugalities will head off any need for more drastic … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Swarthmore | 9 Comments

Journalism, Civil Society and 21st Century Reportage

Posted on March 6, 2009 by Timothy Burke

As the failure of many newspapers looms and public radio cuts its journalistic offerings, the complaint against new media by established journalists gets sharper and sharper. The key rallying cry is that new media can’t provide investigative reporting, that it … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Books, Information Technology and Information Literacy, Miscellany | 18 Comments

Social Production, the Good Life, and the Ways of Desire

Posted on March 6, 2009 by Timothy Burke

Ever since I studied the history of consumption and commodities, I’ve been uncomfortable with the conventional terms of what James Twitchell has called the “jeremiad against consumerism”. I’m still uncomfortable with the proposition that what we now need to aim … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumerism, Advertising, Commodities | 1 Comment