The warmth of Dickens's happy endings and the joy he envisions as possible to everyone make his Christmas stories a cozy pick for reading beside a crackling fire this winter.

In this video, I discuss the 4 Vs and how they are killing pop music.

As Emma discovers that the way to love people is to encourage their independence, she builds a life that’s not only delightful on the surface, but deeply fulfilling.

Moana 2, although not an especially bad film, is symptomatic a range of serious problems in our culture.

The Handmaid’s Tale is a fascinating story that highlights the importance of self-esteem, individual thought, and personal choice through a stylized and engaging narrative.

The Student Conductor is a touching, bittersweet story of a man learning how to pursue the things he loves—and what could stop him from doing so.

The Hunger Games trilogy highlights many important aspects of tyranny and rebellion, the most important of which is that pursuing your values requires freedom.

Empathy, religion, war, and social hierarchies in Dick's 1968 sci-fi classic.

We’re diving into our musical detective work, examining the pop hits of history to find “the day the music died.” In this episode, we look at the Billboard Top 10 for 1960.

Speaker for the Dead uses some bizarre sci-fi concepts to explore important moral issues—hitting the nail on the head on some, but muddying the waters on others.

“The thing is,” Mark Knopfler says of his craft, “if you’ve energized somebody . . . or you’ve sensitized somebody, you’ve made a difference.”

This fun fantasy novella offers an opportunity to reflect on identity and self-esteem.