Author Archives: Ralph Hanson

Trailer drops for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

OK, so I might have squealed.  Just a little.  

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Looking at the history of the future

It’s always fun to take a look back at what people in the past thought the future we are living in now would look like. For example, here’s a segment CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite did in 1967 for a … Continue reading

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PewDiePie Rules YouTube

Felix Kjellberg is the most famous person on the planet you’ve never heard of.  At least if you are older than 40 and don’t have young people in the house.  Kjellberg is the first person in YouTube history to have … Continue reading

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Smart Analysis on Brussels Attacks from Joshua Hersh

We’ve had round the clock news about the bombings in Brussels over the last few days, but some of the sharpest reporting I’ve seen has come from freelancer Joshua Hersh’s Twitter feed.  I’m to post several of his tweets from … Continue reading

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Everyone’s Gone to the Bollywood Movies

NOTE: I wanted to update some of my Bollywood materials and examples, so here is a fresh post with some old and some new material. I generally show the following clip from Bollywood musical Mohabbatein in class as a way to get … Continue reading

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The Original Cat Video … from 1894!

You all no doubt think you are of the “cat video” generation. You think your generation invented the short video of cute cats doing cute things. But you are wrong! Thomas Edison’s studios shot the first cat video back in … Continue reading

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Of News, News Sites, and Chicken Sandwiches

Updated 2/24/16, 9:05 a.m. There’s been a bit of a hullabaloo on the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus for the last week or so over what restaurants students would like to see come to the student union.  There was … Continue reading

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Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

How does Apple feel about the court order requiring company to unlock iPhone? Hint: They don’t like it. Did the press do a good job of covering the pope’s remarks about Donald Trump? No, they did not.  In fact, many, … Continue reading

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The Good News and Bad News on Student News Consumption

I asked my media literacy students this morning where they go for news.  And the results look pretty good to me.  Lots of local TV news and local newspapers. A number of them watch the Today Show (who knew the … Continue reading

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Go See Coen Bros. Movie “Hail, Caesar”!

Went to see Hail, Caeser! the latest movie from the Coen Brothers last night. Here’s my take on it: It is a wack job of a movie.  But I mean that in a good way.  There is almost no way to … Continue reading

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