Category Archives: Chapter 4

Questions Worth Asking (Maybe) – Poetry, paint and mysterious art edition

Posted on November 24, 2020 by Ralph Hanson

Why does Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming” resonates so strongly now? Poynter Institute’s Roy Peter Clark agues that’s because it always resonates. (And I would argue Auden does, too.) Yeats wrote "The Second Coming" while his wife was recovering from … Continue reading →

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Taking a look at the current textbook marketplace

Posted on March 10, 2020 by Ralph Hanson

Textbooks are different from other books in one major respect—the people who select the books aren’t the same as the end users, the people who must buy and pay for them. Students charge that, because of this disconnect, faculty members … Continue reading →

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Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

Posted on February 21, 2020 by Ralph Hanson

Why do we still care about radio in the age of online media? "While our phones and internet did not deliver – the radio was always there and it performed a vital service as well as created a feeling of … Continue reading →

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Guest Blog Post: Little Women Spoiler Alert

Posted on January 14, 2020 by Ralph Hanson

This guest blog post is from my Dear Wife, author Pam Andrews Hanson.  In the past she has blogged here and here. Needless to say, this guest blog post contains Little Women spoilers. Spoiler Alert: Beth dies in Little Women and … Continue reading →

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Media Tweets: Joseph Maguire Edition (with a T.S. Eliot shout out)

Posted on September 26, 2019 by Ralph Hanson

A brief roundup of media news on the Twitter machine. The main focus today is on talk about Acting Intelligence Chief Joseph Maguire’s testimony because the House Intelligence Committee: Reminder: It was the Wall Street Journal that broke this story … Continue reading →

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Remembering Stephen Hawking on Pi Day

Posted on March 14, 2018 by Ralph Hanson

Dr. Stephen Hawking died today, on Pi Day (3.14), having outlived by decades any expectation for someone with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease).  Trapped inside a failing body lived one of the great minds ever in theoretical physics. … Continue reading →

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Remembering David Carr: Keep typing until it turns into writing.

Posted on February 12, 2018 by Ralph Hanson

“Keep typing until it turns into writing.” David Carr It’s been three years since legendary New York Times media reporter David Carr died of cancer. He was a brilliant reporter and writer, as well as being an honest and caring … Continue reading →

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Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” Printed this day in 1845

Posted on January 29, 2018 by Ralph Hanson

Today is the anniversary of the publication of what may be Edgar Allan Poe’s best known work, the narrative poem The Raven. It was printed on this day in 1845 in the New York Evening Mirror. The poem tells of a young … Continue reading →

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Annie Proulx in praise of the happy ending

Posted on November 17, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

Annie Proulx just won the National Book Award Medal for Distinguished Contribution, and she gave a wonderful acceptance speech in praise of the happy ending.  Here are some highlights, but you can read the whole thing over at Vulture: “Although … Continue reading →

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Telling the story of the California fires through comics

Posted on October 18, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

We often think of comics as being either funny stories or super hero dramas.  And they can be all that. But many of the best comics tell intensely personal stories about life, death, and surviving the time in-between. I was reminded … Continue reading →

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