http://www.inthesetimes.com/archives/tags/culture/ In These Times features award-winning investigative reporting about corporate malfeasance and government wrongdoing, insightful analysis of national and international affairs, and sharp cultural criticism about events and ideas that matter. en-us Expression Engine jessica@inthesetimes.com seamus@inthesetimes.com Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4039/why_cynics_are_wrong/ Days before the election, Noam Chomsky told progressives that they should vote for Obama, but without illusions. I fully share Chomsky's doubts about the real consequences of Obama's victory: From a pragmatic-realistic perspective, it is quite possible that Obama will just do some minor face-lifting improvements, turning out to be "Bush with a human face." He will pursue the same basic politics in a more attractive mode and thus effectively even strengthen U.S. hegemony, which has been severely damaged by the catastrophe of the Bush years. There is nonetheless something deeply wrong with this reaction -- a key dimension is missing in it. It is because of this dimension that Obama's victory is not just another shift in the eternal… obama election 2008 cynicism Rachel Jefferson Fri, 13 Feb 2009 06:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4197/wont_get_fooled_again/ In December, the financial world received its biggest shock yet, when Bernard Madoff, former Nasdaq chair and founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, admitted to employees (and, presumably, to FBI agents who raided his offices the following day) that his hedge fund business was "just one big lie," a "giant Ponzi scheme" that had lost an estimated $50 billion in investments. Among the numerous worthies taken in by Madoff's scam were Oscar-winner Steven Spielberg, Nobel winner Elie Wiesel and publishing magnate Mort Zuckerman. Nonprofit institutions such as the Rockit Foundation and the JEHT Foundation, both large donors to civil rights organizations and other liberal causes, were so heavily invested with Madoff that they were forced to close. It is,… economy financial crisis book review Bernie Madoff culture Rachel Jefferson Fri, 13 Feb 2009 06:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4216/fake_outrage_junkies/ I'm not sure if it's because we're strung out on "Lost" episodes, or if it's because we're still suffering from a post-9/11 stress disorder that makes us crave "breaking news" alerts, or if it's because the economy has turned us into distraction junkies. But one thing is painfully obvious after Michael Phelps' marijuana "scandal" erupted last week: Our society is addicted to fake outrage -- and to break our dependence, we're going to need far more potent medicine than the herb Phelps was smoking. If you haven't heard (and I'm guessing you have), the Olympic gold medalist was recently photographed taking a toke of weed. The moment the picture hit the Internet, the media blew the story up, pumping out… drug policy media culture Rachel Jefferson Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4176/cross_cultural_in_connecticut/ New Haven, Conn.--in early October, Lorenza Rodriguez Mendoza arrived in New Haven, Conn., to visit her daughter, whom she hadn't seen in 10 years. She and nine other women made the trip from Tlaxcala, Mexico, with a three-month travel visa to visit family members who had come to the United States to work. The women's journey began seven years ago, when they formed a community organization in Tlaxcala, the smallest state in Mexico. Many of New Haven's Mexican immigrants come from this region. Marco Castillo, an anthropologist from Tlaxcala, had passed through New Haven a couple of years earlier and met John Jairo Lugo, an organizer with Unidad Latina en Acci--n, a local grassroots group that supports undocumented immigrants. Lugo… immigration family culture Rachel Jefferson Sun, 22 Feb 2009 06:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4256/a_real_life_fairytale/ Since the dawn of the movie business, Hollywood's bread-and-butter has revolved around people's idealized notions of love: The nerd can get the princess, and Cinderella can have it all. In other words, nothing else matters when two hearts are meant for each other. Real life is rarely like that, though. In 1950s Hollywood, accepted notions of love and partnership meant being straight. It also meant, as it still does now, that partners often looked and dressed alike, were about the same age and shared class and cultural attributes. But one remarkable couple broke those rules. In fact, they acted as though the rules didn't exist at all. In documenting the more than 30-year relationship between author Christopher Isherwood and artist… movies culture gender Rachel Jefferson