Banco del Mutuo Succorso translates as Bank of Mutual Relief; not as whimsical as Premiata Forneria Marconi, (Award-winning Marconi Bakery) and the same can be said for the music. PFM's bakery is full of sundry delights, while Banco's staid offerings are all money.

Freedom and silliness and musical bliss are what this album is all about.

Out of the filth emerges an immaculate human spirit.

Language is a writer's power to control meaning; don't give away that power to a reader.

What qualities elevate a kid's book to Children's Literature? Can a Goosebumps novel be a children's classic? A case for the greatness of R.L. Stine's “The Haunted Mask” (1993).

What is asked of a reader when they read a depressing story about an unhappy child?

A case study of how external pressure can change a creator's imagination for the better. When Maria Edgeworth was alerted to her offensive portrayals of Jews, she wrote an entire novel as an apology and a corrective...

Deforest Kelley plays McCoy with such revulsion of Spock that we can believe an otherwise competent officer and Dr. could so lose his mind to racist thinking that he would turn against his leader rather than swallow his pride to serve the interests of the team.

What really changed for the average American after the Revolution? An historical perspective from two great American artists.

Familiar, satisfying, and brilliant: the lead track from Kansas's Leftoverture sets up high expectations for the rest of the album. Does the rest of the album deliver?

Enjoy my ramblings on one of the greatest musical artists of our lifetime.

What can Lemony Snicket tell us about appropriate responses to BLM and how to empathize with trans persons?

How do the events of Kafka's classic story give us comfort in the time of Covid-19?

A self-isolation themed video this week. The Secret Garden begins with a terrifying account of a pandemic allowed to spread in close quarters.

The Lightning Thief brings readers in by pushing them away.

Not a good start: Kirk has a kink in his back, so the female yeoman, Barrows, immediately starts massaging it. Barrows's job is first to nag Kirk about getting some shore leave, and then to be an object of Bones's desire. Along the way, she gets assaulted by Don Juan—twice.

The opening two-and-a-half-minutes of Ashes Are Burning (1973) are glorious.

It’s only in the 19th century, really, that childhood gets established as a period in life meant for fun, play, curiosity, fantasy and all the other things we associate with childhood.