Rush Limbaugh: America’s Cultural Cancer
Sean Murphy(*Author’s note: Equal parts infuriating and appalling (and, for our country, embarrassing) that this piece, written ELEVEN years ago, holds up. Indeed, that things have only become more obscene via Trump…
The End of an Error
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Patrick Semansky/AP/Shutterstock (10686342a) President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, early, after stepping off Marine One as he returns…
Original Poem: Himmler’s First Blasphemy
While I could probably get away with claiming this poem was written in recent weeks, it was actually completed before the 2016 election. It was inspired by a book reading…
Original Poem: What a Wonderful World?
Couple of things: if you only know Louis Armstrong because of his ebullient and impossible to not love rendition of "What a Wonderful World," you may be pleasantly surprised to…
Arkana’s Contributor Spotlight: Sean Murphy
(Personal note: Big thanks to the folks at Arkana for publishing my short story, provocatively entitled “Red State Sewer Side.” It’s definitely a commentary of sorts on some of the…
I Can Breathe (for George Floyd)
I Can Breathe Of course I can. I’m white. I can breathe. I can also bear arms with impunity, vote in absentia or in person. I can shop without eyes—electronic…
THE ORIGIN AND ANATOMY OF A STORY
Write what you know: at once the best and worst counsel offered to the aspiring fiction writer. It is insufficient, if not too smug and certain, too limiting, and possibly…
1455 AND THE POTTER’S HOUSE: WRITING RACE & RESISTANCE
1455 is pleased and proud to partner with the historic Potter’s House, in D.C. (More about them and their mission, here.) For our first collaboration, and to celebrate Black History Month,…
Every Day is Veterans Day (Revisited)
I. Personal Remember when Born in the U.S.A. was ubiquitous? The album and the song. Bruce was already big, but he wasn’t over the top. Born in the U.S.A. put…
Death of a Salesman and the American Dream (Revisited)
Burn all the political books and essays: trivia masquerading as analysis that mostly measures horse races and trends, at best attempting to make sense of what's already history; if you…