The Cruelty is the Point: Kristi Noem Edition
Sean MurphyEveryone who follows politics, or current events, must have read or heard about this. If not, you unfortunately have to read it to believe it; to fathom that this is…
Welcome To My World
I’m Sean Murphy, and you might have heard me on NPR's "All Things Considered" or seen my name in The New York Times or The Huffington Post, among others. As a contributor to…
Original Poem: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, 1967: MUHAMMAD ALI REFUSES ARMY INDUCTION*
My thanks to Words & Sports Quarterly for publishing my poem about how America handled Muhammad Ali and his (spiritually & politically astute, prescient) conscientious objection to the Vietnam war.…
David Bowie: Ashes to Ashes (Revisited)
Sordid details following. It’s all in here: summing up practically everything from the ‘70s and previewing so many trends to follow in the ‘80s. Everyone heard this, even if they…
What We Talk About When We Talk About Sex (In Fiction)
WRITING ABOUT SEX is like engaging in sex: it’s hard. Or, it should be. It’s that time of year again, where we can count on three things: shopping-related stress during…
50 BULLET POINTS CONCERNING AMERICA’S GUN PSYCHOSIS
Note: It makes me physically ill that this piece, written in 2016, is still not only relevant, but --inconceivably-- a bit outdated. Don't overlook the pathetic fact that the (very)…
Lou Reed: Rock and Roll’s Dark, Beautiful Heart (Revisited)
EVERYONE WHO JOINS A ROCK BAND WANTS TO BE HEARD. The good ones want to be unique, while the pretenders tend to imitate what has already been done. The soulless…
50 BULLET POINTS CONCERNING AMERICA’S GUN PSYCHOSIS
Let’s politicize these acts, if for no other reason because, in America, we politicize everything else. Of course it’s a mental health issue. For starters, the mental handicap of anyone…
IT’s Good to Be KING: Stephen King at 70
FACT: STEPHEN KING, the most successful author of our time, arguably toils more diligently than any other writer. For this alone he deserves recognition and respect. To the haters: Yes,…
Donald Trump: The Man in America’s Mirror
i. Orwell, Again (Obviously) Even before the Reality TV circus American politics and, by extension, American life, degenerated into late last year, George Orwell was the go-to guy for…