Ongoing waves of globalization have led to the development of an increasingly integrated international economy, primarily driven by the interests of corporate capitalism. The present stage of global capitalist expansion, effectively dating back to September 11th, 2001 (or World War II, depending on your interpretation of history), has created multinational companies whose scope of operations […]
About Brandon
Brandon Engel is a Chicago based blogger with a keen interest in technology, art, and gourmet food. Follow him on Twitter: @BrandonEngel2
Book Review | This Changes Everything: Capitalism Versus The Climate by Naomi Klein
2016-06-14 · by ·
Avast, Earthlings; Aliens Want Your Energy | The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
2016-01-11 · by ·
Dystopian literature and movies have recently had a surge of popularity in recent years, particularly in the young adult genre. With today’s fears of an unstable future, it may not be a surprise that fiction portraying a collapsed society with spunky heroes who strive to make a difference are so popular to the younger generations. […]
Room: The Ultimate Survival Story
2015-11-17 · by ·
How does a woman explain to her child that there is an entire world outside his door, one which he may never see? This powerful concept is the premise behind 2015’s Room, based on the 2010 novel of the same name by Emma Donoghue. One of the most popular festival picks of the year, praise […]
Just another manic Margo
2015-08-20 · by ·
Taking into consideration the recent release of Paper Towns, a YA book-turned-film, I thought it an opportune time to take a closer at central character of this story, Margo Roth Spiegelman, and what she says about the representation of women in media – more specifically, if her character is just another iteration of the now-infamous […]
Breathing new life into the stories of Ray Bradbury
2015-06-12 · by ·
While many consider Ray Bradbury a pioneer in science fiction writing, the author considered himself an observer of life. “All my life,” he said in an interview, “I’ve been running through the fields and picking up bright objects. I turn it over and say, ‘Hey, there’s a story.’” It’s this ability to present very real […]
Robots: Still Scary After All These Years
2015-03-24 · by ·
If it wasn’t for writers like Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury, robot movies as we know them would not exist. Much is made of Hollywood’s fascination with technology, but today’s audience tends to forget that literary giants like Asimov and Bradbury were pioneers of extrapolating our technological advances and analyzing the effects such advances could […]
The Top 5 Dystopian Novels
2015-02-09 · by ·
Dystopian novels have been a staple of science-fiction since the birth of the genre. And while contemporary YA authors like Veronica Roth and Ally Condie have brought the concept of the dystopian novel back to the mainstream, many of the tropes of the sub-genre were established at the height of the Cold War, when anxieties […]
Top 5 Adaptations of A Christmas Carol
2014-12-31 · by ·
Charles Dickens’ classic novella A Christmas Carol was first published in 1843 and told the story of a bitter old miser named Ebenezer Scrooge, and his transformation into a gentler, kind soul after he is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve. The story boasts a variety of transcendent themes that have carried through generations […]
Just in Time For Halloween: Top 5 Ray Bradbury Books
2014-10-31 · by ·
Ray Bradbury is one of the most iconic fantasy, horror, and science fiction writers of the last century. Although he wrote every day religiously until shortly before his death in 2012 at the age of 91, his most famous works were written in the years and decades following World War II and during the Cold […]
Space Age Prophets: The Astounding Predictions of Sci-Fi’s “Big Three”
2014-09-08 · by ·
In the mid-20th century, three science-fiction authors would become known as the genre’s “Big Three” — Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov. These three gentlemen are renowned not only for their literary prowess, but also for their uncanny ability to make predictions about technology in the future. Here is a look at […]
