Thoughts on Neil deGrasse Tyson and Avis Lang's "Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance between Astrophysics and the Military"

 

Neil deGrasse Tyson and Avis Lang have written a very depressing book on how warfare and states' pursuit of dominance have become increasingly intertwined with scientific pursuits. Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance between Astrophysics and the Military covers developments from early modern Europe to our time. While the book is informative and well-organized, it fails to answer or even address the biggest question facing the scientific enterprise for which Dr. Tyson has become its most public advocate: why is humanity not acting on the knowledge the scientific enterprise has produced in order to create a sustainable, just human society?

Film: Americanish, Directed by Iman Zawahry

Americanish is the first feature-length film directed by Iman Zawahry. She and Aizzah Fatima co-wrote this romantic comedy. Were I not the last human on the planet who should say anything about romantic comedies, I would have written a review. So some brief remarks suffice:

Americanish: A Case Study in American-Muslim Representation

Iman Zawahry, Aizzah Fatima and Sabeen Sadiq participated in a panel discussion entitled Americanish: A Case Study in American-Muslim Representation on August 12, 2021 as part of the Asian American International Film Festival.

I wrote a few comments on the film.

Mona Eltahawy Review of Season 1 of "We Are Lady Parts"

I had earlier recommended Hind Makki's review of Season 1 of the TV show We Are Lady Parts. A month before, Mona Eltahawy published her reasons why the show is outstanding:

To have had a show like We Are Lady Parts while I was in my 20s and fighting off Niqabis on the Metro, the Brigade of Hijabis-Aren’t-Supposed-To-Watch-Wild-At-Heart, and the You’re-Making-Us-Look-Bad so-called friends, would have freed up so much of my cosmic energy, I might have truly taken over the world. -- read more --