Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly

Asimov: THE WINDS OF CHANGE

Posted on 20 June 2018 by Mark R. Kelly

THE WINDS OF CHANGE AND OTHER STORIES, published in 1983, is the 11th of 14 collections of SF and fantasy stories from the ‘main sequence’ of Asimov’s collections: the set of his collections that don’t overlap, that don’t consists of … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Isaac Asimov | Leave a comment

Skiffy Flix: Forbidden Planet

Posted on 19 June 2018 by Mark R. Kelly

This 1956 film is still regarded as an important early science fiction films, and one of the best of the 1950s, even if it shows its age 60 years on. It influenced both Star Trek and Lost in Space, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Skiffy Flix | Leave a comment

Links and Comments: Formal and Intuitive Religion

Posted on 14 June 2018 by Mark R. Kelly

Two items. First, the latest survey showing the rise of the “nones,” the younger generation for whom formal religion is losing its attraction. In Nearly Every Country, Young People Are Way Less Religious Than Adults. The pattern holds throughout most … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion | Leave a comment

Link and Comment: Adam Frank on the Earth’s Biosphere

Posted on 13 June 2018 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s NYT has an op-ed by Adam Frank, Earth Will Survive. We May Not., which keys off the theme of his new book, LIGHT OF THE STARS: ALIEN WORLDS AND THE FATE OF THE EARTH, just released this past Tuesday. … Continue reading →

Posted in Cosmology, Evolution, Species Reset | Leave a comment

Lines from Angels in America: The World Only Spins Forward

Posted on 6 June 2018 by Mark R. Kelly

Just a few about what the angels are, what they want, and in what sense the play is about angels and their relationship with America. Part One: Millennium Approaches Joe, a Mormon lawyer living in New York, has this take … Continue reading →

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Ray Bradbury: THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES

Posted on 5 June 2018 by Mark R. Kelly

THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES is Bradbury’s best and best-known science fiction book, given that we allow it to be called science fiction at all (this has always been debatable). The only contender for this position, a book which certainly leads it … Continue reading →

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Link: Wills on Carter on Ideology v. Religion

Posted on 29 May 2018 by Mark R. Kelly

From Garry Wills’ review of Jimmy Carter’s new book Faith, in the New York Times Book Review a couple weeks ago (posted online earlier): In the ideology that the right thinks is a religion, the sin of sins is abortion, … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Religion | Leave a comment

Links and Comments: Storytelling; Religious Fundamentalism and Fake News; the Attraction of Conspiracy Theories

Posted on 15 May 2018 by Mark R. Kelly

Time magazine, December 5, 2017, Jeffrey Kluger: How Telling Stories Makes Us Human [S]torytelling is a powerful means of fostering social cooperation and teaching social norms, and it pays valuable dividends to the storytellers themselves, improving their chances of being … Continue reading →

Posted in Narrative, Psychology, Religion | Leave a comment

E.O. Wilson: What Is Man?

Posted on 14 May 2018 by Mark R. Kelly

From the first page of his book HALF-EARTH: Our Planet’s Fight for Life (2016). What is man? Storyteller, mythmaker, and destroyer of the living world. Thinking with a gabble of reason, emotion, and religion. Lucky accident of primate evolution during … Continue reading →

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Michael Benson’s SPACE ODYSSEY

Posted on 11 May 2018 by Mark R. Kelly

This is not my usual methodical summary with comments, but rather a compilation of random bits that stood out, as I read this book, without taking notes. I was struck again and again by how key plot points, or techniques … Continue reading →

Posted in Arthur C. Clarke, Book Notes | Leave a comment