Disqus - Latest Comments for barthel

Re: Just North of Something Important - Which TV shows got thrown out of the canon?

Michael Barthel — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:27:42 -0000

That's what they pay me the minimum bux to do.

Re: As Romney and Ryan lie with abandon, how should journalists navigate post-truth politics?

Michael Barthel — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 16:38:16 -0000

Hi David - this is a great post. It leads me to wonder this: what is journalism's core purpose, and how best can it be fulfilled under these conditions? The widespread assumption seems to be that journalism is about uncovering the truth. But at the same time, the media has always told us not just what is going on in politics but how to think about politics, too. You can't do journalism without in some way expressing how politics should be, whether in what/who you cover, how much you cover them, how you make your judgments, etc. So then the question (for me, at least, who is weird) is: does journalism, under these conditions, best fulfill its function of telling us how to think about politics by focusing so intently on what is true and what isn't? Political science has generally found that people don't make their decisions based on information, so why expend so much effort on something that ultimately doesn't serve the audience?

I like very much your idea of political coverage as theater criticism. But it makes me wonder whether or not it is GOOD theater criticism that we are doing of politics now. You're right that style matters in argumentation often facts, but are we really assessing those style moves well? Are our political tastes finely tuned, or are they base and dull?

Anyway, kudos again, and thanks.

Re: Sound of the City - Mike Barthel - U2 Gets Lost In The Sorta-Ironic, Definitely Opportunistic "Discotheque"

Michael Barthel — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:40:54 -0000

So sorry I was not able to provide you a useful consumer guide to an album released 15 years ago.

Re: The Types Of People Who Attend A Nickelback Concert

Michael Barthel — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:15:32 -0000

This is unforgivable

Re: Sound of the City - Mike Barthel - Miss Independent: Why Kelly Clarkson's Ron Paul Endorsement Makes Complete Sense

Michael Barthel — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 11:18:58 -0000

Ooh, good point!

Re: Sound of the City - Jenna Sauers - Live: Courtney Love Has All Eyes on Her at Hiro Ballroom

Michael Barthel — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 13:31:26 -0000

You'd be surprised.

Re: Sound of the City - Mike Barthel - Common Goes To The White House: In Which Okayplayer Hater Sarah Palin Gets A-Moralizing

Michael Barthel — Tue, 17 May 2011 22:48:01 -0000

"I don't even know anymore."

Re: Sound of the City - Mike Barthel - Common Goes To The White House: In Which Okayplayer Hater Sarah Palin Gets A-Moralizing

Michael Barthel — Mon, 16 May 2011 20:19:06 -0000

Naw, the teen-boy condemning is coming from other people, and it was an explicit "teenage boys are awful and we shouldn't talk about them" kind of statement. I understand that as a counter-reaction, kind of, but I think a big problem with OF-talk is that people are unwilling to engage with them on their own terms. I think most of the insider criticism about OF consists of people who wouldn't enjoy them anyway asking them to change. Like I said in my offensive art piece, I think it's ungenerous to not grant that this artistic tradition has a kind of legitimacy and that OF work it really well. I don't see people worrying that teen-boy energies are being overvalued - I see them complaining that they're being valued at all.

Re: http://barthel.tumblr.com/post/4987312210

Michael Barthel — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:41:43 -0000

Oh my god, the things I could say about that.

Re: http://barthel.tumblr.com/post/4901931226

Michael Barthel — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:20:47 -0000

Haha, yeah, they totally went nuts.

Re: http://barthel.tumblr.com/post/4673587901

Michael Barthel — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 12:05:44 -0000

http://c0016417.cdn2.cloudf...

Re: http://barthel.tumblr.com/post/4661522299

Michael Barthel — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 20:10:03 -0000

Well I am glad you brought it up, because if Matt sees it here he would have the same problem!

Re: http://barthel.tumblr.com/post/4661522299

Michael Barthel — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 20:01:04 -0000

Is joke! If you're just reading this without following me, I don't think you can see the tags, where I made that clear. (I do think he is wrong to call "Archer" erotic, however.)

Re: http://barthel.tumblr.com/post/4661114859

Michael Barthel — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 12:05:20 -0000

Not at all! Parks & Rec is surprisingly accurate in its depictions of local politics. I keep meaning to write about that.

Re: http://barthel.tumblr.com/post/3748137529

Michael Barthel — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:15:49 -0000

I guess I thought that the point was not to say that this was actually true about the victim, but that these attitudes existed in the community. I mean, you would have to be kind of a monster to think that an 11-year-old who was raped was asking for it, right? It seems important to me to note that people in the community would even make that statement. But yeah, maybe I am reading into it too much! Fair enough.

Re: http://barthel.tumblr.com/post/3589744811

Michael Barthel — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:24:27 -0000

Fallout New Vegas.

Re: http://barthel.tumblr.com/post/2143951379

Michael Barthel — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 13:25:51 -0000

Done and done.

Re: http://barthel.tumblr.com/post/2140137496

Michael Barthel — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 00:01:54 -0000

http://barthel.tumblr.com/p...

Re: http://barthel.tumblr.com/post/1488267108

Michael Barthel — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 11:29:17 -0000

It is a Verilux Natural Spectrum HappyLite Mini Ultra, according to the Amazon order.

Re: http://barthel.tumblr.com/post/1009354014

Michael Barthel — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:39:45 -0000

Oh man, so right.

Re: http://barthel.tumblr.com/post/952533371

Michael Barthel — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 01:02:21 -0000

Hey, it wouldn't actually let me reblog you as a picture, which I thought would be more "grabby." So I posted the pic as a new post and included your original post so people could click through. Best I could do - sorry!

Re: http://barthel.tumblr.com/post/807434547

Michael Barthel — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:32:17 -0000

Ah yes, I was staying away from that because I kind of feel like my opinion is settled and I don't feel like reading anyone else's. Good to know!

This is interesting because I've had a similar argument with one of my profs who does deliberation. He says that people don't and shouldn't act strategically in deliberating politically, whereas I kinda think there's nothing but strategic talk. Though he's right - in actual, highly structured deliberations they have been able to keep out strategic actions - it's also true that these sorts of deliberations haven't mattered yet, and per politics being unicorn-like, I think actual politics has to involve a lot of strategizing. It's different in art, of course, but it's also true that people talk about art in reasonably self-interested ways. Maybe you are saying that such talk is fine, but it seems to have become kinda toxic lately? Like there's more talk about how people are being ungenuine than talk about what we think?

(And did you read ninety9's reblog of my thing? Interesting stuff too.)

Re: http://barthel.tumblr.com/post/762123697

Michael Barthel — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 08:01:00 -0000

That's not really what neuroscience and anthropology have found, but whatever.

Re: http://barthel.tumblr.com/post/762123697

Michael Barthel — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 07:59:46 -0000

So it's all about the music, is what you're saying? :)

See my previous post on Vampire Weekend - I don't think these moves are bad (or, as I say here, always necessarily intentional)! But I think it's unhelpful to pretend like they don't happen, or that it's not part of why people like bands.

Re: http://hardcorefornerds.tumblr.com/post/761693270

Michael Barthel — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:42:18 -0000

Probably trying to conclude anything from Stereogum comments (other than "Stereogum commenters are troglodytes") is like trying to predict the weather from a close reading of a litterbox.