Paradox Project

Paradox Project Blog

Culture

‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ Is Un-PC and Loving It

If you don’t know the drill by now, you should. Kimmy Schmidt (played by Ellie Kemper) was kidnapped at age 14 by a crazy reverend who said he thought the world was ending. One of the Indiana “mole women,” Kimmy lived in a bunker for 15 years before she was rescued. Emerging into the sunshine, Kimmy is ready to take on a whole new world: a totally normal life.

Netflix’s charming “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” debuted with its first season around this time last year, so fans have been anxiously awaiting season 2. Helmed by Tina Fey (and covered with telltale Fey fingerprints), “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” is funny, feminist—and very pro-free speech in a censorious world. 

Politics

The IRS Is Politicized Because We Politicized It.

American citizens: 1. Abuse of power: 0.

For now, at least. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued an astoundingly scathing rebuke to the IRS, denying its petition to avoid turning over court-ordered documents. The IRS has refused to comply with an order to hand over information about the list of nonprofit organizations improperly targeted for special scrutiny.

Culture

‘The End of the Tour’ Is Another Reminder That All Is Vanity under the Sun

“The End of the Tour” is a wistful, meandering look at the last few days of late author David Foster Wallace’s 1996 Infinite Jest tour. Wallace (played by Jason Segel) has arrived—at least in the eyes of reporter David Lipsky, who wrote a book in 2010 about the road trip.

“He wants something better than he has; I want precisely what he has already,” Lipsky (as played by Jesse Eisenberg) says in the film. Lipsky wants to be “the most talked-about writer in the country”—while Wallace simply wants to find purpose, something that success, critical acclaim and celebrity haven’t been able to give him.

Faith

Why Deserting the Culture War Is a(n) (Understandable) Mistake

As much of our culture turns away from Christianity, the beliefs our faith espouses make their way into the mainstream press less and less. Many media sources, already vehicles of various biases we find unpalatable, make us angry when they misrepresent Catholicism or advocate immorality or scoff at our values. So we boycott. Stay inside our social media echo chambers. Read about how bad the other side is in our preferred news sources without actually reading what the opposition is writing.

It’s not an irrational response — frankly, it’s an understandable response. But it isn’t the best one.

Politics

Here’s How a GOP Contested Convention Works, As Explained by Mean Girls

What makes 2016 different? Trump is ahead when it comes to delegate numbers. But he still isn’t close to a 1,237 delegate majority, which would mean enough GOP voters supported him for him to represent the party in November. No delegate majority = no nomination. Contested/open/brokered convention, here we come!

So what will a GOP contested convention look like? We thought “Mean Girls” could explain it best.

Culture

This Is (GameCube) Water

I had hazy memories of oceanside towns like Newport News and Monterey, of lapping waves and soothing cyan as far as the eye could see. But by 2001 I was a resident of landlocked Memphis, Tenn. The heat and mosquitoes forced me indoors most of the time, where I discovered water all over again on the Nintendo GameCube.

Technology

Robots Need Grace Too

Within 24 hours of “her” big launch on Twitter and other social messaging platforms, Tay (the AI bot developed by Microsoft researchers*) learned all sorts of things from us humans. Primarily that we are awful.