ambiguous karma
Bio
I'm a historian and religious studies scholar with 2 B.A.'s in History and Religious Studies (Salem College) I write with grit, insight, and satire: exploring power, belief, and resistance across time. Scholar by training, rebel by nature.
Stories (8)
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Noir Cities: Los Angeles and the Birth of Shadows
Noir has always been more than a genre. It is a geography of shadows, an urban cartography of crime, corruption, neon, and rain slicked streets. Every great noir film is tethered to its city, the setting shaping not just the story but the psychology of its characters. From the sprawling freeways of Los Angeles to the claustrophobic alleys of New York, and the neon-soaked skyscrapers of Hong Kong, the city is never just a backdrop. It is the co-conspirator.
By ambiguous karma4 months ago in Geeks
Democracy in the Cage: Uncle Sam on the Ropes
The White House lawn has seen its share of ceremonies, protests, and presidential addresses. But never before has it looked like this: a steel cage, floodlights, and two unlikely fighters locked in a brawl for the nation’s attention. On one side, Uncle Sam — the lanky, bearded symbol of America’s ideals, dressed in his star-spangled best. On the other, a red-capped bruiser who treats politics as a pay-per-view event rather than a solemn responsibility.
By ambiguous karma4 months ago in The Swamp
Bread, Circuses, and the South Lawn
When Dana White and Donald Trump announced that UFC cage fights would be staged on the South Lawn of the White House during America’s 250th birthday in 2026, it sounded like parody. But it wasn’t satire. It was spectacle — and spectacle has a long history.
By ambiguous karma4 months ago in The Swamp
Casablanca: Why We’ll Always Have This Movie
When Casablanca premiered in 1942, no one expected a masterpiece. It was a studio assignment, shot quickly on Warner Bros. sets, based on an unproduced play called Everybody Comes to Rick’s. It had a modest budget, recycled sets, and a script that was famously being written while the cameras rolled.
By ambiguous karma4 months ago in Humans
Why Blade Runner Still Defines Neo-Noir, 40 Years Later
In 1982, Ridley Scott released Blade Runner to a world that didn’t quite know what to make of it. Too bleak for blockbuster audiences, too strange for mainstream critics, the film stumbled at the box office. Yet four decades later, its rain-soaked streets, flickering neon, and moral ambiguity remain the blueprint for neo-noir and cyberpunk storytelling.
By ambiguous karma4 months ago in Geeks
Pax Americana
I. PAX AMERICANA History watches silently as nations turn to myth. I write because silence no longer suits me. Empires rarely collapse in a blaze.They fade...quietly, procedurally; under the weight of their own contradictions.This one may be no different.
By ambiguous karma6 months ago in Poets
Pax Americana
In every classroom and on the shelves of every historian, the fall of the Roman Empire looms as one of the most discussed collapses of a great civilization. Its legacy is undeniable, and for centuries, scholars have drawn comparisons between ancient Rome and modern powers. Today, as the United States navigates a period of deep political, economic, and cultural transformation, many may ask: Are the echoes of Rome’s decline emenating through Washinton D.C. and our current political dysfunction? Although ther have been comaprisons many times over by historians and scholars with these two freedumb, republic-ish autocracies in the past, it seems more pertinent now to look back and perhaps, avoid the same fate and ask the question; does history repeat itself?
By ambiguous karma6 months ago in History
