Paul Levinson
Bio
Novels The Silk Code, The Plot To Save Socrates, It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles; LPs Twice Upon A Rhyme & Welcome Up; nonfiction The Soft Edge & Digital McLuhan, translated into 15 languages. Prof, Fordham Univ.
Stories (742)
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Review of 'Years and Years' 1.5
Episode 1.5 of Years and Years couldn't be more tragically relevant to our lives right now in the United States, off-screen. It was about the treatment of immigrants, their placement in concentration camps, and what that really means.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Stranger Things' 3
An excellent third season of Stranger Things—in fact, my favorite of the three so far—which couldn't be more timely in this age of Trump and Putin. In the 1980s, the Russians were the Soviets, but they occupy the same place in Western popular culture—adversaries—and so they make great villains along with the monsters that the breakthroughs to the other dimension engender.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'The Rook' 1.4
The best episode of The Rook—1.4—was on last night, in which we find out lots of stuff about Myfanwy. First and foremost: she knew that Bristol had something important to do with her forgotten past. She thought it was the city (and it's a nice city, one of my favorites in England, after London), but it turns out to have been the name of her shrink. And as soon as they meet in this episode, in the present, it's crystal clear (to the audience, if not yet to Myfanwy) that they were having an affair. Her earlier self has left her a note, in Bristol's possession (which he gives to her now) that tells her to run if she's in Bristol's presence.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'The Loudest Voice' 1.4
Another powerful episode of The Loudest Voice last night—1.4—in which Roger Ailes lays bare the basis of fake news: "we create the news'. I should say, the basis of real fake news—that is, news that is fake. We need to make this distinction because Trump now daily bashes our legitimate news media as fake news—which would be fake fake news—a tactic that comes right out of Hitler's denunciation of the press in 1930s Germany as the Lügenpresse (the lying press). When you're trying to replace democracy with a totalitarian regime, it's wise to discredit and get rid of the people who can call you out on that and let the rest of the country know—the press (See my short book, Fake News in Real Context, for more).
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in The Swamp
Review of 'Years and Years' 1.1-1.4
My wife and I just watched the first four episodes of the British Years and Years on HBO. It's about as powerful and caustic a depiction of the rise of fascism in our time—that is, so far in the short series (six episodes), 2019-2027—as you'll find. Which is, searing and gut-wrenching indeed.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Jeff Lynne's ELO at the Prudential Center
There are few groups who are almost as good as The Beatles (none are as good as them). Jeff Lynne's ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) is one of those few. Their string of hits through the 1970s into 1981—"Can't Get It Out of My Head", "Evil Woman", "Strange Magic", "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Turn to Stone", "Sweet Talkin' Woman", "Don't Bring Me Down," and "Hold On Tight" are my favorites—are every bit as a good as part of the Beatles output (e.g., "Golden Slumbers", "You Never Give Your Money," etc), and this puts ELO in the rarefied company of the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Beat
Review of 'The Rook' 1.3
The most compelling thing(s) about The Rook 1.3 on Starz earlier this evening was the Gestalts and the short but effective explanation we got about them. They make a nice piece of science fiction, especially for the television screen, and work well in that Philip K. Dickian tradition.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'The Rook' 1.1
The Rook on Starz starts off with a bunch of familiar premises—someone (in this case, a young woman) wakes up in a dangerous situation with no knowledge of who she is. She gradually learns about her past and situation from a series of helpful messages from her younger self, who knows she's in danger of having her memory wiped. We and she learn that she (Myfanwy is her name) is part of an MI6-type British secret service group. And soon another very different, but also very familiar, trope is revealed: Myfanwy has some kind of super powers—the ability to inflict physical damage on people via her mind—and the MI6 group (Checguy) is somehow all about this.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'The Loudest Voice' 1.1
The Loudest Voice just launched on Showtime last night, with an episode about the launch of Fox News. Or, more specifically, about how Roger Ailes (stunningly portrayed by Russell Crowe) launched Fox News, and with just about everyone else on the screen (the screen of The Loudest Voice) kicking and screaming. That includes owner Rupert Murdock, and just about everyone else in Ailes's orbit.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in The Swamp
Minor Quibble with Kamala Harris
Although it's at most a minor quibble with Kamala Harris's superb performance in this past Thursday's Democratic debate—see my assessment of that over here—I thought, as a past President of the Science Fiction Writers of America (1998-2001), that I ought to weigh in on a concern which has made it all the way to The Washington Post.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in The Swamp
