This very interesting thesis discusses the core tension and irony in the Newtype ideal: the conflict between a power that can provide both radical empathy and extreme violence.
A paper dedicated to deconstructing the erroneous and, frankly, insulting view that the people of Rapa Nui devised their own downfall by destroying the forests on the island. Rather, it presents compelling evidence for seeing Easter Island as a success of human persistence, where slash and burn and lithic mulching were used to cultivate food in a barren environment.
An investigation into the early days of tokusatsu and their context in the cold war. A must-read for anybody interested in the history of tokusatsu.
For those interested in film, this paper provides some very interesting insight into the current and past context of Indonesian cinema.
Films are quite literally filmed using the minerals of the Earth, and etched into metals from the ground. This piece of work explores that dimension of filmmaking.
Anime is fundamentally tied to when it was created, and its creators were people in living memory of World War Two. That context and legacy has left a permanent impression on the medium, which is explored in this thesis.
An exploration of Lolcats, which interestingly highlights misogyny in the different fandoms that have grown around it, with male fans disparaging the sincerity of female fans.
Ed Zitron knows what he's talking about, and he mostly talks about how Generative AI is a crock of shit, how the FAANG companies are evil, and other general tech stuff. He cuts through journalistic puff pieces in a really compelling way, backs up everything he says with extensive evidence, and says what he thinks, which I appreciate.
Ludicity is mostly about being a software engineer, but also discusses Big Tech and (stupid) concepts like Agile. The author can be a bit pompous, but he's clearly worked hard and deserves to be proud of his achievements, so who can really be mad that he's proud of himself?
Absolutely a challenging read, but very thought-provoking. The author provides a perspective where we're asked to look beyond 'accommodating' disabilities, as if they're something tacked on as an afterthought, and instead interrogating why things are the way they are, and what has been done in the past architecturally for disabled people.
I don't like a lot of the concepts in psychoanalysis, and a huge amount of it is just shockingly presumptive, but this book does a good job of explaining how psychoanalysis is a method of description that can and has been used to organise thoughts and perspectives on film.
A well articulated challenge to Australia and New Zealand's obsession with ANZAC day. Probably not very interesting if you don't live here, but I live in New Zealand, soooo...
David Graeber is a genius, and this book does an absolutely amazing job of deconstructing assumptions about the past and how humanity lived and continues to live.
Tremendously dry, but has some very interesting points about how perspectives have quite literally changed from the past to now.
An incredibly good introduction to what Buddhism is, who believes in it, the origins of it, and what the different schools of thought are.