It'd be really great if she disappeared and made a heady, abstract noise pop album. Do it for the people, Taylor!

What about Camille Paglia tho? I'll keep Naomi Wolf if we can jettison Paglia. I should bring this up at the next feminist agenda meeting.

I think you're conflating critical thought with skepticism, which means we're really talking about different things. Belief in anything is a layered process with a lot of different contextual interplay at work. The question of whether or not ghosts exist, if approached with intellectual curiosity, will involve…

I was thinking specifically about the research performed at universities. No scare quotes necessary!

I think that the existence (and past century) of academic and scientific inquires/studies/research into the paranormal would indicate otherwise, but, to each their own.

Absolutely. I think it's important to keep a critical and skeptical mind about one's own beliefs (in general) and allow them to adapt with new questions and information. It's unfortunate when people think that just because someone believes in something paranormal that the believer isn't doing that…

I'm not saying that ghosts aren't supernatural, I'm saying that believing in ghosts doesn't mean that the believer automatically assumes every inexplicable event is the result of ghost activity.

And surely everyone who believes in ghosts automatically assumes something is supernatural and gives no consideration to other possibilities, right?

Plenty of people engage in magical thinking and/or have spiritual and cultural ties to the belief in ghosts, spirits, etc etc. It doesn't mean they're not intelligent.

I like Halsey but "New Americana" is indefensible.

I was always so excited to hear it. Straight to Hell is one of my favorite Clash songs and Combat Rock is my favorite album and whenever Paper Planes came on I was just like "Finally! The validation it…oh."

I Heart Huckabees was pretty funny.

I'm totally cool with the use of broad categories like "people of color", but I do (personally) like to be as specific with my language as I can. I mean, I don't think it's inherently offensive to use "people/person of color" in place of "[specific cultural identifier]". Within these discussions, there are multitudes;…

Right? Like if she put out a call looking for writers of color, she'd read their work and decide if it's what she's looking for. It's not like she'd blindly be like "okay, random writer of color, you are now hired without knowing anything about the style or quality of your writing".

And now she's elucidating her thoughts on it. I don't see the problem?

Yeah, I dunno. I don't mind the term, but I think specificity is good. I'm mixed Native American, and with us, people usually prefer to identify by their tribal affiliation/nation.

Here you go!

Yeah, same. I also didn't really feel that much compassion for Bayley, or that he was a "good guy" just because he was Michael-Cera-character awkward and not engaging in the same overt evil as the other guards.

I'm not disagreeing with the criticisms of this season, but, man, internet really has me feeling like I misread some of the intention behind Bayley's arc. I got the sense that the show was trying to say "Hey, look at this reckless fuck-up who always gets away with being an oblivious, careless idiot because of his…

Seeing a Basquiat in person is also pretty different / more immersive than seeing it in a book, for what it's worth.