Ned Gallagher:
What I’m Up To
Here Come the Holidays
“I can no other answer make, but, thanks, and thanks.”
- William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Thanksgiving Day
Today is the harvest feast known as Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays on the calendar. I like that we are asked to reflect on gratitude, and I recognize the many blessings in my life. I have little interest in the Black Friday craziness that is about to unfold, but Thanksgiving does represent a well-timed pivot from the fall to the winter and seems an appropriate time to start thinking about the holiday season just ahead.
Life-Long Learning, Continued
I loaded up on my own studies this fall term, taking perhaps more courses than I should have: a philosophy tutorial and a Shakespeare preceptorial at St. John’s College as part of my work in the Graduate Institute; a three-week offering called “Three Misanthropes”—unpacking three plays: Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens and Coriolanus and The Misanthrope by Molière—at the University of Chicago; a full term course on The Gospels, also at UChicago; courses at Stanford on The Oresteia and on 1950s American cinema; and a four-week seminar at Wesleyan on the roots of the contemporary crisis in the Middle East.
City Breaks
I spent the school’s fall Long Weekend break with a few days in Montréal, driving north and across the border through the late October autumnal splendor. And I was in Chicago for a short visit at term’s end the weekend before Thanksgiving, mostly for a cultural immersion. Though I have never lived in a city more than a stretch of a few weeks, I have a fondness for dropping into an urban jungle for a few days at a time, soaking up much of what is on offer.
Exercising the Franchise
2024 was a presidential election year. As a teacher of government classes, I get to surf the wave of heightened interest in politics, as my classes run a little fuller than usual. It seems the normal standards for teaching about civics have been thrown out the window a bit, perhaps as a result of the era of Trumpism; whether things will revert to whatever now passes for normal in future campaigns remains to be seen.
The Streak Continues
Consecutive days compleing the New York Times crossword puzzle is up to 1,961. That’s five-plus years and counting!
What I’m Reading
Working On Now:
- Michael Waldman, The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America
- Conor Niland, The Racket
- Neil Postman, Building a Bridge to the 18th Century: How the Past Can Improve Our Future
- DC Versus Marvel Omnibus
- Steven Brill, The Death of Truth: How Social Media and the Internet Gave Snake Oil Salesmen and Demagogues the Weapons They Needed to Destroy Trust and Polarize the World—And What We Can Do About It
Recently Finished:
- G.B. Trudeau, Day One Dictator: More Doonesbury in the Time of Trumpism
- Dan Jones, Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King
- David Mazzucchelli’s Batman: Year One [Artist’s Edition]
On Deck:
- Caroline Elkins, Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire
- Juan Díaz Canales, Blacksad: They All Fall Down, Part Two
- Yuval Noah Harari, Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to A.I.
For Courses I’m Taking This Month:
- Avi Shlaim, Israel and Palestine: Reappraisals, Revisions and Refutations
- Amos Oz, Israel, Palestine, and Peace: Essays
- Rashid Khalidi, The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine
- Benny Morris, Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881–2001
- Aeschylus, Agamemnon
- Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers
- Aeschylus, The Eumenides
For Courses I’m Teaching This Winter:
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
- Leon P. Baradat and John A. Phillips, Political Ideologies: Their Origins and Impact
What I’m Watching
Ongoing—Television:
- Say Nothing (FX on Hulu)
- Silo, season 2 (Apple TV+)
- Dune: Prophecy (Max)
- The Day of the Jackal (Peacock)
Recently Finished—Television:
- La Maison (Apple TV+)
- Leonardo da Vinci (PBS Passport)
- coverage of the ATP Tour Finals (TennisTV)
- The Franchise (Max)
- Wednesday (Netflix)
- coverage of Laver Cup competition (Tennis Channel, Tennis Channel Plus)
- Disclaimer (Apple TV+)
- The Newsroom, seasons 1–3 (Max)
- Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (Netflix)
On Deck—Television:
- Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (Disney+)
- The Sex Lives of College Girls, season 3 (Max)
- Nautilus (AMC+)
Recently Finished—Films:
- Gabriel Over the White House (d. Gregory La Cava, 1933), streamed on Internet Archive
- Forty Guns (d. Samuel Fuller, 1957), streamed on Tubi
- All the Way (d. Jay Roach, 2016), streamed on Max
- Pickup on South Street (d. Samuel Fuller, 1953), streamed on Tubi
- Outrage (d. Ida Lupino, 1950), streamed on iTunes
- The Hitch-Hiker (d. Ida Lupino, 1953), streamed on Prime Video
- Music by John Williams (d. Laurent Bouzereau, 2024), streamed on Disney+
- Seth Meyers: Dad Man Walking (d. Neal Brennan, 2024), streamed on Max
- Conclave (d. Edward Bergen, 2024), cinema
- Stopping the Steal (d. Dan Reed, 2024), streamed on Max
- Rancho Notorious (d. Fritz Lang, 1952), streamed on Tubi
- The Big Heat (d. Fritz Lang, 1953), streamed on iTunes
- North By Northwest (d. Alfred Hitchcock, 1959), Blu-ray
- Sunset Boulevard (d. Billy Wilder, 1950), streamed on Paramount+
- Megalopolis (d. Francis Ford Coppola, 2024), cinema
- The Emperor’s Club (d. Michael Hoffman, 2002), streamed on Starz
What I’m Listening To
Music:
- Coldplay, Moon Music
- Jackson Browne, The Road East: Live in Japan
- U2, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb [Re-Assemble Edition]
- Sting, Brand New Day [Expanded Edition]
Podcasts:
- The Fifth Column
What I’ve Been Attending
- The Marriage of Figaro, Lyric Opera, Chicago, November
- Pericles, RSC production at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, November
- “Israel and Palestine: 100 Years of Conflict and Claim,” Wasch Center Seminar, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, November/December
Where I’m Traveling
Recent Trips:
Upcoming Trips:
What I’m Learning
What I’m Looking Forward To