Modern Mythographer

You’ve probably heard the NPR show “Speaking of Faith,” and you probably have an opinion on it.  What you may not know is that the host of the show, Krista Tippett, just wrote a new book called Einstein’s God, a collection of interviews from the show, on the topic of science and religion, one of [...]

Hi there.  Bet you thought I was gone for good.  Ta-da! I’m not.  MM has been meaning to pop up again, spending a lot of time meaning to, and letting all kinds of perfect entry points pass.  New Year’s.  President’s Day.  And, for Christ’s sake, Easter! What better moment to rise again, after certain death? [...]

As a brief coda to what seemed to be Fright Week last week here at MM (radiation! brutal murder! screaming trees!) I want to clarify my position: I don’t believe cities are inherently scary places, nor do I believe that rural Maine areas are completely saccharine and harm-free.  Which brings me to today’s myth: putting [...]

I know it’s not Halloween or anything, but I’m still thinking about city-vs.-country scariness, and this idea (thanks Jen) that in the country, no one can hear you scream.  Another myth on the On The Media myth-busting episode (which I recommend) is an investigation of the famous murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964 Queens, which, [...]

Allow me to be naive for a moment here.  I know President Obama’s Cairo speech didn’t really say anything new; it didn’t set out specific policy initiatives; he gave it in a country run by a totalitarian regime. But part of me wants to stand up and applaud in my pajamas watching the speech on [...]

Admittedly I’ve had zombies on the brain, fortunately not in my brain, but I like to think this would have leaped out at me, as if out of a coffin, in any case. There I am peacefully scrolling through a semi-weekly newsletter for freelance writers, which usually contains calls for submissions from self-help anthologies, small-town [...]

Myths are everywhere.  They constantly intersect with our daily lives.  They can be attached to a religious tradition, like the story of the parting of the Red Sea, or they can be free-floating on the ether, like razorblades in Halloween apples.   A myth survives because people believe it.  You can disprove a myth, and people [...]