Light On Light Through

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 96, in which I review three recent, under-the radar, off-the-beaten track time travel movies: Dimensions , I'll Follow You Down , and 95ers: Time Runners . If you know of other time travel movies which you think I might enjoy and want to review, just list them here in the Comments section (right below this post). Here are my written reviews of the...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 95, in which I review several pivotal episodes of Outlander , one of my favorite new television series, debuting in the Fall of 2014.   Links to my written reviews of these episodes - Outlander 1.1-3:  The Hope of Time Travel Outlander 1.6:  Outstanding Outlander 1.7:  Tender Intertemporal Polygamy Outlander 1.8:  The Other Side     and  more time...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 94, in which I revisit one of the greatest shows ever to have been on television: The Sopranos.   The occasion is the release by HBO of The Sopranos: The Complete Series  on Blu-ray and Digital HD on November 4, 2014, containing the complete 86-episode run of the series, as well as bonus feautures including a new documentary, "Defining a Televisio...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 93, in which I explore how Marshall McLuhan's "tetrad" or four laws of media, first publicly propounded in the mid-late 1970s, can explain the "selfie" which didn't exist until a few years ago and is so vividly in evidence today.   This is the photograph which instigated this train of thought - thanks to Ian Bogost for pushing it out of the statio...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 92, in which I explain - as an author who is both traditionally and independently published - why I think Amazon has the right of it in its much-criticized dispute with Hachette.   I address some famous authors, such as Nobel-laureate Paul Krugman, and why I see their attacks on Amazon as not only wrong-headed, but serving as part of Hachette's cl...

Welcome to  Light   On   Light   Through , Episode 91, in which I read my short story, "The Last Train to Margaretville," published in John Mierau's shared world science fiction anthology, Walk the Fire 2 , published in May 2014.  You can learn more about the anthology by clicking on the title, where you'll also find out more about the Walk the Fire series. Or read just the story here . If you'd l...

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 90, in which I discuss how Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980), who never wrote for a Kindle and of course didn't even know about it, nonetheless correctly foresaw its revolutionary impact on authors when he wrote, in Laws of the Media (1977) that the "Xerox makes everyone a publisher".  I also discuss the practical advantages of self-publishing on Kindle rathe...

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 89, which contains Patrick Rands and Carl Thien's recent "spotlight" on my science fiction and music, broadcast a few days ago on Patrick's WZBC Radio show.   Patrick decided to do this segment after hearing Sundial Symphony's new recording of my "Looking for Sunsets (in the Early Morning)".   He put together a wild, cool set of my music over the years,...

Welcome to Episode 88 of Llght On Light Through.  I've just finished writing the concluding chapter of Unburning Alexandria - sequel to The Plot to Save Socrates - which will be published on Kindle, iTunes, etc as an ebook by JoSara MeDia in a few days. As a little appetizer, I thought you might enjoy this brief reading I did from Unburning Alexandria at Robin's Books (the famous book store which...

Welcome to Episode 87 of Light On Light Through , in which I offer ongoing commentary about Occupy Wall Street, September 27 through November 23, 2011.  The commentary first appeared in 15 blog posts - dates, titles, and links to the text of the blog posts are listed below.  Main themes include Occupy Wall Street as a resurgence of direct democracy, police violation of the First Amendment in their...

Welcome to Episode 86 of Light On Light Through , in which I share a recently recovered voicemail from Marshall McLuhan, from August 1978, about my doctoral dissertation, "Human Replay: A Theory of the Evolution of Media," which I had mailed up to him in Canada, a few weeks earlier, before I left with my wife Tina on our summer vacation ... Helpful links (updated 2025) my most recent book about Mc...

Welcome to Episode 85 of Light On Light Through , in which I discuss the inadvisability of unconstitutional wars - that is, wars not declared by both houses of Congress, as required by the U.S. Constitution - such as the one we're now waging in Lybia... Helpful links - my blog post: On the Road to Another Unconstitutional War? my blog post: Wrong for NATO Strike to Kill Gaddafi Grandchildren my ho...

  The title of Episode 84 of Light On Light Through says it all:  the continuing nuclear crisis in Japan shows why it's long since time to take our leave of nuclear power as a mainstream energy source on this planet. Helpful links -  my blog post: Time to Say Goodbye to Nuclear Energy my home page: http://paullevinson.info more blogs:  http://InfiniteRegress.tv                                    ...

The Chinese ban of time travel movies is an unwelcome but timely reminder of the enduring differences between closed and open societies ... this is the subject of Light On Light Through , Episode 83. Helpful links - my blog post: China Goes Totalitarian about Time Travel The New Yorker and China Hush on the subject list of my books translated into Chinese my blog post: The Enoyable Trouble with Ti...

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 82 - Kojo Nnamdi's complete National Public Radio (NPR) Septemeber 2009 interview with me about New New Media.  This is one of best interviews I've ever been treated to on the subject.  We cover all the usual bases, from Twitter to YouTube, but with historical context and live questions via email, Twitter, and phone. Helpful links - What's Newer than New...

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 81 - 15 minutes of clear, cogent analysis from me about why MSNBC was dead wrong to suspend Keith Olbermann.  Well, I'll leave it to you to judge whether my analysis is clear and cogent, but the long and the short of it is, although I've found fault with Olbermann's over-the-top denunciations of everyone from Hillary Clinton to Bill O'Reilly to Jack Baue...

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 80, in which you will hear the complete, uncut radio play of "The Chronology Protection Case," recorded before a live audience at the Mark Goodson Theater in the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City in September 2002.    The radio play is based on my novelette, "The Chronology Protection Case," published in Analog Magazine 1995.   The novelett...

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 79, in which you will hear the complete 65-minute interview Patrick Rands did with me about my music, in June 2006.    I drove up to WZBC Radio studios outside of Boston on a beautiful early summer afternoon for the interview by Partick Rands on his "Test Patterns" radio show on WZBC (Boston College) Radio.  With my 1972 LP, Twice Upon a Rhyme, re-issued...

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 78, in which you will hear a tale - all true - about time, space, the vision of an artist 100 years ago, the vision of another artist now ... a tale of two Presidents, of the power of the penny to bring us the past and make it come alive.   I interview Joel Iskowitz, whose depictions appear on the back of American coins and on UK stamps, on illustrations...

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 77, in which I discuss concerns that I and other civil libertarians have raised about U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's views of the First Amendment, in particular her suggestion that objectional speech - such as hate speech and in pornography - can be restricted by government if it uses laws against physical abuse in hate crimes (which are indeed...

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 76, in which I discuss how the new Arizona Immigration  Law, even as amended, violates the 14th Amendment to our Constitution. Links - Why the Arizona Immigration Law Is Unconstitutional my Infinite Regress blog post, with extensive commentary Why the Arizona Immigration Law Is Unconstitutional my Daily Kos blog post, also with extensive commentary Why t...

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 75, in which I explain why Neil Armstrong, James Lovell, and Eugene Cernan are right to criticize Obama's cutting of the humans to the Moon space programs.   The long and the short of it is we'll never know who were are, never understand what we are doing here in this Universe, from our vantage point here on Planet Earth, and humans on the Moon are a cru...

Welcome to Light On Light Through , Episode 74, in which I present my original reviews of the first 10 episodes of FlashForward , from the Fall 2009.    With Flashforward to resume tonight, I thought these reviews - from my Levinson news clips podcast - might be a good way of catching up.   Links: New podcast reviews of new episodes of Flashforward (11 -) at Levinson news clips Blog post reviews o...

  A special Episode 73 of Light On Light Through  -- in which I discuss my current assessment of the Prius I've been driving since September 2006, and which was the subject of Episodes 1 and 32 of this very podcast.   Given the serious problems with accelerator and brake action reported for the Prius and other Toyotas, I though I'd chime in here with at least one data point:  which is, although I...

A special Episode 72 of Light On Light Through  -- recorded an hour after ABC-TV pulled its station off Cablevision in the New York area.   Link to blog post:  Memo to Cablevision and ABC TV   home page: http://paullevinson.info more blogs:  http://InfiniteRegress.tv more podcasts: http://Levinsonnewsclips.com                                          videoclips: http://www.youtube.com/user/PLev200...