(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on October 29, 2026)
I was saddened to hear about Patrick Stewart’s passing. Of course, the accomplished, classically trained Royal Shakespeare Company alumnus will primarily be remembered for his portrayals of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the long-running TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation and as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men film franchise; but for me (and I’m showing my age here) he will always be “Sejanus”, the ruthlessly ambitious prefect of the Praetorian Guard in the BBC’s 1976 series, I Claudius. He continued to work his craft until the very end-a real trouper. In light of his passing, I’m reposting a piece I did a number of years back regarding I Claudius, which (for reasons I explain below) would be an ideal binge-watch heading into Election Tuesday.
DVD reissue: I, Claudius (****)
(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on March 21, 2012)
She preys like a Roman with her eyes on fire: Sian Phillips as Livia
I Claudius 35th Anniversary Edition – Acorn Media DVD set
“Political questions, if you go back thousands of years, are ephemeral, not important. History is the same thing over and over again.”
-Woody Allen
35 years ago (best to my hazy recollection), I was living in a house in Fairbanks, Alaska with 4 or 5 (or was it 6 or 7?) of my friends. Being 20-something males, ragingly hormonal and easily sidetracked by shiny objects, it was a rare occasion when all the housemates would be congregated in one room for any period of time.
But there was one thing that consistently brought us together. For about a three month period in the fall of 1977, every Sunday at 9pm, we would abruptly drop whatever we were doing (sfx: guitars, bongs, Frisbees, empty Heineken bottles and dog-eared Hunter Thompson paperbacks hitting the floor) and gather round a 13-inch color TV (replete with Reynolds Wrap-reinforced rabbit ears) to rapturously watch I, Claudius on Masterpiece Theatre.
While an opening line of “I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus…” could portend more of a snooze-inducing history lecture, rather than 11 hours of must-see-TV, the 1976 BBC series, adapted from Robert Graves’ 1934 historical novel about ancient Rome’s Julio-Claudian dynasty, was indeed the latter, holding U.S. viewers in thrall for its 12-week run.
While it is quite possible that at the time, my friends and I were slightly more in thrall with the occasional teasing glimpses of semi-nudity than we were with, say, the beauty of Jac Pulman’s writing, the wonder of the performances and historical complexity of the narrative, over the years I have come to realize that I think I learned everything I needed to know about politics from watching (and re-watching) I, Claudius.
It’s all there…the systemic greed and corruption of the ruling plutocracy, the raging hypocrisy, the grandstanding, glad-handing and the back-stabbing (in this case, both figurative and literal). Seriously, over the last 2000 years, not much has changed in the political arena (this election year in particular finds us tunic-deep in bread and circuses; by Jove, what a clown show).
Although it’s merely a happy coincidence that a newly minted 35th anniversary edition of the series was released on DVD this week by Acorn Media, the timing couldn’t be more apt. I’ve been finding it particularly amusing the past few days to zip through the nightly network newscasts on the DVR, then immediately follow it up with an episode of I, Claudius so I can chuckle (or weep) over the parallels.
Kawkinkydinks with the ongoing decline of the American empire notwithstanding, the series holds up remarkably well. In fact, it still kicks major gluteusmaximus on most contemporary TV fare (including HBO and Showtime). What’s most impressive is what they were able to achieve with such austere production values; the writing and the acting is so strong that you barely notice that there are only several simple sets used throughout (compare with Starz’s visually striking but otherwise chuckle-headed Spartacus series).
It’s hard to believe that Derek Jacobi was in his mid-30s when he took on the lead role; not only does he convincingly “age” from 20s to 60s, but subtly unveils the grace and intelligence that lies behind Claudius’s outwardly afflicted speech and physicality.
Another standout in this marvelous cast is Sian Phillips, with her deliciously wicked performance as Livia (wife of Augustus) who will stoop to anything in order to achieve her political goals (Machiavelli’s subsequent work was doo-doo, by comparison). George Baker excels as her long-suffering son, Tiberius, as does Brian Blessed, playing Augustus. And John Hurt’s take on the mad Caligula is definitive, in my book. The new transfer on the Acorn release is excellent, making this DVD set well worth your denarius.
No Kings, the coalition known for organizing anti-Trump protests, is trying a different democratic tactic: increasing voter turnout.
On Saturday, grassroot groups across the country will hold over 3,000 “No Kings: Vote Early” marches and other events. Organizers say these events are a nonpartisan effort to promote early voting in the midterm elections, and will involve helping people check their voter registration, make a plan to cast their ballot and understand their voting rights.
The voting push effort marks a pivot for the No Kings coalition, which comprises hundreds of partner organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Black Voters Matter.
No Kings has previously held three days of nationwide protests since the start of Trump’s second term because organizers say Trump’s actions in office are more akin to those of a monarch than a democratically elected head of state. Trump has previously rejected the idea that he is behaving like a monarch.
“The first three No Kings were designed to send a message,” says Ezra Levin, the co-founder of Indivisible — one of the major organizations within the No Kings network. “We’re done sending a message.”
Now, he says, they want people to vote. […]
Saturday’s events vary widely across the country, from block parties to cookouts to rallies. In Golden, Colo., a “Paws to the Polls” event invites people to bring their dogs on a march. Organizers in Everett, Wash., planned a “concert for democracy,” featuring an environmental troubadour.
All events will share similar restrictions, Levin says, including a rule against political endorsements and inviting current candidates to speak.
Works for me. Some of today’s events kicked off by striking up the band:
At the Memorial Bridge this morning for the No Kings march to start. The band is playing “All You Fascists Bound To Lose.”
Gonna tell all you fascists you may be surprised
People all over this world are getting organized
You’re bound to lose you fascists are bound to lose
People of every color marching side by side
Marching ‘cross the fields where the million fascists died
You’re bound to lose you fascists are bound to lose
All you fascists bound to lose
Yes, nothing gets the blood pumping like a Woody Guthrie anthem. In solidarity, I’ve curated a “midterm mixtape” for your dining and demonstrating pleasure. See you at the polls…bring a friend.
“Election Day” – Arcadia
November 3rd is just 2 weeks away, so (as Simon says) pull your shirt off and pray.
“Elected” – Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper kicked off his decades-long mock presidential campaign with the release of this satirical 1972 single. Interestingly, he firmly believes musicians should not tell fans how to vote.
“Vote for Me” – Chicago
Vote for me, vote for me
If I am elected, this is how it will be
I’ll cut your tax in half (Ooh)
I’ll make the Russians laugh (Ooh)
I’ll feed the hungry people everywhere (Ooh)
I’ll bring the railroads back (Ooh)
New trains and new track (Ooh)
From Waikiki to old Delaware (Ooh)
Boy, does that sound depressingly familiar…
“Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World is Today)” – The Temptations
Same as it ever was:
People movin’ out, people movin’ in
Why? Because of the color of their skin
Run, run, run, but you sure can’t hide
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
Vote for me and I’ll set you free
Rap on, brother, rap on
“You Haven’t Done Nothin’” – Stevie Wonder
Like many of us (who are old enough to remember), Stevie Wonder was suffering from acute Nixon/Watergate fatigue by the time he released this single in the summer of 1974.
But we are sick and tired of hearing your song
Telling how you are gonna change right from wrong
‘Cause if you really want to hear our views
“You haven’t done nothing”!
“Funky President (People It’s Bad)” – James Brown
James Brown’s 1974 state of the union address, released in the wake of Gerald Ford’s ascent to the presidency following Nixon’s resignation. That said, the message is evergreen.8
Hey, country, you didn’t say what you meant
You just changed, a brand new funky President
Stock market going up, jobs going down
It ain’t no funky job to be found
Tax keep going up, I changed from a glass
Now I drink from a paper cup, getting bad
People, people, we’ve got to get over
Before we go under, listen to me
“President Gas” – The Psychedelic Furs
The Furs’ lead singer Richard Butler wrote this 1982 song as a commentary on President Reagan, adding some snips at his home country’s leader Margaret Thatcher (good times!).
You have to have a party
When you’re in a state like this
You can really move it all
You have to vote and change
“Stand Down Margaret” – The English Beat
Speaking of Margaret Thatcher, The English Beat also had a few choice words for the Iron Lady in this 1980 song.
Our lives seem petty in your cold grey hands
Would you give a second thought
Would you ever give a damn, I doubt it
Stand down Margaret
“The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead” – XTC
Granted, this song is dark, but as some have posited, the road to Hell can be paved with good intentions. That said, it is ultimately up to us as voters to make intelligent choices and paper the system with leaders who are immune to corruption (they do exist, really they do).
“Clampdown” – The Clash
This just in: The rich and powerful use economic anxiety and fear to turn us against each other. But you knew that…so let’s “kick over the wall” and get out the vote!
The judge said five to ten, but I say double that again
I’m not working for the clampdown
No man born with a living soul
Can be working for the clampdown
Kick over the wall ’cause government’s to fall
How can you refuse it?
Let fury have the hour, anger can be power
D’you know that you can use it?
“No Matter Who You Vote For the Government Always Gets In” – Bonzo Dog Band
Since this mixtape is about democracy, thought I’d toss one in for all the cynics out there.
“Fortunate Son” – Creedence Clearwater Revival
*cough* Bone spurs *cough*
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don’t they help themselves, oh
But when the taxman come to the door
Lord, the house lookin’ like a rummage sale, yeah
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no millionaire’s son, no, no
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no
“Monster/Suicide/America” – Steppenwolf
So, how did we arrive to this incredibly fractured political state in our country? Well, sometimes you have to start from the very beginning. Let’s take a moment for a quick history lesson from Steppenwolf.
Once the religious, the hunted and weary
Chasing the promise of freedom and hope
Came to this country to build a new vision
Far from the reaches of kingdom and pope…
No Kings, please.
“Won’t Get Fooled Again” – The Who
Fool me once…
“The Times They Are a-Changin’” – Bob Dylan
This mix is getting a little depressing, so let’s focus on the hopey-changey bit (again).
“Vote ‘em Out” – Willie Nelson
Damn straight, Willie.
If you don’t like who’s in there, vote ’em out
That’s what Election Day is all about
The biggest gun we’ve got
Is called “the ballot box”
So if you don’t like who’s in there, vote ’em out
“People Have the Power” – Patti Smith
I’m with Patti on this one.
And the people have the power
To redeem the work of fools
From the meek the graces shower
It’s decreed the people rule
This lovely 2020 duet pulled triple duty…getting out the vote and honoring both the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment (giving women the right to vote) and the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.
“Yes We Can” – will.i.am
An oldie but moldy, but…yes, we still can.
“2026: Time for the Midterms” – Cast of ‘Hamilton’
And singing us out, the cast of Hamilton with an important public service message. The rest is up to us.
(Originally posted at Digby’s Hullabaloo on June 13, 2026)
Considering the complexity of the topic, it’s amazing how much ground this documentary (directed by Barbara Attie, Janet Goldwater andMike Attie) covers in 95 minutes. The film examines how abortion has been depicted in TV shows and films over the 50+ years since Roe vs. Wade (let’s not mention 2022).
The starting point is the groundbreaking 1972 2-part episode of Norman Lear’s sitcom Maude, in which the 47 year-old lead character deals with a surprise pregnancy (“Maude’s Dilemma”). Other touchstones include Dirty Dancing and Juno (my 2007 review).
As you watch a plethora of clips, you realize that, more often than not, it’s been a case of the tail wagging the dog; and at times the misinformation approaches Reefer Madness-level hysteria. There are no easy solutions to resolving the polarization on this issue; and the filmmakers wisely don’t try to provide any. However, they do offer food for thought, which will hopefully encourage some productive dialog.
Give some people an inch, and they think they’re a ruler. Yes, I know…you rolled out of your crib the first time you heard that one. Still, I got a few genuine chuckles out of Joe Kowalski’s lighthearted study of a subculture comprised of self-appointed potentates with handles like Queen Carolyn, Grand Duke Travis, Prince Phil, King Earnest, and President Kevin.
These heads of state don’t wage wars or rule their people with an iron fist; their sovereign territories range in size from a backyard mini-kingdom to the sprawling 11 square acre Republic of Molossia (nestled somewhere in the Nevada desert). These “micronations” aren’t members of the U.N.-but their rulers do attend occasional summit meetings that are really closer in spirit to Star Trek fan conventions.
That’s not a putdown; as George Carlin once said: “If people stand in a circle long enough, they’ll eventually begin to dance.” Everybody wants to belong, to connect, to have a legacy; and that’s what makes this affectionate, non-judgemental portrait so relatable.
Winston Churchill once said: “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others.” It’s tough to argue with that, especially after watching one of the most gripping political thrillers I’ve seen in some time. Actually, The Seoul Guardians is a documentary; but no less of a nail-biting thrill ride than John Frankenheimer’s Seven Days in May or Costa-Gavras’ Z.
On December 3, 2024, democratically elected South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, alleging political collusion between opposition party members and the North Korean government. Almost immediately, something truly extraordinary occurred- citizens, journalists, and parliamentarians spontaneously leapt into action (spoiler alert: democracy won the day).
You likely already know the gist of the story (it was all over the news), but the most dramatic and decisive moments took place inside (and outside) of the National Assembly chamber, during the course of one evening. Co-directors Jong-woo Kim, Shin-Wan Kim, and Chul-Young Cho have masterfully assembled a riveting, “fly on the wall” narrative, culled from reams of real-time footage recorded by citizens and journalists as the events of the night unfolded.
It’s like watching January 6th in reverse. Instead of an aberrant president inciting a mob of citizens to storm Congress in a brazen attempt to stop legislators from doing their jobs (thereby thwarting the democratic process), here you have a mob of citizens storming their National Assembly to help protect their elected representatives from the soldiers sent by an aberrant president to stop legislators from doing their jobs.
Filmmakers Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak share much more than the directing credits for this autobiographical documentary-they are longtime professional colleagues…and life partners. Those various degrees of collaboration didn’t hatch all at once; their “against the odds” relationship has rendered a love story as deeply personal and politically expansive as Reds or Doctor Zhivago.
Lebanese journalist Janay Boulos was working as a producer for the BBC (based in London) when the Syrian revolution exploded in the spring of 2011 after the brutal Assad regime reacted to widespread street protests with lethal force. At the time, Syrian activist and cameraman Abd Alkader Habak was living in Aleppo. Since reporters were forbidden from entering the city, Boulos needed a source who was already on the ground. Hence (as they say)…it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Drawn from 13 years worth of personal archives, the resulting film delivers a real-life tale of love and war that is by turns touching and harrowing, and ultimately…hopeful.
(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on April 17, 2026)
Look at the powerful people
Stealing the sun from the day
Wish I could do something about it
When all I can do is pray
– from “Powerful People” by Gino Vannelli
If we dig precious things from the land, we will invite disaster.
Near the Day of Purification, there will be cobwebs spun back and forth in the sky.
A container of ashes might one day be thrown from the sky, which could burn the land and boil the oceans
– Hopi Prophecies sung in the soundtrack of the film Koyannasqatsi
Next Wednesday (April 22nd) is Earth Day. You don’t seem to hear much about Earth Day anymore; I suppose the media has had other shiny things to chase after; important and impactful stories to be sure, but from a planetary perspective…will all of this fussing and fighting really matter in 50 years? As Grace Slick once sang, doesn’t mean shit to a tree. Believe me, over the millenniums Mother Nature has seen worse; and from her perspective, Earth is only mostly dead.
The Trump administration started 2026 off with an especially grim policy change: When placing limits on certain deadly air pollutants, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will no longer factor in the value of human health — only the expense of regulations for polluters.
The new policy will apply to two particularly harmful pollutants: fine particulate matter and ozone. Both have been linked to a range of health impacts, including asthma, dementia, heart disease, and premature death.
“The Trump administration is saying, literally, that they put zero value on human life,” Marshall Burke, an environmental economist at Stanford University, told The New York Times. “If your kid breathes in air pollution from a power plant or industrial source, EPA is saying that they care only insofar as cleaning up that pollution would cost the emitter.”
The change marks a significant break from precedent. For decades, the federal government has placed a monetary value on a human life — $11.7 million, to be exact — and used that metric to weigh the costs of regulation against the benefits to human health. It’s believed that this long-term practice has prevented hundreds of thousands of deaths from air pollution in the United States. […]
The Trump administration has been slashing its way through the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), claiming that states can take on more responsibility for environmental oversight. But guess what? More than half of US states are woefully unprepared. It turns out they, too, have been hacking away at their own environmental agencies for the past 15 years.
According to a new report by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), since 2010, 27 US states have downsized budgets and 31 have cut staff at their own public health and environmental agencies that usually work in collaboration with the EPA. Collectively, these states have cut about $1.4 billion from their environmental agencies, or about 33 percent of the nation’s spending on state-level environmental regulation, says the report.
“These deep reductions mean that … not only will the federal pollution cop no longer be on the beat, state authorities may not show up either,” the report notes. As a result, there will be fewer inspections of polluting industries and weaker enforcement. “It really means that more American communities are at risk of being exposed to industrial pollution,” Jen Duggan, EIP’s executive director, told usa today.
Seven states — including Texas, where industry is growing rapidly — have reduced pollution-control funding by at least one-third, increasing the risk of industrial accidents and exposure to pollution. Mississippi slashed its environmental agency’s budget by 71 percent from 2010 through 2024; South Dakota by 61 percent.
One bright spot from the report: A handful of states — including California, Colorado, and Massachusetts — have moved in the opposite direction, building up their state environmental agencies.
The four astronauts of Artemis II say their mission gave the world a sense of hope and unity at a time when both feel in short supply.
At their first Nasa news conference since returning last Friday, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen said they left as friends and came back as something closer – bound by an experience that no earthly language can fully contain.
More than the technical milestones, the mission reminded them of what being human actually means: laughter, joy, tears, and an instinct toward one another that transcends borders. […]
Artemis II carried its crew further from Earth than any humans have ever gone, swinging around the far side of the Moon in just over nine days. Victor Glover became the first black astronaut to reach deep space; Christina Koch the first woman; Jeremy Hansen the first Canadian.
For Koch, the scale of what they had done only became clear through others’ eyes when her husband told her on a video call that the mission had cut through divisions and united people. She found herself undone.
“When my husband looked me in the eye on that video call and said, ‘No, really, you’ve made a difference’,” she told reporters, “it brought tears to my eyes, and I said, that’s all we ever wanted.”
Glover talked about it being an experience shared by the entire world.
“I think something that we all feel and we try to share is how much we want to reflect back to you all how we did this, not we as a crew, we as countries and as humans did this,” he said.
Thinking about that, he said, brought to mind “the picture of the Earth as we started to go farther” as they traveled close to the moon and how they talked about “looking at you and how beautiful Earth is”.
Yes, it is quite beautiful, isn’t it?
So don’t fuck it up. Or, as Carl Sagan (more eloquently) put it:
“To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”
To honor that “pale blue dot”, my top 10 eco-flicks for Earth Day:
Chasing Ice – Jeff Orlowski’s film is glacially paced. That is, “glacial pacing” ain’t what it used to be. Glaciers are moving along (“retreating”, technically) at a pretty good clip. This does not portend well. To be less flowery: we’re fucked. According to nature photographer (and subject of Orlowski’s film) James Balog, “The story…is in the ice.”
Balog’s journey began in 2005, while on assignment in the Arctic for National Geographic to document the effect of climate change. Up until that trip, he candidly admits he “…didn’t think humans were capable” of influencing weather patterns so profoundly. His epiphany gave birth to a multi-year project utilizing modified time-lapse cameras to capture alarming empirical evidence of the effects of global warming.,
The images are beautiful, yet troubling. Orlowski’s film mirrors the dichotomy, equal parts cautionary eco-doc and art installation. The images trump the montage of inane squawking by climate deniers in the opening, proving that a picture is worth 1,000 words. Full review
The Emerald Forest– Although it may initially seem a heavy-handed (if well-meaning) “save the rain forest” polemic, John Boorman’s underrated 1985 adventure (a cross between The Searchers and Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan) goes much deeper.
Powers Boothe plays an American construction engineer working on a dam project in Brazil. One day, while his wife and young son are visiting the job site on the edge of the rain forest, the boy is abducted and adopted by an indigenous tribe who call themselves “The Invisible People”, touching off an obsessive decade-long search by the father. By the time he is finally reunited with his now-teenage son (Charley Boorman), the challenge becomes a matter of how he and his wife (Meg Foster) are going to coax the young man back into “civilization”.
Tautly directed, lushly photographed (by Philippe Rousselot) and well-acted. Rosco Pallenberg scripted (he also adapted the screenplay for Boorman’s 1981 film Excalibur).
Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster – I know what you’re thinking: there’s no accounting for some people’s tastes. But who ever said an environmental “message” movie couldn’t also provide mindless, guilty fun? Let’s have a little action. Knock over a few buildings. Wreak havoc. Crash a wild party on the rim of a volcano with some Japanese flower children. Besides, Godzilla is on our side for a change. Watch him valiantly battle Hedora, a sludge-oozing toxic avenger out to make mankind collectively suck on his grody tailpipe. And you haven’t lived until you’ve heard “Save the Earth”-my vote for “best worst” song ever from a film (much less a monster movie).
An Inconvenient Truth – I re-watched this recently; I hadn’t seen it since it opened in 2006, and it struck me how it now plays less like a warning bell and more like the nightly news. It’s the end of the world as we know it. Apocalyptic sci-fi is now scientific fact. Former VP/Nobel winner Al Gore is a Power Point-packing Rod Serling, submitting a gallery of nightmare nature scenarios for our disapproval. I’m tempted to say that Gore and director Davis Guggenheim’s chilling look at the results of unchecked global warming only reveals the tip of the iceberg…but it’s melting too fast.
Koyannisqatsi – In 1982 this genre-defying film quietly made its way around the art houses; it’s now a cult favorite. Directed by activist/ex-Christian monk Godfrey Reggio, with beautiful cinematography by Ron Fricke (who later directed Chronos, Baraka, and Samsara) and music by Philip Glass (who also scored Reggio’s sequels), it was considered a transcendent experience by some; New Age hokum by others (count me as a fan).
The title (from ancient Hopi) translates as “life out of balance” The narrative-free imagery, running the gamut from natural vistas to scenes of First World urban decay, is open for interpretation. Reggio followed up in 1988 with Powaqqatsi (“parasitic way of life”), focusing on the First World’s drain on Third World resources, then book-ended his trilogy with Naqoyqatsi (“life as war”).
Manufactured Landscapes – A unique eco-documentary from Jennifer Baichwal about photographer Edward Burtynsky, who is an “earth diarist” of sorts. While his photographs are striking, they don’t paint a pretty picture of our fragile planet. Burtynsky’s eye discerns a terrible beauty in the wake of the profound and irreversible human imprint incurred by accelerated modernization. As captured by Burtynsky’s camera, strip-mined vistas recall the stark desolation of NASA photos sent from the Martian surface; mountains of “e-waste” dumped in a vast Chinese landfill take on an almost gothic, cyber-punk dreamscape. The photographs play like a scroll through Google Earth images, as reinterpreted by Jackson Pollock. An eye-opener. Full review
Princess Mononoke – Anime master Hayao Miyazaki and his cohorts at Studio Ghibli have raised the bar on the art form over the past several decades. This 1997 Ghibli production is one of their most visually resplendent. Perhaps not as “kid-friendly” as per usual, but many of the usual Miyazaki themes are present: humanism, white magic, beneficent forest gods, female empowerment, and pacifist angst in a violent world. The lovely score is by frequent Miyazaki collaborator Joe Hisaishi. For another great Miyazaki film with an environmental message, check out Nausicaa Valley of the Wind.
Queen of the Sun – I never thought that a documentary about honeybees would make me laugh and cry-but Taggart Siegel’s 2010 film did just that. Appearing at first to be a distressing examination of Colony Collapse Syndrome, a phenomenon that has puzzled and dismayed beekeepers and scientists alike with its increasing frequency over the past few decades, the film becomes a sometimes joyous, sometimes humbling meditation on how essential these tiny yet complex social creatures are to the planet’s life cycle. Humans may harbor a pretty high opinion of our own place on the evolutionary ladder, but Siegel lays out a convincing case which proves that these busy little creatures are, in fact, the boss of us. Full review
Silent Running – In space, no one can hear you trimming the verge! Bruce Dern is an agrarian antihero in this 1972 sci-fi adventure, directed by legendary special effects wizard Douglas Trumbull. Produced around the time “ecology” was a buzzword, its message may seem a little heavy-handed today, but the film remains a cult favorite.
Dern plays the gardener on a commercial space freighter that houses several bio-domes, each dedicated to preserving a species of vegetation (in this bleak future, the Earth is barren of organic growth).
While it’s a 9 to 5 drudge gig to his blue-collar shipmates, Dern sees his cultivating duties as a sacred mission. When the interests of commerce demand the crew jettison the domes to make room for more lucrative cargo, Dern goes off his nut, eventually ending up alone with two salvaged bio-domes and a trio of droids (Huey, Dewey and Louie) who play Man Friday to his Robinson Crusoe. Joan Baez contributes two songs on the soundtrack.
Soylent Green – Based on a Harry Harrison novel, Richard Fleischer’s 1973 film is set in 2022, when traditional culinary fare is but a dim memory, due to overpopulation and environmental depletion. Only the wealthy can afford the odd tomato or stalk of celery; most of the U.S. population lives on processed “Soylent Corporation” product. The government encourages the sick and the elderly to politely move out of the way by providing handy suicide assistance centers (considering ongoing threats to our Social Security system, that doesn’t seem much of a stretch anymore).
Oh-there is some ham served up onscreen, courtesy of Charlton Heston’s scenery-chewing turn as a NYC cop who is investigating the murder of a Soylent Corporation executive. Edward G. Robinson’s moving death scene has added poignancy; as it preceded his passing by less than two weeks after the production wrapped.
Bonus Tracks!
Here’s an environmentally-sound mixtape to accompany your Earth Day activities:
(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on April 4, 2026)
Earth from space, photographed by an Artemis II crew member
For those of us of “a certain age”, that is to say, old enough to have actually witnessed the moon landing live on TV… the fact that “we” were even able to achieve this feat “by the end of the decade” (as President Kennedy projected in 1961) still feels like a pretty big deal to me.
Of course, there are still big unanswered questions out there about Life, the Universe, and Everything, but I’ll leave that to future generations. I feel that I’ve done my part…spending my formative years plunked in front of a B&W TV in my PJs eating Sugar Smacks and watching Walter Cronkite reporting live from the Cape.
Those particular memories resurfaced recently as I watched Richard Linklater’s charming 2022 animated memoir Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood, which I stumbled across on Netflix:
Of course, 10 year-old Linklater didn’t land on the moon and return safely to the Earth just ahead of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin; that’s the fantasy part of his tale. It was the earthbound elements of his narrative that triggered an emotional sense memory of being a kid again, living in suburbia in 1969 (and watching the moon landing on a boxy black and white television set).
This past Wednesday, those memories came flooding back to me like a hot flash from the end of a Saturn V rocket:
One “teeny, tiny curb” for a human…one giant leap for humankind. Flick my pocket protector and call me a space geek, but we seem to have lost that collective feeling of wonder and curiosity about the cosmos (people are too busy doom scrolling to look up and stargaze anymore). As far as I’m concerned, the Artemis II mission is a good thing.
With the madness and mayhem dominating the current news cycle, the timing of NASA’s first manned lunar mission since 1972 couldn’t be better. Frankly, it’s been a minute since I’ve had a reason to feel pride in being an American. Surely, this is a galvanizing moment for our politically fractured country; something we can all get behind, yes?
President Donald Trump released a budget blueprint on Friday calling for a 23 percent cut to NASA’s budget, two days after the agency launched four astronauts on the first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years.
The spending proposal for fiscal year 2027 is the opening salvo in a multi-month budget process. Both houses of Congress must pass their own appropriations bills, reconcile any differences between the two, and then send the final budget to the White House for President Trump’s signature. Fiscal year 2027 begins on October 1.
The White House requested a similar cut to NASA last year. The Republican-led Congress resoundingly rejected the proposal and kept NASA’s budget close to its level in the final year of the Biden administration. Like last year’s budget, the proposal from the Trump administration will undergo major changes as Congress weighs in over the coming months.
In a document explaining the NASA cuts, the Trump administration said it seeks to slash funding for “unnecessary and overpriced activities.” Under the White House plan, NASA will focus on the administration’s priority of landing humans on the Moon before the end of Trump’s term in office, then building a Moon base.ch was already effectively canceled last year due to cost overruns. […]
The most severe cuts are aimed at NASA’s science programs. The Trump administration proposes reducing science funding by nearly half, a $3.4 billion reduction compared to fiscal year 2026. The budget would cancel more than 40 “low-priority missions.” The budget overview released by the White House on Friday does not identify which missions would be terminated, other than Mars Sample Return, which was already effectively canceled last year due to cost overruns.
The White House asked for a cut to NASA’s science budget of a similar magnitude for fiscal year 2026, but Congress balked.
The Planetary Society decried the cuts as “draconian” in a press release on Friday.
And yes, I’ve seen the friendly fire on social media regarding the cost of the Artemis II mission. I “get” what some of my fellow well-meaning social progressives are saying, but here’s a little perspective. The 2026 fiscal budget for NASA was $24.44 billion. Granted, that is a hefty chunk of change, but a mere pittance, compared to this:
President Donald Trump has proposed boosting defense spending to $1.5 trillion in his 2027 budget released Friday, the largest such request in decades, reflecting his emphasis on U.S. military investments over domestic programs.
The sizable increase for the Pentagon, some 44%, had been telegraphed by the Republican president even before the U.S.-led war against Iran. The president’s plan would also reduce spending on non-defense programs by 10%.
“President Trump promised to reinvest in America’s national security infrastructure, to make sure our nation is safe in a dangerous world,” wrote Budget Director Russell Vought.
The president’s annual budget is considered a reflection of the administration’s values and does not carry the force of law. The massive document typically highlights an administration’s priorities, but Congress, which handles federal spending issues, is free to reject it and often does.
Trump, speaking ahead of an address to the nation this week about the Iran war, signaled the military is his priority, setting up a clash ahead in Congress.
I don’t know about you, but I would much rather see my hard-earned tax dollars go toward exploring strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before…as opposed to empowering the baser instincts of an earthbound species that has been hell-bent on self destruction since Day 1.
Back to the mission at hand-a musical voyage to the far side of the moon, and returning you safely back to the Earth. Take your protein pills and put your headphones on:
Frank Sinatra – “Fly Me to the Moon”
Moxy Früvous – “You Will Go to the Moon”
Jonathan King – “Everyone’s Gone to the Moon”
Rush – “Countdown”
David Bowie – “Space Oddity”
Elton John – “Rocket Man”
Harry Nilsson – “Spaceman”
Deep Purple – “Space Truckin”
Montrose – “Space Station #5”
Kate Bush – “The Big Sky”
Prism – “Spaceship Superstar”
Yes – “Starship Trooper”
Moody Blues – “Floating”
The Rolling Stones – “2000 Light Years From Home”
The Orb – “Backside of the Moon”
The Police – “Walking on the Moon”
Ian Gillan Band – “Five Moons”
King Crimson – “Moonchild”
Nick Drake – “Pink Moon”
Paul McCartney & Wings – “Venus and Mars”
Jefferson Starship – “Have You Seen the Stars Tonight?”
(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on March 28, 2026)
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us
— from Henry V, by William Shakespeare
Five to one, baby, one in five:
OK-it wasn’t exactly the St. Crispin’s Day speech, but close enough.
On his MSNOW show this morning, Ali Velshi highlighted a fascinating bit of civil rights history, recounted in this PBS article:
Imagine climbing up 83 steps. Perhaps that doesn’t seem like such a big deal—but that’s likely because you’d be walking. What would you do, though, if you couldn’t?
That was the premise behind the Capitol Crawl, a now-iconic protest to demand the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA was a landmark civil rights bill aimed at providing basic amenities and protections to some 40 million mentally and physically disabled citizens. Today we take many of the ADA’s changes to society—curb cuts in sidewalks and closed captioning on entertainment, to name just two examples—for granted. But the act’s passage, in 1990, was anything but guaranteed.
By spring of that year, the ADA had been trapped in legislative limbo for months. Despite the strong support of then-President George H.W. Bush, the act was languishing in Congress, caught in the deliberations of House subcommittees. Many U.S. Representatives balked at the expense and complication posed by the ADA’s requirements.
Enter ADAPT—American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit—a grassroots disability rights organization that had been staging protests across the country even before its official founding in 1983. On March 12, 1990, ADAPT led a procession of more than 500 marchers, including other disability activists and lobbyists, from the White House to the west side of the U.S. Capitol. There, in the kind of guerrilla civic action for which the organization had become known, scores of marchers dropped to the ground and began the long journey up the hard marble stairs leading to the “People’s House.” They climbed backwards or on their hands and knees, step-by-painstaking-step. “As I’m seeing the people around me,” recalled Anita Cameron, one of the ADAPT activists who made her way up that day, “I’m like, ‘whoa, we are doing it. We are really doing it. We’re, like, crawling into history.’”
Rolled up in their pockets, protestors carried copies of the Declaration of Independence. Once they finally summitted the stairs, ADAPT reps delivered those scrolls to members of Congress as a reminder of the ADA’s importance. And while media coverage of the event wasn’t extensive, but the publicity that was garnered by the Crawl was impactful. “The pictures were striking,” said The New York Times several days later, “just as they were intended to be: Children paralyzed from the waist down crawling up the steps of the Capitol.” Six months later, following the bill’s now-remarkably swift passage through the House, President George H. W. Bush signed the ADA into law.
“We did it to show that we disabled people, as second class citizens, needed change. And the vehicle for how it was going to change was the ADA,” Cameron told American Experience, reflecting on the Capitol Crawl’s significance. “But I think a lot of people forget that the ADA was the floor. It was not the ceiling. So it was the beginning of rights for us, but it was not the end.”
One of the youngest participants in the Capitol Crawl was 8 year-old Jennifer Keelan:
(engage shame mode) For the life of me, I don’t remember hearing about this action at the time; Velshi’s retrospective today was my first awareness (and let me tell you-it certainly turned on the waterworks). How could I have missed it? It really bothered me; I turned it over in my mind. It wasn’t like I wasn’t aware of world events (I was working in radio…I announced news stories gathered off the AP wire as part of my weekday morning show, for god’s sake).
I contemplated further. In 1990, I was 34. Over the previous 2 years, I had shed 75 pounds, and had walked, jogged, biked and cross-country skied myself into the best physical shape of my adult life. So I wasn’t thinking twice about everyday physical activities like walking up and down stairs, stepping on or off curbs, or simply walking, for that matter. Consequently, like most able-bodied people, I didn’t stop and think about what it was like to be one of those folks who find such everyday physical activities a genuine challenge (if not insurmountable).
But nowadays, as I am “one of those folks” (stairs and curbs are a challenge, and I can’t walk far without some kind of assistive device)…I “get” it. Hence the waterworks when Ali Velshi ran the clip of Jennifer Keelan reaching that top step; I instantly grokked that it was thanks to the courage of activists like that little girl and her cohorts that I have the dedicated access to parking, transit and buildings that I take for granted as a (now) disabled person (pushing 70).
I also connected the dots between 88 year-old Jane Fonda and 8 year-old Jennifer Keelan:
They aren’t/weren’t too tired to keep pushing for change.
It’s in that spirit that I tip my hat to everyone hitting the streets today to exercise their First Amendment rights and (peacefully) push for change, and humbly offer this mixtape to perk them up should they feel…tired.
Bruce Springsteen – “Streets of Minneapolis”
Billy Bragg – “City of Heroes”
The Beatles – “Revolution“
Frank Zappa – “Trouble Every Day”
Elvis Costello – “Night Rally”
Green Day – “American Idiot”
The Clash – “Clampdown”
Woody Guthrie – “All You Fascists Bound to Lose”
Bob Marley & the Wailers – “Get Up, Stand Up”
The Doors – “Five to One”
Graham Nash – “Chicago“
The Style Council – “The Whole Point of No Return”
Tracy Chapman – “Talkin’ About a Revolution”
John Lennon – “Power to the People”
Sly & the Family Stone – “Stand!”
Heaven 17 – “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang”
Public Enemy – “Fight the Power”
Gil Scott-Heron – “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”
(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on March 21, 2026)
“The atomic bomb made the prospect of future war unendurable. It has led us up those last few steps to the mountain pass; and beyond there is a different country.”
-J. Robert Oppenheimer
Well, this happened a few days ago:
Trump: "Some of this weaponry is unthinkable. You don't even want to know about it. Oh, you could end this thing in two seconds if you wanted to."
Now, I don’t mean to be alarmist, but I recently posted this on Bluesky:
I know, I know…there is enough happening right now to keep you up nights without adding that old chestnut to the mix. That said…there must be something in the air:
As Netflix hit “Adolescence” continues to make waves and potentially inspire policy, the team behind it has turned its attention to a new impactful project – a “Threads” reboot.
Warp Films has confirmed it will be turning the BBC’s pivotal TV film into a series. For those unfamiliar, “Threads” aired on BBC Two in 1984 and depicted the devastating effects of a fictional nuclear apocalypse.
Mark Herbert, founder and chief exec of Warp, said: “Threads was, and remains, an unflinchingly honest drama that imagines the devastating effects of nuclear conflict on ordinary people. This story aligns perfectly with our ethos of telling powerful, grounded narratives that deeply connect with audiences.
“Re-imagining this classic film as a TV drama gives us a unique opportunity to explore its modern relevance.”
Emily Feller, chief creative officer and exec producer, added: “This adaptation will allow us to uncover fresh interpretations in light of today’s world. We imagine highlighting how resilience and connection can offer hope even in the most challenging of times. […]
Not much else is known about the reboot at this stage, or which, if any, original cast members might make a return.
Threads debuted on the BBC in 1984, later airing in the U.S. on TBS. Director Mick Jackson delivers an uncompromising realism that makes The Day After (the 1983 U.S. TV drama that depicted the aftermath of nuclear war on an American city) look like a Teletubbies episode. It’s a speculative narrative that takes a medium sized city (Sheffield) and depicts what would likely happen to its populace during and after a nuclear strike, in graphic detail. The message is simple and direct-nothing good comes out of a nuclear conflict. It’s a living, breathing Hell for all concerned-and anyone “lucky” enough to survive will soon wish they were dead.
There was a proliferation of Cold War nuclear paranoia films in the 80s. In addition to the aforementioned made-for-TV movies Threads and The Day After, other notable releases included the funny-scary doc Atomic Cafe (1982), the riveting made-for-TV thriller Special Bulletin (1983), and the feature films War Games (1983), One Night Stand (Australia, 1984), TheManhattan Project (1986), the animated drama When the Wind Blows (UK, 1986) and Miracle Mile (1988).
There was definitely “something in the air” in the early 80s, vis-à-vis the looming specter of global thermonuclear annihilation. The 1980 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan led to America’s withdrawal from the SALT II arms treaty (signed by President Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in 1979, the treaty had limited the total of both nations’ nuclear forces to 2,250 delivery vehicles). When President Reagan took office in 1981, he wasted no time ratcheting up anti-Red rhetoric and aggressive posturing toward the USSR (UK PM Margaret Thatcher added her twopence to the chiding, further fueling the unease).
1983 was a particularly dicey year on the nuclear front, beginning with Reagan’s infamous “evil empire” speech in March (he was addressing the National Association of Evangelicals). That was also the year that Reagan proposed his so-called “Star Wars” defense strategy (aka the Strategic Defense Initiative) which he envisioned as a space-based shield. Critics (and the Soviets, unsurprisingly) took the view that this would increase the threat of a nuclear war by giving the U.S. a more assured first-strike capability.
1983 also saw mobile, intermediate-range Pershing II ballistic missiles deployed by the U.S. Army at American bases in West Germany and aimed at targets in the western Soviet Union. And then there were two unnervingly close calls in the Fall of that year:
At the height of the Cold War, the Soviets designed an early-warning radar system meant to track fast-moving threats to increase the chance of reprisal. On September 26, 1983, however, the system, code-named Oko, malfunctioned. At around midnight, Oko’s alarms rang out, alerting the base of one incoming nuclear missile. The screen read, “LAUNCH,” which was not a warning, but an automatic order to prepare for retaliation.
Believing that a U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was incoming, the base went into a panic. However, some officers on duty were skeptical that the United States would choose to send only one ICBM, knowing that it could not affect the Soviets’ counter-strike capability. Stanislov Petrov, an officer that helped create the code for the early-warning software, also knew that Oko was prone to error. He reset the system, but the alarms persisted.
Rather than following protocol, which entailed alerting superiors up the chain of command, Petrov awaited corroborating evidence. No evidence came, and the alarms soon stopped. Petrov’s actions, or inaction, almost certainly averted a nuclear disaster.
Just 11 days later, NATO forces in Brussels took part in a joint military exercise that simulated a response to a hypothetical Soviet nuclear attack. The exercise was code-named Able Archer 83.
The primary purpose of the exercise was to test the command-and-control procedures for NATO’s nuclear forces in the event of a global crisis. Unlike previous wargames, however, Able Archer 83 featured new elements specifically meant to confuse and disorient the Soviets.
KGB observers alerted Moscow of the unusual activity, and paranoia set in. Working off dubious intelligence that a NATO offensive against the U.S.S.R. could be cloaked under the guise of a military exercise, the Soviets began preparations for a large-scale retaliation. Then Soviet leader Yuri Andropov mobilized entire military divisions, transported nuclear weapons to their launch sites, and scrambled a fleet of bombers carrying nuclear warheads. Military command handed Andropov the nuclear briefcase, known in Russia as the “cheget.”
Lenoard Perroots, a high-ranking intelligence officer for the U.S. Air Force stationed in Europe, observed that the Soviets were responding as though the exercise was real. In what the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board has called a “fortuitous, if ill informed” decision, Perroots did not reciprocate by raising western asset alert levels. Instead, he waited. The Soviets eventually realized that the exercise was not a surprise attack and aborted their planned response.
This was the shaky and unsettling political climate in November of 1983, which is when Testament, a modestly budgeted PBS Playhouse production, opened in theaters. The official PBS premiere wasn’t until a year later in November of 1984; the film had been so well-received in previews that Paramount Pictures gave it a theatrical release (while this has become standard practice for production/streaming studios like Amazon, Apple TV+ and Netflix, it was unusual for the time).
“They” say that history is, if anything, cyclical. As Fate would have it, not two days before the current occupant of the White House whimsically mused “Oh, you could end this thing in two seconds if you wanted to” within earshot of the prime minister of the only nation on earth to date that has experienced the horrific effects of nuclear war firsthand, Criterion has reissued Testament on Blu-ray.
Beautifully directed by Lynne Littman, Testament (with a screenplay adapted by John Sacred Young from a story by Carol Amen) takes a low key approach, but pulls no punches; I think this is what gives her film’s anti-nuke message more teeth and makes its scenario more relatable than Stanley Kramer’s similarly-framed but more sanitized and preachy 1959 drama On the Beach (or more contemporaneously, the relatively histrionic and sensationalistic 1983 TV movieThe Day After).
Jane Alexander (who received a well-deserved Best Actress nomination for her work here), her husband (William DeVane) and three kids (Roxana Zal, Ross Harris, Lukas Haas) live in sleepy Hamlin, California, where afternoon cartoons are interrupted by a news flash that nuclear explosions have occurred in New York. Then there is a flash of a different kind when nearby San Francisco (where DeVane has gone on a business trip) receives a direct strike.
There is no exposition on the political climate that precipitates the attacks; this is a wise decision, as it puts the focus on the humanistic message of the film. All of the post-nuke horrors ensue, but they are presented sans the melodrama that informs many entries in the genre. The fact that the nightmarish scenario unfolds so deliberately, and amidst such everyday suburban banality, is what makes it very difficult to shake off.
As the children (and adults) of Hamlin succumb to the inevitable scourge of radiation sickness and steadily “disappear”, like the children of the ‘fairy tale’ Hamlin, you are left haunted by the final line of the school production of “The Pied Piper” glimpsed earlier in the film… “Your children are not dead. They will return when the world deserves them.”
Criterion’s Blu-ray features a new, director-approved 4K digital restoration. The new print is gorgeous; a night and day upgrade from the 2004 Paramount DVD (which I will now happily retire). Criterion has ported over two of the extra features from the Paramount release, Testament at 20 (featuring a moving 2004 reunion of the director and principal cast) and Nuclear Thoughts (featuring nuclear science experts)
Other extras include an engaging new conversation between Sam Wasson and director Littman (she has had a fascinating career), two restored short documentaries by Littman (from 1976 and 1985), and an audio recording of Jane Alexander reading the short story “The Last Testament” (on which the film was based).
Highly recommended…watch it while you can. And don’t forget to say your prayers.
One more thing…
More 80s Cold War nostalgia- Siskel & Ebert’s Testament review:
