PinnedMichael CarlsonAT MOUNT RUSHMOREOne Sunday evening in 2017, I took my son to see Mount Rushmore. The monument’s approach had been taken over by MAGA, shouting for TrumpAug 14, 2022Aug 14, 2022
Michael CarlsonTHE LAST CAUSE: HOW MYTH DEFINES AND DIVIDES AMERICA, or Where Did Fu Manchu Go Wrong?What can classic American myths tell us about the election? Richard Slotkin’s A Great Disorder explains & warns us, as Fu Manchu did in…Nov 3Nov 3
Michael CarlsonHALLOWEEN’S POLITICS: Donald Trump’s Three RsWill the US election be decided by voters crippled by emotional arrest? Trump’s three Rs, Rallies, Reality TV & Rasslin, hope it will be.Oct 31Oct 31
Michael CarlsonCITY IN RUINS: DON WINSLOW’S FINAL EPIC TALEDon Winslow’s last novel finishes his retelling of the Aeneid in modern crime fiction terms. A fitting career climax from a great writerMay 3May 3
Michael CarlsonOJ SIMPSON AUCTION: PRICES SLASHEDThe auction of OJ property ordered to help pay the civil judgement in the Brown/Goodman murders was, not surprisingly, a zoo. I was there.Apr 11Apr 11
Michael CarlsonMICHAEL CONNELLY’S RESURRECTION WALKMickey Haller, The Lincoln Lawyer, hires his ex-cop half-brother Harry Bosch to work on the dark side, a free a victim of a police frame upMar 18Mar 18
Michael CarlsonTHE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION AT SIXTY: STILL HAZY (& CRAZY) AFTER ALL THESE YEARS60 years after JFK’s murder, the story remains untold & the literature with it. Why it’s important not to dismiss it as conspiracy theory”Nov 21, 20232Nov 21, 20232
Michael CarlsonDAMAR HAMLIN: THE INJURY THAT SHOOK THE SHIELDDamar Hamlin’s injury was a problem, beyond player safety. How the NFL proceeded with football & protected the NFL’s image is revealingJan 7, 2023Jan 7, 2023
Michael CarlsonL.A.’s Finest: Michael Connelly & Robert Crais Write CrimeLos Angeles crime writers haven’t come any better than Michael Connelly & Robert Crais over the past 35 years. Both have new novels out nowNov 17, 2022Nov 17, 2022
Michael CarlsonKENNETH STARR: beyond the ObituaryAn obituary is not an analysis of a past political event, so how far does one disentangle Kenneth Starr from the Clinton Impeachment?Sep 25, 2022Sep 25, 2022