by Mauro Carbone Mauro Carbone is Distinguished Professor of Aesthetics at the Faculté de Philosophie of the University Jean Moulin Lyon 3, and an Honorary Member of the Institut Universitaire de France. Influenced by phenomenology, in particular by Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy, his present researches focus on the contemporary screen experiences and...

The pandemic has taken a sledgehammer to most of our contemporary experience, and the global movie industry has been especially bludgeoned. This time, is cinema finally dead?

Artist Dick Blau got a dog. Out of his walks, he got to know the street, to see the traces of those who had passed through, to meditate its random, often mysterious beauty, and to witness the moments of its pathos.

In a commencement speech to Kenyon College, David Foster Wallace tells a story that sounds like this: “There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?”

The short story of the U.S. 21th century is the tale of four disasters. The first was the response to the 9/11 attacks in 2001–the invasion and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the ensuing era of permanent war and suffering in the greater Middle East. The second was the failed response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

by Rachel Ida Buff Rachel Buff is Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an immigration historian. Her most recent book is A is For Asylum Seeker: Words for People on the Move (2020). This essay was originally published on Medium and is reprinted here with permission. I. Caravan:...

By Dario Cecchi Dario Cecchi is a professor of philosophy at the Sapienza University of Rome. This article initially appeared on Fata Morgana Web and is reprinted here with permission. Author’s Note Italy is the European country in which COVID-19 first started its spread and the one in which the number...

By Richard Grusin Richard Grusin is Director of the Center for 21st Century Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and author of Premediation: Affect and Mediality After 9/11. This essay was originally published on Fata Morgana Web in English and Italian. I am writing this short piece during Passover 2020, shortly after...