Stan Persky
Stan Persky taught philosophy at Capilano University in N. Vancouver, B.C. He received the 2010 B.C. Lieutenant-Governor's Award for Literary Excellence. His most recent books are Reading the 21st Century: Books of the Decade, 2000-2009 (McGill-Queen's, 2011), Post-Communist Stories: About Cities, Politics, Desires (Cormorant, 2014), and Letter from Berlin: Essays 2015-2016 (Dooney's, 2017).
The Anger of a Happy Warrior
U.S. socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont lays out his ideas for how to thnk about and remedy the injustices of America’s extreme capitalist system in his new book, “It’s OK To Be Angry About Capitalism.” The 81-year-old political activist remains engaged and even iconic as he counsels anger at the powers-that-be and assures readers it’s okay to be angry. Stan Persky thinks it’s a compelling argument.
Read More
From the Archives: 20 Years Ago, in 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq. Here’s what Dooney’s said about the imperial “punitive expedition.”
From the Archives: Twenty years ago, the U.S. invaded Iraq. Here’s what Dooney’s said two decades ago about the American imperial “punitive expedition,” as it rolled across Iraq.
Read More
Women I Read: International Women’s Day
An International Women’s Day game: who would be on your list? One way to mark IWD: thinking about the women writers we read.
Read More
Joined at the Mind: Brian Fawcett (1944-2022)
Brian Fawcett wrote books for people who find television too slow. Stan Persky remembers a writer who never forgot his hometown, and with whom he shared a “joint mind.”
Read More
Cuckoo Coup
Stan Persky reflects on the ex-prez’s Jan. 6 coup attempt, and the danger that the “next coup” poses to democracy in a post-truth era.
Read More
Far from the Madding Crowd
Douglas Murray’s “The Madness of Crowds,” a critique of the “social justice movement,” is a conservative writer’s response to gays, feminists, race, and trans people. Stan Persky reviews it, keeping an eye on the tripwires in an ideological minefield.
Read More
If it quacks like a Duck, it might not be a Duck, it might be just a Quack. If it sounds like Donald Trump… well, he probably said it, or maybe it was Fox News, or QAnon, or whatever.
Did Trump say it? Did he deny saying it? Who knows?
Read More
Apropos of Woody Allen: The Anxiety of Being… and don’t forget Nothingness
Woody Allen’s autobiography is not-so-great, but the films are more than good. Stan Persky reviews the book, the scandals, and the stuff on the silver screen.
Read More
Paul Krugman vs. the Policy Proposals of the Living Dead
Paul Krugman’s Arguing With Zombies drives a stake through the heart of “zombie ideas.” The premier U.S. op-ed columnist who writes honestly about dishonesty.
Read More
Once in Europa: What do the 2019 EU election results mean?
The rightwing populist tsunami didn’t happen; Greens blossom; Europe fragments, pro-EU majority maintained.
Read More