Historical fiction—even alternate history—poses a unique challenge to authors: the ordinary circumstances of the past are not those of the present. In writing my novel, I came to a scene where the protagonist jury-rigs a primitive battery. This being 15th century Italy, this is a fairly impressive feat. I was ready to detail how she …
Category: food history
Monday Link: More Herman and Chomsky, the Fermi Paradox, and a Timeline of Food
In researching some of last week’s posts, I happened upon this article reprinted on Noam Chomsky’s website. I have yet to read the report in its entirety, but it is an interesting look at both criticisms and defenses of the Herman-Chomsky propaganda model of mass media. The author (who is not Chomsky or Herman) also …
This Week on Runicfire: April 1 – 7
I hate doing anything important around the first of April. It always makes me feel silly. But with that aside, here’s this week’s schedule. Monday’s links cover a little more on the propaganda model of mass media, the Fermi paradox (or why we haven’t made contact with aliens yet), and the history of food. Wednesday continues the …