Narrative, Deconstruction, and Counter-terrorism

My colleagues at the strategy, national security, and military affairs journal The Bridge published my review today of some recent works by Ajit Maan, who brings a background in post-structuralist literary theory to her work in counter-terrorism. The post includes an extended close analysis of a recent ISIS video to highlight the care Daesh takes in producing and editing its propaganda (warning: the video is very graphic). Maan’s work points the way toward how high-level literary theory can help guide the use of “soft power” on behalf of democratic, post-colonial, and multi-cultural ideals—a fascinating and important blend of the philosophical and the practical.

 

Edward Coke, Meet Humphrey Bogart

My latest video is about rare books, jazz, the passage of time, and old movies … and the law reports of the great jurist Edward Coke:

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For a 1080p version for the most current systems, click here. For multiple formats on my YouTube channel, here (select the settings tab on the lower-right corner of the frame—that’s the wheel icon, the third icon from the right).

A publisher, a library, a cemetery, a party

In part three of “Walking with Horatio Alger,” I take a train ride to Philadelphia’s Chinatown, spend an afternoon in a lonely academic library, drive to a Massachusetts cemetery while listening to Fats Waller, and relax at a party with a bunch of fun-loving kids. How can video help bring a 1909 edition of Ragged Dick back into some of its original spatial and temporal relationships?

Here’s the complete video:

Here are links to individual sections: part one; part two; and—the latest—part three.

 

 

Walking with Horatio Alger

Horatio Alger doesn’t have much to do with law or legal history—except for the extraordinary fact that he was Justice Benjamin Cardozo’s private tutor for a spell. But I hope you’ll enjoy this video all the same. It’s about a wonderful old book I found a couple of weeks ago after a long hike.

The video is the first, draft installment in a series which, among other things, is giving me great practice in video editing in Adobe Premiere Pro—which, in turn, will allow me to create a long-planned series of videos that will tell the story of the development of the common law through the linked story of ten rare books.

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September 13, 2014: This post has been moved to March 30, 2014 for organizational purposes.