Hammer & Glass: Essays

“Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it,” Brecht observed. “If graffiti could change anything it would be illegal,” Banksy added. Fabulist writers reflect herein on art, and its revelations and impacts, in this modern world.

How ‘Horta-nomics’ can save Star Trek’s socialist utopia from the horrors of the dilithium mines

By Edmund Schluessel | Jun 19, 2020

This moment — Spock’s mind-meld with the Horta in “Devil in the Dark” -- is the instant when the socialist ...

What Poe can teach us about the pandemic

By Josh Wilson | May 1, 2020

But Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence ...

‘Dark Phoenix’ and the persistence of Jean Grey

By Josh Wilson | Jun 15, 2019

Temptation, manipulation and gaslighting can’t keep Marvel’s mutant goddess down She’s a goddess of fire and destruction, dangerous and beautiful, ...