Ralph Hanson

A Few More Christmas Movies - Living in a Media World We are at the time of year when popular Christmas/holiday movies start their omnipresence. My community-run World Theatre, where I volunteer at frequently, will have their usual lineup of Planes, Trai...

www.ralphehanson.com/2025/11/25/a...

Want to go beyond the same old list of Christmas movies that dominate cable every year? Here are a few suggestions. (link in the comments.

I'm back - Frankenstein, Meta & A-ha! - Living in a Media World Editor’s Note: Sorry to have gone dark for the last couple of months. It’s been a difficult time. But I have not forgotten my blog, which I’ve had going since 2004. Going to get started back today wit...

After a long break, my blog is back: Frankenstein, Meta & A-ha!
www.ralphehanson.com/2025/11/19/i...

Column | Food critic Tom Sietsema is stepping down — and dropping his anonymity After a quarter-century of reviewing restaurants, donning disguises and turning down photos, The Post’s food critic is ready for his next course.

WaPo’s Tom Sietsema announces he is ending his 25-year run as food critic. Can’t wait to see his next course. Tom, along with former casual dining writer Tim Carman, shaped so much of my favorite dining in DC when I lived out east and during visits. wapo.st/46WGWtW

Michael Eisner @Michael Eisner X.com Where has all the leadership gone? If not for university presidents, law firm managing partners, and corporate chief executives standing up against bullies, who then will step up for the first amendment? The "suspending indefinitely" of Jimmy Kimmel immediately after the Chairman of the FCC's aggressive yet hollow threatening of the Disney Company is yet another example of out-of-control intimidation. Maybe the Constitution should have said, "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, except in one's political or financial self-interest." By-the-way, for the record, this ex-CEO finds Jimmy Kimmel very talented and funny. 10:17 AM • 9/19/25 • 208K Views

Michael Eisner, who served as CEO of Disney for 21 years and acquired ABC while he was in charge, slams his successor Bob Iger for bending the knee.

How can it have been 24 years? Remembering 9/11 - Living in a Media World 9/11/25 Editor’s note: Today is the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I know better now than to try to show the “Welcome to the Rock” clip from the 9/11-themed musical Come From Away as my pre-cla...

How can it have been 24 years? Remembering 9/11 #Sept11
www.ralphehanson.com/2025/09/11/h...

So sorry to hear that Kirk has died. And news is breaking of a school shooting in Colorado. When will we put a stop to this madness.

Will Kirk's shooting get more attention than the murder of a Minnesota legislator and her husband, and the shooting of another Minnesota legislator and his wife? Does anyone even remember that those things happened? We cannot continue with this level of political violence.

Follow my 2025 JMC 406 Blogging Students - You'll find both their blogs and their Threads feeds here. #jmc406

www.ralphehanson.com/2025/09/08/f...

If you go to turn-of-the-previous-century rural cemeteries you will see so many gravestones for children who died of illnesses we now stop with vaccines. It's heartbreaking that we are considering returning to that tragic time.

Florida moves to end all school vaccine mandates, first in nation to do so Florida Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo criticized school vaccine mandates, which every state has, and likened them to slavery.

Florida, You claim to be a pro-life state and yet by eliminating vaccine mandates for schools you are eliminating one of the most life saving medical developments of the last three centuries! Vaccines depend on near universal use for effectiveness. This will kill children.

wapo.st/4p68Vzy

This week my JMC 406 Blogging and Commentary students were asked to do one of their first posts by listing 10 Threads accounts they are following and why. Who would you recommend? (Or people on Bluesky!) Here's my 2025 list:
www.ralphehanson.com/2025/09/01/t...

OG Blockbuster Jaws Back in Theaters for 50th Anniversary - Living in a Media World Jaws, the OG summer blockbuster, is showing for the next week in theaters for its 50th anniversary. You do not want to miss this groundbreaking film on the big screen! Here in Kearney, NE, it’s showin...

www.ralphehanson.com/2025/08/29/o...

Jaws, the OG summer blockbuster, is showing for the next week at The World Theatre for its 50th anniversary. You do not want to miss this groundbreaking film on the big screen! Link in the comments for the backstory on this groundbreaking film.

62 years ago, MLK gave his “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington. Let freedom ring!
www.ralphehanson.com/2025/08/28/6...

‘Hot Wasps’ Found at Nuclear Facility in South Carolina

I want to buy the movie rights to this article! Radioactive wasp nests found near South Carolina reactor clean-up site.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/s...

Brad Pitt's "F1" adds to the pantheon of great racing movies - Living in a Media World This weekend, our local community The World Theatre will be showing Brad Pitt’s Formula One racing movie “F1.” As always, tickets are just $5 with popcorn and soda each available from $1-$3. Bit of a ...

Brad Pitt’s “F1” adds to the pantheon of great racing movies. You can see it this weekend at The World Theatre's big screen for just $5! I also take a look at a number of other recent and vintage racing racing movies you will want to check out as well.
www.ralphehanson.com/2025/07/28/b...

Everyone's Gone to the Movies - Original Star Wars Edition - Living in a Media World Editor’s Note: We’re going to have two or three summer movie blog posts coming up in the next week. For this one we’re looking at a rare screening of the original non-special-edition Star Wars. Origin...

Original 1977 Star Wars gets a rare screening by the British Film Institute. Han shoots first! #StarWars
www.ralphehanson.com/2025/07/12/e...

Now that would be fun...

Trump’s social media company strikes deal with friendly news outlet Truth+, a new streaming service attached to the Truth Social platform, will expand globally, featuring Trump-friendly Newsmax.

I talked with @sarahellison about the facially absurd situation in which a right-wing news outlet is now in business with a company named after and heavily invested in by the president of the United States while regularly reporting about him: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Media giants doing the come together/separation dance - Living in a Media World Where have I been? Busy end of the semester and then a fair bit of traveling with family and on the motorcycle. Still have a fair amount of travel coming up, but will try to keep up better here. Warne...

Media giants doing the come together/separation dance.
Warner Bros. Discovery following the steps of News Corp/Fox and Viacom/CBS/Paramount. #medialiteracy
www.ralphehanson.com/2025/06/17/m...

The FCC is quietly contemplating a fundamental restructuring of all broadcasting in the United States, via a new DRM-based standard for digital television equipment, enforced by a private “security authority” with control over licensing, encryption, and compliance.

Students using AI to write papers for class is one of the big crises facing higher education. Their goal is to complete the assignment with the least effort, not actually learn the material. And the AI generally creates a poor answer that doesn't actually meet the assignment.

Extended threads from @jayrosen.bsky.social are always worth paying attention to.

Free Speech and High School Students - Who Controls What Gets Printed? - Living in a Media World It’s never good for a high school when a reporter or editor of the school paper is writing a commentary for the Washington Post. Generally, when that happens, the school administration or school board...

Want to put together an online assignment dealing with student free speech? Start with this case study looking at a high school newspaper that got shut down for stories about LGBTQ+ students. #CommunicationLaw

www.ralphehanson.com/2025/04/27/f...

The Way

How "Death of a Unicorn" connects with reality - Living in a Media World So there is a strange, violent, bloody, incredibly funny movie out this spring called Death of a Unicorn starring Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Téa Leoni, and Richard E. Grant. Dear Wife and I saw it Thurs...

So aside from being a completely made-up horror/comedy movie, how close is Death of a Unicorn to reality? Surprisingly close... #DeathOfAUnicorn
www.ralphehanson.com/2025/04/25/h...

Sylvia Poggioli Sylvia Poggioli is senior European correspondent for NPR's foreign desk covering political, economic, and cultural news in Italy, the Vatican, Western Europe and the Balkans.

And who is Sylvia Poggioli? #popefrancis
www.npr.org/people/21010...

Former NPR European correspondent Sylvia Poggioli on Pope Francis Former NPR senior European correspondent Sylvia Poggioli, who covered Rome for many years and covered Pope Francis, discusses news of the pope's death at age 88.

Ruth Sherlock's reporting on Pope Francis' death on NPR's morning news podcast was excellent, but it just didn't seem right that it wasn't the voice of retired European reporter Sylvia Poggioli. But, of course, she could be heard on Morning Edition. #PopeFrancis
www.npr.org/2025/04/21/n...

I'll do a proper thread on this tomorrow hopefully, but the short version is:

George Lucas began changing Star Wars within two months of its first release, even as it was still in cinemas.

And the history of its releases, and Lucas' battle for his right to constantly change it, is fascinating.