Sam Lasman
Sam Lasman
Recent Stories
LASMAN: Acting, nationally
Beartrap
Most of us support free speech and artistic expression. As enlightened, creative and (largely) liberal young people, we value the right of artists to produce whatever they want. Should this prove awful, objectionable, even offensive, we trust that wider cultural forces will react accordingly, contesting bad art and relegating it to obscurity or infamy.
LASMAN: The real, complex Iran
Beartrap
Whenever I tell people that I’m studying Persian the response is often some variation on the same question: Does studying Iran’s language and culture give you a different perspective on what’s happening there now?
LASMAN: The Periwinkler’s Dilemma
Beartrap
Despite unseasonably warm weather, the water temperature in the Essex marshes was hovering just above freezing, and slivers of ice floated out with the tide. I had just finished Michael Pollan’s food-sourcing bible, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and had been inspired to go on a local foraging expedition of my own.
Across enemy lines and back
This is shocking, so brace yourself.
LASMAN: The social engineering network
Until recently, it was quite easy to declare your public endorsement of rape jokes. You had only to log onto Facebook, navigate to fan pages like “We’re gonna have sex tonight. Why? Because im stronger than you are,” and click “like.” Your risible lack of taste was then broadcast to your entire social network, and you publicly joined the ranks – which reached the hundreds of thousands – of those incapable of distinguishing humor from violence against women.
LASMAN: Revolutions and pacifism
Given the nation’s political divisions and the less than explicit platform of the movement, it seems that such national solidarity reflects less a sea change of public opinion and more the growth of an inchoate malaise.
The Copper-Penis Owl WILL Get You!
Given that this was more or less the only traumatic thing I had to deal with as a small suburban child, I invested quite a lot of worry in it.
LASMAN: Political guitar heroes
For many of us, the tag “socially conscious artist” conjures up images of guitar-strumming prophets, crusading documentary filmmakers, and courageous novelists.
LASMAN: New Year’s narratives
Beartrap
The Jewish High Holidays, which began this week and will end in ten days after The Day of Atonement, have always fascinated me — they reverse the trite formula of the New Year’s Resolution, based on regret and recommitment.
9/11 Reflection: Sam Lasman
I am not qualified to write about the personal dimension of 9/11.