The two most disturbing movies that I have ever seen were set in New Zealand. Once Were Warriors is a difficult story of a Maori family trying to stay together in a modern era, and Heavenly Creatures is a disturbing true-crime story starring a young Kate Winslet. Babe and What We Do In the Shadows… [Read More]
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Bahrain: The Battle for the Arab Spring
Bahrain is an island nation in the Middle East, situated between Saudi Arabia and Iran. It is connected to Saudi Arabia by a bridge; it is divided by religious denomination and social class. It has fewer remaining oil reserves than most of its neighbors, but it has a more diverse economy than many. Other industries… [Read More]
Uganda: Kintu
I’m skipping around the alphabet and sliding around the world to land on Uganda and the book Kintu, a novel by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi. It’s a multigenerational story about a curse released in 1750. Kintu Kiddu’s descendants deal with its effects until the the novel’s conclusion, set in 2004. At the same time, it asks… [Read More]
Iceland: Woman at War
During the pandemic, I continued to work on the Around the World project, although not always alphabetically. Reading books and watching movies are easier than writing up blog posts, so I seem further behind than I am. Anyway, here’s the entry for Iceland, which is a gorgeous country. It almost looks like a cold version… [Read More]
Cryptocurrency: Make Money, or Make Your Own Money
Wouldn’t it be great if you could just invent money? Whenever you were a little short of cash or wanted to make an extravagant purchase, you could solve a math problem and poof! The cash would show up. That’s how cryptocurrency started. It’s digital currency not backed by a hard asset or a government, literally… [Read More]
