Activist Spotlight Interview: PJ Starr On Marcia Powell And Prison Abolition

Arpaio at the 2014 Western Conservative Conference. (Photo by Flickr user Gage Skidmore)

Editor’s note, 8/31/2017: In light of Trump’s pardon of former sheriff Joe Arpaio for his contempt of court conviction re: the order to cease his reign of terror against immigrants in Arizona’s Maricopa County, we’re posting an updated edition of my September 2014 interview with PJ Starr. I interviewed Starr on her documentary about Marcia Powell,… Continue reading Activist Spotlight Interview: PJ Starr On Marcia Powell And Prison Abolition

Gore and Psychic Wounds: Nicole Witte Solomon on Horror, Phone Sex, and Film

Manini Gupta as Al nursing a phone sex related headache in Small Talk. (Still from Small Talk, courtesy of Nicole Witte Solomon)

Nicole Witte Solomon and I have kept up with each other online for a while, dating back to the era when she was a young phone sex operator/film student, just beginning to pitch her clever writing on topics ranging from vegan cooking to feminism in pop culture to a variety of venues. As the years… Continue reading Gore and Psychic Wounds: Nicole Witte Solomon on Horror, Phone Sex, and Film

Sin City (2005) and Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014)

Imagine a city so bleak, so hopeless, so full of darkness, that only criminals and social rejects have a fighting chance to survive living there. Imagine villains so desperate, so foul, so vile, that the ugliest death for them still wouldn’t feel like justice. Now imagine heros who are so full of vice, rage, and… Continue reading Sin City (2005) and Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014)

Emotional Truth: Cheyenne Picardo, Director of Remedy

(photo by Rose Callahan)

Cheyenne Picardo wrote and directed Remedy, a film based on her experiences as a professional switch that is currently making the rounds at film festivals internationally. Her movie is an unflinching look at what it’s like to work in a Manhattan ‘house dungeon,’ in which dommes, subs, and switches work shifts for the owner, who… Continue reading Emotional Truth: Cheyenne Picardo, Director of Remedy

The Week In Links—January 31

Fumblerooskie, pig skin, Hail Mary, OMAHAAAA! Are you rooting for the Seahawks or the Broncos? (image by USA Today Sports Images, via cbssports.com)

Thank the gods that the Super Bowl is this Sunday. We can say goodbye to another year’s worth of trafficking/stripping/sex work stories related to the Big Game. But first, some gems from the last week: PolicyMic contributor (and daughter of Jamie, CEO of JP Morgan Chase) Laura Dimon basically rewrote every Super Bowl trafficking story… Continue reading The Week In Links—January 31