David Polansky

Jan 10, 2025 | thehub.ca | David Polansky

You need to be angrier. Of course, anger is most often not a good thing. It clouds judgment, it leads to rashness and poor decision-making. Anger in politics is worse still: it is the food of charlatans and demagogues; it encourages us to see our fellow citizens as enemies rather than just rivals or opponents in the political sphere; it produces bad policies. And yet a deficiency of anger produces its own problems.

Jan 9, 2025 | wisdomofcrowds.live | David Polansky

, our Canada correspondent (and more), on Justin Trudeau’s political failure, and what we can learn from it. — Santiago Ramos, Executive EditorOne of the original proposed names for Monty Python’s Flying Circus was supposedly “Whither Canada?” This once comical question is now being asked sincerely and with increasing urgency — and not just by Canadians. For the declining fortunes of the United States’ northern neighbor have reached the point that they have generated unprecedented attention.

Jan 2, 2025 | washingtonexaminer.com | David Polansky

In viewing A Complete Unknown, I must admit to remaining mystified that rock biopics continue to get made at all in the wake of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, the hysterically funny and tragically underseen 2007 parody of basically every rockstar biopic ever made. Indeed, so comprehensive is its satire that the titular Cox even goes through his own Dylan phase, during which he spouts pure gibberish and his own bandmates cannot figure out what is going on.

Nov 23, 2024 | thespec.com | David Polansky

State AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWashington D.C.West VirginiaWisconsinWyomingPuerto RicoUS Virgin IslandsArmed Forces AmericasArmed...

Nov 18, 2024 | strangefrequencies.co | David Polansky

F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said there are no second acts in American lives. And while Donald Trump has returned to the Oval Office after a four-year intermission, in a sense this nonetheless holds true for him as well. For he never really left the public eye, and a significant portion of American politics remained oriented—whether positively or negatively—toward him even in his absence from any formal position.