(Note: Page numbers in this review refer to the advanced reader copy of the book that I acquired.) I have written elsewhere on how to detect and debunk anti-transgender propaganda in science and the media previously.  I described fifteen tests, and Anderson’s book fails at every level.  I cannot address all of the issues in this…

We need them, because they give us hope. This summer “Wonder Woman” was the top grossing film of the season and second highest of the year, beating out “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2.” No small feat. It’s also the highest-grossing action film ever directed by a woman. This success came despite Warner Brothers studios greatly under-promoting the film in…

During the first week of the Trump administration, a lot has happened. So much so that most progressives are outraged over everything, and unable to focus on what the really scary stuff is.  The really scary things are the ones that lead us down deeper, darker, crazier places than any other Republican would have. On…

Democracy is probably dead. Got it. But what will fill the power vacuum?  There are all sorts of forces fighting now to feast on the carcass.  A number of factors, particularly SCOTUS decisions, will ultimately decide who ends up standing on the bloated remnants, gorging themselves on it while the other contenders get only scraps….

After the election we’ve learned a lot of things. Most of them have only served to illustrate why we, as a country, are probably done as a functional democracy. Any one of them might be enough on their own, but taken together, the odds of an American resurgence looks to be almost nil. We’re a…

Are we fascists?  This seems like a simple question, and one that can be answered easily. “Of course not!” you think. However, humor me by considering what defines fascism and fascist movements, and where we, as a country, fit within these definitions. In 1995, Italian intellectual Eco Umberto, who grew up in Mussolini’s Italy, wrote…

People want to know why the hell I’m so scared as a transgender person after the election of Donald Trump.  Why the hell I’m updating my passport. Why my wife is renewing her Canadian passport, and getting citizenship papers lined up for our three kids.  We’re consolidating 401ks, and establishing lists using historical analogies on…