Chad Eagleton's Blog, page 8

The Soviet Who Saved The World

56 years ago on October 27, 1962, at the tail end of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov prevented nuclear war….

But let’s do a bit of lead-up first because when you understand how we got there, you understand how we got here…

World War I is the breaking point for the long-suffering Russian people. In February and November of 1917, a pair of revolutions removes the Tsar from power and leaves the Bolsheviks in charge of the country. Under Lenin, Russia signs the treaty of Br...

The Great Beast and the Buddhist

The man who taught Aleister Crowley magic was the same man who helped bring Buddhism to the west, yet you’ve probably never heard of Charles Henry Allan Bennett.

Allan Bennett was born in London in 1872. Bennett’s father was a civil engineer and passed away when he was still a child. His father’s death and Bennett’s severe asthma meant that Allan grew up both sickly and in severe poverty.

Despite his impoverished upbringing, Bennett was educated at Hollesley College and trained as an analytical...

Last of the Disinfonauts

Was completely surprised that Disinformation shut down a couple weeks ago. Sorry to see the legendary counterculture site disappear but proud to have been one of the last Disinfonauts.

Do Gooders Suck

Evil Genius: The Pizza Bomber

I don’t know who all remembers this case but Netflix has a new documentary series that covers it in some detail and it’s compulsively watchable. Everything about the case is all so crazy and populated with such brilliant but broken people it feels more like fiction.

* I will however give a word of warning: the first ep has police footage of the bomb exploding. It’s not gory but it’s very disturbing.

The Voice In Your Head

Truest Thing I've Seen In A Long Time

Favorite Science Fiction TV: Blake's 7

Blake’s 7 was created by Terry Nation, who’s probably best remembered as the man who created The Daleks for Doctor Who. The show concerns the exploits of political dissident Roj Blake, who commands a small group of rebels against the forces of the totalitarian Terran Federation that rules the Earth and its many colonized planets. The Federation uses mass surveillance, brainwashing and drug pacification to control its citizens.

Blake is arrested, tried on false charges, and deported to a remot...

Cosmic Aggressions

In higher ed, we talk a lot about something called microaggressions—everyday unconscious verbal and nonverbal slights, snubs, and insults that communicate hostile and negative messages to marginalized persons.

My newest Dunwich Committee on Student Safety story came from wondering how that concept would manifest at Miskatonic University.

Read “Cosmic Aggressions” in the Walpurgisnacht issue of Lovecraftiana: The Magazine of Eldritch Horror.

Space Jesus

I’ve never liked the idea of Superman as Space Jesus or Space Moses. To me a big part of Superman has always been a story about an immigrant. (Kal-el becomes Clark Kent as if he went through Ellis Island.) 

I think you can understand a lot about those early Superman stories where he fights common criminals and the occasional mad scientist or robot when you parse it that way. Siegel and Shuster were two sons of Jewish immigrants. And the one thing that Jerry Siegel never talked about is t...