Light On Light Through

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 133, in which I give context to why the SpaceX splashdown today is such a momentous event in lifting our species off this planet.

Further reading: Touching the Face of the Cosmos: On the Interaction of Space and Religion

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 132, in which I review two movies by The Safdie Brothers -- Good Time and Uncut Gems.

Read these reviews:

• Good Time
• Uncut Gems

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 131, in which I review Unsolved Mysteries, recently returned, on Netflix.

Further reading:

• Unsolved Mysteries Is Back - With No Host?
• The New Unsolved Mysteries: A Proper Review

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 130, in which I talk about one of the bedrocks of my "anthropotropic" theory of media evolution -- why some media, such as sight-only silent movies, are obliterated by the advent of newer media like "talkies" (sight and sound), in contrast to other media, such as sound-only radio, which amply survive and even thrive in the advent of newer media like television (sight and sound).

Further reading:

• Human Replay: A Theory of the Evolution of Media
• The Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 129, in which I give you a little primer about "media determinism," the bedrock of just about all media studies.

Further listening: Politics and Media in History and Voice Mail from Marshall McLuhan, 1978

Further reading: The Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution and McLuhan in an Age of Social Media

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 128, in which I tell you what happened more than seven years ago, when I served as foreperson on a jury in Westchester County, NY, where an African-American male was charged with the felony of assaulting a police officer. I published a blog post about this right after the trial was over back then, but didn't get a chance to provide the account in a podcast. I thought, given the murder of George Floyd and the continuing protests about police mistreatment of African-Americans, the time was long since overdue.

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 127, in which I talk about the problem of police authority, which has afflicted African-Americans for decades to the point of innocent people being shot to death and choked to death, and everyone else who challenges police authority in the slightest being assaulted and brutalized in usually less grievous ways. I relate this to being victimized myself, a 12-year old white boy, in the Bronx in 1959.

Read more about this: The Problem of Police Authority (Paul Levinson, June 2020)

Videos: Paul Levinson talks about Black Lives Matter and Videos (2 July 2020) ... Paul Levinson talks about Black Lives Matter and Video Cams at Annenberg (4 December 2015)

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 126, in which I share an online lecture I gave a few days ago about Politics and Media in History. I touch on such topics as literacy and democracy in Ancient Athens, how the printing press revolutionized the world, the four "radio heads" of the 1930s-1940s (FDR, Churchill, Hitler, and Stalin), television Presidents of the United States from JFK through Obama, and the role of Twitter in our current age.

Further reading:

The Soft Edge: A Natural Future and History of the Information Revolution (Paul Levinson, Routledge: 1997)

Digital McLuhan: A Guide to the Information Revolution (Paul Levinson, Routledge, 1999)

McLuhan In An Age of Social Media (Paul Levinson, Connected Editions, 2015-2020)

More Summer 2020 lectures (on YouTube)

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 125, in which I review Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Discovery seasons 1 and 2. Here, for anyone who would also like to read my reviews of these two series, are my written reviews:

• Star Trek: Picard
• Star Trek: Discovery 1
• Star Trek: Discovery 2

And here's a book of essays about the original series, Boarding the Enterprise, that you might enjoy, and my Light On Light Through podcast review of Star Trek (2009 movie)

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 124, in which I present the audio of the entire 1-hour virtual concert I did via Zoom at HELIOsphere: Beyond the Corona on the afternoon of April 4, 2004. (You can get the video + audio of my concert here.)

I sing songs from Welcome Up: Songs of Space and Time (Old Bear Records, Light In the Attic Records) and from Twice Upon A Rhyme (HappySad Records, Beatball Records, Vivid Records, Whiplash Records), and several new songs not yet on any album.

Set list:

"Cloudy Sunday" from Welcome Up (words by Paul Levinson, music by Linda Kaplan Thaler)

"I Knew You By Heart" from Welcome Up (words by Paul Levinson, music by Peter Rosenthal)

"The Lama Will Be Late This Year" from Twice Upon A Rhyme (words by Paul Levinson, music by Ed Fox)

"Tau Ceti" from Welcome Up (words by Paul Levinson, music by John Anealio)

"Picture Postcard World" from Welcome Up (words & music by Paul Levinson)

"Samantha" (from Welcome Up) (words & music by Paul Levinson)

"If I Traveled to the Past" (from Welcome Up) (words by Paul Levinson, music by John Anealio)

"Lime Streets" (words & music by Paul Levinson)

"Looking for Sunsets (In the Early Morning)" from Twice Upon A Rhyme (words by Paul Levinson, music by Ed Fox)

"Alpha Centauri" from Welcome Up (words by Paul Levinson, music by Peter Rosenthal)

"Welcome Up" from Welcome Up (words & music by Paul Levinson)

"The Soft of Your Eyes" from Twice Upon A Rhyme (words & music by Paul Levinson)

"Pictures on the Phone" (words & music by Paul Levinson)

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Welcome Up: Songs of Space and Time tracks produced by Chris Hoisington

all lead vocals by Paul Levinson

backing tracks: Chris Hoisington (harmonies), Jeremy Thompson (guitars, stand-up bass, mellotron, etc), Steve Padin (keyboard, drums), Anthony Hoisington (piano on Tau Ceti), Don Frankel (accordion on If I Traveled to the Past & Tau Ceti), Peter Rosenthal (guitar on Cloudy Sunday and Twice Upon a Rhyme tracks), Barbara Krupnick (piano on Cloudy Sunday), Paul Levinson (piano on Pictures on the Phone)

Welcome Up recording engineer: Ronnie Shrock

Welcome Up mixed and mastered: Evan Sieling

for HELIOsphere: Marc Grossman and thanks Liz Crefin

listen to complete album, free, on Bandcamp https://oldbearpaullevinson.bandcamp.com/album/welcome-up-songs-of-space-and-time

and on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/4S1oaV75qF6tRFfdDwDczE?si=WYXs2mRITdqQMEgMF3gxFw

CDs here: http://paullev.com/product/welcome-up-songs-of-space-and-time-cd/

-> lyrics to all of the songs on the album on the CD page <-

Light In the Attic vinyl Welcome Up: Songs of Space and Time https://lightintheattic.net/releases/6371-welcome-up-songs-of-space-and-time

Twice Upon A Rhyme on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/5wWMm7Q8SSRTvvIJ1GLiRY

and on Bandcamp https://paullevinson.bandcamp.com/album/twice-upon-a-rhyme

Twice Upon A Rhyme original sealed 1972 vinyl HappySad Records http://paullev.com/product/twice-upon-a-rhyme-vinyl-original-1972-album/