David A. Conrad, Ph.D.
@davidaconrad.bsky.social
Author of AKIRA KUROSAWA AND MODERN JAPAN (2022)
Essayist for RAN 40th anniversary Blu-ray (2025)
New book on postwar Asia in progress
Part-time stay-at-home dad, adjunct, historian, old movie fan
Essayist for RAN 40th anniversary Blu-ray (2025)
New book on postwar Asia in progress
Part-time stay-at-home dad, adjunct, historian, old movie fan
So there's daily spam emails to authors like me who have fairly small books, and they ramble on for paragraphs about the book and then suggest paying for a review or an imaginary book club meeting, etc. To generate those paragraphs they're having AI write about our books. That can't be good.
December 4, 2025 at 3:14 PM
So there's daily spam emails to authors like me who have fairly small books, and they ramble on for paragraphs about the book and then suggest paying for a review or an imaginary book club meeting, etc. To generate those paragraphs they're having AI write about our books. That can't be good.
6yo: Isn't it funny how we disguised ourselves as cool people?
(He had put on his shark tooth necklace and given me a wrist band before going shopping.)
(He had put on his shark tooth necklace and given me a wrist band before going shopping.)
December 3, 2025 at 9:03 PM
6yo: Isn't it funny how we disguised ourselves as cool people?
(He had put on his shark tooth necklace and given me a wrist band before going shopping.)
(He had put on his shark tooth necklace and given me a wrist band before going shopping.)
The Rand Corporation has the data to show that victory in Vietnam is just around the corner. Models show that the introduction of IR8 rice in strategic areas, as well as an expansion of the bombing in other strategic areas, will result in Viet Cong defeat by December 1970. The math never lies.
December 1, 2025 at 1:44 PM
The Rand Corporation has the data to show that victory in Vietnam is just around the corner. Models show that the introduction of IR8 rice in strategic areas, as well as an expansion of the bombing in other strategic areas, will result in Viet Cong defeat by December 1970. The math never lies.
The harder they come
They harder they fall
One and all
The movie that that song comes from - THE HARDER THEY COME - is an indie, Jamaican BONNIE & CLYDE. It's a heck of a cool chase movie, a counterculture landmark, and arguably the most important accelerator of reggae's internationalization.
They harder they fall
One and all
The movie that that song comes from - THE HARDER THEY COME - is an indie, Jamaican BONNIE & CLYDE. It's a heck of a cool chase movie, a counterculture landmark, and arguably the most important accelerator of reggae's internationalization.
Jimmy Cliff, reggae music pioneer, dies aged 81
Jimmy Cliff, reggae music pioneer, dies aged 81
Jamaican singer Jimmy Cliff popularised reggae, ska and rocksteady music over a six decade career
www.irishtimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:11 PM
The harder they come
They harder they fall
One and all
The movie that that song comes from - THE HARDER THEY COME - is an indie, Jamaican BONNIE & CLYDE. It's a heck of a cool chase movie, a counterculture landmark, and arguably the most important accelerator of reggae's internationalization.
They harder they fall
One and all
The movie that that song comes from - THE HARDER THEY COME - is an indie, Jamaican BONNIE & CLYDE. It's a heck of a cool chase movie, a counterculture landmark, and arguably the most important accelerator of reggae's internationalization.
Non-recommendation: the new NUREMBERG movie is just awful. The wrong framing, lazy writing, poor acting. If writer-director James Vanderbilt had nothing serious to say about this moment, he should have left the work to people who do. I rarely review on LB, but I had to do a warning for this waste.
November 15, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Non-recommendation: the new NUREMBERG movie is just awful. The wrong framing, lazy writing, poor acting. If writer-director James Vanderbilt had nothing serious to say about this moment, he should have left the work to people who do. I rarely review on LB, but I had to do a warning for this waste.
Movie rec: Sesame Street's Don't Eat the Pictures (1983) has held up extremely well. Classic cast, opens with a full-on overture, clever on-location shooting at the Met, a ghost plotline that goes harder than you'd think, *PAUL DOOLEY* as a bewildered security guard and *JAMES MASON* as a... god?
Don't Eat The Pictures (1983) - YouTube
Sesame Street at the Met 1983
youtube.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Movie rec: Sesame Street's Don't Eat the Pictures (1983) has held up extremely well. Classic cast, opens with a full-on overture, clever on-location shooting at the Met, a ghost plotline that goes harder than you'd think, *PAUL DOOLEY* as a bewildered security guard and *JAMES MASON* as a... god?
We've still got Teruyo Nogami, Kurosawa's assistant-turned-documentarian, and who is 98.
We've got Kyōko Kagawa at 93, youngster Akira Terao at 78.
But for *STARS* - actors who led those hard-hitting dramas and trend-setting genre films of the golden age - this is it. This is the end. RIP Nakadai.
We've got Kyōko Kagawa at 93, youngster Akira Terao at 78.
But for *STARS* - actors who led those hard-hitting dramas and trend-setting genre films of the golden age - this is it. This is the end. RIP Nakadai.
Farewell to one of brightest stars of the golden age of Japanese cinema: Nakadai Tatsuya, who starred in some of history's greatest films, has passed away at the age of 92. Major roles included those in Ran, Hara Kiri, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Kagemusha, The Human Condition, and many more.
November 11, 2025 at 2:22 PM
We've still got Teruyo Nogami, Kurosawa's assistant-turned-documentarian, and who is 98.
We've got Kyōko Kagawa at 93, youngster Akira Terao at 78.
But for *STARS* - actors who led those hard-hitting dramas and trend-setting genre films of the golden age - this is it. This is the end. RIP Nakadai.
We've got Kyōko Kagawa at 93, youngster Akira Terao at 78.
But for *STARS* - actors who led those hard-hitting dramas and trend-setting genre films of the golden age - this is it. This is the end. RIP Nakadai.
FIFA's politics and unchecked corruption are the main reason I stopped following international soccer. But it would be a good time to bring back that radical St. Pauli tournament of non-FIFA-aligned clubs. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFI_Wi...
November 6, 2025 at 4:01 PM
FIFA's politics and unchecked corruption are the main reason I stopped following international soccer. But it would be a good time to bring back that radical St. Pauli tournament of non-FIFA-aligned clubs. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFI_Wi...
We Can Only Mokusatsu the Potsdam Declaration. We Must Fight the War to the Bitter End, Charlie Brown
The Thing Looking Back At You From The Mirror Is Not You But On The Bright Side That Means For Once Someone Else Is Actually Seeing You, Charlie Brown
October 26, 2025 at 7:40 PM
We Can Only Mokusatsu the Potsdam Declaration. We Must Fight the War to the Bitter End, Charlie Brown
Weird Al should have done a Spaceballs-inspired parody of The Killers' "Somebody Told Me":
Somebody told me
That you had a boyfriend
Who looked like a girlfriend
Who looked like my cousin's old college roommate
Somebody told me
That you had a boyfriend
Who looked like a girlfriend
Who looked like my cousin's old college roommate
October 24, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Weird Al should have done a Spaceballs-inspired parody of The Killers' "Somebody Told Me":
Somebody told me
That you had a boyfriend
Who looked like a girlfriend
Who looked like my cousin's old college roommate
Somebody told me
That you had a boyfriend
Who looked like a girlfriend
Who looked like my cousin's old college roommate
It's been a buggy few days around here.
October 18, 2025 at 2:13 PM
It's been a buggy few days around here.
First of all, no. Patrick Henry never said this and never would have said it, at least not about the US Constitution.
Second of all, I am not on board for a party realignment that forgets the importance of the federal government in overriding states' resistance to expanding civil rights.
Second of all, I am not on board for a party realignment that forgets the importance of the federal government in overriding states' resistance to expanding civil rights.
“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government…”
~Patrick Henry
~Patrick Henry
October 18, 2025 at 10:50 AM
First of all, no. Patrick Henry never said this and never would have said it, at least not about the US Constitution.
Second of all, I am not on board for a party realignment that forgets the importance of the federal government in overriding states' resistance to expanding civil rights.
Second of all, I am not on board for a party realignment that forgets the importance of the federal government in overriding states' resistance to expanding civil rights.
I spent years following soccer too closely, so I can say the framing of this article is absurd. This person attended multiple World Cups; the current prices are not higher than what he paid to do those trips. They're high, yes, but like all tickets are high. If he considered it, he can afford it.
'Absolute madness': Soccer fans are outraged over ticket prices for U.S. World Cup
Many soccer fans were excited that the men's World Cup would be coming to the U.S. next year — until they discovered how much FIFA is charging for tickets.
www.npr.org
October 17, 2025 at 3:08 AM
I spent years following soccer too closely, so I can say the framing of this article is absurd. This person attended multiple World Cups; the current prices are not higher than what he paid to do those trips. They're high, yes, but like all tickets are high. If he considered it, he can afford it.
"Better a pig than a fascist."
(We painted rocks with the kids today.)
(We painted rocks with the kids today.)
October 12, 2025 at 10:45 PM
"Better a pig than a fascist."
(We painted rocks with the kids today.)
(We painted rocks with the kids today.)
You could try to be as nightmarishly wrong as AI-generated alt text, and you would fail.
October 10, 2025 at 2:38 AM
You could try to be as nightmarishly wrong as AI-generated alt text, and you would fail.
I admit, I didn't know Patricia Routledge was alive, let alone the last member of that cast. But I thought about that show just the other day. I was a Texan kid in the 90s who stayed up late to watch the British classics on PBS - Python, AYBS?, Red Dwarf, Keeping Up Appearances. A golden era of TV.
October 4, 2025 at 1:03 AM
I admit, I didn't know Patricia Routledge was alive, let alone the last member of that cast. But I thought about that show just the other day. I was a Texan kid in the 90s who stayed up late to watch the British classics on PBS - Python, AYBS?, Red Dwarf, Keeping Up Appearances. A golden era of TV.
During the trial of the defendants in the Haymarket Square incident, 1886, one potential juror was excused for saying he wanted to see the evidence before he made up his mind. Apparently as a result of this, his boss later fired him for being "pro-anarchist."
September 20, 2025 at 1:56 AM
During the trial of the defendants in the Haymarket Square incident, 1886, one potential juror was excused for saying he wanted to see the evidence before he made up his mind. Apparently as a result of this, his boss later fired him for being "pro-anarchist."
Facebook Reels were always a problem. You couldn't turn them off, they were almost all NSFW or triggering in some way (because that's where the clicks are), and all you could do about it was scroll past them. Now they're the same, but they're nearly all AI-generated. And still no way to opt out.
August 29, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Facebook Reels were always a problem. You couldn't turn them off, they were almost all NSFW or triggering in some way (because that's where the clicks are), and all you could do about it was scroll past them. Now they're the same, but they're nearly all AI-generated. And still no way to opt out.
Obviously they're not presenting a good faith argument about anything, but it's worth countering that historians do talk about the resistance, resilience, and dignity of enslaved people despite the dehumanizing, brutal circumstances. And you can't talk about that if you don't talk about slavery.
White House official Lindsey Halligan: "While slavery is obviously a horrible aspect of our nation's history, you can't really talk about slavery honestly unless you also talk about hope and progress ... we need to stop focusing so much on the lack of progress."
August 21, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Obviously they're not presenting a good faith argument about anything, but it's worth countering that historians do talk about the resistance, resilience, and dignity of enslaved people despite the dehumanizing, brutal circumstances. And you can't talk about that if you don't talk about slavery.
I knew Lee would rock his HIGH AND LOW remake. It's the best Kurosawa remake, but it's probably even better as a furtherance of what Lee has been working on for decades. I don't have time to dive deep, with a semester looming, but I have the sketch of a thought. www.facebook.com/DavidConradA...
David A. Conrad, Author
I think Spike Lee nailed it. Of course, anyone who doubts Spike Lee probably would have doubted Kurosawa at points in his career, too.
What Lee has given us with HIGHEST 2 LOWEST, his remake of...
www.facebook.com
August 19, 2025 at 12:50 AM
I knew Lee would rock his HIGH AND LOW remake. It's the best Kurosawa remake, but it's probably even better as a furtherance of what Lee has been working on for decades. I don't have time to dive deep, with a semester looming, but I have the sketch of a thought. www.facebook.com/DavidConradA...
I know there was a guy saying that Disney stole MOANA from him, but honestly, it's underrated how much Disney stole from the 1926 Flaherty docudrama MOANA (in which Moana is male). Minus the mythological stuff, the order of events in that one is quite familiar. Happy 99th to that doc canon fixture!
Moana (1926)
YouTube video by Free Culturist
www.youtube.com
August 18, 2025 at 12:17 AM
I know there was a guy saying that Disney stole MOANA from him, but honestly, it's underrated how much Disney stole from the 1926 Flaherty docudrama MOANA (in which Moana is male). Minus the mythological stuff, the order of events in that one is quite familiar. Happy 99th to that doc canon fixture!
Slightly diminish a band: Prince but he has a couple of older brothers so
Slightly diminish a band: Pretty Sure They’re Not Giants
Slightly diminish a band: The Seasoning Girls
August 13, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Slightly diminish a band: Prince but he has a couple of older brothers so
Reposted by David A. Conrad, Ph.D.
the thing everyone is going to have to accept is that the post-trump period, whenever it comes, will not and cannot be a project of national unity, it must be a project of partisan project of renewal, in the same way that reconstruction and the new deal were partisan projects of renewal.
August 12, 2025 at 11:18 PM
the thing everyone is going to have to accept is that the post-trump period, whenever it comes, will not and cannot be a project of national unity, it must be a project of partisan project of renewal, in the same way that reconstruction and the new deal were partisan projects of renewal.
Reposted by David A. Conrad, Ph.D.
If an individual offering consensual nudes of themself on OnlyFans is considered “illicit” but a program generating nudes of women without their consent is fine, the powers that be have made their priorities clear. And they’re the same as they ever were.
Sex is getting scrubbed from the internet, but a billionaire can sell you AI nudes
Sex is getting scrubbed from the internet, but a billionaire can sell you AI nudes
Grok’s nonconsensual deepfakes show how hollow the online safety push can be.
buff.ly
August 11, 2025 at 1:51 AM
If an individual offering consensual nudes of themself on OnlyFans is considered “illicit” but a program generating nudes of women without their consent is fine, the powers that be have made their priorities clear. And they’re the same as they ever were.
Reposted by David A. Conrad, Ph.D.
VIZ Media quietly added an AI-translated manga to their app and hoped no one would notice. We did.
Manga deserves better than cheap, soulless automation. This is a betrayal of translators, fans, and the art form.
We don't want your AI translations!
Manga deserves better than cheap, soulless automation. This is a betrayal of translators, fans, and the art form.
We don't want your AI translations!
Dear manga publishers, we don’t want your AI translations
VIZ Media quietly added an AI-translated manga to their app and hoped no one would notice. We did and want none of it.
www.comicsbeat.com
August 6, 2025 at 4:22 PM
VIZ Media quietly added an AI-translated manga to their app and hoped no one would notice. We did.
Manga deserves better than cheap, soulless automation. This is a betrayal of translators, fans, and the art form.
We don't want your AI translations!
Manga deserves better than cheap, soulless automation. This is a betrayal of translators, fans, and the art form.
We don't want your AI translations!