PinnedBarry VackerinTHEORY/ON/CONSPIRACYAncient Aliens: Evidence of Stephen Hawking’s Claim that “Philosophy is Dead”Note: This article was cited in the New York Times (July 22, 2018) as an intellectual counter to the emerging religion of “Ancient Aliens.”Feb 26, 201794Feb 26, 201794
PinnedBarry VackerinTHEORY/ON/CONSPIRACYApollo Moon Landings: Pseudoscience and 6 Reasons Why There Was No NASA HoaxIt happens every year. One or more students ask me if I think the Apollo moon landings were a hoax. I teach critical media studies at…Oct 20, 201726Oct 20, 201726
PinnedBarry VackerinMediaSceneHot and Cool in the MediaSceneA McLuhan-Style Art and Theory ProjectJan 28, 20181Jan 28, 20181
PinnedBarry VackerinExplosion of AwarenessGargantua, the Tesseract, and Existential Meanings in InterstellarStars, Dirt, and the Cosmic SublimeJan 14, 2017Jan 14, 2017
PinnedBarry VackerinExplosion of AwarenessHonoring the 50th Anniversary of 2001: The Monolith and Hope for the Human SpeciesFifty years after its debut, 2001 is more relevant than ever. Released at the height of the space age in 1968, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A…May 9, 20172May 9, 20172
Barry VackerinTHEORY/ON/CONSPIRACYAnti-Vaxxers, Conspiracy Theorists, and Jean Baudrillard’s “Perfect Crime”We live in a world where the highest function of the sign is to make reality disappearAug 30, 2021Aug 30, 2021
Barry VackerinCuriousConnery’s 007Bond, Nietzsche, and Sartre: Double 0s of “the Future”Oct 31, 2020Oct 31, 2020
Barry VackerinSocrates CaféNo Time to Die? 007 and the Spectre of NihilismTrapped between Nietzsche and Sartre, 007 is the being that confronts nothingness— the would-be Ubermensch in a future filled with 00s.Sep 18, 2020Sep 18, 2020
Barry VackerThe Largest “International Dark Sky Reserve” — Signpost for a New Philosophy for the Human Species?This essay explores the philosphical meaning of the world’s largest “International Dark Sky Reserve,” now underway in Texas and Mexico.Sep 5, 20207Sep 5, 20207
