On Don Draper’s Smile — In perhaps the most enigmatic smile since the Mona Lisa’s, Mad Men comes to an end with Don Draper grinning ever so slightly, sitting cross-legged on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean at a self-help commune, chanting “om.” The wry facial gesture unfolds as the edges of his lips turn ...

What Place for the Humanities in a Theory of Everything? — Incapacitated by Lou Gehrig’s disease, Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) in James Marsh’s film, The Theory of Everything (2014) is confined to a wheelchair that his wife, Jane (Felicity Jones) must operate with great difficulty. Crushed by the responsibility, Jane has sought out the companionship ...

Our Revels Now Are Ended — I was resolutely planning on never seeing Avengers: Age of Ultron, having suffered through the three-hour mess that was the first installment, about a flying aircraft carrier that is attacked by aliens and defended by superheroes for some reason. However, one of my astute students knew exactly how to ...