Comparison: Steven Soderbergh films are like buses: There’s always another one coming. David Sims while writing a movie review of Black Bag takes a swipe at Steven Soderberg's movies--or at least at the frequency with which they are released. Think, while you're waiting for next one, about how this simile works. If Sims had stopped short of the tag-on observation, we'd be left wondering what about buses we should use to better understand Soderberg's movies. With the tag-on re

Comparison: So the two sides are now performing the same ritual in different costumes: Tehran says no talks without relief, Trump says no relief without surrender, and everyone else gets to watch oil prices, shipping lanes, and global nerves do interpretive dance. Mary Geddry wonders if interpretive dance is appropriate for this moment in world history in place of sober negotiation. Context: Iran is insisting talks cannot move forward unless the U.S. lifts the blockade, while

Comparison: Trump keeps trying to sell the war as tidy, decisive, ‘done and dusted,‘ the geopolitical equivalent of a cheap contractor slapping paint over a cracked wall and calling it renovated. Oregon's Bay Area suggests that renovation may take more than slapping paint on a wall. Context: That threat is already visible in Iran, where even mainstream U.S. media is growing more blunt about the widening gap between Trump’s declarations and reality. Trump keeps trying to sell