The Buzz Board
Picks from the Inner Circle
Reza Aslan
Info
RSS
Reza Aslan, a contributor to the Daily Beast, is assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and senior fellow at the Orfalea Center on Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara. He is the author of the bestseller No god but God and How to Win a Cosmic War. Author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam |
|
 This Friday at 5 p.m., PBS is airing the series premiere of Who Speaks for Islam, hosted by Ray Suarez which explores Islam in an age when Muslim extremists are laying claim to the religion. As Suarez interviews an elite panel of researchers, scholars, Hollywood producers, and actors, including me, they debate—and often debunk—preconceived notions about Islamic law, the status of women in predominantly Muslim countries, attitudes about free speech, democracy, male and female modesty, and portrayals of Muslims in Hollywood. The entire episode can be seen here. |
Reza Aslan
Info
RSS
Reza Aslan, a contributor to the Daily Beast, is assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and senior fellow at the Orfalea Center on Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara. He is the author of the bestseller No god but God and How to Win a Cosmic War. Author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam |
|
 Amreeka is a brilliant coming-of-age story from a young Arab-American director, Cherien Dabis. The movie, which chronicles the adventures of a mother and son who emigrate from the West Bank to a small town in Illinois, opens this weekend in L.A. (the Arclight and Landmark theaters) and New York (Lincoln Plaza and Landmark Sunshine). |
Reza Aslan
Info
RSS
Reza Aslan, a contributor to the Daily Beast, is assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and senior fellow at the Orfalea Center on Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara. He is the author of the bestseller No god but God and How to Win a Cosmic War. Author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam |
|
 I'm joining the Global Day of Action in solidarity for the people of Iran this Saturday, July 25. Nobel Peace Prize laureates, prominent Iranian poets and artists, and many others in more than 60 cities around the world will participate in this unprecedented wave of global citizen activism. Go to united4Iran.org to find the rally in your city and stand up for Iran. I'll also be encouraging rally-goers to sign the international petition asking the government of Iran to release Maziar Bahari, the respected Canadian-Iranian journalist and filmmaker who has been imprisoned since June 21. |
Reza Aslan
Info
RSS
Reza Aslan, a contributor to the Daily Beast, is assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and senior fellow at the Orfalea Center on Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara. He is the author of the bestseller No god but God and How to Win a Cosmic War. Author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam |
|
 The #iranelections hashtag on Twitter. The revolution may not be televised, but it is alive and well online. Although the Iranian authorities have shut down access to sites like Facebook and Twitter, industrious Iranians are still posting real-time info at an impressive rate. The best Twitter site thus far is #iranelections. Follow it if you want to know what's going on in Iran. |
Reza Aslan
Info
RSS
Reza Aslan, a contributor to the Daily Beast, is assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and senior fellow at the Orfalea Center on Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara. He is the author of the bestseller No god but God and How to Win a Cosmic War. Author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam |
|
The Song of Sparrows is the latest film from one of Iran's greatest filmmakers, Majid Majidi, director of Best Foreign Language Oscar nominee Children of Heaven and The Color of Paradise (which made me cry from beginning to end). The movie is a beautiful, heartrending story of the lengths one man goes to feed and care for his poor family. The film has already opened in Los Angeles and New York to excellent reviews and will be rolling out nationally this month and next. |
Reza Aslan
Info
RSS
Reza Aslan, a contributor to the Daily Beast, is assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and senior fellow at the Orfalea Center on Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara. He is the author of the bestseller No god but God and How to Win a Cosmic War. Author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam |
|
Jerusalem: Center of the World is a brilliant, awe-inspiring two-hour documentary recounting the 4000 year history of a city that has captured the imaginations of the religious faithful for generations. Host Ray Suarez takes viewers on an epic journey through the centuries, starting with Abraham’s trek from his birthplace of Ur (Iraq) to the land of milk and honey that the great Patriarch knew as Canaan, and ending with the struggle among Israelis and Palestinians to share this much too promised land. PBS will premiere the documentary tonight at 9PM ET, but I suggest purchasing the DVD and watching this beautiful epic over and over again. |
Reza Aslan
Info
RSS
Reza Aslan, a contributor to the Daily Beast, is assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and senior fellow at the Orfalea Center on Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara. He is the author of the bestseller No god but God and How to Win a Cosmic War. Author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam |
|
You don’t have to be Asian to love Disgrasian, the blog of all-things Asian founded by Angeleno hipsters Jennifer Wang and Diana Nguyen. In fact you don’t even have to like Asians to love the site whose motto is: You’re a disgrace to the race! The blog has become a clearinghouse of sorts to keep up with both Asian heroes (Yay “hard-ass” Asian Judge Denny Chin who tossed Bernie Madoff into prison!) and Asian villains (Boo Bush’s “torture lawyer,” John Yoo!). For the uninitiated, the blog offers a handy Disgrasian Dictionary (What’s an “Asiandroid?” An Asian robot. Example: Julie Chen). However, follow this hilarious blog long enough and you could become an Honorasian—An Honorary Asian. |
Reza Aslan
Info
RSS
Reza Aslan, a contributor to the Daily Beast, is assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and senior fellow at the Orfalea Center on Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara. He is the author of the bestseller No god but God and How to Win a Cosmic War. Author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam |
|
 PW Singer has written a fascinating account of the robotics revolution that has been taking place, primarily in the military, over the last few decades. Wired for War is an enlightening, measured, sometimes scary, always deeply engrossing book that not only takes readers into the present and future of robotics, but also delves deeply into the philosophical questions that arise as a result. What does it mean when a 20-year-old soldier sitting in a control room in Virginia can obliterate a village in Afghanistan by remote control—as though playing a videogame—and then clock out and drive home to have dinner with his family in the suburbs? Read Wired for War to find out. |
Reza Aslan
Info
RSS
Reza Aslan, a contributor to the Daily Beast, is assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and senior fellow at the Orfalea Center on Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara. He is the author of the bestseller No god but God and How to Win a Cosmic War. Author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam |
|
The geniuses at W.W. Norton (by which I mean VP and Executive Editor Bob Weil) have brought the sublime Portuguese writer Antonio Lobo Antunes—one of Europe’s most celebrated novelists but practically unknown in the US—to American audiences with the translation of his most recent novel, What Can I Do When Everything Is On Fire. If you have never read the man widely regarded as Europe’s Faulkner, get your hands on these books! There is simply no one writing, in any language, on the themes of life, love, and death with the power and imagination of Antunes, the novelist Harold Bloom claims will be “one of the living writers who will matter most” in the future. |
Partner Sites: Expedia| Hotels| Hotwire| Urbanspoon| Vimeo
