http://importanceofideas.com Engaged in the big (and small) ideas on media + society Sun, 16 May 2010 03:15:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 en hourly 1 http://importanceofideas.com/2009/09/28/how-faith-and-america-can-heal/ http://importanceofideas.com/2009/09/28/how-faith-and-america-can-heal/#comments Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:17:28 +0000 Jason Whittaker http://importanceofideas.com/?p=1183 The Trial of the Catonsville Nine is many things Australians dislike about Americans: political, patriotic and preachy. But unlike the worst of the United States, the play is also deeply questioning of its place in the world. It prosecutes American exceptionalism and the greyness of, and uneasiness between, faith and justice.]]> http://importanceofideas.com/2009/09/28/how-faith-and-america-can-heal/feed/ 1 http://importanceofideas.com/2009/03/08/trip-food-lovers-guide-to-kl/ http://importanceofideas.com/2009/03/08/trip-food-lovers-guide-to-kl/#comments Sun, 08 Mar 2009 05:53:15 +0000 Jason Whittaker http://importanceofideas.com/?p=574 MALAYSIA DAY 10-12: I feel like Maeve O'Meara (and if you don’t know the reference, shame on you). I’ve had my Food Lover’s Guide to Malaysia, and it was delicious. A wok toss away from the so-called Golden Triangle entertainment district around KL Tower, this food market is where the locals come to eat and shop. You just follow your nose to the best makan (food).]]> http://importanceofideas.com/2009/03/08/trip-food-lovers-guide-to-kl/feed/ 1 http://importanceofideas.com/2009/03/05/trip-crazy-kl-and-gentle-old-albert/ http://importanceofideas.com/2009/03/05/trip-crazy-kl-and-gentle-old-albert/#comments Thu, 05 Mar 2009 10:56:41 +0000 Jason Whittaker http://importanceofideas.com/?p=571 KUALA LUMPUR DAY 7-9: The Petronas Twin Towers are grandiose monuments to modern architecture and a modern city; all steel and glass reaching to the clouds and glinting in the sun. They were built, shamelessly, as a sign to the world that this city, and this country, had come of age. Yet in so many ways that seems premature.]]> http://importanceofideas.com/2009/03/05/trip-crazy-kl-and-gentle-old-albert/feed/ 1 http://importanceofideas.com/2009/03/03/trip-snake-wear-is-hot-in-the-city/ http://importanceofideas.com/2009/03/03/trip-snake-wear-is-hot-in-the-city/#comments Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:59:34 +0000 Jason Whittaker http://importanceofideas.com/?p=567 SINGAPORE DAY 5-6: Way to make friends when travelling alone: wear a boa constrictor like a scarf in front of a couple of hundred people. Instant acclaim, serious kudos. It was my own fault for sitting in the front row of the Night Safari's Creatures of the Night show. (It was magic.)]]> http://importanceofideas.com/2009/03/03/trip-snake-wear-is-hot-in-the-city/feed/ 3 http://importanceofideas.com/2009/02/28/trip-to-shake-or-not-to-shake/ http://importanceofideas.com/2009/02/28/trip-to-shake-or-not-to-shake/#comments Sat, 28 Feb 2009 09:06:35 +0000 Jason Whittaker http://importanceofideas.com/?p=564 SINGAPORE (DAY 3-4): Don't shake hands with anyone. Ever. After almost 48 hours in Singapore, I feel I can speak with authority in offering this crucial piece of advice as a hapless foreign tourist. Nothing is more important.]]> http://importanceofideas.com/2009/02/28/trip-to-shake-or-not-to-shake/feed/ 3 http://importanceofideas.com/2009/02/26/trip-if-you-never-never-go/ http://importanceofideas.com/2009/02/26/trip-if-you-never-never-go/#comments Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:31:34 +0000 Jason Whittaker http://importanceofideas.com/?p=560 DARWIN (DAY 1-2): I think what all this shows, definitively, is that Darryl Sommers can't be trusted. Frankly, at least when it comes to Darwin, if you never, never go, what you'll never, never know is possibly not worth knowing.]]> http://importanceofideas.com/2009/02/26/trip-if-you-never-never-go/feed/ 4 http://importanceofideas.com/2009/01/22/life-and-art-under-iron-rule/ http://importanceofideas.com/2009/01/22/life-and-art-under-iron-rule/#comments Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:16:01 +0000 Jason Whittaker http://importanceofideas.com/?p=328 http://importanceofideas.com/2009/01/22/life-and-art-under-iron-rule/feed/ 0 http://importanceofideas.com/2009/01/13/the-importance-of-ideas/ http://importanceofideas.com/2009/01/13/the-importance-of-ideas/#comments Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:47:37 +0000 Jason Whittaker http://importanceofideas.com/?p=172 "Just once in a while let us exalt the importance of ideas and information." Those are the words of pioneering American newsman Edward R. Murrow. I love the quote, and his many others like it. It may sound a particularly high-minded agenda for what will inevitably be another inconsequential blog-of-consciousness. But I reckon it’s a good place to start.]]> http://importanceofideas.com/2009/01/13/the-importance-of-ideas/feed/ 0