Pluralistic: Vicky Osterweil's "The Extended Universe" (28 Apr 2026)

Today's links Vicky Osterweil's "The Extended Universe": How Disney killed the movies and took over the world. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Zappa v censorship; Chemistry set with no chemicals; Short cons; Mitsubishi's Dieselgate; "Bellwether." Upcoming appearances: Berlin, NYC, Barcelona, Hay-on-Wye, London, NYC. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em. Colophon: All the rest. Vicky Osterweil's "The Extended Universe" (permalink) Vicky Osterweil's The Extended Universe: How Disney Killed the Movies and Took Over the World makes the kind of long, polemical, startling and illuminating argument that defines great cultural criticism; it's the sort of book that encapsulates the reasons I read criticism in the first place: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2525-the-extended-universe My first brush with this kind of criticism came more than two decades…