The website of John C. Snider
A review of Peter Nichols’ biography of Robert Fitzroy, captain of the H.M.S. Beagle [Originally posted in February 2004 at SciFiDimensions.com; re-posted on February 2, 2008 at AmericanFreethought.com.] Every schoolchild and amateur scientist knows (or should) that Charles Darwin began developing his ideas about evolution and the origin of species while on a round-the-world voyage aboard …
[Originally posted on January 14, 2008 at AmericanFreethought.com.] One of the most talked-about movies of 2007 is writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood. Anderson has a reputation as a bold filmmaker unafraid to tackle strange and disturbing subjects: Boogie Nights, with its 70s porno backdrop; Magnolia, a mesmerizing three-hour-long epic in which half a dozen ill-fated characters …
[Originally posted January 1, 2008 at AmericanFreethought.com.] Christopher Hitchens seems to revel in his role as the Bad Boy of Unbelievers. With books like The Missionary Position (a scathing criticism of the late and soon-to-be-canonized Mother Teresa) and his recent bestseller God Is Not Great, Hitchens tweaks the conservative establishment, and he’s not afraid to engage in public debate …
[Originally posted on November 15, 2007 at AmericanFreethought.com.] Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is one of the most talked-about books in recent years. Not only is it a heartbreaking story of childhood tragedy, this 2003 novel provides an invaluable insight into the culture of late 20th century Afghanistan—the culture that would trigger 9/11 and plunge the globe into a bitter, and …
How the Japanese Destroyed Tokyo Themselves and Unwittingly Unleashed a Trans-Pacific Collaboration that Helped Mend US-Japanese Relations The early 1950s was not an easy time to be Japanese, especially if you were trying to please Americans. Despite winning the Pacific War and exacting vengeance by firebombing Tokyo and subjecting Hiroshima and Nagasaki to nuclear annihilation, …
[This interview was conducted via email in December 2004 and published in a local (metro Atlanta) freethought newsletter. –JCS 12/24/2021] Gordon S. Wood is one of the foremost experts on the American Revolution and the origins of the U.S. Constitution. Wood won the Pulitzer Prize in history for his 1991 book The Radicalism of the American Revolution. His …
According to orthodox Christian tradition, Jesus of Nazareth died at the age of 33, executed by the Roman governor at the insistence of Jewish authorities, rising from the dead after three days before finally being taken bodily to Heaven. Most of what was written about Him deals with the three years of His ministry; very …