Pirates and the Protestant Reformation, anti-matter and crying babies. Those are some of the topics covered in this edition of Networthy. One thing is certain: No one can ever accuse Notre Dame people of having narrow interests.
If the short film Fishing Without Nets, co-written and produced by John Hibey ’05 is even a tenth as exciting and intense as the movie’s trailer (and it must be since the fictional film about Somali pirates told from their perspective won the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Jury Prize in short film making) then hang onto your seat. The film short, directed and co-written by Hibey’s longtime friend, Cutter Hodierne, who made a name for himself with his 2010 concert film U2:360 Degrees at the Rose Bowl, drew so much buzz at Sundance, that a feature-length version is now in the works. Hibey and Hodierne hope to begin filming the feature this summer, possibly in South Africa.
Notre Dame historian Brad Gregory, along with the University of Chicago’s Martin Marty, were guests on the WGN radio interview show Extension 720 in January, discussing Gregory’s newly published book, The Unintended Reformation, about the long term and sometimes surprising effects that the Protestant Reformation has had on the modern world. Listen to a podcast of their discussion.
Ever since John F. Kennedy’s famous 1960 talk to Southern Baptist ministers in Houston, the question of a presidential candidate’s religion was thought to be a non-issue. However, apparently not. It has resurfaced this year with some Christians being uncomfortable with Mitt Romney’s Mormonism. In his New York Times Opinionator blog ND philosophy professor Garry Gutting examines whether a presidential candidate’s religion ought to be an issue.
Light sabers and time travel aren’t real — at least not yet — but another science fiction plot convention, anti-matter, truly does exist. Notre Dame adjunct professor of physics and Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln tells all about it in an entertaining brief video.
Writing in the British newspaper The Guardian, ND Law professor Mary Ellen O’Connell argues against . the “targeted killing” policy of the Obama Administration which has employed drone aircraft to kill targeted civilians — including an American citizen— in Pakistan and Somalia
Once upon a time (namely the latter half of the 20th century), all the psychological experts advised parents to let their child “cry it out.” The advice then was if you want a healthy, independent child, don’t respond to an infant’s sign of distress. Today, we know that is the worst thing a parent can do, ND child psychologist Darcia Narvaez says in her Psychology Today blog.