Steve's Book and DVD Reviews

I saw this movie about a bus that had to SPEED around a city, keeping its SPEED over fifty, and if its SPEED dropped, it would explode! I think it was called, 'The Bus that Couldn't Slow Down'. - Homer Simpson


Hi, I'm Steve Barrera. Welcome to my reviews page, where I discuss books, TV shows, and films. I like to review books and movies through the lens of sociological theory. I frequently reference Strauss-Howe generational theory and Thomas P. M. Barnett's geopolitical theory. Reviews of these theories are on the bottom of this page, along with reviews of some other theories of social development and/or geopolitical strategy. Since about 2017 I have also been frequently posting reviews on a blog called In the Zeitgeist. And since 2019 I've been posting book reviews on goodreads dot com. You'll find plenty over there, way more than on this page.

WARNING: There may be SPOILERS in these reviews.


The Self-Aware Universe
how consciousness creates the material world
  ←First off, I just want to note that you really should read this book.

Blade Runner 20-Whenever
A completely unfair assessment of how well the franchise predicted the future.
Generations and Risk Taking: From X to Millennial
Godzilla Resurgence
A hard look at the 21st century.

Ghost in the Shell
From Sunnydale to Smallville
Bridging the generations.
Springfield, USA
A look at the modern trend of adult animated series, from The Simpsons to beyond.
The Stepford Wives, Then and Now
Why two versions of this film are so different.
Babel and the Confusion of States
The perils of globalized living.
The Big Lebowski

Demolition Man The Retelling of the Narnia Chronicles
Which is better, the books or the movies?
The Incredible Hulk Across the Generations
Three different kinds of superhero.
Riding the Gap with Mal and Yuri
The Good, the Bad and the Renegade.
Murderball Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series

Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years
(really, quite a good book)
The Most Exclusive Club
A History of the Modern United States Senate
What's the Matter with Kansas?
How Conservatives Won the Heart of America
Bowling Alone
The Collapse and Revival of American Community
Broke, USA.
From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc - How the Working Poor Became Big Business
On Paradise Drive
How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense

Citizens
A Chronicle of the French Revolution
Appetite for Self-Destruction
The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age
It's Even Worse Than It Looks
How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism
How the World Really Works
A Scientist's Guide to Our Past, Present and Future
Ruling the Waves
From the Compass to the Internet, a History of Business and Politics Along the Technological Frontier
The Master Switch
The Rise and Fall of Information Empires

The Pentagon's New Map
War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century
The Shield of Achilles
War, Peace, and the Course of History
Generations
The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069
The Muqaddimah
An Introduction to History
The Accidental Superpower
The Next Generation of American Preeminence and the Coming Global Disorder
The Next American Nation
The New Nationalism & The Fourth American Revolution

This page copyright Steve Barrera 2008-2023