FX miniseries on 1995 O.J. case is crassly exploitative
Last night’s second installment leaves little doubt: The 10-part FX cable miniseries about the infamous, mid-1990s O.J. Simpson double-murder case is crassly exploitative. Why else revisit a case in which … Continue reading
The 1995 ‘Trial of the Century’ is back: But so what?
When the cable miniseries meets recent history, distortion is predictable. So it is with the FX network’s much-ballyhooed dramatization of the sensational O.J. Simpson double murder case, which was tried … Continue reading
The crowded closing day of a watershed year
It is fitting that the watershed year of 1995 closed on such a crowded day. December 31, 1995, was a Sunday, and the publication date of the last original strip … Continue reading
DNA: The enduring legacy of the 1995 O.J. trial
Twenty years after O.J. Simpson’s acquittal in an extraordinary murder trial that stretched for months across the watershed year 1995, the legacies of the case are still contested. The vivid … Continue reading
20 years on: Remembering the senator who quit in disgrace
After a three-year ethics investigation into his unwanted sexual advances on women, many of whom were dependent on him for their jobs, Bob Packwood of Oregon abruptly announced the resignation … Continue reading
Microsoft warns Netscape in prelude to the ‘browser war’ of 1995-98
Before they were locked in a death struggle known as the “browser war,” the software giant Microsoft and Web upstart Netscape made nice, at least for a while. Representatives of … Continue reading
Clinton, his portrait, and the persistent shadow of scandal
The long reach of 1995 was reconfirmed the other day in the interview a portrait artist gave to a Philadelphia tabloid. The artist, Nelson Shanks, said in the interview that … Continue reading
Part One: Highlights of ‘1995’ interview with Reason.com
Nick Gillespie, editor-in-chief of Reason.com and Reason TV, recently spoke with me about my latest book, 1995: The Year the Future Began. The video and the transcript of the interview … Continue reading
O.J. and DNA: Applying the ‘Page 99 Test’ to ‘1995’
The “Page 99 Test” holds that the contents of page 99 offer revealing insight about the rest of the book. It is an intriguing if serendipitous approach to assessing quality, … Continue reading
Lewinsky’s essay was solid: But award-winning?
It was no small surprise that Monica Lewinsky today was named a finalist for a National Magazine Award, for her lengthy Vanity Fair essay lamenting the lasting notoriety of her … Continue reading
The 1995 Blog 