"There is nothing better that life can offer than to allow a person to expend himself fully with all the strength of his mind and soul and to devote his entire being to creative activity." 
Konrad Adenauer, 1917
 
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Weimar World Service
Welcome

Briefly, I'm John Zipperer, a writer and editor (in print and the Internet) living in San Francisco, where I'm vice president of media and editorial at the storied Commonwealth Club of California. Subscribe to the Commonwealth Club's podcasts on Google Play, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. I've written Science Fiction by the Hour and The Starlog Compendium, both available at Amazon.

I was born in Madison, Wisconsin, in December 1967 (do the math). I was graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I've lived in Green Bay, Madison, Manitowoc, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Washington, D.C.; Indianapolis; Chicago; Ithaca, N.Y., Manhattan, Mountain View, Calif., and San Francisco. Good luck trying to categorize me politically; my views, like my reading list, are rather broad and eclectic. You can e-mail me here.

Archive

Ground zero on the delta
An on-the-ground report on the slow recovery in New Orleans. >> more

High Tech gains traction in real estate
Apartment Finance Today >> 2005 report and 2006 report

Windows Server System Magazine articles(links may not work any longer)
Updating Database Improves Performance
If You Squint Really Hard ...
Automate More and Manage Better with Longhorn
Achieve Better Control and Manageability
More Power to Everyo

Archives: news

Kino Reviews

The Weimar review of movies and TV
Latest reviews: Avatar, 2012, The Blind Side, The September Issue, District 9, The Bourne Ultimatum, and Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix. >> more

Movie Review Archives:
The Employment Movies

(June 29, 2005) >> more

The Unemployment Movies
Reviews of Movies I Saw During My Employment Hiatus (08/25/03) >> more

Archives: news

Now start reading

You can also find my work at the Marina Times, The Commonwealth Club, and elsewhere.

 

The Starlog Compendium

My 2022 nonfiction book The Starlog Compendium, based on content first developed on this website and on my blog, is available at Amazon.

Science Fiction by the Hour

My 2021 nonfiction book Science Fiction by the Hour: Exploring Televised SF Through Series Episode Guides is available at Amazon.

Galaxis #8
Galaxis #7
Zippererstrasse, January 2017
Introducing: Zippererstrasse, the magazine of political reality
Galaxis #6
SF TV Preview: Galaxis #5
Hey, Star Trek Fans: Galaxis 4
Star Wars Special: Galaxis 3
Check out the third issue of my free digital science fiction and science magazine, Galaxis. Issue #3 includes a complete episode guide to the original Battlestar Galactica, a look at Star Wars' wuxia connections, a visit to CERN, SF writers Lev Grossman and Charles Yu, an epic review of Ridley Scott's Prometheus, classic short fiction, presidential SF politics, and much more. Get your free digital copy or purchase a print-on-demand copy.
Galaxis Issue Two!

2nd Issue:Galaxis: The Worlds of Science & Science Fiction

This issue: A complete episode guide to the reimagined Battlestar Galactica; a look at Germany's history of science fiction; Perry Rhodan reboots; the first SF story – ever; Cassini's photos of Saturn; reviews of The Magician King and much more. Get the free digital copy or purchase print-on-demand copy

ALSO AVAILABLE: Galaxis #1

Magma: The Mag Industry

Magma: The Magazine Industry Review

As the title and tagline suggest, it's a magazine devoted to all things magazine. An interview with Starlog's former managing editor, Carr D'Angelo; the changing world of Condé Nast; remembering Bob Guccione; an in-depth examination of what went wrong at Starlog and how it could have been (and still could be) fixed; reviews, columns, and more. If you love magazines, this 56-page free publication is for you. >> more

News & Opinion

Week to Week

The current apple of my eye: Week to Week is a new program series I'm hosting at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco. If you like news, current events, good discussion, and you have a sense of humor, listen to this or click on the image to the right:

Listen to the free streaming audio

Week to Week at The Commonwealth Club

Political Cartoons

The political cartoons from my stepfather, the late veteran award-winning cartoonist Lyle Lahey. His cartoons appeared exclusively on this website since March 14, 2006. That's more than 600 comics. >>more

Also see: "Is Political Cartooning Dead? That'll Make Some (Bad) People Very Happy"

Lyle Lahey cartoons

Marina Times

Column & articles: Newsom | Nancy Pelosi | anti-social media | amateur politics | pirate radio | Prop 8 | chefs | P.J. O'Rourke | Hillary Clinton | Premal Shah | David Brooks | SF politics | Charles Ferguson | Michio Kaku | SF streets | book review | lies | Murdoch | Google+ | libertarians | homes | Wallander book | crowdsourcing the mayor | Bay Area travels | UnExaminer | architecture | science | more

Northside San Francisco magazine
Spotlight

Zeitschriften: Future Life

In this highlight of one of my favorite magazines, I take a look at the long-gone science/science-fiction magazine Future Life. It was not long for this earth, but for the four years that it lasted, it was a high point of small-company publishing. Recently expanded with lots of new text plus new scans of select page spreads. >> more

Future Life Zeitschriften

Starlog: Quo Vadis?

Read my long blog post on what's wrong and right about Starlog magazine – as a publication, as an online entity, and as a brand.

This is part of my Weimar World Service Blog, which regularly covers magazine news and views (see scrolling feed above). >> more

Update: Read the latest about Starlog's print hiatus. Also follow my frequent blog reports on all things Starlog.

NEW: Check out my Starlog Project on my blog or on this site, where I chronicle each issue of Starlog.

starlog magazine cover issue 373 march 2009 john zipperer
Weimar TV

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We recently took a giant leap into the multimedia world with the release of our first video programs. For videos of sea lions, BMWs, presidential candidates, other famous people, and my very unfamous cat, check out my YouTube page.

Copyright © 2024 John Zipperer, unless indicated otherwise.