Think

We're having a panel on pirates. Why? Because we can. Please bring rum to ensure a rollicking good time. We may award a prize to the best-dressed pirate crew to attend! Why are pirates so hot? I don't just mean popular, I mean HOT. Current research shows the most infamous pirates in the Age of Sail were kind of like the rock stars of their era, rebels who threw off the strictures of society and were icons of sex and drugs and rock-and-roll (except that they didn't yet have rock-and-roll, unless you count the nautical kind). Do you count Han Solo in the pirate vein, or not? Was there a real Captain Jack Sparrow and why are we continually attracted to the bad boys who break the rules?