Tag Archives: "Burning of the Books"

Book Bans Again on the Rise

By Robin Bates | Published: January 18, 2022

With book bans on the rise, Langston Hughes’s “My Adventures as a Social Poet” is must reading. So is Brecht’s “Burning of the Books.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Burning of the Books", Bertolt Brecht, Book banning, Ethnic Studies, Langston Hughes, librotraficantes, My Adventures as a Social Poet | Comments closed

The Real Face of Patriotism

By Robin Bates | Published: January 22, 2020

When William McRaven asked, out of sympathy with John Brennan, that his own security clearance be withdrawn, he behaved like Brecht’s poet in “Burning of the Books.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Burning of the Books", 1984, Bertolt Brecht, Donald Trump, George Orwell, John Brennan, security clearances, William McRaven | Comments closed

Brecht on Speaking Truth to Power

By Robin Bates | Published: August 20, 2018

Monday A Bertolt Brecht poem came to mind when Retired Navy Admiral William H. McRaven came to the defense of former CIA Director John Brennan, stripped of his security clearance by a Donald Trump angry at his criticisms. Vox has the story of what happened: The man who led the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Burning of the Books", 1984, Bertolt Brecht, Donald Trump, George Orwell, John Brennan, Rudy Giuliani, William H. McRaven | Comments closed

Why It’s Good To Offend Students

By Robin Bates | Published: September 1, 2015

An entering Duke student has refused to read Alison Bechdel’s “Fun House.” A professor comes partially to his defense.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Burning of the Books", Alison Bechdel, Bertolt Brecht, censorship, college life, Franz Kafka, freshman orientation, Fun House, homosexuality, reader response | Comments closed