Monthly Archives: October 2017

How Moliere Is Saving France

By Robin Bates | Published: October 20, 2017

Moliere is helping French PM Macron steer a sane middle road between rightwing and leftwing purists.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Comedy, Emmanuel Macron, Mark Twain, Misanthrope, Moliere, politics, social comedy | Comments closed

Atwood’s Year of the Flood–Our Future?

By Robin Bates | Published: October 19, 2017

Atwood lays out the social devastation that can arise from extreme climate events in “Year of the Flood.” Some of her predictions are starting to come true.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Donald Trump, dystopian literature, Hurricane Maria, Margaret Atwood, Puerto Rico, Years of the Flood | Comments closed

Trump, 4 Dead Soldiers, & Col. Cathcart

By Robin Bates | Published: October 18, 2017

Trump handled the death of the four Green Berets who died in Niger like Col. Cathcart in “Catch-22” would have. A better model would be Ned Stark in “Game of Thrones.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Barack Obama, Catch 22, commander in chief, death and dying, Game of Thrones, George Martin, George W. Bush, Green Berets, Joseph Heller, military deaths | Comments closed

Three Poems for Surviving Trump

By Robin Bates | Published: October 17, 2017

Hope is needed in the face to emotional exhaustion over Trumpism. Here are three poems about finding hope in dark times.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Hope is the thing with feathers", David Whyte, Donald Trump, Emily Dickson, hope, Lucille Clifton | Comments closed

GOP Releases Catch-22 on Gun Control

By Robin Bates | Published: October 16, 2017

To avoid doing anything about the bump stock that Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock used, the GOP has invoked Catch-22.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bump-stocks, Catch 22, gun control, Joseph Heller, NRA, Paul Ryan | Comments closed

A Positive Spin on the Golden Calf

By Robin Bates | Published: October 15, 2017

Rabbi Jacob Staub’s account of the golden calf is much different, and a lot more fun, than the Exodus version.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Golden Calf", Exodus, fertility religions, Freud, Jacob Staub, monotheism, Moses, Moses and Monotheism, Oedipus complex, polytheism, Repression | Comments closed

How Nazis Used Art’s Soft Power

By Robin Bates | Published: October 13, 2017

Hitler and Mussolini took the arts seriously and tried to use them to extend their power. They had mixed results.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Hitler, Mussolini, Nazis | Comments closed

Will Warm Days Never Cease?

By Robin Bates | Published: October 12, 2017

Changes in climate can cause us to see classic poems in a new light. Case in point: Keats’s “To Autumn.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "To Autumn", Autumn, climate change, death and dying, John Keats, Seasons, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | Comments closed

Brother Fire Ravages California

By Robin Bates | Published: October 11, 2017

Louis MacNeice captures what northern California is experiencing in “Brother Fire.” The poem also reveals a disturbing dark side in how we respond to catastrophe.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Brother Fire", California wildfires, climate change, climate denialism, Donald Trump, global warming, Louis MacNeice, Scott Pruitt | Comments closed