Monthly Archives: September 2019

Stephen King and Detention Centers

By Robin Bates | Published: September 9, 2019

Stephen King’s latest novels unconsciously reflect contemporary events, with kids imprisoned in detention centers.

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“Rhinoceros” and Trump’s GOP Takeover

By Robin Bates | Published: September 8, 2019

Ionesco’s “Rhinoceros” brilliantly captures how creeping authoritarianism works. It’s only too relevant.

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The Bible, As True as Literature

By Robin Bates | Published: September 7, 2019

In “Inspired,” Rachel Held Evans demonstrates how the Bible is true because it functions as literature.

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Read to Resist Trump & Trumpism

By Robin Bates | Published: September 5, 2019

Literature provides those resisting Trump with a “no bullshit” zone, a safe space where they can center themselves.

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Trump’s Catch-22 Doctoring of Maps

By Robin Bates | Published: September 4, 2019

Thursday In case you haven’t heard the story, apparently someone in the Trump administration doctored a hurricane map to cover for the president’s fabricated assertion that Dorian posed a threat to Alabama. The incident reminded Politico’s Jeff Greenfield of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. The doctoring involved using a sharpie to extend the hurricane track (see picture […]

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Killer Claimed to Be Captain of His Soul

By Robin Bates | Published: September 3, 2019

Wednesday Last week Radnor High School English teacher Carl Rosin reported on his students grappling with the use of Dylan Thomas by the Christchurch killer. The man also cited William Ernest Henley’s “Invictus, the subject of today’s essay. In addition to his use of another famous poem, what does it mean that this same poem […]

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Homer, Anti-War Poet

By Robin Bates | Published: September 2, 2019

Tuesday One of my most satisfying reads in recent years is Caroline Alexander’s The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer’s Iliad and The Trojan War. Alexander is the kind of writer that I aspire to be: an academic who taps into the meticulous research of other scholars to write for a popular […]

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A Poem for Labor Day

By Robin Bates | Published: September 1, 2019

Monday – Labor Day I can think of few poems that better capture the spirit of Labor Day than Daniel Pinsky’s “The Shirt.” I love how it moves seamlessly—I use the adverb deliberately—between the craft of labor and the conditions of labor. Sometimes we see a lovingly described piece of clothing, sometimes we hear about […]

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