Monthly Archives: January 2024

Are You an Antigone or an Ismene?

By Robin Bates | Published: January 21, 2024

In an essay calling Chinese activist Chow Hang Tung “the Antigone of Hong Kong,” Wendy Gan compares herself to Ismene.

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A Cold Coming We Had of It

By Robin Bates | Published: January 20, 2024

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The Dream of Acting with Impunity

By Robin Bates | Published: January 18, 2024

In thinking he can act with total impunity, Trump echoes H.G. Wells’s Invisible Man.

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SCOTUS’s Return to The Jungle

By Robin Bates | Published: January 17, 2024

The rightwing Supreme Court is threatening to gut the regulatory agencies, set in motion years ago by a novel (Sinclair’s “Jungle”).

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Oliver: With Intense Cold Comes Honesty

By Robin Bates | Published: January 16, 2024

Mary Oliver says that cold can force us to get real.

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The Wonder of First Snow

By Robin Bates | Published: January 15, 2024

Mary Oliver captures the wonder of a first snowfall.

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Dunbar and Angelou on Caged Birds

By Robin Bates | Published: January 14, 2024

In “Caged Bird,” Angelou contrasts the life of a bird that is caged with tht of a bird that is free.

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The Stable Is Our Heart

By Robin Bates | Published: January 14, 2024

L’Engle’s “Into the Darkest Hour” promises hope when everything is falling apart.

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Florida School Pulls Paradise Lost

By Robin Bates | Published: January 11, 2024

A Florida County has pulled “Paradise Lost” from the shelves. It’s true that the work has “sexual content.”

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