Monthly Archives: July 2025

On Ibsen and Why MAGA Hates Experts

By Robin Bates | Published: July 13, 2025

Ibsen’s “Enemy of the People” helps us understand MAGA’s hatred of expertise.

By Robin Bates | Published: July 12, 2025

Henry Lawson’s “Good Samaritan” recasts the story in working class terms.

By Robin Bates | Published: July 11, 2025

In her sequel to “Handmaid’s Tale,” Atwood describes arrest scenes that immigrants snatched by ICE are actually experiencing.

By Robin Bates | Published: July 9, 2025

Trump concentration camp Alligator Alcatraz is sending me to poems written about the Nazi concentration camps.

By Robin Bates | Published: July 8, 2025

For a good July beach poem, check out Emily Dickinson’s sensual “I started early – took my dog.”

By Robin Bates | Published: July 7, 2025

The horrible flooding in Texas brings to mind Bob Dylan’s apocalyptic “The Hour When the Ship Comes In.”

By Robin Bates | Published: July 6, 2025

Walt Whitman called for people to “resist much, obey little.” Good advice for those living under an authoritarian government.

By Robin Bates | Published: July 5, 2025

Emerson’s “Boston Hymn,” written during the Civil War, imagines God telling America to make freedom its king and to free the slaves.

By Robin Bates | Published: July 3, 2025

“These are the times that try men’s souls,” Paine wrote, and his poem “Liberty Tree” backs up these sentiments. Happy July 4th.