Trump White House cage match is a modern version of the “bread and circuses” Juvenal describes in his Satire X.
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Monthly Archives: June 2026
Juvenal’s “Bread and Circuses” at the White House
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Vanity of Human Wishes", Juvenal, Samuel Johnson, White House cage match Comments closed
The Tempest and Our Own Coup Attempts
We can see our current electoral politics, and the threats to social order, in Shakespeare’s “Tempest.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged DJT, electoral politics, Tempest, William Shakespeare Comments closed
A Love Poem to a Long Marriage
A love poem from my wife, which I share on our 53rd wedding anniversary.
Trump Christians Worship Moloch
While Sen. Mike Lee has accused Texas senate candidate Talarico of being in thrall to Maloch, Ginsberg’s “Howl” shows that the real Moloch is the America Lee desires.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Alan Ginsberg, Howl, James Talarico, Maloch, William Blake Comments closed
Something Funny Happened Along My Career Path
Looking back over my academic career, I explore a regret over not having achieved more as a literary scholar.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Garden of Forking Paths", Carleton College, Jorge Luis Borges, memoir, Road Not Taken, Robert Frost "Ovenbird" Comments closed
Shaq on Homer’s Basketball Lessons
At LSU, Shaq O’Neal recently wrote a thesis on mentorship in the Odyssey. I imagine the basketball examples he might have used.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Homer, leadership, mentorship, Odyssey, Shaquille O'Neal Comments closed
A Book Fair in War-Torn Ukraine
Kyiv continued to hold its annual book festival this year despite Russian attacks. In Ukraine, book publication is seen as self-defense and reading as resistance.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged “Local Heroes", Book Arsenal, genocide, Russia-Ukraine War, Thomas Lynch, Ukraine Comments closed