Tag Archives: Jonathan Swift

Reflections on Internet Trolling

By Robin Bates | Published: May 30, 2018

Internet trolling is not contributing to discourse but poisoning it.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

Swift Predicted Trump’s Lies

By Robin Bates | Published: February 13, 2018

Swift anticipated Donald Trump in his essay on “Political Lying.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments closed

A Birthday Poem by the Numbers

By Robin Bates | Published: June 12, 2017

My wedding anniversary and birthday this year all work together as a numerical quirk, giving me a rationale to share one of Jonathan Swift’s “Stella birthday poems” in which the poet also plays around with numbers.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , | Comments closed

Swift’s Popularity with Today’s Students

By Robin Bates | Published: May 3, 2017

Students crowded into the gym to listen to the publisher of “The Onion.” It is therefore not surprising that they are also responding enthusiastically to Jonathan Swift. I share some of their thoughts on the satirist in today’s post.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , | Comments closed

Swift’s April Fools Broomstick Joke

By Robin Bates | Published: April 1, 2017

The all time master of the April Fools joke was Jonathan Swift. Here’s one of his lesser ones where he draws deep philosophical by meditating on a broomstick.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , | Comments closed

Gulliver, Recommended for Scientists

By Robin Bates | Published: March 31, 2017

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson’s favorite book to recommend is not a book of science but Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels.” This shows him to be a very wise man.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , | Comments closed

Jonathan Swift, Master of Fake News

By Robin Bates | Published: January 18, 2017

Fake news, which played a role in the 2016 election, may have become particularly sophisticated, but satirists have been creating fake news since at least the days of Jonathan Swift. Take, for instance, Swift’s “The Last Speech and Dying Words of Ebenezer Elliston,” which supposedly lowered the crime rate but which, for that reason, is problematic.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , | Comments closed

Dying of a Broken Heart

By Robin Bates | Published: January 1, 2017

Two 18th century items: Henry Fielding believed that it was possible to die from a broken heart, which some speculate explains actress Debbie Reynolds’s death after her daughter Carrie Fisher died. And prankster Jonathan Swift has a characteristic list of New Year’s resolutions.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

If Swift Had Known Donald Trump…

By Robin Bates | Published: November 27, 2016

Jonathan Swift would have had a field day with Donald Trump. I suspect I’ll say this often in the upcoming years.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , | Comments closed