Tag Archives: Jonathan Swift

Trump as Frankenstein’s Monster

By Robin Bates | Published: August 27, 2015

What is it about Donald Trump that brings out the literary analogies? First a Salon columnist compared him to Odysseus’s Cyclops, then the New Yorker’s John Cassidy saw him as Gulliver, and most recently Rachel Maddow of MSNBC and others have compared him to Frankenstein’s monster. I’ve written about the Cyclops parallel here, but let’s take […]

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

Can Lit Make the Rich More Empathetic?

By Robin Bates | Published: February 2, 2015

With growing income disparity comes a decline in empathy. Literature can help rebuild our compassion.

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

GOP Denies a Giant Problem

By Robin Bates | Published: June 3, 2014

Faced with climate change denialism, Obama has been forced to take executive action. Jonathan Swift would understand.

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

Meditation upon a Broom (April Fool!)

By Robin Bates | Published: April 1, 2014

Swift’s “Meditation on a Broomstick” could well have been an April Fool’s joke.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , | Comments closed

A Modest Proposal for Shooting Students

By Robin Bates | Published: March 5, 2014

Reacting against a proposal to allow guns on Idaho campuses, an Idaho professor has come up with a modest proposal of his own.

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

Stewart Should Learn from Jonathan Swift

By Robin Bates | Published: November 6, 2013

Jon Stewart may be one of our leading satirists, but satire comes up short in handling this country’s healthcare crisis.

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

Depressing News? Read Gulliver

By Robin Bates | Published: September 23, 2013

If you ever feel that humans are nothing more than Yahoos, Swift urges us to remember that there are good Samaritans amongst us.

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

Swift and Food Stamp Cuts

By Robin Bates | Published: September 17, 2013

What would Jonathan Swift say to GOP radicals who seek to cut food stamps.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , | Comments closed

Getting Tied Down in Syria

By Robin Bates | Published: July 10, 2013

Is there a danger that U.S. involvement in Syria will lead to a Gulliver-like disaster?

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