Shakespeare and Henry James showed up in commentary on this weeks events: the impending government shutdown and the required gathering of 800 military leaders.
Tag Archives: William Shakespeare
Dems Channel Inner Lady Macbeth
Childhood Confusion: Reading to the Rescue
Continuing on with my “A Life in Literature,” I look at some of the works that impacted me when I was 8-12. These include authors Lewis, Tolkien, Burnett and Shakespeare.
Two Wind-Obsessed Narcissists
Trump and King Lear, two wind-obsessed narcissists. But only one connects with his soul.
Is Vance Cassius to Trump’s Caesar?
William Krystol imagines J.D. Vance as Cassius to Trump’s Caesar, secretly stabbing the president in the back.
Killing the Messenger of Bad News
Trump has shot the messenger in firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Plutarch, Euripides and Shakespeare have scenes with this dynamic.
What to Make of Fascist Authors
In which I explore a Lit Hub article arguing that authors and fascists have things in common, which explains why certain authors have turned to the dark side.
A.I. and the Tech Bro Accelerationists
AI is the darling of Silicon Valley accelerationists, who sound like the old Italian Futurists and who appear never to have read Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Pricked and Bleeding Thanks to Trump
A mother, brutalized by federal agents who got the wrong house, seemed to be channeling “Merchant of Venice” in her response.

