A Christmas Standard Reworked on the Eve of Trump

POSTED BY MARTIN KICH In a recent post, Hank Reichman provided a post-election playlist that did a great deal to mitigate my post-election despondency. That playlist could not have included this just released video of Fiona Apple singing a Christmas standard reworked for this particular holiday season: Whether you enjoy the song or not, Fiona…

A Playlist for the Trump Presidency

BY HANK REICHMAN Music can be an indispensable solace, inspiration, and fortification.  Over the past several weeks I’ve needed all three, and I suspect others have as well.  So I’ve put together this playlist to help us through the next four years.  Thirty songs out of many. (Sadly, for a good number of them you’ll…

Image of the Day

POSTED BY MARTIN KICH Don’t be entirely surprised if this Golden Pheasant replaces the Bald Eagle as the National Bird: Photographed at Hangzhou Safari Park in Hangzhou, China (Reuters/Stringer)  

Two Writing Prompts for Students (and Faculty)

POSTED BY MARTIN KICH This is an announcement from Prose: Dear students: The platform that brought you #Write4Good invites you to participate in a new writing challenge. This one has a chance to make literary history. Let’s take a look at the prompt: It’s record-breaking time. Together, we are going to break the world record for…

The Disappearance of Thomas Riha: An Unsolved Academic Mystery

POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN Russian historians of my generation may recall the name of Thomas Riha as the editor of the widely-used three-volume Readings in Russian Civilization, published in 1964 (2nd ed., 1969) by the University of Chicago Press and apparently still in print.  The books were important to my own initial education in Russian…

Can Reality Be an Oxymoron? (4)

POSTED BY MARTIN KICH Let’s start with two headlines from yesterday’s Columbus Dispatch: Green Party’s Presidential Candidate’s Speech Delayed after She Flies to Wrong City Fire Department Cancels Charity Campaign after Firefighter Is Struck by Car   7-Eleven Deploys Donut Delivery Drone Aer Lingus Passenger Dies after Biting Another Passenger Banksy Graffiti Vandalized at Sundance…