LEST WE FORGET
BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE, FEBRUARY 2025, OFFERS AN INTERVIEW with historian Laurence Rees; his topic, “the history of the Nazi regime yields warnings—but that frighteningly few people are interested in learning … Continue reading
MOZART AND TRUMP—PRODIGIES WITH KEWL COIFS
ONE MIGHT THINK THE ARROGANCE OF EGO WOULD HAVE LED ME TO ASSOCIATE Trump and Beethoven. But no, prodigious musicality seals the deal: It’s Mozart and Trump—separated at birth by … Continue reading
GRIMM TALES
NO TYPO HERE. THE BROTHERS GRIMM: A BIOGRAPHY is a book by Ann Schmiesing given a review by Colin Burrow “Ogres Are Cool,” London Review of Books, March 20, 2025. … Continue reading
GOODBYE, E.P.A.; HELLO, E.D.A.
THERE IS IRONY GALORE IN THE NEW U.S. Environmental “Deregulation” Agency having originally been established by Richard Nixon on December 2, 1970, “to protect human health and the environment” (this, … Continue reading
NOW IT CAN BE TOLD
WHAT A MARVELOUS OPPORTUNITY FOR SATIRE: The dust is far from settled about what The New York Times, March 25, 2025, is calling “an extraordinary leak of internal national security … Continue reading
A USED CAR AFTER WHICH I LUST
“THE ASTON MARTIN CYGNET,” this fabled sports car manufacturer said back in 2011, “was designed as a luxury solution to urban mobility.” A city car that’s “Elegant and distinctive whilst … Continue reading
WHAT DESPOTIC HYPOCRISY!!
I FEEL SORRY FOR OWNERS OF TESLA cars vandalized by people increasingly irate with actions of Elon Musk. But to label the vandals “domestic terrorists” while at the same time … Continue reading
KINGS PART 2
WE’RE IN THE MIDST OF TOM JOHNSON’S LRB REVIEW of the Burt/Partington book Arise, England: Six Kings and the Making of the English State. Here in Part 2, we continue … Continue reading
KINGS PART 1
YEARS AGO ENGLISH PAL DAVID ROBERTS, husband of Anita, the latter Innes Ireland’s secretary, recited to me a poem recounting England’s rulers from William I (the Conquerer to some; the … Continue reading