If poetry make nothing happen, as W.H. Auden once wrote, it sometimes uncannily anticipates what will.
Archives for April 2026
The Bard Died 410 Years Ago Today. His Poems Live On
Sometimes he rewrote them. See an example and decide which you prefer: the early or the later version.
THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL is coming soon . . .
It Probes the Secret Prison History of American Music
Colin Asher, author of the critically acclaimed biography of Nelson Algren “Never a Lovely So Real,” now focuses on five emblematic figures — Huddle Ledbetter, Elmo Hope, Johnny Cash, Ike White, and Tupac Shakur — as he explores the influence of incarceration on blues artists, jazz musicians, country singers, rock’n’rollers, and hip-hop creators.
Opposing Forces
Their faces are so familiar there is no need to name them.
We Bloviate Therefore We Are
You have to go behind the billboards to understand what’s happening in America. So said the novelist Nelson Algren, who was as sharp a social critic as H.L. Mencken ever was. Seems to me that the British author A. Robert Lee would agree with Algren. But Lee has taken it upon himself to cite the billboards themselves as diagnostic proof.
Our Biggest Problem
His mouth is too big, and his conscience . . . well . . . he doesn’t have one.
How to Make Resistance a Daily Part of Our Lives
‘Don’t let anybody convince you this is the way the world is and therefore must be. It must be the way it ought to be.’
— Toni Morrison
‘Waiting until everything looks feasible is too long to wait.’
— Rebecca Solnit
Mad Dog at the FBI
Fired FBI agents are suing the bureau and Kash Patel for dismissing them because they took part in an investigation of el presidente Trumpscheisse’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election.