Monthly Archives: January 2026

Protest songs, poetry, and political influence

Long ago, I was seduced by Shelley’s Defense of Poetry, which concluded with a bold claim: “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” At some point, I became skeptical of that notion, and came to think that poets were … Continue reading

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Repression in Minneapolis backfires (2)

Repression is risky for everyone. It works for authorities when most opponents are deterred from taking visible action. But repression can also provoke greater resistance and undermine support for the repressive agents. Repression polarizes, and how well it works depends … Continue reading

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Repression backfires in Minneapolis (1)

Federal agents seem determined to kill anti-deportation protesters, at least enough of them to kill the resistance. It’s not working–at least not yet. Minnesotans are fighting back. Who guessed that Minneapolis, Minnesota would become the front line of the civil … Continue reading

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Martin Luther King Day 2026 (repost plus)

Commemoration is very much a salient issue at the moment. Donald Trump, president, is rewriting the history of the Capitol Hill invasion and American history more broadly. It’s no surprise that the most conspicuous efforts (e.g., the simultaneously Disneyfied and … Continue reading

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