By Jennifer Keohane I want to use this post to share a bit of exciting news. I have a new monograph, released with Lexington Books, an imprint of Rowman and Littlefield. The book is available now on the Rowman website or Amazon. This project is the culmination of 6 years of archival research at the …
By Martijn Icks Few names in history hold as much terror as that of Vlad Dracula, “Little Dragon”, also known as Vlad the Impaler. Many people are aware that the blood-curdling stories about the man’s cruelties inspired the Victorian novelist Bram Stoker to name his vampiric creation Count Dracula. What is much less well known …
In Head in the Clouds: The Ridicule of Socrates in Classical Athens, Martijn Icks started a new year by looking to the past and examining how a satirical play may have impugned Socrates' reputation decades before his execution. Later in the month, Jennifer Keohane reflected on her own personal struggle with ad hominem attacks following …
By Martijn Icks Women don’t have it easy in politics. They are held to high, often conflicting, standards by men, but perhaps by other women too. If they happen to be attractive, they run the risk of being shelved in the “bimbo” or “dumb blonde” category: all beauty, no brains. Others may be criticized for …
Continue reading Femmes Fatales in Ancient Rome: Messalina and Agrippina
By Martijn Icks The line between good-hearted humour and debasing ridicule is notoriously hard to draw. A few weeks ago, Sergei Samoilenko blogged about the growing influence of TV comedians in shaping public perceptions of politicians and celebrities. While some of their jokes and sketches may just be gently poking fun at public figures, comedians …
Continue reading Head in the Clouds: The Ridicule of Socrates in Classical Athens
By Martijn Icks Character assassination is an eye-catching word. It triggers associations with murder and violence, with slashed throats and dripping poison. It’s a word that lends itself well to being spoken with righteous indignation: “My character has been assassinated!” Immediately, we’re prompted to sympathize with the victim and despise the dastardly perpetrator who committed …
Continue reading Why Character Assassination Is A Misleading Term (But we continue to use it anyway)
by Katya Beisel November may not have been as busy for us as October was, but it was just as exciting. Aside from our regular weekly blog posts, we organized our first virtual press conference on Nov. 10. Our first attempt at livestreaming panel discussions of CARP's research initiatives and insights was a success, and …
Because of distributed influence away from religious leaders, and politicians, popular comedians are increasingly replacing the traditional press as primary opinion leaders.
By Martijn Icks and Rudmer Bijlsma At first glance, the Jewish-Dutch philosopher Baruch de Spinoza (1632-1677) seems an unlikely target for character assassination. The man, characterized as “the noblest and most lovable of the great philosophers” by Bertrand Russell, shunned the spotlight and lived in relative obscurity in the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic. He moved from …
By Martijn Icks “Politicians fiddling while the NHS burns,” wrote an editor in the Belfast Telegraph last week. “Tweeting while the world burns,” an angry blogger denounced Donald Trump’s stance on climate change. Wherever we turn, it seems, powerful men and women have an irrepressible itch to hit the strings as soon as something or …
Continue reading Fiddler on the Roof: Nero and the Great Fire of Rome
