Author: robertappelbaum

Senior Professor in Arts and Communication at Malmö University, Sweden, I am a native New Yorker educated at the University of Chicago and the University of California, Berkeley. I am the author of a number of books and articles on literature and culture, especially regarding the early modern period, and a work of creative non-fiction, Working the Aisles: A Life in Consumption (Zero Books). Following up on Terrorism Before the Letter (U of Chicago Press) and The Aesthetics of Violence (Rowman and Littlefield) I am now, supported by the Swedish Research Council, writing a book called the Renaissance Discovery of Violence, From Boccaccio to Shakespeare.

by robertappelbaum

Trump, Decency, and Democracy

It has been quite a ride for this American expatriate. Settled in Europe, married to a European, and now a citizen of Sweden as well as the US, I was trying to make Europe the focus of my attention, and even my allegiance, but the election of Donald Trump changed all that. I became addicted […]

by robertappelbaum

UNFORTUNATELY, REFLECTIONS ON TRUMP AND IMPEACHMENT

by robertappelbaum

Eve Ensler, Chauncey De Vega and Rape Culture So-called

by Robert Appelbaum Eve Ensler, Chauncey De Vega and “Rape Culture” So-called “Rape culture is both a noun and a verb.” Did you get that? It appears in the introductory remarks to an interview with Eve Ensler, the author most famously of The Vagina Monologues, and now of a book called The Apology, an account […]

by robertappelbaum

Evolution and Politics: A Big Lie in the Washington Post

By Robert Appelbaum In the United States today there is a strong correlation between place of residence and political attitudes. If you are a New Yorker, you are likely to be liberal. New York City voters chose Hillary Clinton by a margin of 60%! That is, 79% of voters in the five boroughs voted […]

by robertappelbaum

In Purgatory, with a Non-Victim

(With apologies to Patti Davis.) On my last trip into the afterlife I found myself in Purgatory, and one of the first people I encountered was an old friend, Harvey. Harvey had been dead for about six years. I was surprised he was in Purgatory because I had always thought of him as a stand-up […]