Steven Rodriguez
@smarcorodriguez.bsky.social
Reading Julius Caesar with local high school students, reading Aristotle's Politics for a secret project, to be revealed soon
oh no it’s me I’m Mary Bennet
February 15, 2026 at 9:21 PM
oh no it’s me I’m Mary Bennet
Read something in Keener's Acts commentary today that astonished me: He points out how odd it is that Paul is a Roman citizen, and says one plausible explanation is that his ancestors had been enslaved by Romans and became citizens when they purchased their freedom!?
February 15, 2026 at 11:14 AM
Read something in Keener's Acts commentary today that astonished me: He points out how odd it is that Paul is a Roman citizen, and says one plausible explanation is that his ancestors had been enslaved by Romans and became citizens when they purchased their freedom!?
Regular readers of this feed know that when I am rereading a book of classic literature, I try to pair it with an important primary source and a work of critical scholarship.
This time reading Austen, I think I might try to tackle some of Austen-Leigh’s biography of her.
This time reading Austen, I think I might try to tackle some of Austen-Leigh’s biography of her.
February 13, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Regular readers of this feed know that when I am rereading a book of classic literature, I try to pair it with an important primary source and a work of critical scholarship.
This time reading Austen, I think I might try to tackle some of Austen-Leigh’s biography of her.
This time reading Austen, I think I might try to tackle some of Austen-Leigh’s biography of her.
Very disappointed to see that Cavanaugh's Torture and Eucharist—IMO, one of the best books on political theology written in my lifetime—is out of print?? Am I wrong?
February 13, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Very disappointed to see that Cavanaugh's Torture and Eucharist—IMO, one of the best books on political theology written in my lifetime—is out of print?? Am I wrong?
hope you all are ready for a lot of Jane Austen poasting
February 13, 2026 at 11:28 AM
hope you all are ready for a lot of Jane Austen poasting
Well, the votes are in. The next book that the high school students chose to read together is PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. LET'S GO
February 12, 2026 at 11:49 PM
Well, the votes are in. The next book that the high school students chose to read together is PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. LET'S GO
Reposted by Steven Rodriguez
MAGA: WE CAN’T UNDERSTAND BAD BUNNY
also MAGA: Bawitdaba, da-bang, da-bang, diggy-diggy-diggy Said the boogie, said up drop the boogie
also MAGA: Bawitdaba, da-bang, da-bang, diggy-diggy-diggy Said the boogie, said up drop the boogie
February 10, 2026 at 3:41 PM
MAGA: WE CAN’T UNDERSTAND BAD BUNNY
also MAGA: Bawitdaba, da-bang, da-bang, diggy-diggy-diggy Said the boogie, said up drop the boogie
also MAGA: Bawitdaba, da-bang, da-bang, diggy-diggy-diggy Said the boogie, said up drop the boogie
Been having a big “It's all in Aristotle, all in Aristotle: Bless me, what do they teach them at these schools?" moment.
February 9, 2026 at 1:50 PM
Been having a big “It's all in Aristotle, all in Aristotle: Bless me, what do they teach them at these schools?" moment.
How have I never noticed the incredible irony in Acts 10 that Peter is worried about unclean animals while he's literally on the roof of a tanner's house, which would have been incredibly unclean by ritual purity standards already...!?
February 7, 2026 at 8:01 PM
How have I never noticed the incredible irony in Acts 10 that Peter is worried about unclean animals while he's literally on the roof of a tanner's house, which would have been incredibly unclean by ritual purity standards already...!?
I've always assumed that the guy named Aeneas who Peter heals in Acts 9 was a gentile because of his name.
But that doesn't make sense narratively, since Luke makes such a huge deal about Peter *beginning* his ministry to gentiles in the next chapter.
But that doesn't make sense narratively, since Luke makes such a huge deal about Peter *beginning* his ministry to gentiles in the next chapter.
February 7, 2026 at 2:35 PM
I've always assumed that the guy named Aeneas who Peter heals in Acts 9 was a gentile because of his name.
But that doesn't make sense narratively, since Luke makes such a huge deal about Peter *beginning* his ministry to gentiles in the next chapter.
But that doesn't make sense narratively, since Luke makes such a huge deal about Peter *beginning* his ministry to gentiles in the next chapter.
Today in the Julius Caesar class, I get to bust out one of my all-time favorite lines from history, from Porfirio Díaz:
“Madero ha soltado al tigre; veremos si puede controlarlo.”
“Madero ha soltado al tigre; veremos si puede controlarlo.”
February 5, 2026 at 3:54 PM
Today in the Julius Caesar class, I get to bust out one of my all-time favorite lines from history, from Porfirio Díaz:
“Madero ha soltado al tigre; veremos si puede controlarlo.”
“Madero ha soltado al tigre; veremos si puede controlarlo.”
We are strongly conditioned to think that an "appeal to our common humanity" is automatically a philanthropic thing to do.
What's shocking about Cassius' argument in Julius Caesar is that he tries to use the common humanity between him and Caesar to justify hateful violence.
What's shocking about Cassius' argument in Julius Caesar is that he tries to use the common humanity between him and Caesar to justify hateful violence.
February 5, 2026 at 11:28 AM
We are strongly conditioned to think that an "appeal to our common humanity" is automatically a philanthropic thing to do.
What's shocking about Cassius' argument in Julius Caesar is that he tries to use the common humanity between him and Caesar to justify hateful violence.
What's shocking about Cassius' argument in Julius Caesar is that he tries to use the common humanity between him and Caesar to justify hateful violence.
One of our kids is reading Lord of the Rings for the first time right now, and, overnight, strange runes are appearing scattered throughout our house, which I cannot decipher
February 4, 2026 at 1:46 PM
One of our kids is reading Lord of the Rings for the first time right now, and, overnight, strange runes are appearing scattered throughout our house, which I cannot decipher
I now have ""smart"" machine learning editing suggestions in my gmail, whether I want them or not. It keeps telling me to make my sentences less flowy, less idiosyncratic, more brutally terse. Resistance to our tech overlords may soon take the form of run-on sentences, comrades.
February 3, 2026 at 1:24 PM
I now have ""smart"" machine learning editing suggestions in my gmail, whether I want them or not. It keeps telling me to make my sentences less flowy, less idiosyncratic, more brutally terse. Resistance to our tech overlords may soon take the form of run-on sentences, comrades.
Is there any evidence that Tolkien, who was deeply influenced by the medieval period, based the Nazgûl on the Nine Worthies from medieval lore?
January 30, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Is there any evidence that Tolkien, who was deeply influenced by the medieval period, based the Nazgûl on the Nine Worthies from medieval lore?
If Trump’s defeat at Minneapolis ends up being the beginning of the end, it will refute the thesis of the Coen Brothers’ Fargo, that Midwestern Nice is powerless to defeat Satanic evil
January 30, 2026 at 3:43 PM
If Trump’s defeat at Minneapolis ends up being the beginning of the end, it will refute the thesis of the Coen Brothers’ Fargo, that Midwestern Nice is powerless to defeat Satanic evil
aw man our local theater out here predicting 28 more years of Zootopia and Avatar sequels. Please make it stop
January 30, 2026 at 2:15 PM
aw man our local theater out here predicting 28 more years of Zootopia and Avatar sequels. Please make it stop
Today after the Julius Caesar reading group, some of the high schoolers stuck around because they wanted to talk with each other about the Guelphs and the Ghibellines from Dante again.
I read Dante with them two years ago and I'm frankly shocked that they remember them.
I read Dante with them two years ago and I'm frankly shocked that they remember them.
January 29, 2026 at 11:05 PM
Today after the Julius Caesar reading group, some of the high schoolers stuck around because they wanted to talk with each other about the Guelphs and the Ghibellines from Dante again.
I read Dante with them two years ago and I'm frankly shocked that they remember them.
I read Dante with them two years ago and I'm frankly shocked that they remember them.
When Esther is done reading Julius Caesar, I can't wait to introduce her to the greatest film adaptation of the play, Mean Girls (2004)
January 29, 2026 at 2:27 PM
When Esther is done reading Julius Caesar, I can't wait to introduce her to the greatest film adaptation of the play, Mean Girls (2004)
I love how Shakespeare humanizes Caesar instead of keeping him at "final boss" distance. Caesar's lines about Cassius are some of the funniest and truest of the whole play.
January 29, 2026 at 11:30 AM
I love how Shakespeare humanizes Caesar instead of keeping him at "final boss" distance. Caesar's lines about Cassius are some of the funniest and truest of the whole play.
I was involved in a class action lawsuit with Criterion Collection and I just got a decent payout from the case. I regret my decision. I don't want their money. Why can't I get tons of money from a class action suit with Netflix!
January 28, 2026 at 1:33 PM
I was involved in a class action lawsuit with Criterion Collection and I just got a decent payout from the case. I regret my decision. I don't want their money. Why can't I get tons of money from a class action suit with Netflix!
The contrast in Shakespeare's use of sources between Julius Caesar and A Midsummer Night's Dream is shockingly different.
Scholars parse out at least 6 possible sources for Bottom the Weaver alone. Meanwhile, Shakespeare almost exclusively uses Plutarch for Julius Caesar.
Scholars parse out at least 6 possible sources for Bottom the Weaver alone. Meanwhile, Shakespeare almost exclusively uses Plutarch for Julius Caesar.
January 28, 2026 at 12:33 PM
The contrast in Shakespeare's use of sources between Julius Caesar and A Midsummer Night's Dream is shockingly different.
Scholars parse out at least 6 possible sources for Bottom the Weaver alone. Meanwhile, Shakespeare almost exclusively uses Plutarch for Julius Caesar.
Scholars parse out at least 6 possible sources for Bottom the Weaver alone. Meanwhile, Shakespeare almost exclusively uses Plutarch for Julius Caesar.
How much is Shakespeare's depiction of Octavius (later Augustus) as mockably young in Julius Caesar at odds with the canonical depictions of Augustus in Elizabethan England?
Is Shakespeare openly subverting the Virgilian Augustus, or were other views on Augustus in the air?
Is Shakespeare openly subverting the Virgilian Augustus, or were other views on Augustus in the air?
January 28, 2026 at 12:04 PM
How much is Shakespeare's depiction of Octavius (later Augustus) as mockably young in Julius Caesar at odds with the canonical depictions of Augustus in Elizabethan England?
Is Shakespeare openly subverting the Virgilian Augustus, or were other views on Augustus in the air?
Is Shakespeare openly subverting the Virgilian Augustus, or were other views on Augustus in the air?
Sometimes the exegetical work on a passage does not back up the sermon you wanted to preach on it. Sometimes it even contradicts what you wanted to say.
One of the most important tasks of a preacher‚ and one we don't talk about enough, is admitting this.
One of the most important tasks of a preacher‚ and one we don't talk about enough, is admitting this.
January 25, 2026 at 1:14 PM
Sometimes the exegetical work on a passage does not back up the sermon you wanted to preach on it. Sometimes it even contradicts what you wanted to say.
One of the most important tasks of a preacher‚ and one we don't talk about enough, is admitting this.
One of the most important tasks of a preacher‚ and one we don't talk about enough, is admitting this.
John Updike. When I was young in the aughts, in my tiny world, it seemed like everyone who read fiction had at least read a little Updike.
Now, years later, I can't remember the last time I've seen someone talk about Updike on social media, if ever, honestly.
Is he over?
Now, years later, I can't remember the last time I've seen someone talk about Updike on social media, if ever, honestly.
Is he over?
January 25, 2026 at 11:53 AM
John Updike. When I was young in the aughts, in my tiny world, it seemed like everyone who read fiction had at least read a little Updike.
Now, years later, I can't remember the last time I've seen someone talk about Updike on social media, if ever, honestly.
Is he over?
Now, years later, I can't remember the last time I've seen someone talk about Updike on social media, if ever, honestly.
Is he over?