Ethan Campbell
@profgawain.bsky.social
Former English professor, medievalist, editor, writer. Books: The Gawain-Poet and Anticlericalism (2018); The English Apocalypse (2024): https://isdistribution.com/BookDetail.aspx?aId=184714.
That one is weird, but I think the weirdest is the Ukrainian flag shirt.
So the ungodly pagan position that the church is supposed to stand boldly against is … supporting our ally in a fight against Russian invaders? The righteous Christian position is to break all our promises and abandon them?
So the ungodly pagan position that the church is supposed to stand boldly against is … supporting our ally in a fight against Russian invaders? The righteous Christian position is to break all our promises and abandon them?
December 15, 2025 at 2:11 PM
That one is weird, but I think the weirdest is the Ukrainian flag shirt.
So the ungodly pagan position that the church is supposed to stand boldly against is … supporting our ally in a fight against Russian invaders? The righteous Christian position is to break all our promises and abandon them?
So the ungodly pagan position that the church is supposed to stand boldly against is … supporting our ally in a fight against Russian invaders? The righteous Christian position is to break all our promises and abandon them?
Glengarry Glen Ross is a great play. And that's all I'm handing to him.
December 12, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Glengarry Glen Ross is a great play. And that's all I'm handing to him.
It's my favorite of hers! I realize I'm in a small minority.
December 12, 2025 at 5:42 AM
It's my favorite of hers! I realize I'm in a small minority.
One of my faves is from “I Wonder As I Wander”: “Jesus the Savior did come for to die / For poor ornery people like you and like I.”
I love “ornery.” It's a regional (N.Carolina/Appalachia) pronunciation of “ordinary.” But it might also mean unruly or cantankerous, like “an ornery old cuss.”
I love “ornery.” It's a regional (N.Carolina/Appalachia) pronunciation of “ordinary.” But it might also mean unruly or cantankerous, like “an ornery old cuss.”
December 11, 2025 at 7:50 PM
One of my faves is from “I Wonder As I Wander”: “Jesus the Savior did come for to die / For poor ornery people like you and like I.”
I love “ornery.” It's a regional (N.Carolina/Appalachia) pronunciation of “ordinary.” But it might also mean unruly or cantankerous, like “an ornery old cuss.”
I love “ornery.” It's a regional (N.Carolina/Appalachia) pronunciation of “ordinary.” But it might also mean unruly or cantankerous, like “an ornery old cuss.”
I like that two of these are from the greatest Christmas carol ever written, "O Holy Night"! 😀 Another one ("God is not dead ...") is from a Longfellow poem, "Christmas Bells," which he wrote after his wife died in a fire and his son was wounded in the Civil War. It was set to music years later.
December 11, 2025 at 7:48 PM
I like that two of these are from the greatest Christmas carol ever written, "O Holy Night"! 😀 Another one ("God is not dead ...") is from a Longfellow poem, "Christmas Bells," which he wrote after his wife died in a fire and his son was wounded in the Civil War. It was set to music years later.
Bo Burnham uncredited for some reason. The one who would, today, tell your kids to stay far away from YouTube.
December 10, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Bo Burnham uncredited for some reason. The one who would, today, tell your kids to stay far away from YouTube.
Also an honorable mention to Mannheim Steamroller. I later realized a lot of their songs were unbearably cheesy, but they were the soundtrack of Christmas growing up in Nebraska (where the artists are from). When they're on, they're really on -- esp. when they stick to period-accurate instruments.
December 9, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Also an honorable mention to Mannheim Steamroller. I later realized a lot of their songs were unbearably cheesy, but they were the soundtrack of Christmas growing up in Nebraska (where the artists are from). When they're on, they're really on -- esp. when they stick to period-accurate instruments.
Better? No. Worthy of being in the same conversation?
Bing Crosby
Andy Williams
Ella Fitzgerald
Barbra Streisand
The Carpenters
The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Bing Crosby
Andy Williams
Ella Fitzgerald
Barbra Streisand
The Carpenters
The Brian Setzer Orchestra
December 9, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Better? No. Worthy of being in the same conversation?
Bing Crosby
Andy Williams
Ella Fitzgerald
Barbra Streisand
The Carpenters
The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Bing Crosby
Andy Williams
Ella Fitzgerald
Barbra Streisand
The Carpenters
The Brian Setzer Orchestra
What those folks did encounter must have been pretty mind-blowing — herds of bison as far as the eye could see, bighorn sheep hanging off cliffs, grizzly bears, mountain lions … Lewis & Clark even marveled over prairie dogs in their journals. But alas, no elephants.
December 9, 2025 at 2:32 PM
What those folks did encounter must have been pretty mind-blowing — herds of bison as far as the eye could see, bighorn sheep hanging off cliffs, grizzly bears, mountain lions … Lewis & Clark even marveled over prairie dogs in their journals. But alas, no elephants.
To be fair, some of the bones they found were from a type of elephant — mastodons. And they didn’t necessarily know they’d gone extinct. As explorers went west, there was some thought that they might encounter them.
December 9, 2025 at 12:07 AM
To be fair, some of the bones they found were from a type of elephant — mastodons. And they didn’t necessarily know they’d gone extinct. As explorers went west, there was some thought that they might encounter them.
Why don’t the people want to do Sunday Supper? Sounds like a great idea to me.
December 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Why don’t the people want to do Sunday Supper? Sounds like a great idea to me.
“You don’t … have one of these, do you, Jack?”
Such a great line, though the scenario must seem quaint these days — the idea that Congress would hold anyone accountable for anything.
Such a great line, though the scenario must seem quaint these days — the idea that Congress would hold anyone accountable for anything.
December 8, 2025 at 3:12 AM
“You don’t … have one of these, do you, Jack?”
Such a great line, though the scenario must seem quaint these days — the idea that Congress would hold anyone accountable for anything.
Such a great line, though the scenario must seem quaint these days — the idea that Congress would hold anyone accountable for anything.
The Brooklyn Nets KAWS City Edition jerseys didn't win you over? Nic Claxton is disappointed.
December 7, 2025 at 11:57 PM
The Brooklyn Nets KAWS City Edition jerseys didn't win you over? Nic Claxton is disappointed.
He was the most famous person from Norfolk, Nebraska, until Johnny Carson came along!
December 7, 2025 at 11:27 PM
He was the most famous person from Norfolk, Nebraska, until Johnny Carson came along!
Why does it look pasted on with three sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 office paper? They couldn’t make one plaque to fit all the words?
December 6, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Why does it look pasted on with three sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 office paper? They couldn’t make one plaque to fit all the words?
This is the spirit I hope Mamdani brings to the NYPD.
December 6, 2025 at 6:37 PM
This is the spirit I hope Mamdani brings to the NYPD.
For those of us of a certain age who actually grew up in Nebraska, this film could be titled "People we knew and what they really were like, if you can believe it." 😄
December 2, 2025 at 11:35 PM
For those of us of a certain age who actually grew up in Nebraska, this film could be titled "People we knew and what they really were like, if you can believe it." 😄
He's trying to sound like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men in that last part, but he doesn't have the same juice. Also ... Jack Nicholson's character in that movie went to prison.
December 2, 2025 at 10:45 PM
He's trying to sound like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men in that last part, but he doesn't have the same juice. Also ... Jack Nicholson's character in that movie went to prison.
This is how gerrymandering can backfire — to dilute your opponents’ districts, you have to make your own “safe” seats less safe.
December 2, 2025 at 8:48 PM
This is how gerrymandering can backfire — to dilute your opponents’ districts, you have to make your own “safe” seats less safe.
I can understand the temptation to despair and get cynical after reading a thousand “the walls are closing in” posts during Trump’s first term. But Prof. Kruse is right that this too-cool-for-school sarcasm aimed at people who want justice is really unhelpful.
December 2, 2025 at 5:45 AM
I can understand the temptation to despair and get cynical after reading a thousand “the walls are closing in” posts during Trump’s first term. But Prof. Kruse is right that this too-cool-for-school sarcasm aimed at people who want justice is really unhelpful.
To be clear, the Admiral does deserve to go to prison. But so should the man who gave him the order — and it’s impossible that there was no order.
December 1, 2025 at 11:42 PM
To be clear, the Admiral does deserve to go to prison. But so should the man who gave him the order — and it’s impossible that there was no order.
I would note that the Armed Services Committees (House and Senate), chaired by Republicans, called it the Department of Defense.
December 1, 2025 at 1:52 PM
I would note that the Armed Services Committees (House and Senate), chaired by Republicans, called it the Department of Defense.
So many wide open spaces to run and run and run.
December 1, 2025 at 1:45 PM
So many wide open spaces to run and run and run.
I’m curious what the institute’s policy research has found about the policy of knuckling under to brazen extortion from a fascist? Like historically, how does that usually work out for an institution? Maybe share the findings with your board.
November 29, 2025 at 6:21 AM
I’m curious what the institute’s policy research has found about the policy of knuckling under to brazen extortion from a fascist? Like historically, how does that usually work out for an institution? Maybe share the findings with your board.