By Andrew Rimby “We Two Boys Together Clinging” WE two boys together clinging, One the other never leaving, Up and down the roads going, North and South excursions making, Power enjoying, elbows stretching, fingers clutching, Arm’d and fearless, eating, drinking, sleeping, loving, No law less than ourselves owning, sailing, soldiering, thieving, threatening, Misers, menials, priestsContinue reading “Some Perennial Favorites”
Yearly Archives: 2021
Mid-Week Teaser
Happy Wednesday, lovelies! We just want to inform you that this week’s podcast will be a round table on LGBTQ* themes (duh). We’ll be talking about the books and other media that were fundamental in the development of our respective relationships with queerness, whether as insiders or as an allies, and about the persistence ofContinue reading “Mid-Week Teaser”
June Preview-Welcome to Pride Month 2021: The Ivory Tower Boiler Room Celebrates, Reflects, and Memorializes
Book spines with different LGBTQ* Pride Flags This month is a big deal for us. We are keeping to the established pattern–a big think every Monday, a podcast every Saturday, and shorter content in between. But leading up to this, the 52nd anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, we will be using those established patterns toContinue reading “June Preview-Welcome to Pride Month 2021: The Ivory Tower Boiler Room Celebrates, Reflects, and Memorializes”
Antivax Racists are Trying to Repurpose the Yellow Star of David
By Erika Grumet When I was a kid, I would occasionally encounter people with numbers tattooed on their arms. I don’t remember a time when Nazis and what they had done to Jews (and by extension, my own family) weren’t a part of my consciousness. I heard the stories first hand from the survivors, inContinue reading “Antivax Racists are Trying to Repurpose the Yellow Star of David”
Mass-Grave found in Canada Dates from only about 45 Years Ago
By Adam Katz It gives me little pleasure to write this article, but I could not see failing to respond. Throughout most of the 20th century, Canada ran “Residential Schools” meant to deprive the aboriginal population of their culture. Yesterday, Friday, May 28, 2021, a mass grave was found beneath one of those schools. ThisContinue reading “Mass-Grave found in Canada Dates from only about 45 Years Ago”
(Podcast Episode) This Episode Contains Multitudes
Who has done his day’s work? who will soonest be through with his supper?Who wishes to walk with me?(From Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”) Now that you are done with your day’s work…or perhaps you’re planning to listen while you work, we are happy to bring you this week’s episode honoring the 202nd birthday of WaltContinue reading “(Podcast Episode) This Episode Contains Multitudes”
Happy 202nd Birthday, Walt Whitman
By Andrew Rimby The Ivory Tower Boiler Room is full of Whitmanic energy as we celebrate Whitman’s 202nd birthday on May 31st! As I (Andrew) am writing this, I’m currently visiting my family in South Jersey and am about 15 minutes away from Whitman’s family tomb in Harleigh Cemetery (in Camden, see below). While IContinue reading “Happy 202nd Birthday, Walt Whitman”
Quick Note for our Readers
We have been watching the analytics with some amusement: -observing a spike in readership from Germany and a lesser one from India. -Es macht uns Freude, immer mehr Leser in Deutschland zu sehen. Wir hoffen, dass Sie unseren Blog mit Ihren Freunden teilen und weiterhin lesen und kommentieren. -a few readers here and there fromContinue reading “Quick Note for our Readers”
Whitman’s Thrush
Walt Whitman at 202 By Adam Katz I guess most school-age kids read “O Captain, my Captain” at some point. Looking back at it now, it’s a poem you have to read quickly, I think. The line “O heart! heart! heart! / O the bleeding drops of red” does not really admit slowing down andContinue reading “Whitman’s Thrush”
End of Semester Blues and Varsity Blues
By Tiffany Sowa I’ve been working on the closing of a seasonal chapter here in the middle of the midwest. I spent the week grading spring semester final papers and final exams in fits and starts, since the last day of classes was Friday and final grades were due Monday. The two days in betweenContinue reading “End of Semester Blues and Varsity Blues”