It’s true that Chaucer’s work contains toxic material, including sexist and antisemitic material. But if you examine his writings in detail, you’ll see themes of concern for women and human rights, the oppressed and the persecuted, reappear time and time again.
Quote This
The Live Daily Quote Archive, 2017-2021
The archives of the Briefing’s Live Daily Quote, covering every imaginable idea, philosophy, religion, politics, from the sublime to the outrageous to the astonishing, with style and substance, selected daily by the editor. This is not your grandpa’s Bartlett.
Weekend Briefing: Sex, Drugs, Rock n Roll at CRT, Jax Pops and PCAF, Domestic Violence 5K, Ben & Jerry’s Comes to St. Augustine
Local stages will be rich with plays and musicals this weekend–“Sex Drugs, Rock n Roll” at City Rep, “Into the Woods” at the Playhouse, “Spelling Bee” at Matanzas, and of course the Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s annual Picnics and Pops Concert with the Jacksonville Symphony on Sunday.
Flagler Hikes Together: “Grandma Gatewood’s Walk” Kicks Off Annual Readers’ Events
Flagler Reads Together, the annual March event, began Friday with Ben Montgomery speaking of his book, “Grandma Gatewood’s Walk,” this year’s featured title, before 84 people at the Flagler County Public Library.
Entrapments of Color Blindness: Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman,” Chapter 10
There’s a bit of vomit to start off Chapter 10 of Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman,” much of it from our contributing writers, who have a hard time understanding how it takes Scout 25 years to discover what her father is about.
Scout’s Dishonors: Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman,” Chapter 9
In Chapter 9 of “Go Set a Watchman,” Harper Lee gives us a short biography of Scout’s past between various deaths and blood flows, without as yet revisiting her recent discovery about a bigoted father.
Atticus Finch, Grand Wizard of the KKK: Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman,” Chapter 8
In Chapter 8 of “Go Set a Watchman,” Scout discovers that her father Atticus is the leader of a KKK-like organization, and her boyfriend is just as much as a white supremacist.
Flagler Live-Blogs Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman,” Chapter 7: Doxology Sings Dixie
In Chapter 7 of “Go Set a Watchman,” a church service turns into an example of Northern aggression against Southern hymnals and Doxology.
Flagler Live-Blogs Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman,” Chapter 6: Skinny Dipping Sins
In Chapter 6 of “Go Set a Watchman,” Scout and Henry take a dip in the waters off Finch Landing, fully clothed, but no one believes they stayed modest.
Flagler Live-Blogs Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman,” Chapter 5: Days Of Her Lives
In Chapter 5 of “Go Set a Watchman,” Scout flashes back to childhood as she skates on a date with Henry.
Flagler Live-Blogs Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman,” Chapter 4: Maycomb Delta
In Chapter 4 of “Go Set a Watchman,” Scout and Henry have a date after Lee gives us a brief history of Maycomb, in words almost identical to those used in Mockingbird.
Flagler Live-Blogs Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman,” Chapter 3: Aunt Alexandra’s Trash
In Chapter 3 of “Go Set a Watchman,” Scout and Aunt Alexandra rumble over Henry, and our 10 readers respond every which way.
Flagler Live-Blogs Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman,” Chapter 2: Atticus-Scout Reunion
Ten diverse and opinionated members of the Flagler-Palm Coast community take on Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman” in a new experiment in communal reading, chapter by chapter. Join us.
Flagler Live-Blogs Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman,” Chapter 1: Back to Maycomb
Ten diverse and opinionated members of the Flagler-Palm Coast community take on Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman” in a new experiment in communal reading, chapter by chapter. Join us.
Wallace Stevens Read by Bill Murray
Bill Murray reads two poems by Wallace Stevens, “The Planet on the Table” and “A Rabbit As King of the Ghosts” as part of Poets House’s 17th Annual Poetry Walk.
For a Happy Saturnalian Christmas:
How To have A Good Time
Fulton J. Sheen was that rarity of Catholic sermonizers: he was witty, earthy and unfriendly to religion’s two heels : dogma and doctrine. “How to Have a Good Time” is one of his most celebrated sermons from his “Life Is Worth Living” series, from 1957.
The Boys of Pointe du Hoc: Ronald Reagan in Normandy
Reagan’s speech at Normandy’s Pointe du Hoc on June 6, 1984, commemorating the 40th anniversary of D-Day, is one of his noblest, especially in retrospect, for what he said about the cold war, the Soviet Union and nuclear weapons.
Capital Punishment As a Crime More Dreadful Than Murder: Dostoyevsky on the Guillotine
The death penalty, in this passage from Dostoevsky’s “The Idiot,” is seen as a punishment mostly for what precedes it–and an indictment of those who impose capital punishment.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 32
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 32: Still and Sunday-like; Mistaken Identity; Up a Stump; In a Dilemma; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 31
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 31: Ominous Plans; News from Jim; Old Recollections; A Sheep Story; Valuable Information; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 30
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 30: The King Went for Him; A Royal Row; Powerful Mellow; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 29
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 29: Contested Relationship; The King Explains the Loss; A Question of Handwriting; Digging up the Corpse; Huck Escapes; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 28
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 28: The Trip to England; “The Brute!”; Mary Jane Decides to Leave; Huck Parting with Mary Jane; Mumps; The Opposition Line; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 27
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 27: The Funeral; Satisfying Curiosity; Suspicious of Huck; Quick Sales and Small; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 26
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 26: A Pious King; The King’s Clergy; She Asked His Pardon; Hiding in the Room; Huck Takes the Money; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 25
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 25: Is It Them?; Singing the “Doxologer”; Awful Square; Funeral Orgies; A Bad Investment; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 24
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 24: Jim in Royal Robes; They Take a Passenger; Getting Information; Family Grief; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 22
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 22: Sherburn; Attending the Circus; Intoxication in the Ring; The Thrilling Tragedy; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 23
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 23: Sold; Royal Comparisons; Jim Gets Home-sick; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 21
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 21: Sword Exercise; Hamlet’s Soliloquy; They Loafed Around Town; A Lazy Town; Old Boggs; Dead; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 20
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 20: Huck Explains; Laying Out a Campaign; Working the Camp; meeting; A
Pirate at the Camp-meeting; The Duke as a Printer; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 19
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 19: Tying Up Day-times; An Astronomical Theory; Running a Temperance
Revival; The Duke of Bridgewater; The Troubles of Royalty; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 18
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 18: Col. Grangerford; Aristocracy; Feuds; The Testament; Recovering the
Raft; The Wood-pile; Pork and Cabbage; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 17
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 17: An Evening Call; The Farm in Arkansaw; Interior Decorations; Stephen
Dowling Bots; Poetical Effusions; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 15
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 15: Huck Loses the Raft; In the Fog; Huck Finds the Raft; Trash; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
Flagler Reads Together: Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 8
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Flagler Reads Together, FlaglerLive is serializing Huckleberry Finn, this year’s book. Here’s Chapter 8: Sleeping in the Woods, Raising the Dead, Exploring the Island, Finding Jim; With E.W. Kemble’s original illustrations.
John Locke: A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689)
John Locke: A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689), religious and otherwise.
Emerson: The American Scholar
Emerson’s “American Scholar,” a graduation speech to Harvard’s Phi Beta Kappa, redefined the way Americans saw themselves–as intellectual individuals on their own terms. Take a second look in this season of commencements.
Philip Roth’s Great American Fart
Kids love farts, don’t they? Even today, with all the drugs and sex and violence you hear about on TV, they still get a kick, as we used to, out of a fart.
Teddy Roosevelt on Socialism
Many of the men who call themselves Socialists to-day are in reality merely radical social reformers, with whom on many points good citizens can and ought to work in hearty general agreement.
Milton Berle’s “Anaconda”
Alan Zweibel was among the original writers on Saturday Night Live, back when Gerald Ford was still president. Here’s his story of coming face to face with Milton Berle’s legendary penis.