(Dr.) Diana Henderson
@dianahenderson.bsky.social
Still the theater & words Prof. at MIT who now will be trying to reconnect w/ friends who left the other places….
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
Almost missed the birthday (1554) of the great poet Sir Philip Sidney. Courtier, soldier, and in general the fairest flower of Elizabethan knighthood.
November 30, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Almost missed the birthday (1554) of the great poet Sir Philip Sidney. Courtier, soldier, and in general the fairest flower of Elizabethan knighthood.
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
It's amazing how so many billionaires - who have WAY more money than they could possibly need in 500 lifetimes - REALLY want to avoid paying small slivers of tax money to benefit a common good like social safety services for less fortunate countrymen within the society that made them billionaires.
November 30, 2025 at 4:14 PM
It's amazing how so many billionaires - who have WAY more money than they could possibly need in 500 lifetimes - REALLY want to avoid paying small slivers of tax money to benefit a common good like social safety services for less fortunate countrymen within the society that made them billionaires.
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
Eleven years ago, I wrote to Tom Stoppard to ask about this coup de théâtre from 1949. It took me down an unexpected rabbit hole - in memory of Stoppard, here's what I found.
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Eleven years ago, I wrote to Tom Stoppard to ask about this coup de théâtre from 1949. It took me down an unexpected rabbit hole - in memory of Stoppard, here's what I found.
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
Anyway, here's my favorite passage in all of Tom Stoppard's work in what I think might be the greatest play written in the English language in the last century or so, not that everything has to be a competition, but one does like to make lists.
We shed as we pick up.
[farewell to the master]
open.substack.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Anyway, here's my favorite passage in all of Tom Stoppard's work in what I think might be the greatest play written in the English language in the last century or so, not that everything has to be a competition, but one does like to make lists.
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
She was first in her family to go to college.
She’d been in the U.S. since she was seven.
They grabbed at the airport on her way to surprise her family for thanksgiving.
They put her in shackles. Her ankles, her arms, and her waist.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
She’d been in the U.S. since she was seven.
They grabbed at the airport on her way to surprise her family for thanksgiving.
They put her in shackles. Her ankles, her arms, and her waist.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
College Student Is Deported During Trip Home for Thanksgiving
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:05 AM
She was first in her family to go to college.
She’d been in the U.S. since she was seven.
They grabbed at the airport on her way to surprise her family for thanksgiving.
They put her in shackles. Her ankles, her arms, and her waist.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
She’d been in the U.S. since she was seven.
They grabbed at the airport on her way to surprise her family for thanksgiving.
They put her in shackles. Her ankles, her arms, and her waist.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
Love this point from @helenshaw.bsky.social about the way Stoppard’s literary references could be a door, not a barrier www.newyorker.com/culture/post...
December 1, 2025 at 3:56 AM
Love this point from @helenshaw.bsky.social about the way Stoppard’s literary references could be a door, not a barrier www.newyorker.com/culture/post...
Especially with open stacks…(where possible!)
Or a library
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
November 30, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Especially with open stacks…(where possible!)
This is the one I’ve been dreading, despite his fabulous life & career. Now teaching my Stoppard & Co. seminar this spring becomes all I can do as tribute to one of the rare writers I wish I’d known closer than through one degree of separation. My life has been the richer for his being large in it.
November 29, 2025 at 6:12 PM
This is the one I’ve been dreading, despite his fabulous life & career. Now teaching my Stoppard & Co. seminar this spring becomes all I can do as tribute to one of the rare writers I wish I’d known closer than through one degree of separation. My life has been the richer for his being large in it.
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
"Words…if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos…If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little or make a poem which children will speak for you when you're dead" - Tom Stoppard (The Real Thing)
RIP.
RIP.
November 29, 2025 at 6:01 PM
"Words…if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos…If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little or make a poem which children will speak for you when you're dead" - Tom Stoppard (The Real Thing)
RIP.
RIP.
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
GUILDENSTERN: There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said-no. But somehow we missed it.
(He looks round and sees he is alone.)
Rosen--?
Guil--?
(He gathers himself.)
Well, we'll know better next time. Now you see me, now you-
(And disappears.)
Thank you, #TomStoppard 😢
(He looks round and sees he is alone.)
Rosen--?
Guil--?
(He gathers himself.)
Well, we'll know better next time. Now you see me, now you-
(And disappears.)
Thank you, #TomStoppard 😢
November 29, 2025 at 5:55 PM
GUILDENSTERN: There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said-no. But somehow we missed it.
(He looks round and sees he is alone.)
Rosen--?
Guil--?
(He gathers himself.)
Well, we'll know better next time. Now you see me, now you-
(And disappears.)
Thank you, #TomStoppard 😢
(He looks round and sees he is alone.)
Rosen--?
Guil--?
(He gathers himself.)
Well, we'll know better next time. Now you see me, now you-
(And disappears.)
Thank you, #TomStoppard 😢
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
Poetrye, theatre, storyes, daunse, art, scholarlye researche about literature, historye, and language -- all of these thinges mattir more now, not less.
November 23, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Poetrye, theatre, storyes, daunse, art, scholarlye researche about literature, historye, and language -- all of these thinges mattir more now, not less.
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
In normal times, it would be a major scandal for the President to direct his AG to criminally investigate his political opponents to deflect from his own involvement in a major scandal — and for the AG to immediately announce she is doing it. The Epstein scandal and cover up just got even bigger.
November 14, 2025 at 10:10 PM
In normal times, it would be a major scandal for the President to direct his AG to criminally investigate his political opponents to deflect from his own involvement in a major scandal — and for the AG to immediately announce she is doing it. The Epstein scandal and cover up just got even bigger.
Glad to see some Shakespeare here on a Friday night.
Iago Bondi looking the other way and pretending to know nothing:
“Give me to know how this foul rout began, who set it on, and he that is approv'd in this offence, though he had twinn'd with me, both at a birth, shall lose me.”
“Give me to know how this foul rout began, who set it on, and he that is approv'd in this offence, though he had twinn'd with me, both at a birth, shall lose me.”
Here’s the thing: Pam Bondi is not the Attorney General. She’s really not. She’s Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. That’s all.
November 15, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Glad to see some Shakespeare here on a Friday night.
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
Lots of valid concerns about any possible WB sale, but my main concern is that this Chuck Jones cartoon might go back in the vault.
November 15, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Lots of valid concerns about any possible WB sale, but my main concern is that this Chuck Jones cartoon might go back in the vault.
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
Watch to the end
New York millionaires: threatening to flee the city since 2009
November 7, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Watch to the end
Nov. is such a busy month…so I’m posting this to spur myself (& friends?) to get over to the MFA for this soon!
There is exactly 1 month left to see “Rachel Ruysch: Artist, Naturalist, Pioneer” at the @mfaboston.bsky.social - the show is on thru Dec 7.
www.mfa.org/exhibition/r...
www.mfa.org/exhibition/r...
November 8, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Nov. is such a busy month…so I’m posting this to spur myself (& friends?) to get over to the MFA for this soon!
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
The blacklist is back just as Hollywood is contracting and right-wing billionaires are capturing every broadcaster and studio. At this rate, mainstream entertainment as we’ve known it will be exclusively state media before these four years are up.
Under new head of Paramount David Ellison, the studio has drawn up a list of actors who opposed the Gaza genocide and will not allow them to appear in its films and TV shows.
Does this sound familiar?
Also, "Ellison is reportedly aiming to take over Warner Bros. next."
Does this sound familiar?
Also, "Ellison is reportedly aiming to take over Warner Bros. next."
Paramount Has Blacklist for Stars Deemed “Overtly Antisemitic” — World of Reel
It sure looks like the likes of Javier Bardem, Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, and Mark Ruffalo won’t be making movies for Paramount in the foreseeable future.
www.worldofreel.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:58 AM
The blacklist is back just as Hollywood is contracting and right-wing billionaires are capturing every broadcaster and studio. At this rate, mainstream entertainment as we’ve known it will be exclusively state media before these four years are up.
Remember, remember…loved writing a bit about “his” mask in Shakespeare Jahrbuch a decade ago. A good bonfire night to those who celebrate (& those who don’t).
November 5, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Remember, remember…loved writing a bit about “his” mask in Shakespeare Jahrbuch a decade ago. A good bonfire night to those who celebrate (& those who don’t).
It’s beginning to look a lot like Halloween here on the Hill….this years theme visible, including just some of my neighbors’ dedicated work for the past month. Community spirit lives!
October 31, 2025 at 2:24 PM
It’s beginning to look a lot like Halloween here on the Hill….this years theme visible, including just some of my neighbors’ dedicated work for the past month. Community spirit lives!
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
BREAKING: Democrats just tried to pass a standalone bill to fund WIC & SNAP to make sure families don't go hungry during the Republican shutdown.
Republicans BLOCKED it. So Trump won't use emergency funds to keep SNAP running, and Republicans won't let any bills pass. Shameful.
Republicans BLOCKED it. So Trump won't use emergency funds to keep SNAP running, and Republicans won't let any bills pass. Shameful.
October 29, 2025 at 8:49 PM
BREAKING: Democrats just tried to pass a standalone bill to fund WIC & SNAP to make sure families don't go hungry during the Republican shutdown.
Republicans BLOCKED it. So Trump won't use emergency funds to keep SNAP running, and Republicans won't let any bills pass. Shameful.
Republicans BLOCKED it. So Trump won't use emergency funds to keep SNAP running, and Republicans won't let any bills pass. Shameful.
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
If you and your children are not ready for a particular book, that is okay. It is not okay to limit the access to books, stories, and experiences for other families. Every book is not for everyone, but every book is for someone.
bookriot.com/the-day-the-books-disappeared-school-visit-cancelation/
bookriot.com/the-day-the-books-disappeared-school-visit-cancelation/
Why Did These Authors Have Their School Visit Canceled? They Were Talking About Their Book About Book Bans.
Country Club Elementary School in California's Bay Area canceled an author visit moments before it began. Why? It covered book bans.
bookriot.com
October 29, 2025 at 7:14 PM
If you and your children are not ready for a particular book, that is okay. It is not okay to limit the access to books, stories, and experiences for other families. Every book is not for everyone, but every book is for someone.
bookriot.com/the-day-the-books-disappeared-school-visit-cancelation/
bookriot.com/the-day-the-books-disappeared-school-visit-cancelation/
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
Welch: "This has nothing to do with the shutdown. The law requires and the funds are available to continue SNAP right now without any interruption. So that is a decision the president is making on his own to allow people to go hungry."
October 29, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Welch: "This has nothing to do with the shutdown. The law requires and the funds are available to continue SNAP right now without any interruption. So that is a decision the president is making on his own to allow people to go hungry."
So nice to have MIT’s Provost send me this pic of the Prez at our Global Shakespeares display yesterday, during the 1st UROP mentor mixer—great to be talking with both MIT & Wellesley students about joining our team!
#UROPs, #Lit@MIT, #shakespeare, #GlobalShakespeares
#UROPs, #Lit@MIT, #shakespeare, #GlobalShakespeares
October 29, 2025 at 10:34 PM
So nice to have MIT’s Provost send me this pic of the Prez at our Global Shakespeares display yesterday, during the 1st UROP mentor mixer—great to be talking with both MIT & Wellesley students about joining our team!
#UROPs, #Lit@MIT, #shakespeare, #GlobalShakespeares
#UROPs, #Lit@MIT, #shakespeare, #GlobalShakespeares
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
Corrupt and tainted with a thousand vices
October 21, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Corrupt and tainted with a thousand vices
Reposted by (Dr.) Diana Henderson
It’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.
October 21, 2025 at 12:16 PM
It’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.