In the past week, I\u2019ve watched the entire BBC\u00a0Hollow Crown<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>cycle (Richard II, Henry IV pt 1, Henry IV pt 2,\u00a0<\/i>and Henry V<\/em>), the Folger Theatre production of\u00a0Mary Stuart<\/em><\/a>, and\u00a0not<\/em> watched\u00a0House of Cards<\/em>, so this week\u2019s episode is themed around stories of power and legitimacy.<\/p>\n Every week, I put up a \u201cRadio Readings\u201d post, so you can track down the books, articles, and, (this week) recipes that I cite on the show. So, without further ado, here\u2019s what I\u2019m talking about this week.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n For God\u2019s sake, let us sit upon the ground \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Instead of a conflict between prurience and puritanism, the audience has found itself in a pitched battle between order and entropy. The justices need to descend into hypothetical absurdities in order to guard against real ones, and can best wield their power by deploying as little of it as possible.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Not to-day, O Lord, \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n the show is utterly uninterested in the people who are affected by policy changes that politicians pursue out of raw self-interest. The teachers affected by education reform proposals in the first season are an abstraction, represented by a thuggish union boss (Al Sapienza) \u2014 their students don\u2019t even merit a thought. When Peter Russo (Corey Stoll), a congressman Frank killed in the first season, showed concern for the shipworkers in his district, his sentiments came across as a sign of weakness.\u201cHouse of Cards\u201d shares Frank\u2019s contempt for actual citizens: From the second season on, they appear mostly as undifferentiated masses in protest scenes. When he announces his jobs plan, the set makes him look as though he\u2019s speaking from the void, into the void. This total disinterest in the actual impact of Frank\u2019s policies, the human cost of his governing rather than his political machinations, has the effect of buying into his approach to life: the one gets treated as much more important and interesting than the many.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n![\"fights](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/84\/2015\/01\/fights-in-good-faith.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHow to Make Americans Mourn for Monarchy?<\/h3>\n
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\nAnd tell sad stories of the death of kings;
\nHow some have been deposed; some slain in war,
\nSome haunted by the ghosts they have deposed;
\nSome poison\u2019d by their wives: some sleeping kill\u2019d;
\nAll murder\u2019d: for within the hollow crown
\nThat rounds the mortal temples of a king
\nKeeps Death his court<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n\u201cAnd future ages groan for this foul act\u201d<\/h3>\n
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\nO, not to-day, think not upon the fault
\nMy father made in compassing the crown!
\nI Richard\u2019s body have interred anew;
\nAnd on it have bestow\u2019d more contrite tears
\nThan from it issued forced drops of blood:
\nFive hundred poor I have in yearly pay,
\nWho twice a-day their wither\u2019d hands hold up
\nToward heaven, to pardon blood; and I have built
\nTwo chantries, where the sad and solemn priests
\nSing still for Richard\u2019s soul. More will I do;
\nThough all that I can do is nothing worth,
\nSince that my penitence comes after all,
\nImploring pardon.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\u201cI want to be in the room where it happens\u201d<\/h3>\n
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