Close to 100 times President Trump has referred to the Mueller investigation as a "witch hunt" or a "rigged witch hunt". Few metaphors are more commonly used in public and political life than this highly charged attack on investigations, oversight, and inquisitions -- some of which, no doubt, are indeed scurrilous, while others are legitimate law enforcement activity. How do we tell the difference in real time? And more fundamentally, why is this image of the witch hunt so powerful? What exactly does it mean? And how have authors -- from Arthur Miller under McCarthyism to Booker T. Washington under Jim Crow -- challenged oppression without coming right out and naming it?
Ethics Forward meets again with UofL Professor of English & American literature David Anderson to discuss The Crucible, the Salem witch trials, the idea of a witch hunt, and the implications for current affairs. A Halloween episode for all seasons.
Cover image is: "Execution scene from the chronicle of Schilling of Lucerne (1513), illustrating the burning of a woman in Willisau (Switzerland) in 1447." Diepold Schilling [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Willisau_1447.JPG
Embedded music is "Cloud Nine" by Prismic. https://soundcloud.com/prismicofficial/prismic-cloud-nine