Wim Coleman
@wimcoleman.bsky.social
Playwright, poet, novelist, nonfiction writer. I do much of my writing in collaboration with my wife, Pat Perrin. Here's our blog: https://playsonideas.com/
Happy Birthday, Lady Ada Lovelace …
“Your best and wisest refuge from all troubles is in your science.”
“Your best and wisest refuge from all troubles is in your science.”
December 10, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Happy Birthday, Lady Ada Lovelace …
“Your best and wisest refuge from all troubles is in your science.”
“Your best and wisest refuge from all troubles is in your science.”
A new blog post about my new play, "The Rake's Visit: A One-Act Capriccio on a Theme from Don Giovani" …
playsonideas.com/2025/12/08/t...
playsonideas.com/2025/12/08/t...
“The Rake’s Visit” — Wim’s new play …
I just finished writing a new two-character play: “The Rake’s Visit: A One-Act Capriccio on a Theme from Don Giovanni.” It is a revisionist take on Mozart’s opera, his wife …
playsonideas.com
December 9, 2025 at 1:29 AM
A new blog post about my new play, "The Rake's Visit: A One-Act Capriccio on a Theme from Don Giovani" …
playsonideas.com/2025/12/08/t...
playsonideas.com/2025/12/08/t...
This is hard news. Such a great playwright, such a great mind. He was a huge influence on my own work. Thank you for all the wonderful plays you gave us, Sir Tom.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/t...
Tom Stoppard, Award-Winning Playwright of Witty Drama, Dies at 88
www.nytimes.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:34 PM
This is hard news. Such a great playwright, such a great mind. He was a huge influence on my own work. Thank you for all the wonderful plays you gave us, Sir Tom.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/t...
I looked this up to make sure it's real. Someone really did put up this plaque on Constitution Corner at West Point. This is worse than vandalism. It is sedition and punishable by death.
(Irony alert, for those who need it.)
(Irony alert, for those who need it.)
November 24, 2025 at 6:43 PM
I looked this up to make sure it's real. Someone really did put up this plaque on Constitution Corner at West Point. This is worse than vandalism. It is sedition and punishable by death.
(Irony alert, for those who need it.)
(Irony alert, for those who need it.)
Fascinating …
"'If you have an animal that lives close to humans, you have to be well-behaved enough,' Lesch says. 'That selection pressure is quite intense.'"
www.scientificamerican.com/article/racc...
"'If you have an animal that lives close to humans, you have to be well-behaved enough,' Lesch says. 'That selection pressure is quite intense.'"
www.scientificamerican.com/article/racc...
City Raccoons Are Evolving to Look More Like Pets
City-dwelling raccoons seem to be evolving a shorter snout—a telltale feature of our pets and other domesticated animals
www.scientificamerican.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Fascinating …
"'If you have an animal that lives close to humans, you have to be well-behaved enough,' Lesch says. 'That selection pressure is quite intense.'"
www.scientificamerican.com/article/racc...
"'If you have an animal that lives close to humans, you have to be well-behaved enough,' Lesch says. 'That selection pressure is quite intense.'"
www.scientificamerican.com/article/racc...
Watching the East Wing of the White House being destroyed brings this poem to mind. (The post includes a recording of me reading it.)
playsonideas.com/2021/05/10/a...
playsonideas.com/2021/05/10/a...
Amid the Ashes of the House of Commons — London, May 1941
And Churchill wept as he saw his beloved House in ruins. —Vernon Bartlett Deliverance wears thus a mocking face, the last bomb of the last raid stabbing sharp and deep into our moral belly. How ra…
playsonideas.com
October 23, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Watching the East Wing of the White House being destroyed brings this poem to mind. (The post includes a recording of me reading it.)
playsonideas.com/2021/05/10/a...
playsonideas.com/2021/05/10/a...
Today a supposed ICE agent approached my Mexican-born daughter demanding to see identification proving she's a U.S. citizen. She showed him her U.S. passport card. The only possible reason he had for approaching her was because she is brown.
If you voted for Trump, you brought this on us all.
If you voted for Trump, you brought this on us all.
September 8, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Today a supposed ICE agent approached my Mexican-born daughter demanding to see identification proving she's a U.S. citizen. She showed him her U.S. passport card. The only possible reason he had for approaching her was because she is brown.
If you voted for Trump, you brought this on us all.
If you voted for Trump, you brought this on us all.
More AI musings on my play "The Mad Scene" …
August 26, 2025 at 6:39 PM
More AI musings on my play "The Mad Scene" …
Google AI just came up with this thematic analysis of my play "The Mad Scene."
www.google.com/search?q=Ela...
www.google.com/search?q=Ela...
Google Search
www.google.com
August 26, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Google AI just came up with this thematic analysis of my play "The Mad Scene."
www.google.com/search?q=Ela...
www.google.com/search?q=Ela...
This post is getting a flurry of clicks today from Montenegro. I wonder why …
playsonideas.com/2025/02/17/v...
playsonideas.com/2025/02/17/v...
Voltaire and Catherine the Great discuss American democracy …
Wim’s new play Wiser than the Night is a witty and sweeping drama of ideas that asks a trenchant question about democracy: “What went wrong?” Set in 1981 in the wake of Ronald ReaganR…
playsonideas.com
June 24, 2025 at 4:10 PM
This post is getting a flurry of clicks today from Montenegro. I wonder why …
playsonideas.com/2025/02/17/v...
playsonideas.com/2025/02/17/v...
But was it such a big deal, really? That's the question Pat and I ask in our current blog post.
playsonideas.com/2025/06/20/r...
playsonideas.com/2025/06/20/r...
Ruins for the Future
I see this meme pop up from time to time. And yes, I too feel a certain pang about the Library of Alexandria. Even so, I can’t help but wonder if our grief might be a tad misplaced. For one thing, …
playsonideas.com
June 21, 2025 at 3:47 AM
But was it such a big deal, really? That's the question Pat and I ask in our current blog post.
playsonideas.com/2025/06/20/r...
playsonideas.com/2025/06/20/r...
I can only assume that my Trumpist-Putinist acquaintances are fully on board with this.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Trump shares baseless conspiracy that Joe Biden died and was replaced by a clone
Trump shared a Truth Social post written by a supporter that claims Biden was killed in 2020 and replaced, unbeknownst to Democrats.
www.independent.co.uk
June 2, 2025 at 7:24 PM
I can only assume that my Trumpist-Putinist acquaintances are fully on board with this.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Thanks to the editors of Open Arts Forum for publishing my poem "Quintains of the Red Death" today.
openartsforum.com/24184-2/?fbc...
openartsforum.com/24184-2/?fbc...
Open Arts Forum | Quintains of the Red Death
Poetry by Wim Coleman
openartsforum.com
May 31, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Thanks to the editors of Open Arts Forum for publishing my poem "Quintains of the Red Death" today.
openartsforum.com/24184-2/?fbc...
openartsforum.com/24184-2/?fbc...
"Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, shared photos of himself and his grandchildren swimming in waters that handle sewer overflow."
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/u...
Kennedy Swims in Washington Creek That Flows With Sewage and Bacteria
www.nytimes.com
May 13, 2025 at 3:01 PM
"Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, shared photos of himself and his grandchildren swimming in waters that handle sewer overflow."
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/u...
Our new blog post: thoughts on reading Mark Twain in the age of Donald Trump …
playsonideas.com/2025/05/06/t...
playsonideas.com/2025/05/06/t...
“The Cruelty Is the Point”
It’s been almost five years since I posted some thoughts about Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and how it relates to our times. Revisiting those thoughts today, those thoug…
playsonideas.com
May 6, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Our new blog post: thoughts on reading Mark Twain in the age of Donald Trump …
playsonideas.com/2025/05/06/t...
playsonideas.com/2025/05/06/t...
He solemnly swore—twice—to preserve, protect, and defend a document he's never read.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Trump says he doesn’t know if he needs to uphold constitutional due process
President also says he sees himself as leaving office at the end of his current term and not seeking a third one
www.theguardian.com
May 5, 2025 at 12:31 AM
He solemnly swore—twice—to preserve, protect, and defend a document he's never read.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
And of course Trumpist-Putinists are fine with this as long as it upsets liberals.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Trump posts image of himself as pope on Truth Social. Critics erupt
President’s post comes days after he joked ‘I’d like to be Pope... that would be my number one choice’
www.independent.co.uk
May 3, 2025 at 3:23 PM
And of course Trumpist-Putinists are fine with this as long as it upsets liberals.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Happy Birthday to Mary Wollstonecraft …
"Taught from their infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and, roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison."
"Taught from their infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and, roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison."
April 27, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Happy Birthday to Mary Wollstonecraft …
"Taught from their infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and, roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison."
"Taught from their infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and, roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison."
Pat's piece "Life Forms, Eventually to Wonder," on display in the Down to Earth exhibit at the Artcenter in Carrboro …
April 26, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Pat's piece "Life Forms, Eventually to Wonder," on display in the Down to Earth exhibit at the Artcenter in Carrboro …
“As long as I am your governor, the meddling hand of big government creeping down from Washington DC will be stopped cold at the Mississippi River.” —Sarah Huckabee Sanders in January
This is what success looks like.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
This is what success looks like.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Trump denies aid for Arkansas after storms that killed more than 40 people
Latest denial of disaster funding comes as Trump has repeatedly stated he wants to eliminate Fema
www.theguardian.com
April 24, 2025 at 5:04 PM
“As long as I am your governor, the meddling hand of big government creeping down from Washington DC will be stopped cold at the Mississippi River.” —Sarah Huckabee Sanders in January
This is what success looks like.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
This is what success looks like.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Our new blog post about my play "The Mad Scene" and its pertinence today …
Oh, Liberty! how many crimes are committed in thy name!
—Madame Roland before her beheading on November 8, 1793
playsonideas.com/2025/04/10/i...
Oh, Liberty! how many crimes are committed in thy name!
—Madame Roland before her beheading on November 8, 1793
playsonideas.com/2025/04/10/i...
In the Name of Liberty …
Just as an individual, subjected to certain inner pressures beyond his endurance, will suddenly go mad and destroy himself or those around him, so too, apparently, can a segment of society take lea…
playsonideas.com
April 10, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Our new blog post about my play "The Mad Scene" and its pertinence today …
Oh, Liberty! how many crimes are committed in thy name!
—Madame Roland before her beheading on November 8, 1793
playsonideas.com/2025/04/10/i...
Oh, Liberty! how many crimes are committed in thy name!
—Madame Roland before her beheading on November 8, 1793
playsonideas.com/2025/04/10/i...
Issue #14 of our FREE monthly newsletter MUTANT FOXES is our LAST issue! (playsonideas.com/.../2025/04/...)
It concerns many of our books that are about to be removed from schools and libraries.
It concerns many of our books that are about to be removed from schools and libraries.
April 9, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Issue #14 of our FREE monthly newsletter MUTANT FOXES is our LAST issue! (playsonideas.com/.../2025/04/...)
It concerns many of our books that are about to be removed from schools and libraries.
It concerns many of our books that are about to be removed from schools and libraries.
Another conservative heard from—David Brooks:
"Maybe the best description for what I’m feeling is moral shame: To watch the loss of your nation’s honor is embarrassing and painful."
It is truly a time for shame.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
"Maybe the best description for what I’m feeling is moral shame: To watch the loss of your nation’s honor is embarrassing and painful."
It is truly a time for shame.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
I Should Have Seen This Coming
When I joined the conservative movement in the 1980s, there were two types of people: those who cared earnestly about ideas, and those who wanted only to shock the left. The reactionary fringe has won...
www.theatlantic.com
April 7, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Another conservative heard from—David Brooks:
"Maybe the best description for what I’m feeling is moral shame: To watch the loss of your nation’s honor is embarrassing and painful."
It is truly a time for shame.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
"Maybe the best description for what I’m feeling is moral shame: To watch the loss of your nation’s honor is embarrassing and painful."
It is truly a time for shame.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...