Welcome to Part Nine of this month's totally escapist Tale for Our Time - George Orwell's Animal Farm. It's nothing like anything happening today, so need to worry about it.
After last night's episode, Nathan, a Mark Steyn Club member from New York, writes:
Poor Boxer. The most loyal animal on the Farm, yet he questions the new orthodoxy once and, suddenly, he has a target on his back.
Yes, indeed. Nathan could ask Naomi Wolf or Alan Dershowitz how they feel about that: you vote left straight-ticket for decades, agree with 95 per cent of everything the Democrats do, but dissent from the party line on one issue, whether Covid or the Russia investigation, and you have to be beaten into submission.
In tonight's episode the show trials are getting more frequent and faster:
In the middle of the summer the animals were alarmed to hear that three hens had come forward and confessed that, inspired by Snowball, they had entered into a plot to murder Napoleon. They were executed immediately, and fresh precautions for Napoleon's safety were taken. Four dogs guarded his bed at night, one at each corner, and a young pig named Pinkeye was given the task of tasting all his food before he ate it, lest it should be poisoned.
Members of The Mark Steyn Club can listen to Part Nine of our adventure simply by clicking here and logging-in. Earlier episodes can be found here.
Thank you for all your kind comments on this latest Tale. On the other hand, if you've yet to hear any of our Tales for Our Time, you can do so by joining The Mark Steyn Club. Membership is available now - and, if you sign up, you'll be all set for Part Ten of Animal Farm this time tomorrow (and all the earlier episodes, of course). And, if you've a friend who likes classic fiction, don't forget our special Gift Membership. Oh, and aside from audio fiction, we also do video poetry.
