Dean Robbins

2 weeks ago | captimes.com | Dean Robbins

Where have all the heroes gone? Once upon a time, we had Frederick Douglass defying his enslavers on the path to freedom. We had Alice Paul standing up to arrest and abuse in her quest for women’s suffrage — and winning. We had Susan B. Anthony, Jackie Robinson, and Rosa Parks risking all to advance the highest ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. But where once we had heroes, now we have heartache.

Feb 10, 2025 | news.wisc.edu | Dean Robbins

How would you feel if, out of the blue, Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny called to ask you a favor? Last December, that’s what happened to Jorell Meléndez-Badillo, a University of Wisconsin–Madison assistant professor of Latin American and Caribbean history.

Jan 16, 2025 | wisconsinlife.org | Dean Robbins |Maureen McCollum

Actor Gena Rowlands was known for her dramatic, deeply emotional performances in movies like “A Woman Under the Influence,” “Gloria” and “The Notebook.” She won four Emmy awards, two Golden Globes and was nominated for two Academy Awards, eventually receiving an Honorary Oscar in 2015. Rowlands’ career began in Wisconsin and spanned decades before she passed away at age 94 on Aug. 14, 2024. Author Dean Robbins looks back on Rowlands’ legacy and one of her most iconic roles.

Sep 6, 2024 | hbook.com | Dean Robbins |Susanna Chapman |Karen Gray Ruelle |Hadley Hooper

Today we present: The List™ (subject to and likely to change) — Caldecott-eligible books that we think are notable and worth discussion. Today we present: The List™ (subject to and likely to change). These are the Caldecott-eligible* books that we (not the actual Caldecott committee) think are notable and worth discussion: A few books from Adrienne's library. Photo: Adrienne L. Pettinelli. Call Me Roberto: Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos by Nathalie Alonso, illus.

Aug 16, 2024 | onwisconsin.uwalumni.com | Dean Robbins

Agnes Moorehead in Citizen Kane (1941)Snow falls outside a modest boarding house. Young Charles Foster Kane stands by his Rosebud sled, throwing a snowball. The camera pulls back until an imposing figure enters the frame: Charles’s mother, Mary (Agnes Moorehead), who tenderly calls to him out the window. Moorehead anchors a heartbreaking scene in perhaps the greatest movie of all time. Mary has come into money, and she believes that sending Charles away from home is in his best interest.