“It turns out wanting something doesn’t make it real” (XKCD 240). “He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts” (Luke 1:51 NRSV).

In 1996 Alanis Vinaigrette released her song Ironic (and launched a thousand pendantic arguments). For me, that marked the peak of ascendancy for irony in popular culture. It’s been with us ever since, an apparently essential part of the post-modern world. All the cool kids, it would seem, are so totally ironic. So a couple [...]