So there I was, teaching class. My Divine Madness was course discussing the history of Victorian hysteria and the witch panics that came before it. And one of my students, in the midst of asking a question, says, in complete seriousness, "....but because they were expecting the Spanish Inquisition..."

And, of course, I say: "Anna. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition."

Friends. Colleagues. Kinfolk.

There was only silence.

Deafening silence....