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Wrong Side of...
Britain's sinking reputation The Anglo diaspora is horrified by the old country
2 months ago
A Collection of...
Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part IIIa: De Re Publica This is the first half of the third part of our three-part (I, IIa, IIb) look at Paradox...
7 months ago
34
7 months ago
This is the first half of the third part of our three-part (I, IIa, IIb) look at Paradox Interactive’s ancient grand strategy game Imperator: Rome, running from the late fourth through the first century BCE, a period that, relevant for today’s discussion, covers the Middle and...
Overcoming Bias
Conquest and Liberation of Academia During my graduate studies (’93-97), I looked at the history of prizes in science.
3 months ago
Classical Wisdom
Beyond Stoicism New Event: January 7th, 2025
3 months ago
TheCollector
Still-Life: 8 Facts About the Most Underrated Genre Still-life painting is one of the oldest genres in history, yet it is often dismissed as too simple...
3 weeks ago
10
3 weeks ago
Still-life painting is one of the oldest genres in history, yet it is often dismissed as too simple and not serious enough to be considered “high” art. Still, this genre has a long history spanning from antiquity. Still-life painting has evolved with human society, adapting to...
Flashbak
Ernest Hemingway’s Six-Word Short Story “For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn.” – the six-word story attributed to Ernest Hemingway   You might...
11 months ago
31
11 months ago
“For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn.” – the six-word story attributed to Ernest Hemingway   You might have heard that Ernest Hemingway wrote a six-word short story in response to a $10 bet that so few words could make the reader cry. Hemingway won with: “For sale: Baby shoes. Never...
Trying to Understand...
Their Enemies The Russians But what about the rest of us?
over a year ago
TheCollector
Facts and Myths About Harriet Tubman There are few Americans today who do not know the name Harriet Tubman. Famous for her work on the...
2 days ago
2
2 days ago
There are few Americans today who do not know the name Harriet Tubman. Famous for her work on the Underground Railroad, Tubman is a beloved historical figure of the Civil War era. Yet common knowledge about her and her work is plagued by half-truths and exaggerations. As...
Flashbak
Helen Keller’s Letter on Why Book-Burning Nazis Will Never Defeat Ideas, 1933 “History has taught you nothing if you think you can kill ideas. Tyrants have tried to do that often...
a year ago
11
a year ago
“History has taught you nothing if you think you can kill ideas. Tyrants have tried to do that often before, and the ideas have risen up in their might and destroyed them’ – Helen Keller     Helen Keller is best known for her campaign to help the disabled and support for...
Flashbak
The Boston Years: On The Streets 1972-75 In 1972, Philip Flip Collier was in Boston. Philip, who has previously shared his terrific...
7 months ago
50
7 months ago
In 1972, Philip Flip Collier was in Boston. Philip, who has previously shared his terrific photographs of 1970s NYC, enrolled at the city’s New England School of Photography where he studied for the next two years with the hope of becoming a commercial photographer, but I could...
The Universe of...
Claude chokes on graph theory .bad { border: thin solid red; } Having had some pleasant surprises from Claude, I thought I'd...
4 months ago
3
4 months ago
.bad { border: thin solid red; } Having had some pleasant surprises from Claude, I thought I'd see if it could do math. It couldn't. Apparently some LLMs can sometimes solve Math Olympiad problems, but Claude didn't come close. First I asked something simple as a...
Classical Wisdom
Odysseus in the Underworld Real or Fantasy?
a year ago
Open Culture
Brian Eno Attempts to Figure Out What Art Does in a New Book Co-Written with Artist Bette A Brian Eno was thinking about the purpose of art a decade ago, as evidenced by his 2015 John Peel...
a month ago
18
a month ago
Brian Eno was thinking about the purpose of art a decade ago, as evidenced by his 2015 John Peel Lecture (previously featured here on Open Culture). But he was also thinking about it three decades ago, as evidenced by A Year with Swollen Appendices, his diary of the year 1995...
Flashbak
The 25 Best Bedroom Bands Ever – 1980s Volume 1 For Those About to Rock We Salute You – ACDC, 1981     You had it all – the hair, the sticks, the...
a year ago
17
a year ago
For Those About to Rock We Salute You – ACDC, 1981     You had it all – the hair, the sticks, the pointy guitar, the hair, the band, the drive, the tights, the most piercing scream outside a Pee Wee Herman meets Cher Christmas convention. And you also had the hair. In the 1980s …...
Wrong Side of...
Progressive realism and Perfidious Albion Britain's foreign policy is woefully naive and self-defeating
4 months ago
Res Obscura
Why drug history? Drugs and spices play an outsized role in world history — but it's often a hidden one
a year ago
Trying to Understand...
Ukraine and the end of "Europe." Nation-states were the problem: supranationality was not the answer.
over a year ago
Flashbak
The Sun by Frans Masereel, A Story Without Words – 1919 “One discovers the light in darkness, that is what darkness is for; but everything in our lives...
2 months ago
73
2 months ago
“One discovers the light in darkness, that is what darkness is for; but everything in our lives depends on how we bear the light,” – James Baldwin, Nothing Personal      The Sun (1919) by Frans Masereel (1889–1972) opens with an artist resting his head on his desk beneath an open...
Flashbak
15 Signs of the Last Judgement and End of Days: 1450 – 1470 The Livre de la vigne nostre Seigneur is an anonymous illustrated treatise on the Antichrist, Last...
5 days ago
5
5 days ago
The Livre de la vigne nostre Seigneur is an anonymous illustrated treatise on the Antichrist, Last Judgement, Hell, Heaven, Christ and Antichrist. It features 15 illustrations that mark the End of Days. What makes the series particularly interesting is its lack of human figures...
TheCollector
Frick Collection Unveils $220 Million Renovation Situated alongside New York City’s Central Park, the famed Frick Collection is reopening to the...
3 days ago
2
3 days ago
Situated alongside New York City’s Central Park, the famed Frick Collection is reopening to the public after its first-ever comprehensive upgrade. With an expanded suite of exhibition and programmatic spaces, the new Frick’s inaugural events season will include a two-week music...
Res Obscura
I talked to Terry Gross! A brief update about the publication of "Tripping on Utopia" before we return to regularly scheduled...
a year ago
30
a year ago
A brief update about the publication of "Tripping on Utopia" before we return to regularly scheduled posting
Classical Wisdom
Stoicism and Buddhism: Two Sides of the Same Coin? New Event: Taking place July 10th with Dr. Benjamin Olshin
9 months ago
Classical Wisdom
The Two Trojan Wars Secret Origins
a year ago
Open Culture
Puppets of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Charles Dickens & Edgar Allan Poe Star in 1957 Frank Capra Educational... Produced between 1956 and 1964 by AT&T, the Bell Telephone Science Hour TV specials anticipate the...
2 weeks ago
12
2 weeks ago
Produced between 1956 and 1964 by AT&T, the Bell Telephone Science Hour TV specials anticipate the literary zaniness of The Muppet Show and the scientific enthusiasm of Cosmos. The “ship of the imagination” in Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s Cosmos reboot may in fact owe something to the...
TheCollector
10 Ancient Cities That You Can Still Visit Today The term ancient times generally refers to the period before the Middle Ages, spanning from the rise...
a month ago
9
a month ago
The term ancient times generally refers to the period before the Middle Ages, spanning from the rise of the first civilizations around 3000 BCE to roughly 500 CE. It was an era defined by towering empires, complex societies, and monumental achievements in art, architecture, and...
Trying to Understand...
Everything is (Somewhat) Connected. But some things are more connected than others.
over a year ago
African History...
Persian myths and realities on the Swahili coast: contextualizing the 'Shirazi' civilization. Why geneticists found what archeologists and historians had failed to locate.
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Secrets of the Sirens The Original Femme Fatales?
a year ago
TheCollector
Who Are the Patriarchs in the Bible? The patriarchs in the Bible were the fathers of the nation of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob....
a week ago
2
a week ago
The patriarchs in the Bible were the fathers of the nation of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Through these three men, the chosen people of God would grow into a mighty nation. God also promised that they would be a blessing to the world. They were not perfect men by any...
Hundred Rabbits
Wood stove installation It was our dream to have a little wood stove aboard Pino. After researching stoves, we decided that...
over a year ago
9
over a year ago
It was our dream to have a little wood stove aboard Pino. After researching stoves, we decided that the best model was the cast iron Sardine from Navigator Stoveworks. Our Espar forced air diesel heater broke on our last passage, and we decided not to replace it. There are few...
Flashbak
Black Woodstock: The Harlem Cultural Festival, NYC – 1969 Away from the “peace and love” at Woodstock in 1969, New York City’s Harlem was the venue for a...
6 months ago
37
6 months ago
Away from the “peace and love” at Woodstock in 1969, New York City’s Harlem was the venue for a series of shows that became known as Black Woodstock. Held at 3pm on Sundays in Mount Morris Park between 29 June and 24 August, 1969, as many as 300,000 people attended the festival...
Flashbak
Big Hair & True Love in 1980s Kentucky For over a decade in the 1980s and 1990s Richard Bram photographed people at the Kentucky Derby...
5 months ago
45
5 months ago
For over a decade in the 1980s and 1990s Richard Bram photographed people at the Kentucky Derby Festival in Louisville, an annual two-week event preceding the first Saturday in May, the day of the Kentucky Derby horse race. It was all about the gigantic hair. You can see his...
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup Ancient Advice on Health & Fitness
7 months ago
Flashbak
1980s Birmingham – Portraits of A City “The City Centre is unrecognisable from the 1980s. Everything is glass. Birmingham doesn’t feel like...
11 months ago
24
11 months ago
“The City Centre is unrecognisable from the 1980s. Everything is glass. Birmingham doesn’t feel like home anymore.” – Richard Davis   We’re back looking at 1980s Britain’s through Richard Davis’s photographs. This time we join him in Birmingham, the country’s ‘shabby not chic‘...
Open Culture
Why Are the Names of British Towns & Cities So Hard to Pronounce?: A Humorous But Informative Primer When they make their first transoceanic voyage, more than a few Americans choose to go to England,...
a month ago
13
a month ago
When they make their first transoceanic voyage, more than a few Americans choose to go to England, on the assumption that, whatever culture shock they might experience, at least none of the difficulties will be linguistic. Only when it’s too late do they discover the true meaning...
Classical Wisdom
Socrates and the Soul And the Immortal Soul
9 months ago
Open Culture
Revisit Pop-Up Video: The VH1 Series That Reinvented Music Videos & Pop Culture In the eighties, people lamented the attention-span-shortening “MTV-ization” of visual culture. By...
2 months ago
21
2 months ago
In the eighties, people lamented the attention-span-shortening “MTV-ization” of visual culture. By the mid-nineties, networks were trying to figure out how to get viewers to sit through music videos at all. A solution arrived in the form of Pop-Up Video, a program pitched by...
Classical Wisdom
Does FIRST Matter Most? Or who holds it longest? Or most recently?
a year ago
Flashbak
The Prostitutes’ Gaze: The Integrity of Mid-Century Sex Workers (NSFW) “I take photos to amuse myself” – Georges Thiry     Georges Thiry (1906 – 19940 took many pictures...
3 months ago
41
3 months ago
“I take photos to amuse myself” – Georges Thiry     Georges Thiry (1906 – 19940 took many pictures in his native Belgium. From 1935 to 1975, he produced 40,000 negatives, almost as many contact sheets and a number of prints. His focus was on artist, chiefly Surrealists – René...
Classical Wisdom
Artemisia of Caria Commander, Queen, and Eva Green
a year ago
The Scholar's Stage
Washington DC is Not a Popularity Contest IN 2009 PAUL GRAHAM WROTE A THOUGHTFUL ESSAY titled “Cities and Ambition.” There he proposes that a...
6 months ago
28
6 months ago
IN 2009 PAUL GRAHAM WROTE A THOUGHTFUL ESSAY titled “Cities and Ambition.” There he proposes that a great city is defined by the sort of ambitions it kindles—or perhaps more accurately, the sort of ambitious it gathers. As Graham puts it:
Open Culture
Francis Ford Coppola Picks His Favorite Criterion Movies & Gives Advice to Filmmakers Upon stepping into the hallowed Criterion Closet, stocked with hundreds of that cinephile video...
3 months ago
92
3 months ago
Upon stepping into the hallowed Criterion Closet, stocked with hundreds of that cinephile video label’s finest releases, Francis Ford Coppola speaks of a director who “believed in a film he wanted to make, and used his entire fortune, because the financing system of the time...
Hundred Rabbits
Summary of changes for February 2025 Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of...
a month ago
16
a month ago
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of February. Summary Of Changes 100r.co, added Dinghy gelcoat, Week 10, Week 11, and Week 12 of the Victoria to Sitka logbook. Updated solar with new pictures and corrected information...
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup Myths and Metamorphoses
9 months ago
TheCollector
An Overview of the Xia, Shang, & Zhou Chinese Dynasties According to Chinese tradition, Chinese civilization is 5,000 years old, though the ancient China of...
3 days ago
2
3 days ago
According to Chinese tradition, Chinese civilization is 5,000 years old, though the ancient China of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties was far smaller than modern China and largely confined to the Yellow River basin. Over time, its peoples expanded further afield and...
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup The Story of Thebes
a year ago
Res Obscura
A very deep history of Halloween Or, how far back can historical analysis take us?
5 months ago
Global Inequality...
The order of inequality Review of Tongdong Bai’s “Against political equality: The Confucian case"
11 months ago
TheCollector
What Was the Influence of the Silk Road on the Spread of Religions? The Silk Road was a network of land and sea-based trade routes that connected parts of the African,...
23 hours ago
1
23 hours ago
The Silk Road was a network of land and sea-based trade routes that connected parts of the African, Asian, and European continents. The network enabled trade-items such as fabrics, spices, jewels, and in some instances, cultures and religions to spread across the region. The...
Flashbak
A Look at London in 1975 with English Eccentrics and Mr Whippy It’s 1975 on Flashbak. We’re in and around London in the company of David Rostance. Let’s begin by...
10 months ago
35
10 months ago
It’s 1975 on Flashbak. We’re in and around London in the company of David Rostance. Let’s begin by shopping for a Mr Whippy ice cream on Gypsy Hill, south of the River Thames. Or maybe a cider or Brandy Alexander lolly is more to your taste? You can see the full range of British...
Flashbak
Saul Leiter In Colour And Before – Photographs from A Centenary Special Photographer Saul Leiter (1923 –  2013) is remembered in Saul Leiter: The Centennial Retrospective,...
9 months ago
25
9 months ago
Photographer Saul Leiter (1923 –  2013) is remembered in Saul Leiter: The Centennial Retrospective, a monograph from Thames and Hudson. The books features many of Leiter’s most gorgeous pictures, not least of all the street photograph above of a woman sat at a cafe in Paris in...
Flashbak
Sex In A Japanese Love Hotel “These venues have a very ‘talkative’ quality visually – they‘re expressive in design, reflecting...
3 days ago
4
3 days ago
“These venues have a very ‘talkative’ quality visually – they‘re expressive in design, reflecting aspects of local culture, values, and even fantasies” – François Prost, Love Hotels     There are about 37,000 Love Hotels in Japan. Sex on the clock in a rented room is big business...
Wrong Side of...
Rome’s miserable fate The Year of the Plague #3
a month ago
Res Obscura
Centuries of Childhood The history of childhood is one of multiplicity — so why do we tell parents such simplistic stories...
9 months ago
72
9 months ago
The history of childhood is one of multiplicity — so why do we tell parents such simplistic stories about it?
Hundred Rabbits
Summary of changes for October Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the...
over a year ago
10
over a year ago
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of October. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans. Summary Of Changes donsol, ported our Famicom(6502) code to Varvara(uxn). uxn,...
TheCollector
How to Keep Your Head in King Henry VIII’s Court Treason, tyranny, and terror are fabled words of King Henry VIII, one of history’s most...
4 weeks ago
9
4 weeks ago
Treason, tyranny, and terror are fabled words of King Henry VIII, one of history’s most controversial autocrats and matrimonial monsters. During his reign, King Henry VIII would marry six times, beheading two of his queens and two of his trusted ministers.   Historians concur...
Open Culture
Watch “The Birth of the Robot,” Len Lye’s Surreal 1935 Stop-Motion Animation Robots seem to have been much on the public mind back in the nineteen-thirties. Matt Novak at...
3 weeks ago
8
3 weeks ago
Robots seem to have been much on the public mind back in the nineteen-thirties. Matt Novak at Paleofuture gives the example of a moment in 1932 when “the world was awash in newspaper stories about a robot that had done the unthinkable: a mechanical man had shot its inventor.”...
Flashbak
The Months: Gardens of Art by Eugène Grasset In 1894, Eugène Grasset (25 May 1845 – 23 October 1917) received a commission from the French...
3 months ago
63
3 months ago
In 1894, Eugène Grasset (25 May 1845 – 23 October 1917) received a commission from the French department store La Belle Jardinière to create 12 original works of art to be used as a calendar. Grasset’s woodcuts show women in fashionable costumes of the period each bearing a sign...
Trying to Understand...
All About Aid. Well, probably more than you wanted to know, anyway.
3 weeks ago
Classical Wisdom
Calm in the Face of Crisis Putting the Greek Back into Stoicism
3 months ago
Classical Wisdom
Final Call Class Begins Tomorrow
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup The MUST-READ Classics
2 months ago
Dreams of Space -...
The Boy Who Discovered the Earth (1955) Continuing with a bit of a flying saucer theme today is The Boy Who Discovered The Earth. It is a...
6 months ago
5
6 months ago
Continuing with a bit of a flying saucer theme today is The Boy Who Discovered The Earth. It is a pleasant science fiction novel for kids about an alien boy who is left behind on Earth. He makes friends with the locals and learns about dogs, baseball, and the life of children on...
African History...
**a Brief note on Africa's intellectual history plus; the Yoruba intellectual culture ca. 1000-1900.
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Tyrannical Hell or Harmonious Utopia? Plato’s Vision of an Ideal State
a year ago
Patterns in Humanity
Demographics and American Homicides Can racial/ethnic demographics explain the high American homicide rate?
a year ago
TheCollector
Who Was the Last Aboriginal Tasmanian? For many years, it was believed that the Aboriginal people of Tasmania had become extinct and that...
a week ago
2
a week ago
For many years, it was believed that the Aboriginal people of Tasmania had become extinct and that their culture, languages, and customs were lost due to the devastating impact of British colonialism. There have been ongoing debates about who was “the last Aboriginal Tasmanian,”...
African History...
Kingdoms at the forest's edge: a history of Mangbetu (ca. 1750-1895) The northern region of central Africa between the modern countries of D.R.Congo and South Sudan has...
10 months ago
62
10 months ago
The northern region of central Africa between the modern countries of D.R.Congo and South Sudan has a long and complex history shaped by its internal cultural developments and its unique ecology between the savannah and the forest. Among the most remarkable states that emerged in...
Dreams of Space -...
Robert Goddard: Father of the Space Age (1963) After a Thanksgiving break I am back with Robert Goddard: Father of the Space Age.  Even if there...
4 months ago
5
4 months ago
After a Thanksgiving break I am back with Robert Goddard: Father of the Space Age.  Even if there are not a lot of illustrations of space flight this book was very important to me at the time. I remember finding it in the school library and then getting my own paperback copy...
The Universe of...
Just give the man the fish! Last week I complained about a Math SE pathology in which OP asks a simple question, and instead of...
4 months ago
6
4 months ago
Last week I complained about a Math SE pathology in which OP asks a simple question, and instead of an answer gets an attempt at a socratic dialog. I ended by saying: I have been banging this drum for decades, but I will cut the scroll here. Expect a followup article. Seeing...
Wrong Side of...
Your favourite half-British president We could win bigly by courting Donald Trump
4 months ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup St. Nick and Saturnalia
3 months ago
TheCollector
10 Must-See UNESCO Heritage Sites in India UNESCO World Heritage Sites are globally recognized landmarks celebrated for their cultural,...
3 days ago
1
3 days ago
UNESCO World Heritage Sites are globally recognized landmarks celebrated for their cultural, historical, artistic, or environmental significance. From ancient cities and architectural wonders to biodiversity hotspots, these sites are legally protected to preserve their legacy for...
Overcoming Bias
Futarchy As Meta Governance While anyone can buy stock in public firms, private equity firms are instead held by a more...
3 weeks ago
12
3 weeks ago
While anyone can buy stock in public firms, private equity firms are instead held by a more concentrated and exclusive set of owners.
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup Julius Caesar
a year ago
Trying to Understand...
Round Two? There Is No Round Two. Game pretty much over in Ukraine.
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Who’s in the Tomb? A Macedonian Mystery: The Tombs of Aigai
10 months ago
Overcoming Bias
Futarchy and the Transfer Problem I recently tweeted on the ineffectiveness of Medicine, and thus on waste we could cut by cutting...
a month ago
16
a month ago
I recently tweeted on the ineffectiveness of Medicine, and thus on waste we could cut by cutting back on it.
Wrong Side of...
Fellow believers or fellow citizens? Liberalism dies in darkness
4 months ago
Trying to Understand...
A Week Off And A New Language See you again soon
a year ago
The Universe of...
Just ANSWER THE QUESTION Here's a Math SE pathology that bugs me. OP will ask "I'm trying to prove that groups and are...
4 months ago
8
4 months ago
Here's a Math SE pathology that bugs me. OP will ask "I'm trying to prove that groups and are isomorphic, I constructed this bijection but I see that it's not a homomorphism. Is it sufficient, or do I need to find a bijective homomorphism?" And respondent will reply in the...
Overcoming Bias
Beware Policy Abstraction The recent US presidential election should be fresh enough in your memory to let you directly...
4 months ago
11
4 months ago
The recent US presidential election should be fresh enough in your memory to let you directly confirm that the issues focused on there were biased in two key ways.
Trying to Understand...
La politique de l’épuisement et l’épuisement de la politique. Another of my essays in French.
4 months ago
A Collection of...
Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IIa: How a Legion Fights This is the first part of the second part of our four? four part look at the great third and second...
a year ago
27
a year ago
This is the first part of the second part of our four? four part look at the great third and second century BC contest between the Hellenistic armies of the heirs of Alexander and the Roman legions. Last time, we looked at the Hellenistic army as a complete system, incorporating...
TheCollector
9 Historic Gems in Peru: From Inca Ruins to Colonial Cities Peru’s history dates back over 5,000 years, making it an intoxicating and addictive destination for...
4 days ago
4
4 days ago
Peru’s history dates back over 5,000 years, making it an intoxicating and addictive destination for history enthusiasts. While Machu Picchu and the ancient Inca Empire may claim most of the attention, there is much more of Peru’s history to discover. As the birthplace of ancient...
Trying to Understand...
The Coming Of Neo-Tribalism. Of honour, gangsters, nomadic tribes and of course identity politics.
9 months ago
TheCollector
What Is the Second Epistle of Peter About? The Second Epistle of Peter (2 Peter) is a timeless epistle that speaks to the contemporary believer...
2 weeks ago
2
2 weeks ago
The Second Epistle of Peter (2 Peter) is a timeless epistle that speaks to the contemporary believer as much as it did to the intended audience in the 1st century CE. The guidance on spiritual growth, false teaching, and the focus on the return of Christ resonates with Christians...
TheCollector
10 Must-Visit Historic Towns in Mississippi From its early indigenous cultures to European settlement and its role in pivotal moments like the...
a month ago
7
a month ago
From its early indigenous cultures to European settlement and its role in pivotal moments like the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement, the Magnolia State has been at the heart of American history. Known for its Delta blues, rich literary tradition, and Southern hospitality,...
Flashbak
Man Ray’s Mathematics Objects (1934-36) The collection of 19th-century three-dimensional models of algebraic and differential equations at...
2 weeks ago
8
2 weeks ago
The collection of 19th-century three-dimensional models of algebraic and differential equations at the Institut Henri Poincaré in Paris made a great impression on Surrealist artists.     When German artist Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) saw a series of 19th Century wood,...
Flashbak
High-Class Erotic Illustrations by Édouard-Henri Avril (NSFW) In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, pornography was the preserve of the well to...
8 months ago
59
8 months ago
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, pornography was the preserve of the well to do. Smut was published in  shot-run books of a couple of hundred copies. These books were full of stories and poems, but the highlights were the explicit erotic illustrations drawn...
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup Origins of Stoicism
8 months ago
TheCollector
Who Won the Siege of Petersburg? Despite having much of its most valuable territory retaken by the summer of 1864, the Confederacy...
a month ago
7
a month ago
Despite having much of its most valuable territory retaken by the summer of 1864, the Confederacy continued to resist. If it could hold on, perhaps it could win the war by wearing down the Union enough to seek peace terms. Thus, new general-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant needed to...
Classical Wisdom
How to Celebrate the Love of Learning Give a Graduate the Greatest Gift!
a year ago
Open Culture
Fred Armisen & Bill Hader’s Comedic Take on the History of Simon and Garfunkel During their days filming Documentary Now!, a mockumentary series that aired on IFC, Fred Armisen...
2 months ago
28
2 months ago
During their days filming Documentary Now!, a mockumentary series that aired on IFC, Fred Armisen and Bill Hader teamed up and created a fictionalized “history” of Simon and Garfunkel, telling the “real” story behind the making of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Mrs....
Trying to Understand...
What We Talk About, When We Talk About Talks. The End may be further away than you think.
a month ago
Flashbak
Magnifying The Moment: Joni Sternbach’s Pictures of NYC Subway Passengers 1976–1981 “Part of the reason I was drawn to the Subway was that it was a perfect unchoreographed stage....
4 months ago
26
4 months ago
“Part of the reason I was drawn to the Subway was that it was a perfect unchoreographed stage. Chance brought me together with a crowd of unknowns. It was up to me to parse them out and magnify the moment.” – Joni Sternbach on her pictures of NYC Subway Passengers in the 1970s  ...
Open Culture
Watch Alfred Hitchcock’s Groundbreaking, Six-Minute Trailer for Psycho (1960) The early trailer for Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho above describes the film as “the picture you MUST...
a week ago
7
a week ago
The early trailer for Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho above describes the film as “the picture you MUST see from the beginning… or not at all!” That’s good advice, given how early in the film its first big twist arrives. But it was also a policy: “Every theatre manager, everywhere, has...
Open Culture
The Night When Miles Davis Opened for the Grateful Dead (1970) What’s that, you ask? Did Miles Davis open for the Grateful Dead at the Fillmore West? In what world...
2 months ago
38
2 months ago
What’s that, you ask? Did Miles Davis open for the Grateful Dead at the Fillmore West? In what world could such a thing happen? In the world of the late sixties/early seventies, when jazz fused with acid rock, acid rock with country, and pop culture took a long strange trip. The...
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup Love and Death
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup Stoicism and Buddhism
2 months ago
The Scholar's Stage
The Silicon Valley Canon: On the Paıdeía of the American Tech Elite I often draw a distinction between the political elites of Washington DC and the industrial elites...
7 months ago
24
7 months ago
I often draw a distinction between the political elites of Washington DC and the industrial elites of Silicon Valley with a joke: in San Francisco reading books, and talking about what you have read, is a matter of high prestige. Not so in Washington DC. In Washington people...
African History...
a brief note on contacts between ancient African kingdoms and Rome. finding the lost city of Rhapta on the east African coast.
9 months ago
TheCollector
Roman-Era Hermes Statue Found in Ancient City of Aspendos Turkish archaeologists unearthed an ancient statue of Hermes, the winged messenger of the gods, in...
3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
Turkish archaeologists unearthed an ancient statue of Hermes, the winged messenger of the gods, in the Greco-Roman city of Aspendos. It was found alongside objects associated with other major deities in Greek mythology.   Turkish Archaeologists Uncover Fragmented Hermes Statue  ...
Flashbak
Free Cannabis on Speakers Corner, September 2000 “I believe I have the birthright to cultivate and use the cannabis plant for all its uses. I have...
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“I believe I have the birthright to cultivate and use the cannabis plant for all its uses. I have used all the substances listed, with the possible exception of the MDMA (ecstasy), in a shamanic way.” – Mr Free Cannabis, Taunton Crown Court  September 2000   On 28, September,...
Classical Wisdom
Last Chance Secure Seats for the In Search of Homer Trip
5 months ago
Flashbak
Photographing The Invisible: Things are Queer by Duane Michals (1973) “I think photographs should be provocative and not tell you what you already know. It takes no great...
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a year ago
“I think photographs should be provocative and not tell you what you already know. It takes no great powers or magic to reproduce somebody’s face in a photograph. The magic is in seeing people in new ways.” —Duane Michals     Through image sequences, framing, multiple exposures,...
weird medieval guys
My favourite etymologies: "to curry favour" Or, the unfathomably dark depths of the equine soul
a month ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup Memorial Day Weekend Sale
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Open Culture
10,000+ Free Online Certificates & Badges: A Resource for Lifelong Learners For those looking to boost their skills or explore new fields without breaking the bank, Class...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
For those looking to boost their skills or explore new fields without breaking the bank, Class Central has done the heavy lifting. Known as a search engine for online courses, Class Central has compiled what might be the largest collection of free online certificates and badges...
History Today Feed
‘Vietdamned’ by Clive Webb review ‘Vietdamned’ by Clive Webb review JamesHoare Mon, 03/24/2025 - 09:17
a week ago
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The Kaikidan Ekotoba Monster Scroll from 19th Century Japan The Kaikidan Ekotoba scroll features paintings of 33 monsters, both fantastic and plain odd from...
8 months ago
34
8 months ago
The Kaikidan Ekotoba scroll features paintings of 33 monsters, both fantastic and plain odd from Japan. It’s a subject we’ve visited before with the Yokai Horrors from the 18th Century Bakemono Zukushi Scroll. Thought to originate in the mid 1800s, the artist behind the Kaikidan...
Flashbak
Creating Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa – An Illustrated History “At 110, everything I create; a dot, a line, will jump to life as never before. To all of you who...
10 months ago
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10 months ago
“At 110, everything I create; a dot, a line, will jump to life as never before. To all of you who are going to live as long as I do, I promise to keep my word. I am writing this in my old age. I used to call myself Hokusai, but today I sign my … Continue reading "Creating...
Flashbak
Posters From London’s Psychedelic UFO Club – 1966-1967 “In the Roundhouse, the UFO, and the Middle Earth Club in London everyone seems to get it, and it’s...
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a year ago
“In the Roundhouse, the UFO, and the Middle Earth Club in London everyone seems to get it, and it’s as if we are all in on the same joke” – Andy Summer on London’s UFO Club     Founded by Joe Boyd and John Hopkins, London’s psychedelic UFO Club was small and short-lived, running...
Trying to Understand...
I Have No Brain But I Must Scream. But why aren't people in other countries listening?
a year ago
TheCollector
What Did Albert Camus Really Mean by the Absurd? It is widely (but wrongly) believed that what Camus means by the absurd is something like life...
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a month ago
It is widely (but wrongly) believed that what Camus means by the absurd is something like life viewed from a distance is completely meaningless. What Camus actually says is that life viewed in a particular way only appears meaningless. The crucial nuance, often missed, is that...
Flashbak
One Night At The Empire Roller Disco, Brooklyn NYC – February 1980 On assignment for Forbes magazine on a winter’s night in 1980, Patrick D. Pagnano’s was in Crown...
9 months ago
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9 months ago
On assignment for Forbes magazine on a winter’s night in 1980, Patrick D. Pagnano’s was in Crown Heights to see the skaters at Brooklyn’s Empire Roller Disco. Formerly the Empire Rollerdrome (built 1941), the rink was now all disco. It was where Cher hosted the release party for...
Flashbak
Magic Reality: The Eyes of Arthur Tress – in Pictures “A photographer could be considered a kind of magician. As a trained observer he can foretell the...
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a month ago
“A photographer could be considered a kind of magician. As a trained observer he can foretell the potential movements of his subjects and perhaps even by some mental intimidation… actually cause them to happen.” – Arthur Tress   Arthur Tress (Nov. 24, 1940- ) was born in...
Flashbak
Painted Backgrounds for Early 20th Century Photographers, 1908 Before image filters and digital backdrops added depth and interest to photographs, placing subjects...
a month ago
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a month ago
Before image filters and digital backdrops added depth and interest to photographs, placing subjects in exquisite settings, there were hand-painted backgrounds for photography studios. Beginning in the mid-1800s, decorative backgrounds worked at the intersection of traditional...
TheCollector
Centuries-Old Buddhist Temple Destroyed by Wildfires Wildfires tearing through the southern regions of South Korea have killed at least 28 people and...
4 days ago
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4 days ago
Wildfires tearing through the southern regions of South Korea have killed at least 28 people and destroyed or threatened hundreds of historical sites. As of Thursday, the wildfires have burned at least 88,980 acres of land, according to the South Korean government’s disaster...
Flashbak
London Markets In The 1960s an 1970s “As long as I am alive, I will be a photographer. I will never retire” – Dorothy Bohm   Dorothy Bohm...
a year ago
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a year ago
“As long as I am alive, I will be a photographer. I will never retire” – Dorothy Bohm   Dorothy Bohm (22 June 1924 – 15 March 2023) was born Dorothea Israelit in June 1924 in Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia), to a Jewish German-speaking family. In 1939 she was...
TheCollector
The Complex and Contentious History of Crimea The status of the Crimean Peninsula has entered international public consciousness over the past...
a month ago
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a month ago
The status of the Crimean Peninsula has entered international public consciousness over the past decade. Since the events of 2014, when it was annexed from Ukraine by the Russian Federation, the state has been labeled as occupied by some and liberated by others.   This, however,...
Classical Wisdom
Jews in the Roman Bathhouse Is it time to rethink the relationship between Judaism and Greco-Roman society?
a year ago
TheCollector
3 Key Moments in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar The Tragedy of Julius Caesar was first performed in 1599 and it continues to be reinterpreted by...
2 weeks ago
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2 weeks ago
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar was first performed in 1599 and it continues to be reinterpreted by theater directors up to this day. Touching on themes like tyranny, power, and betrayal, this play also shows us that the word is much more powerful than the sword. During a key moment...
Trying to Understand...
War, Peace, And That Other Thing. Understanding political violence.
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup Petra and Passports
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
The Dark Side of Love Euripides' Epic Battle between Love and Law
a month ago
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British Grub: A Psychedelic Tribute To British Food From 1960s San Francisco Food, glorious food! Hot sausage and mustard While we’re in the mood, cold jelly and custard Pease...
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11 months ago
Food, glorious food! Hot sausage and mustard While we’re in the mood, cold jelly and custard Pease pudding and saveloys, what next is the question? Rich gentlemen have it boys – in-di-gestion! – Food Glorious Food from the muscial oliver by Lionel Bart, 1968     You didn’t need...
African History...
a brief note on Africa in 16th century global history. the international relations and manuscripts of Kongo
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
How Should We Look at History? Hold it up? Seal it off? Or Break it Down?
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
The Ancient Ozempic Was Theriac a Miracle Drug?
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Classical Wisdom
Rehabilitating Aspasia Separating Evidence from Comic Slander
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Ancient Greek Astronomy Ursa Major
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Dreams of Space -...
Lift-off: The Story of Rocket Power (1963) A very nice 1963 book about rocket propulsion. It was written for the "little engineer" and has some...
a year ago
5
a year ago
A very nice 1963 book about rocket propulsion. It was written for the "little engineer" and has some very nice illustrations of the construction of rockets. Coombs, Charles. Illustrated by Foor, R. H. Lift-off: The Story of Rocket Power. New York: William Morrow and Co. (96 p.)...
Trying to Understand...
The Missile Will Always Get Through. But who is prepared to admit it?
3 months ago
Res Obscura
On 17th century "cocaine" A new analysis of mummified brains pushes back the timeline for the globalization of coca
5 months ago
Dreams of Space -...
Our Defenders (1976) Even if a bit inappropriate, given politics, here is a cool Russian pop-up book. Not really space...
a month ago
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a month ago
Even if a bit inappropriate, given politics, here is a cool Russian pop-up book. Not really space flight oriented but still interesting. Our Defenders was a book illustrating the Russian military including battlefield rockets. The images are stereotypical of Soviet times and an...
African History...
Roads and wheeled transport in African history. Why the kingdoms of Kush and Dahomey used wheels while Asante did not.
a year ago
Trying to Understand...
Too Much of Not A Lot Winning the day and losing the war.
a year ago
African History...
The complete history of Kano (999-1903) journal of African cities chapter 9
a year ago
TheCollector
Who Are the Main Aboriginal Clans from West & Central Australia? Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland form the macro-region known as Eastern Australia, along...
3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland form the macro-region known as Eastern Australia, along with the Tasmanian Island, Jervis Bay Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory. The remaining mainland states of South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory...
Flashbak
The Will Eisner M-16 U.S. Army Rifle Maintenance Booklet, 1968 The M-16 U.S. Army Rifle Maintenance Booklet was distributed to every U.S. soldier from 1968-1972...
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a month ago
The M-16 U.S. Army Rifle Maintenance Booklet was distributed to every U.S. soldier from 1968-1972 during the Vietnam war. Originally sealed in plastic to accommodate weather concerns, and for jungle distribution, the 32 page M-16 booklet featured art by Will Eisner Studios. The...
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup The Mystery of Penelope
7 months ago
Flashbak
Have A Weird Christmas With Our Album Of Vintage Photo Oddities There’s a weird vibe running through this album of Christmas images. Harvested from Robert E....
3 months ago
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3 months ago
There’s a weird vibe running through this album of Christmas images. Harvested from Robert E. Jackson’s phenomenal collection of snapshots we see all kinds of unusual goings on. One Christmas card features a photo of the sender covered in rats; on another a man canoodles a...
Classical Wisdom
What is Love? With Armand D’Angour A recording from Classical Wisdom's live video
a month ago
Open Culture
Behold Harry Clarke’s Hallucinatory Illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe’s Story Collection, Tales of... As you’ve probably noticed if you’re a regular reader of this site, we’re big fans of book...
a month ago
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a month ago
As you’ve probably noticed if you’re a regular reader of this site, we’re big fans of book illustration, particularly that from the form’s golden age—the late 18th and 19th century—before photography took over as the dominant visual medium. But while photographs largely...
TheCollector
What We Know About Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ So Far For his next historical blockbuster, award-winning filmmaker Christopher Nolan is taking on The...
a month ago
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a month ago
For his next historical blockbuster, award-winning filmmaker Christopher Nolan is taking on The Odyssey. The film, set to be released next year, will likely be the most ambitious—and the most expensive—adaptation of Homer’s epic Greek poem to date. Read on to discover newly...
TheCollector
Who Were Ancient Israel’s Boy Kings? After Solomon’s death, the ancient Kingdom of Israel split into two realms. The northern half was...
4 days ago
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4 days ago
After Solomon’s death, the ancient Kingdom of Israel split into two realms. The northern half was called Israel and the southern Judah. At different times in the period that followed, known as the Divided Kingdom, three boys under thirteen-years-old—Joash, Manasseh, and...
Trying to Understand...
Macron is Safe for the Moment But the future worries me.
a year ago
Trying to Understand...
Playing with Politics Everything is permitted but nothing is possible.
5 days ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Quiz Lots and Lots of Love
a month ago
Flashbak
Miyako Festivals Of Kyoto, Japan – Illustrations From A 1920s Album of Silk Paintings These illustrations of Miyako Festivals are from an album of silk paintings created in the 1920s...
a year ago
10
a year ago
These illustrations of Miyako Festivals are from an album of silk paintings created in the 1920s showing all different festivals held in Kyoto, Japan. Miyako (‘capital’) is an archaic name for Kyoto, which was the capital of Japan from 794 AD to 1868 AD. The pictures playson...
A Collection of...
Collections: The Siege of Eregion, Part IV: What Siege Equipment? This is the fourth part of our [five? -ish? I, II, III] part series on the Siege of Eregion in...
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a week ago
This is the fourth part of our [five? -ish? I, II, III] part series on the Siege of Eregion in Amazon’s Rings of Power. Last week, we took the opportunity presented by Adar’s absurd plan to dam a river using catapults to collapse a mountain to discuss the capabilities and...
Flashbak
A Civil War Vateran Created The Esoteric Fraternity and the Cult of Solar Biology in 1890s ... Some forty miles northeast of Sacramento, north California, off I-80 near the village of Applegate,...
a year ago
11
a year ago
Some forty miles northeast of Sacramento, north California, off I-80 near the village of Applegate, is the remains of one of the States’s religious cults: the Esoteric Fraternity. Founded in 1887, the Fraternity was a pioneer in modern astrology, readied its followers to run a...
Res Obscura
Before psychedelic therapy for wartime trauma, there was narcosynthesis Notes on using AI to analyze three World War II-era films about drugs and PTSD
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
The Ancient World's Greatest Disaster And Most Mysterious...
5 months ago
Res Obscura
The (history of) spice must flow Why the spice trade is even more important for world history than you might have thought
a year ago
TheCollector
James (Son of Zebedee) of the Twelve Disciples: Bio, Death, Legacy James was a colorful character among the Twelve Disciples. He had a temperamental character and, at...
2 weeks ago
2
2 weeks ago
James was a colorful character among the Twelve Disciples. He had a temperamental character and, at times, overreacted in ways that make the reader wonder why Jesus would call such a person to be his disciple. He was a lot like Peter in terms of impulsivity but had a much more...
Flashbak
Lightning Strikes: William Jennings’ Early Photographs of Elusive Electricity Anglo-American photographer William Jennings (1860–1946) is best known for his aerial pictures of...
2 months ago
32
2 months ago
Anglo-American photographer William Jennings (1860–1946) is best known for his aerial pictures of his adopted city of Philadelphia and the aeronautical industry, and photographs of lightning. Setting out to prove “lightning bolts were not of the zig-zag form pictured by artists”,...
Flashbak
People of London’s Maida Vale the 1970s and early 1980s Bristol Gardens runs between Formosa Street and Clifton Villas and in London’s Maida Vale. Artist...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
Bristol Gardens runs between Formosa Street and Clifton Villas and in London’s Maida Vale. Artist and photographer Sheila Burnett has not longed moved to the area when she began to take pictures of the people who lived and worked there.     In the 1970s, Sheila arrived in London...
Flashbak
See The Rolling Stones 1966 Tour Program In 1966, The Rolling Stones were on tour, supported by The Yardbirds, Long John Baldry and Peter Jay...
8 months ago
44
8 months ago
In 1966, The Rolling Stones were on tour, supported by The Yardbirds, Long John Baldry and Peter Jay and the New Jaywalkers and Ike & Tina Turner. Formed in 1962, The Stones had their first number one in ‘64 and in 1966 had released what was to be their breakthrough album an...
TheCollector
Apotheosis: How the Romans Made Men Into Gods While the “frivolous East” may have been happy to venerate men as though they were gods, the serious...
2 weeks ago
1
2 weeks ago
While the “frivolous East” may have been happy to venerate men as though they were gods, the serious men of the Roman Republic would never have condoned such an outrage. Nevertheless, the apotheosis and deification of deceased Roman emperors became an essential element of Roman...
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup Lost and Found
a year ago
Res Obscura
The leading AI models are now very good historians Three case studies with GPT-4o, o1, and Claude Sonnet 3.5, and what they mean
2 months ago
TheCollector
Where Was King Arthur’s Mount Badon? War between the Britons and the Anglo-Saxons started in c. 430 CE and continued for centuries. For...
3 weeks ago
11
3 weeks ago
War between the Britons and the Anglo-Saxons started in c. 430 CE and continued for centuries. For some time, the Anglo-Saxons faced little difficulty in conquering new territory. However, a war leader, either named Ambrosius Aurelianus or King Arthur, helped the Britons fight...
Classical Wisdom
Why Socrates Matters New Event: November 22
4 months ago
A Collection of...
Collections: The Journey of the Roman Gladius and Other Swords This week I want to do something a little different and discuss the evolution and development of a...
a year ago
27
a year ago
This week I want to do something a little different and discuss the evolution and development of a specific weapon, in this case the famed Roman gladius, the sword of the legions. As we’re going to see, this is going to entail a journey covering quite a bit of both time and space...
Classical Wisdom
Greek Mythology's Greatest Love Story Cupid and Psyche
a month ago
Open Culture
Watch an Avant-Garde Bauhaus Ballet in Brilliant Color, First Staged in 1922 We credit the Bauhaus school, founded by German architect Walter Gropius in 1919, for the aesthetic...
2 months ago
22
2 months ago
We credit the Bauhaus school, founded by German architect Walter Gropius in 1919, for the aesthetic principles that have guided so much modern design and architecture in the 20th and 21st centuries. The school’s relationships with artists like Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Laszlo...
Wrong Side of...
The Phantom of Polarisation Do people actually disagree that much?
4 months ago
Flashbak
The Avicenna Canon Medicinae – An Illustrated Medical Book From 13th Century Paris First published in 13th Century Paris, the Avicenna, Canon Medicinae is an illustrated medical text...
11 months ago
30
11 months ago
First published in 13th Century Paris, the Avicenna, Canon Medicinae is an illustrated medical text book made from tempera and gold leaf on parchment. Shelf marked Besançon, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 0457, the work is a Latin translation of Avicenna’s Canon medicinae, one of...
Patterns in Humanity
Immigration and crime: Norway Are immigrants overrepresented in crime in Norway? And why?
2 months ago
TheCollector
Excalibur: The Legendary Sword of King Arthur In the Arthurian legends, King Arthur famously has a special sword named Excalibur. This is one of...
2 weeks ago
2
2 weeks ago
In the Arthurian legends, King Arthur famously has a special sword named Excalibur. This is one of the constant aspects of the legend, seen in almost every version of the legend over the centuries. Nevertheless, the details about this mighty weapon changed as the Arthurian...
The Scholar's Stage
Five Fundamentals of Chinese Grand Strategy Last month Civic Future invited me to join a panel at their annual policy forum. The topic: what the...
7 months ago
26
7 months ago
Last month Civic Future invited me to join a panel at their annual policy forum. The topic: what the United Kingdom should do about China. As I am neither a British citizen nor an expert in British affairs, I thought it impolitic to lecture my hosts on how they should be...
Global Inequality...
To all the newspapers I loved The decline and fall of the print media.
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Quiz Plus Roundup of Resources
a month ago
Open Culture
The Complete History of the Music Video: From the 1890s to Today If you want to understand the history of music videos, you must consider a lot of things that are...
2 months ago
42
2 months ago
If you want to understand the history of music videos, you must consider a lot of things that are not obviously music videos. The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star,” the first selection of MTV’s inaugural broadcast, must surely count as a music video — but then, it was...
Open Culture
The Junky’s Christmas: William S. Burrough’s Dark Claymation Christmas Film Produced by Francis Ford... Back in 1993, the Beat writer William S. Burroughs wrote and narrated a 21-minute claymation...
3 months ago
55
3 months ago
Back in 1993, the Beat writer William S. Burroughs wrote and narrated a 21-minute claymation Christmas film oddly produced by Francis Ford Coppola. And, as you can well imagine, it’s not your normal happy Christmas flick. Nope, this film – The Junky’s Christmas – is all about...
A Collection of...
Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part Ib: Subjects of the Successors This is the second part of the first part of our four part look at the context between the...
a year ago
61
a year ago
This is the second part of the first part of our four part look at the context between the Hellenistic army and its Macedonian phalanx and the Romans with their legions. Last week, we looked at the weapons, organization and fighting style of the Macedonian phalanx, the infantry...
Dreams of Space -...
My Weekly Reader and Gemini (1965,1966) As I got through boxes I found a couple of My Weekly Readers that I had not shared before. My Weekly...
a month ago
11
a month ago
As I got through boxes I found a couple of My Weekly Readers that I had not shared before. My Weekly Reader posts seem to be popular for their nostalgia effect and because as ephemera no one saved them from their youth. These particular ones are about the Gemini missions. At the...
Flashbak
Arnaldo Putzu and His Fabulous Hand-Painted Covers for Look-In Magazine And Movie Posters You might not know the name Arnaldo Putzu (1927 – 2012) but chances are that if you grew up in the...
8 months ago
59
8 months ago
You might not know the name Arnaldo Putzu (1927 – 2012) but chances are that if you grew up in the 1960s and 1970s you’ve seen his work on movie posters and magazine covers. Born in Rome, Putzu studied at the Rome Academy and discovered a love of portrait painting. After...
Trying to Understand...
Into the Waste Land Nothing connects.
a year ago
Hundred Rabbits
Summary of changes for October 2023 Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the...
a year ago
10
a year ago
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of October. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans. Summary Of Changes Thousand Rooms, added a Brazilian Portuguese version. Wunderland...
Classical Wisdom
Secrets of the Sibyls Ancient Prophetesses
a year ago
Hundred Rabbits
hello fujisan It's 8h00 pm on a cold dark winter night, we are outside of Shimizu harbor motoring in circles and...
over a year ago
10
over a year ago
It's 8h00 pm on a cold dark winter night, we are outside of Shimizu harbor motoring in circles and waiting for a response from Shimizu Port Control. The temperature is 4 °C, the wind is blowing hard and our clothes are wet and caked with salt. We’re tired and hungry, waiting for...
TheCollector
9 Facts About the History of Sushi: A Beloved Japanese Dish Extending far beyond Japan, sushi is consumed by many different communities around the world. Its...
a week ago
2
a week ago
Extending far beyond Japan, sushi is consumed by many different communities around the world. Its popularity in the West has helped to cement Japan’s global cultural influence, as Japanese cuisine gained a reputation for having healthy, fresh, and flavor-packed delicacies....
Open Culture
Why There Isn’t a Bridge from Italy to Sicily – And Why the 2,000-Year-Old Dream of Building the... We’ve all heard of the great American road trip. If you’ve ever dreamt of taking a great Italian...
a week ago
10
a week ago
We’ve all heard of the great American road trip. If you’ve ever dreamt of taking a great Italian road trip, you’ve surely come across this inevitable hitch in the plan: you can’t drive to Sicily. You can, of course, put your car on a ferry; you can even take a train that gets put...
Flashbak
‘Look at Me’: Scot Sothern’s powerful photographs of life on LA’s streets In amongst the crowds drifting along Hollywood Boulevard there’s an old guy sitting on an orange...
10 months ago
59
10 months ago
In amongst the crowds drifting along Hollywood Boulevard there’s an old guy sitting on an orange bucket. He’s wearing dirty jeans and a grey hoodie. The guy’s in his seventies. Weather-worn. Grizzled beard. Walking stick. Back trouble caused by “old spinal injuries and bad...
Res Obscura
Simulating History with Multimodal AI: an Update Generative AI offers a new, more engaging (and, hopefully, more empathetic) way of teaching history....
a year ago
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a year ago
Generative AI offers a new, more engaging (and, hopefully, more empathetic) way of teaching history. But how to use it?
Overcoming Bias
When They Hear Less Than You Say Something must be done.
a month ago
Flashbak
Thai Fortune-Telling Manuscript, Before 1844 A beautiful paper accordion manuscript from Thailand that features hand-painted illustrations of...
a year ago
28
a year ago
A beautiful paper accordion manuscript from Thailand that features hand-painted illustrations of zodiac figures accompanied with text. It was made before 1844.     “Maria Revere Balestier (daughter of Paul Revere and wife to the first American consulate to Singapore) was the...
Overcoming Bias
What Do I Want? It is relatively easy to identify a list of things that we want, in the sense of preferring a life...
a week ago
10
a week ago
It is relatively easy to identify a list of things that we want, in the sense of preferring a life with more of them to less of them.
Open Culture
Has SpaceX Done Anything NASA Hasn’t? Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains His “Feud” with Elon Musk One would count neither Elon Musk nor Neil deGrasse Tyson among the most reserved public figures of...
a month ago
16
a month ago
One would count neither Elon Musk nor Neil deGrasse Tyson among the most reserved public figures of the twenty-first century. Given the efforts Musk has been making to push into the business of outer space, which has long been Tyson’s intellectual domain, it’s only natural that...
Flashbak
Rare Photographs of Siouxsie and the Banshees in Japan, 1982 Siouxsie and the Banshees toured Japan playing three gigs in Tokyo late-March, early-April 1982. The...
a year ago
18
a year ago
Siouxsie and the Banshees toured Japan playing three gigs in Tokyo late-March, early-April 1982. The band had recently released their fourth album Juju (1981) and were working on their fifth A Kiss in the Dreamhouse (1982). While other punk bands had imploded, Siouxsie and the...
Classical Wisdom
Aeneas: Founder of Rome The Most Important Myth Ever Told?
a year ago
Dreams of Space -...
Undersea Base (1974) So a large change for today, instead of Outer Space books we are going to Inner Space with Undersea...
4 months ago
5
4 months ago
So a large change for today, instead of Outer Space books we are going to Inner Space with Undersea Base. I have blogged about Mae Freeman's book Space Base (1974) several times. In it she showed children visiting a space station in the future.  I recently found she had also...
Flashbak
Heavy Metal: West Midlands Industry In the Late 1970s “The noise was deafening. The heat was intense. I’d never seen anything like it” – American...
5 months ago
37
5 months ago
“The noise was deafening. The heat was intense. I’d never seen anything like it” – American photographer Janine Wiedel on her first visit to the industrial West Midlands     The Vulcan’s Forge photobook shows us faces of late 1970s industry in England’s West Midlands. Based on...
Classical Wisdom
Dido: Queen of Carthage Doomed Lover of Ancient Myth
a year ago
The Universe of...
Baseball on the Moon We want to adapt baseball to be played on the moon. Is there any way to make it work? My first...
3 months ago
2
3 months ago
We want to adapt baseball to be played on the moon. Is there any way to make it work? My first impression is: no, for several reasons. The pitched ball will go a little faster (no air resistance) but breaking balls are impossible (ditto). So the batter will find it easier to...
TheCollector
6 Famous Operas Based on the Bible Performance arts are often based on traditions and narratives that have inspired human history...
a month ago
5
a month ago
Performance arts are often based on traditions and narratives that have inspired human history throughout the ages. It is no surprise then that the Bible has played a role in creating a myriad of musical and artistic works by a diverse array of writers and composers. Several of...
Open Culture
Inside SNL: Al Franken Reveals How Saturday Night Live Is Crafted Every Week As Saturday Night Live celebrates its 50th anniversary, Al Franken takes you inside the making of an...
a month ago
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a month ago
As Saturday Night Live celebrates its 50th anniversary, Al Franken takes you inside the making of an SNL episode. He should know a thing or two about the subject. Part of the original SNL writing team, Franken spent 15 years writing and performing for the show. (Anyone remember...
Flashbak
Groovy Ads That Sold Woolworths’ UK Line of Baby Doll Cosmetics Here are several examples of the many groovy psychedelic adverts produced in the 1960s to promote...
9 months ago
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9 months ago
Here are several examples of the many groovy psychedelic adverts produced in the 1960s to promote Woolworths’ UK line of “Baby Doll” cosmetics in the late 1960s. These “pop-style” adverts appeared in the country’s magazines for teenagers, like Jackie, RAVE, Flair, Queen and...
TheCollector
10 Historic Towns in Germany You Should Visit Germany’s past is written across its landscapes, from the Roman frontier to medieval fortresses and...
a month ago
6
a month ago
Germany’s past is written across its landscapes, from the Roman frontier to medieval fortresses and the echoes of empire. It was here that Charlemagne forged the foundations of the Holy Roman Empire in the 9th century, where Martin Luther ignited the Protestant Reformation in the...
TheCollector
William Gladstone: Britain’s Record-Breaking Prime Minister The Victorian era featured many political giants. Robert Peel, Benjamin Disraeli, and Lord Salisbury...
3 weeks ago
10
3 weeks ago
The Victorian era featured many political giants. Robert Peel, Benjamin Disraeli, and Lord Salisbury are some obvious examples. Yet the man who spent the most time as prime minister was none other than William Gladstone.   Gladstone was Great Britain’s prime minister for twelve...
Open Culture
Laurie Anderson’s Mind-Blowing Performance of C. P. Cavafy’s Poems “Waiting for the Barbarians” &... In the video above, Laurie Anderson describes C. P. Cavafy’s poem “Waiting for the Barbarians” as...
2 months ago
51
2 months ago
In the video above, Laurie Anderson describes C. P. Cavafy’s poem “Waiting for the Barbarians” as being “set in ancient Rome.” That’s a reasonable interpretation, given that it contains an emperor, senators, and orators, though Cavafy himself said that none of them are...
Open Culture
Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains Who Was the Greatest Scientific Mind in History Neil deGrasse Tyson has spent his career talking up not just science itself, but also its...
a month ago
21
a month ago
Neil deGrasse Tyson has spent his career talking up not just science itself, but also its practitioners. If asked to name the greatest scientist of all time, one might expect him to need a minute to think about it — or even to find himself unable to choose. But that’s hardly...
Flashbak
Peter Hujar’s Portraits of Life and Death: A Somberly Beautiful Photography Collection (1976) Shown at the Venice Biennale 2024, Peter Hujar’s Portraits in Life And Death exhibition features his...
7 months ago
39
7 months ago
Shown at the Venice Biennale 2024, Peter Hujar’s Portraits in Life And Death exhibition features his 1970s portraits of artists on New York’s Lower East Side and images from the 1960s of the dead in Palermo’s catacombs.   Peter Hujar’s (October 11, 1934 – November 26, 1987) black...
TheCollector
Who Was Edward Said & His Groundbreaking Orientalism? Edward Said grew up in Palestine before moving to the United States. His lived experience and his...
5 days ago
7
5 days ago
Edward Said grew up in Palestine before moving to the United States. His lived experience and his study of Western perceptions of the Middle East were the basis for Orientalism, which contends that Western superiority complexes are concealed behind depictions of the East that...
Wrong Side of...
On the Tory Cult of Personality and its Consequences Badenoch will need to denounce Boris
3 months ago
African History...
A complete history of the Sudano-Sahelian architecture of west Africa: from antiquity to the 20th... The westernmost region of Africa which forms the watershed of the great rivers of the Senegal, the...
2 months ago
51
2 months ago
The westernmost region of Africa which forms the watershed of the great rivers of the Senegal, the Volta and the Niger, is home to one of the world's oldest surviving building traditions, called the ‘Sudano-Sahelian’ architecture.
Flashbak
Illustrations from Lorenz Oken’s Atlas of Living Things, 1833-1834 These wonderful illustrations of a broad variety of fora fauna are from German naturalist Lorenz...
a month ago
13
a month ago
These wonderful illustrations of a broad variety of fora fauna are from German naturalist Lorenz Oken’s huge atlas of living things, the Allgemeine Naturgeschichte für alle Stände atlas (1833-1834) (General natural history for all classes). Published over seven instalments, its...
Flashbak
On The Streets of America in the Early 1980s : Relaxing WIth Cigarettes And No AC ‘These photographs were made between 1979 and 1985 in a pre-digital, largely non-air-conditioned...
a year ago
13
a year ago
‘These photographs were made between 1979 and 1985 in a pre-digital, largely non-air-conditioned era, when people fled the heat of their houses to hang out in their yards and on the street. I notice a kind of relaxed sensuality in many of the pictures. Time moved more slowly;...
TheCollector
Archaeologists May Have Found Second Pharaonic Tomb in Egypt The recent discovery of King Thutmose II’s long-lost royal tomb has been touted as Egypt’s most...
a month ago
8
a month ago
The recent discovery of King Thutmose II’s long-lost royal tomb has been touted as Egypt’s most impressive archaeological find since King Tut. Now, just days later, the same archaeologists say there is a yet-undiscovered second tomb of Thutmose II located nearby.   The Royal...
TheCollector
Connecting the Wrong Dots: What Is Apophenia? Apophenia is our tendency to find meaningful connections between unrelated things. Otherwise known...
a month ago
6
a month ago
Apophenia is our tendency to find meaningful connections between unrelated things. Otherwise known as patternicity, it is a common phenomenon that highlights our intrinsic need for meaning and order in our lives. Can we dismiss apophenia as a mere cognitive bias, an error of...
Wrong Side of...
Truth in the old myths On Troy, King Arthur and the Flood of Noah
2 months ago
Dreams of Space -...
Judy Space Puzzles (1970s) Here is another quick post for you. Space puzzles!  I last shared these in 2016 so it is about time...
4 months ago
6
4 months ago
Here is another quick post for you. Space puzzles!  I last shared these in 2016 so it is about time to bring them back. These were classroom puzzles (although they were probably owned by kids at home too). They were mostly for Kindergarten-2nd grade kids and were "educational" as...
Trying to Understand...
Honesty: What's In It For Me? First, do lots of harm.
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Is Subjective Equal to Objective? Dear Classical Wisdom Reader, I remember the day vividly. I had moved to Moscow unwisely in the...
a year ago
21
a year ago
Dear Classical Wisdom Reader, I remember the day vividly. I had moved to Moscow unwisely in the middle of winter, and finally, around four months later, the first real spring day had arrived. The sun bore her rays magnificently, forcing the city’s residents into an ant-like...
Classical Wisdom
On the Nature of the Gods: Cicero Do the gods exist? If so, what is their nature? And how do they interact with the world of human...
a year ago
19
a year ago
Do the gods exist? If so, what is their nature? And how do they interact with the world of human beings, if they care about them at all?
Flashbak
Malice In Wonderland – the Trippy Cartoon Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Story, 1982 “These days, it’s, ‘Dude, what the fuck is that shit?’ Whereas back then, it was, ‘You are...
a month ago
14
a month ago
“These days, it’s, ‘Dude, what the fuck is that shit?’ Whereas back then, it was, ‘You are exploiting women, you filthy sexist pig!'” – Vince Collins on his shot animation Malice In Wonderland     When Vince Collins made Malice in Wonderland in 1982, his hallucinatory,...
Flashbak
Glasgow in the 1980s: ‘From An Insider’s Point of View’ The Cranhill Arts Project has been collecting pictures of Glasgow, Scotland, to show the place ...
3 months ago
38
3 months ago
The Cranhill Arts Project has been collecting pictures of Glasgow, Scotland, to show the place  “from an insider’s point of view”. Among its growing collection of Glasgow peoples’ photographs are these from the 1980s. All these snapshots have been labelled by the people who...
Flashbak
Watch The Alphabet, David Lynch’s horrific 1968 short, “There’s a connection between music, film, painting, writing, everything, you’re into, the more...
2 months ago
33
2 months ago
“There’s a connection between music, film, painting, writing, everything, you’re into, the more they’re going to help each other” – David Lynch     David Lynch’s 1968 short The Alphabet was inspired by his first wife Peggy’s niece reciting her ABCs during a nightmare then waking...
Flashbak
François Brunery’s Portraits of Pontificating, Pissed and Pouting Priests – c. 1890-1926 These photographs of priests and cardinals were taken by Francesco Bruneri, known as François...
4 months ago
25
4 months ago
These photographs of priests and cardinals were taken by Francesco Bruneri, known as François Brunery (1849 – 1926), and used as the basis for his work as a painter of so-called “Cardinal Paintings”. His work depicting cardinals of the Catholic church in comical or embarrassing...
Flashbak
Vanity Fair’s Bifurcated Girls: The Article That Introduced America To Girlie Magazines, 1903 Bifurcated Girls is a salacious illustrated story that first appeared in the June 1903 issue of...
10 months ago
57
10 months ago
Bifurcated Girls is a salacious illustrated story that first appeared in the June 1903 issue of Vanity Fair magazine. That’s not the glossy publication we know today, rather the a short-lived pulp magazine published by the Commonwealth Publishing Company of New York City...
A Collection of...
Gap Week: December 29, 2023 (Year In Review) Hey folks! I had planned to do a Fireside for this week with a sort of ‘year-in-review’ musing, but...
a year ago
56
a year ago
Hey folks! I had planned to do a Fireside for this week with a sort of ‘year-in-review’ musing, but between the holidays and the whole pedant household coming down with a nasty cold, I’m a bit short of the time and energy to put together a full fireside with...
Flashbak
Moe’s Photos of Jacob Riis House On New York City’s Lower East Side 1977-1983 In 1977, Moe a resident of the Jacob Riis Houses decided to capture his neighborhood from East 10th...
8 months ago
45
8 months ago
In 1977, Moe a resident of the Jacob Riis Houses decided to capture his neighborhood from East 10th Street to East 12th Street on Avenue D, Lower East Side, New York City, writes Efrain ‘Kid Love’ Rodriguez. The Summer was hot, the Son of Sam was terrorizing the streets of New...
Classical Wisdom
Dialogues of Plato Conversations Across Time
a month ago
Global Inequality...
Gold, volk and IQs Hayek’s fatal conceit
a month ago
Res Obscura
Kikkuli! Why do some people from the distant past become memes?
a year ago
Flashbak
Street Shots of New York City in 1978 “Every day was like being in a scene from a movie set in the city” – George Wright     In ‘New York...
2 months ago
37
2 months ago
“Every day was like being in a scene from a movie set in the city” – George Wright     In ‘New York 1978’, British photographer George Wright shows us the city. Having trained as a graphic design at London’s Wimbledon School of Art in the early 1970s, Wright took a class taught...
Classical Wisdom
Would You Kill the Fat Man? Ethical Philosophy for Fun
3 months ago
Flashbak
The Incredible And True Story Of How Elvis Presley Became Orion, The Masked Singer Destined to be a leading light to the world, James Hodges Ellis (born James Hughes Bell, February...
a year ago
36
a year ago
Destined to be a leading light to the world, James Hodges Ellis (born James Hughes Bell, February 26, 1945 – December 12, 1998) was known to his fans as Orion. To others he was Elvis Presley. Ellis appeared with many artists, including Loretta Lynn, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tammy...
Hundred Rabbits
Summary of changes for October Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the...
over a year ago
10
over a year ago
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of October. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans. Continue Reading
Classical Wisdom
Can We Harness Anger? Understanding Thumos
a week ago
Classical Wisdom
Why Should We Care About Children? Bringing History to the Future
a year ago
Open Culture
Carl Jung’s Hand-Drawn, Rarely-Seen Manuscript The Red Book Despite his one-time friend and mentor Sigmund Freud’s enormous impact on Western...
3 weeks ago
13
3 weeks ago
Despite his one-time friend and mentor Sigmund Freud’s enormous impact on Western self-understanding, I would argue it is Carl Jung who is still most with us in our communal practices: from his focus on introversion and extroversion to his view of syncretic, intuitive forms of...
Trying to Understand...
I Hate My Job And I Want To Cry. Tried chopping wood and carrying water?
a year ago
Flashbak
The Amy Carter ‘Love Doll’ – Playing With The President’s Daughter In 1977 Reporter: Do you, Amy Carter, have a message for the children of America? Amy Carter: “No.”   In...
a year ago
13
a year ago
Reporter: Do you, Amy Carter, have a message for the children of America? Amy Carter: “No.”   In 1976, nine-year-old Amy Carter left her home in Plains, Georgia, and moved into the White House. People noticed the first child to live at the White House since the days of JFK. And...
Trying to Understand...
The Diversity Paradox. It's about dignity, efficiency, and things like that.
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup Weaving the Women of the Ancient World
6 months ago
Hundred Rabbits
Summary of changes for September 2023 Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the...
a year ago
10
a year ago
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of September. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans. Summary Of Changes Wiktopher, adapted Solresol, edited other conlangs. Niju,...
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup Aristotle's Politics
6 months ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup Plutarch and Pleasure
a year ago
Patterns in Humanity
The Dark Ages A quantitative assessment of Europe's decline, slumber and awakening
5 months ago
Flashbak
A Woman I Once Knew: A Photographer Records Her Changing Body Over Five Decades “For old people, beauty doesn’t come free with the hormones, the way it does for the young… It has...
5 months ago
34
5 months ago
“For old people, beauty doesn’t come free with the hormones, the way it does for the young… It has to do with who the person is” – Ursula K. Le Guin, The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader, and the Imagination      Rosalind Fox Solomon got old. In …...
Open Culture
The Architectural History of the Louvre: 800 Years in Three Minutes Setting aside just one day for the Louvre is a classic first-time Paris visitor’s mistake. The place...
a month ago
17
a month ago
Setting aside just one day for the Louvre is a classic first-time Paris visitor’s mistake. The place is simply too big to comprehend on one visit, or indeed on ten visits. To grow so vast has taken eight centuries, a process explained in under three minutes by the official video...
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup Fate and Free Will
11 months ago
Trying to Understand...
No End Of A Lesson. If we can only learn it.
6 months ago
Flashbak
Armand Henrion: The Artist Who Always Painted Himself As A Clown Armand Henrion (1875 – 1958) was a Belgian-born artist. He contributed to the Expressionist...
9 months ago
56
9 months ago
Armand Henrion (1875 – 1958) was a Belgian-born artist. He contributed to the Expressionist movement, worked in France and became a French citizen. And he liked to paint self-portraits – hundreds of them – in which he is dressed as a clown (more Pierrot than Bozo).     Pierrot...
Global Inequality...
Cultural revolution in the land of Kafka and Borges On Peter Kropotkin's Memoirs
6 months ago
TheCollector
10 Must-Visit Beautiful Basilicas Around the World For over a thousand years, basilicas have been stages for history. Charlemagne knelt in St. Peter’s...
a week ago
2
a week ago
For over a thousand years, basilicas have been stages for history. Charlemagne knelt in St. Peter’s Basilica to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 AD. In 1436, the citizens of Florence gathered beneath Brunelleschi’s revolutionary dome as Santa Maria del Fiore was consecrated....
A Collection of...
Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part IIIb: Imperium This is the second section of the third part of our planned five part series (I, II, IIIa) on the...
a year ago
13
a year ago
This is the second section of the third part of our planned five part series (I, II, IIIa) on the structure of the Roman Republic during the third and second centuries, the ‘Middle’ Republic. Last week we discussed the overall structure of the ‘career path’ for a Roman politician...
TheCollector
9 Defining Moments in British Medieval Warfare Interestingly, the medieval period in Britain begins with a battle. In 1066 CE, the Battle of...
a month ago
7
a month ago
Interestingly, the medieval period in Britain begins with a battle. In 1066 CE, the Battle of Hastings marked the beginning of Norman rule and a new era in Britain. Medieval warfare in Britain was often used as a tool to help implement feudalism and maintain the centralization of...
Hundred Rabbits
Summary of changes for June Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the...
over a year ago
10
over a year ago
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of June. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans. Summary Of Changes Nasu, released a nasu guide, and updated the look of the icon. We...
Global Inequality...
Abundance, capitalism and climate change In classical Marxism, communism is defined as a society of material abundance. It is a society where...
11 months ago
24
11 months ago
In classical Marxism, communism is defined as a society of material abundance. It is a society where goods flow in abundance (“after the productive forces have…increased…all the springs of co-operative wealth flow more abundantly”, Marx, Critique of the Gotha Program
African History...
A history of Zanzibar before the Omanis (600-1873) Journal of African cities chapter 7
over a year ago
Classical Wisdom
How to Steal From Homer Duplicative Language in Ancient Greece and Rome
a year ago
Trying to Understand...
Only Connect .... We are lost in a haunted wood.
5 months ago
African History...
The role of firearms in African military history, and the guns of the Benin kingdom. "The Zulus appeared almost to grow out of the earth.
5 months ago
Flashbak
The Art of Arranging Flowers: A 1960s Guide for Achieving Harmony Through Art and Nature The Art of Arranging Flowers (1965) by Shozo Sato is a comprehensive guide to the Japanese art of...
5 months ago
24
5 months ago
The Art of Arranging Flowers (1965) by Shozo Sato is a comprehensive guide to the Japanese art of ikebana. The practice, which roughly translates to “making flowers come alive”, “the way of flowers” or the less poetic “flowers kept alive” uses flora to create specific human...
Flashbak
Cold Snapshots – Vintage Holiday Fun in the Snow and Ice If you’ve not seen little people on vintage Christmas cards, please do. It’s a terrific collection...
a year ago
28
a year ago
If you’ve not seen little people on vintage Christmas cards, please do. It’s a terrific collection of images. A dip into Robert E. Jackson’s sublime collection of snapshots never disappoints. And when you’ve seen the cards, you should enjoy his pictures of revellers rocking...
Classical Wisdom
How Can We Prepare for the Worst? Without living forever in fear and worry?
8 months ago
Global Inequality...
Before the police arrives: Bookstores on Saturdays I always loved Saturdays. When I was a college student, quite improbably, my parents decided that I...
a year ago
12
a year ago
I always loved Saturdays. When I was a college student, quite improbably, my parents decided that I would be a “technical executor” of our family’s monthly budget. My family was part of the red bourgeoisie and we had enough, and probably more than enough, for a comfortable life;...
Wrong Side of...
Why we need an insufferable liberal elite The Great Migration to Bluesky
4 months ago
Trying to Understand...
The West is Weak Where it Matters ... ...and some of the consequences are not obvious.
over a year ago
Trying to Understand...
The Threat of Back to Normal Global power has always been distributed.
over a year ago
Flashbak
Eugene Von Bruenchenhein And His Wife Marie: A Love Story Eugene Von Bruenchenhein (1910–1983) was an American self-taught artist from Milwaukee, Wisconsin....
3 months ago
51
3 months ago
Eugene Von Bruenchenhein (1910–1983) was an American self-taught artist from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He left a vast archive of poetry, apocalyptic paintings, paintbrushes made with his wife’s hair, drawings, notebooks, audio tapes and hundreds of sculptures made from chicken bones,...
Flashbak
Edmund Dulac’s American Weekly Covers – 1924-1951 Edmund Dulac is remembered today as one of the founding fathers of the Golden Age of Illustration,...
9 months ago
58
9 months ago
Edmund Dulac is remembered today as one of the founding fathers of the Golden Age of Illustration, roughly from 1875-1925, writes Albert Seligman. His luxurious Gift Books of the early 20th century were covered in vellum and issued in signed limited editions with tipped-in color...
African History...
The empire of Samori Ture on the eve of colonialism (1870-1898) a revolution with a contested legacy.
a year ago
Trying to Understand...
One Way Or Another .... We're going to get you.
a year ago
A Collection of...
Collections: The Mediterranean Iron Omni-Spear This week, on a bit of a lark, we’re going to discuss the most common weapon, by far, in the Iron...
a year ago
31
a year ago
This week, on a bit of a lark, we’re going to discuss the most common weapon, by far, in the Iron Age Mediterranean (focusing on the period from the 8th to the 1st centuries BC): the humble, effective and ubiquitous thrusting spear. In particular, I want to discuss the striking...
Global Inequality...
Trump and the Rise of Asia My interview with "Atlantico"
3 months ago
Dreams of Space -...
Distant Worlds (1932) An early children's science fiction book about spaceflight.  Borrowing from a book-seller...
3 months ago
5
3 months ago
An early children's science fiction book about spaceflight.  Borrowing from a book-seller description: Friedrick Mader, "the German Jules Verne" according to Sam Moskowitz, was a popular author of fantastic romances in post-World War One Germany. DISTANT WORLDS is his only novel...
A Collection of...
Collections: On Bread and Circuses Coming off of some of the discussion of Gladiator II (I, II), this week I want to discuss the place...
3 months ago
63
3 months ago
Coming off of some of the discussion of Gladiator II (I, II), this week I want to discuss the place of ‘bread and circuses’ in the narrative of Roman decadence and decline. This is one of those phrases which long ago entered the standard lexicon, but which gets used and...
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup Essential Greeks Course Begins Tomorrow!
a year ago
History Today Feed
‘The Celts: A Modern History’ by Ian Stewart review ‘The Celts: A Modern History’ by Ian Stewart review JamesHoare Wed, 03/19/2025 - 09:02
a week ago
Flashbak
Taking A Subway Ride Through New York City In 1981 1970s New York City was where Fernando played truant, chopper gangs hogged the sidewalks, sex was...
a year ago
22
a year ago
1970s New York City was where Fernando played truant, chopper gangs hogged the sidewalks, sex was sold, women raged in raucous nightclubs, gay rights found its voice, Madonna joined her first band, BLADE used trains as his canvas and  In 1981, 22-year-old Christopher Morris was...
Open Culture
Watch the Only Time Charlie Chaplin & Buster Keaton Performed Together On-Screen (1952) Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were the two biggest comedy stars of the silent era, but as it...
2 weeks ago
9
2 weeks ago
Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were the two biggest comedy stars of the silent era, but as it happened, they never shared the screen until well into the reign of sound. In fact, their collaboration didn’t come about until 1952, the same year that Singin’ in the Rain dramatized...
Flashbak
A Trip To Butlin’s In 1982 ‘Our true intent is all for your delight’… – Butlin’s holiday camp motto     Photographer Barry...
2 months ago
40
2 months ago
‘Our true intent is all for your delight’… – Butlin’s holiday camp motto     Photographer Barry Lewis takes us on a holiday to Butlin’s Skegness in 1982. This was first ever Billy Butlin holiday camp. It opened at Skegness in 1936 – and still exists today. Lewis had worked for...
Flashbak
AREA: Cards and Invitations from the Fabulous New York Nightclub, 1983–1986 From 1983 to 1987, 157 Hudson Street in Manhattan, New York City, was home to Area. Frequented by he...
a year ago
31
a year ago
From 1983 to 1987, 157 Hudson Street in Manhattan, New York City, was home to Area. Frequented by he great and good, the  club was known for its changing themes (every six weeks the place got a new look – an approach inspired by Zurich’s 1916 Dadaist club Cabaret Voltaire) and...
Classical Wisdom
Should We Navel Gaze? Omphaloskepsis...and What is a Hero?
a year ago
Wrong Side of...
Farewell to Our Kith and Kin Why doesn't Britain doesn't stand up for Canada?
3 weeks ago
Open Culture
An Illustrator Creates a Kindle for Charles Dickens, Placing 40 Miniature Classics within a Large... For a design class project, Rachel Walsh, a student at Cardiff School of Art and Design, set out to...
3 months ago
59
3 months ago
For a design class project, Rachel Walsh, a student at Cardiff School of Art and Design, set out to explain the concept of a Kindle to Charles Dickens. Recognizing that Dickens, a 19th-century author, wouldn’t understand modern terms like ebooks, downloads or the internet, she...
Hidden History
The Assassination of Malcolm X Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference based their strategy on two...
3 months ago
20
3 months ago
Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference based their strategy on two ideas; the idea that nonviolent civil disobedience, in the tradition of Thoreau and Gandhi, was the only method that the civil rights movement should use, and the idea that white...
Classical Wisdom
Can you REALLY be offended on behalf of someone else?? Lessons from Borat
a year ago
Flashbak
Cute and Sickly Sweet – 24 Vintage Snapshots That Invite a Reaction The girl presenting her pet lizard toad at the Children’s Pets show held on Venice Beach,...
a year ago
24
a year ago
The girl presenting her pet lizard toad at the Children’s Pets show held on Venice Beach, California, in the mid 1930s makes for a cute photograph. Walter Chandoha’s 1955 picture of his daughter Paula with a kitten in 1955 is also cute. Angie Cook’s school photo from 1978 when...
TheCollector
Who Were the Aboriginal Leaders of the Frontier Wars? 4 Key Figures Most of what we know about the people involved in the Australian Frontier Wars, and the massacres...
3 weeks ago
10
3 weeks ago
Most of what we know about the people involved in the Australian Frontier Wars, and the massacres that unfolded, comes from the journals of those who were involved in them; that is, European settlers, pastoralists, and government officials. They also come (especially with regard...
TheCollector
The Battle of Shiloh: A Battle in Two Parts The Battle of Shiloh was a complex two-day struggle in the early Spring of 1862 on the banks of the...
a month ago
7
a month ago
The Battle of Shiloh was a complex two-day struggle in the early Spring of 1862 on the banks of the Tennessee River near Savannah, Tennessee, in Hardin County. The movements, engagements, first-hand accounts, and secondary source material have been heavily studied since the...
Flashbak
Emma Willard’s Time Maps “Education cannot prosper in any community unless…the best and most cultivated talents of that...
10 months ago
29
10 months ago
“Education cannot prosper in any community unless…the best and most cultivated talents of that community can be brought in to exercise the way.” – Emma Hart Willard   Emma Willard (February 23, 1787 – April 15, 1870) was a trailblazing American educator who founded the first...
Open Culture
Jane Austen Used Pins to Edit Her Manuscripts: Before the Word Processor & White-Out Before the word processor, before White-Out, before Post-It Notes, there were straight pins. Or, at...
a month ago
15
a month ago
Before the word processor, before White-Out, before Post-It Notes, there were straight pins. Or, at least that’s what Jane Austen used to make edits in one of her rare manuscripts. In 2011, Oxford’s Bodleian Library acquired the manuscript of Austen’s abandoned novel, The...
Flashbak
Good Morning: The US Humor Magazine May 1919 – October 2021 Good Morning was an American political humor magazine, first published in May 1919. It was founded...
4 months ago
31
4 months ago
Good Morning was an American political humor magazine, first published in May 1919. It was founded by Ellis O. Jones, a former associate editor of Life magazine and editor of Ladies’ Home Journal who once called for the US Army and Navy to be disbanded and went on to head the...
TheCollector
7 of the Most Inhospitable Places on Earth If one thing can be said about the human species, it’s that we are incredibly resourceful. We can...
a month ago
7
a month ago
If one thing can be said about the human species, it’s that we are incredibly resourceful. We can survive and put down roots virtually anywhere we choose, from the icy wastes of the Arctic to the searing heat of the Sahara.   Yet some places on the planet are so inhospitable that...
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup Homer: From 'Dark Ages' to Modernism
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Last Call for Classical Gifts Shipping Cutoff imminent
a year ago
Open Culture
Discover the Playful Drawings That Charles Darwin’s Children Left on His Manuscripts Charles Darwin’s work on heredity was partly driven by tragic losses in his own family. Darwin had...
2 months ago
30
2 months ago
Charles Darwin’s work on heredity was partly driven by tragic losses in his own family. Darwin had married his first cousin, Emma, and “wondered if his close genetic relation to his wife had had an ill impact on his children’s health, three (of 10) of whom died before the age of...
Flashbak
Take Your Best Shot: Vintage Fairground Shooting Gallery Photos During their first participation in Paris-Photo in 2006, Lumiere des Roses shared a series of...
3 months ago
47
3 months ago
During their first participation in Paris-Photo in 2006, Lumiere des Roses shared a series of fairground photos of men with guns at the shooting gallery. These snapshots were taken mostly in the 1920s and 1930s. Many looks remarkably fresh.   When I was just a baby my mama told...
Flashbak
Denim: The Fabric That Built America Denim was G.I. in wartime America. Originally used as heavy industry, utility workwear, these images...
4 months ago
35
4 months ago
Denim was G.I. in wartime America. Originally used as heavy industry, utility workwear, these images mostly from the 1940s, show how the fabric became synonymous with American grit and productivity. The look was born in 18th Century Europe. Bleu de Gênes was the rough fabric...
Hidden History
The French Space Cat Felicette France joined the Space Race in the 1950s, and one of her missions was a test flight involving the...
2 months ago
60
2 months ago
France joined the Space Race in the 1950s, and one of her missions was a test flight involving the first (and so far only) cat to enter space. It did not end well for the cat. In the aftermath of the Second World War, France, under the leadership of General Charles De Gaulle, was...
Trying to Understand...
What's Left ... And What's Left? A (probably-doomed) attempt at a bit of clarity.
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup The Secrets of Crete
a year ago
Trying to Understand...
Let's Be Enemies Since it seems to be the fashion these days.
over a year ago