CrimethInc.
2024: Out of the Frying Pan, into the Fire : The Year in Review
It’s time to take stock of the year have just lived through and get oriented for the year ahead....
2 weeks ago
It’s time to take stock of the year have just lived through and get oriented for the year ahead. Here, we review the events of 2024 and our own contributions to the fight for a better world.
A year that began amid genocide in Palestine and war in Ukraine and Sudan is concluding...
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 weeks 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...
Open Culture
Read J. R. R. Tolkien’s “Letter From Father Christmas” To His Young Children (1925)
J.R.R. Tolkien is best known for the sweeping fantasy landscapes of Lord of The Rings and The...
4 weeks ago
J.R.R. Tolkien is best known for the sweeping fantasy landscapes of Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit. Apart from being a celebrated author, the Oxford University professor of Anglo-Saxon was also a devoted father who doted on his children. In 1920, a few short years after Tolkien...
Open Culture
The New York Times Presents the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century, Selected by 503 Novelists, Poets...
For longtime readers of American book journalism, scrolling through the New York Times Book Review’s...
3 weeks ago
For longtime readers of American book journalism, scrolling through the New York Times Book Review’s just-published list of the 100 best books of the twenty-first century will summon dim memories of many a once-unignorable critical fuss. At one time or another over the past 25...
TheCollector
The Philippine-American War: The US’s First “Vietnam”
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3 weeks ago
Open Culture
Benedict Cumberbatch Reads Kurt Vonnegut’s Letter of Advice to People Living in the Year 2088
There was a time when a company like Volkswagen could commission various luminaries to write letters...
3 weeks ago
There was a time when a company like Volkswagen could commission various luminaries to write letters to the future, then publish them in Time magazine as part of an ad campaign. In fact, that time wasn’t so very long ago: it was the year 1988, to be precise, when no less an...
Open Culture
How Leonardo da Vinci Painted The Last Supper: A Deep Dive Into a Masterpiece
When Leonardo da Vinci was 42 years old, he hadn’t yet completed any major publicly viewable work....
4 weeks ago
When Leonardo da Vinci was 42 years old, he hadn’t yet completed any major publicly viewable work. Not that he’d been idle: in that same era, while working for the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, he “developed, organized, and directed productions for festival pageants, triumphal...
TheCollector
Understanding Yourself Through Jung: A Guide to Individuation & Self-Discovery
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2 weeks ago
Open Culture
What’s Entering the Public Domain in 2025: Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, Faulkner’s The Sound and...
Each Public Domain Day seems to bring us a richer crop of copyright-liberated books, plays, films,...
2 weeks ago
Each Public Domain Day seems to bring us a richer crop of copyright-liberated books, plays, films, musical compositions, sound recordings, works of art, and other pieces of intellectual property. This year happens to be an especially notable one for connoisseurs of Belgian...
Open Culture
How A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Its Beloved Soundtrack Album, Almost Never Happened
A Charlie Brown Christmas uses a cast of amateur child voice actors, deals with the theme of...
4 weeks ago
A Charlie Brown Christmas uses a cast of amateur child voice actors, deals with the theme of seasonal depression, and culminates in the recitation of a Bible verse, all to a jazz score. It was not, safe to say, the special that CBS had expected, to say nothing of its sponsor, the...
TheCollector
The Phoenician Spoken & Written Language: What You Need to Know
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3 weeks ago
African History...
on the Nubian priests of Rome and the Moors of Spain
When the 12th-century West African scholar Ibrahim al-Kanemi moved to the city of Seville in Spain...
4 weeks ago
When the 12th-century West African scholar Ibrahim al-Kanemi moved to the city of Seville in Spain and became one of the most celebrated Andalusian poets, he wasn't the first from his region to visit the Moorish kingdom.
TheCollector
What Was Dante’s Political Philosophy?
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2 weeks ago
A Collection of...
Gap Week: December 27, 2024 (Year in Review)
Hey folks! Year is coming to a close, so once again I’m going to offer a bit of an end-of-year...
3 weeks ago
Hey folks! Year is coming to a close, so once again I’m going to offer a bit of an end-of-year reflection on the state of the project, along with a brief ‘what’s on the stove’ coverage of what may be coming up. Also, here’s a cat picture: In terms of the project itself, 2024 was,...
TheCollector
What Are Slavoj Žižek’s Most Intriguing Ideas?
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2 weeks ago
Open Culture
Bob Dylan Reads “ ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” On His Holiday Radio Show (2006)
Allow me to name just a few of the people I want to hear hosting and curating radio shows—former Sex...
3 weeks ago
Allow me to name just a few of the people I want to hear hosting and curating radio shows—former Sex Pistols’ singer John Lydon, former Clash frontman Joe Strummer, former Woody Guthrie impersonator Bob Dylan.… Luckily for me, this ain’t just fantasy baseball; at various times,...
Open Culture
Compare the “It Ain’t Me Babe” Scene from A Complete Unknown to the Real Bob Dylan & Joan Baez...
A Complete Unknown, the new movie about Bob Dylan’s rise in the folk-music scene of the early...
a week ago
A Complete Unknown, the new movie about Bob Dylan’s rise in the folk-music scene of the early nineteen-sixties and subsequent electrified break with it, has been praised for not taking excessive liberties, at least by the standards of popular music biopics. Its conversion of a...
Global Inequality...
To be young, perchance to dream
A review of Miloš Vojinović's “The political ideas of the Young Bosnia”
3 weeks ago
A review of Miloš Vojinović's “The political ideas of the Young Bosnia”
Overcoming Bias
What Priority The Innocent?
It is good if criminal law avoids punishing the innocent.
3 weeks ago
It is good if criminal law avoids punishing the innocent.
Open Culture
Hunter S. Thompson Remembers Jimmy Carter’s Captivating Bob Dylan Speech (1974)
51 years ago, Hunter S. Thompson wrote Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72, which “is still...
3 weeks ago
51 years ago, Hunter S. Thompson wrote Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72, which “is still considered a kind of bible of political reporting,” noted Matt Taibbi in a 40th anniversary edition of the book. Fear and Loathing ’72 entered the canon of American political...
A Collection of...
Collections: Coinage and the Tyranny of Fantasy ‘Gold’
This week on the blog I want to take a brief detour into discussing historical coinage, particularly...
2 weeks ago
This week on the blog I want to take a brief detour into discussing historical coinage, particularly in the context of modern fantasy and roleplaying settings. In particular, the notions I want to tackle are first how did ancient currency systems work in terms of value (what...
Open Culture
Famous Architects Dress as Their Famous New York City Buildings (1931)
On January 13, 1931, the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects held a ball at the Hotel Astor in New York...
2 weeks ago
On January 13, 1931, the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects held a ball at the Hotel Astor in New York City. According to an advertisement for the event, anyone who paid $15 per ticket (big money during the Depression) could see a “hilarious modern art exhibition” and things...
TheCollector
What Was Voltaire’s Philosophy?
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2 weeks ago
Open Culture
Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” Performed by a Choir of 4,000 Singers
Throughout the years, we’ve featured performances of Choir!Choir!Choir!–a large amateur choir from...
2 weeks ago
Throughout the years, we’ve featured performances of Choir!Choir!Choir!–a large amateur choir from Toronto that meets weekly and sings their hearts out. You’ve seen them sing Prince’s “When Doves Cry,” Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” (to honor Chris Cornell), and Patti Smith’s...
A Collection of...
Fireside Friday, January 10, 2025
Hey folks, Fireside this week! I’m currently working on a post “On the Gracchi” taking a somewhat...
a week ago
Hey folks, Fireside this week! I’m currently working on a post “On the Gracchi” taking a somewhat darker look at everyone’s favorite Roman reformers (though hardly the same black takedowns Alexander and Cleopatra got) , which will hopefully be ready for next week. Before we dive...
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 weeks 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...
TheCollector
Lost Battlefield of Alexander the Great Discovered in Türkiye
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3 weeks ago
TheCollector
Who Invented the Ukulele?
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4 weeks ago
TheCollector
10 Historic Towns Near New York City to Visit
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2 weeks ago
African History...
The pre-Islamic civilizations of west Africa
While West Africa has been part of the Muslim world since the late Middle Ages, as famously...
2 weeks ago
While West Africa has been part of the Muslim world since the late Middle Ages, as famously demonstrated by the golden pilgrimage of Mali's Mansa Musa in 1324, Islam had only arrived in the region at the close of the 1st millennium.
History Today Feed
What is Modernity?
What is Modernity?
JamesHoare
Thu, 01/02/2025 - 09:09
2 weeks ago
What is Modernity?
JamesHoare
Thu, 01/02/2025 - 09:09
TheCollector
10 Historic Hill Towns in Italy You Should Visit
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3 weeks ago
TheCollector
Mangal Pandey: The Spark That Ignited the Sepoy Mutiny
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2 weeks ago
Wrong Side of...
The Indian-American century
On the Anglo-Indo-sphere
3 weeks ago
Dreams of Space -...
Santa and The Space Men
It has been a while but here is a strange Christmas post for you. Something about Santa and Flying...
3 weeks ago
It has been a while but here is a strange Christmas post for you. Something about Santa and Flying Saucers seems to go together like White wine and Cracker Jack. Sort of sweet and tangy and gets your attention.
Santa and the Space Men is a play for children about how Santa is...
Global Inequality...
“To the Finland Station”
Trump as a tool of history
2 weeks ago
Trump as a tool of history
Flashbak
Harold Lloyd’s Amazing Christmas Tree
For American actor Harold Lloyd (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) Christmas was the time to...
3 weeks ago
For American actor Harold Lloyd (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) Christmas was the time to illuminate his home in Beverly Hills, California, with a magnificent tree. His granddaughter Suzanne says preparation began around Thanksgiving (the fourth Thursday in November), when her...
TheCollector
When the US Senate Put Comic Books on Trial
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3 weeks ago
Patterns in Humanity
Age and infertility
Facts and misconceptions about maternal age-related infertility
3 weeks ago
Facts and misconceptions about maternal age-related infertility
Patterns in Humanity
2024 in writing
A brief recap of my 2024 posts
2 weeks ago
A brief recap of my 2024 posts
Hidden History
Antarctic Snow Cruiser
In 1939, the United States began work on a colossal motor vehicle to be used for exploration and...
3 weeks ago
In 1939, the United States began work on a colossal motor vehicle to be used for exploration and field work in Antarctica. By 1939 Antarctica remained as one of the last unexplored regions on the planet. Norwegian adventurer Roald Amundsen had been the first human to reach the...
TheCollector
Silver Shields: Alexander the Great’s Legendary Elite Troops
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3 weeks ago
Overcoming Bias
Feels Gone Wrong
The films A Complete Unknown, on Bob Dylan, and In Restless Dreams, on Paul Simon, make vivid to me...
2 weeks ago
The films A Complete Unknown, on Bob Dylan, and In Restless Dreams, on Paul Simon, make vivid to me the huge emotional appeal of becoming a musician like them.
TheCollector
Secret Renaissance Passageway Reopens in Florence
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4 weeks ago
TheCollector
What Does It Mean to Be a Critical Thinker?
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4 weeks ago
History Today Feed
‘Disputing Disaster’ by Perry Anderson review
‘Disputing Disaster’ by Perry Anderson review
JamesHoare
Mon, 12/23/2024 - 10:26
4 weeks ago
‘Disputing Disaster’ by Perry Anderson review
JamesHoare
Mon, 12/23/2024 - 10:26
TheCollector
What Are the Most Spoken Indigenous Languages in Canada?
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3 weeks ago
Hidden History
The Story of the Cow
The history of the domestic cattle goes back at least 10,000 years. There are well over 1000...
2 weeks ago
The history of the domestic cattle goes back at least 10,000 years. There are well over 1000 distinct breeds of Cattle in the world today, and somewhere between 1 and 1.5 billion individual animals, making them, by some counts, the fourth most numerous mammal in existence behind...
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...
3 weeks 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...
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup
St. Nick and Saturnalia
4 weeks ago
Flashbak
Mazes and Labyrinths: An Illustrated History (1922)
“There is no route out of the maze. The maze shifts as you move through it, because it is alive.” –...
3 weeks ago
“There is no route out of the maze. The maze shifts as you move through it, because it is alive.” – Philip K. Dick, VALIS William H. Matthews leads us through his 1922 book Mazes and Labyrinths from his home in Ruislip in the English county of Middlesex. Compiled shortly...
TheCollector
What Is Absolute Idealism According to Hegel?
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2 weeks ago
History Today Feed
On the Spot: Nicholas Radburn
On the Spot: Nicholas Radburn
JamesHoare
Mon, 12/30/2024 - 11:40
3 weeks ago
On the Spot: Nicholas Radburn
JamesHoare
Mon, 12/30/2024 - 11:40
Open Culture
The Scene That Reveals the Beauty of Classic Hollywood Cinema
1939 is widely considered the greatest year in Hollywood history. Back then, writes 1939: The Year...
2 weeks ago
1939 is widely considered the greatest year in Hollywood history. Back then, writes 1939: The Year in Movies author Tom Flannery, the so-called “Big Eight” major American studios “had a combined 590 actors, 114 directors and 340 writers under contract, each of whom worked an...
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...
4 weeks 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
Happy Holidays!
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah from Anya, Joel and Frida at the End of the World!
3 weeks ago
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah from Anya, Joel and Frida at the End of the World!
TheCollector
Do Coincidences Mean Anything? Exploring Carl Jung’s Notion of Synchronicity
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4 weeks ago
Hidden History
The 1914 Christmas Truce
[NOTE: I re-run this diary every year.] The Christmas Truce of 1914 was one of the most famous...
3 weeks ago
[NOTE: I re-run this diary every year.] The Christmas Truce of 1914 was one of the most famous events to come out of the First World War. Some have called it the last gasp of the chivalric age of professional militaries and gentlemen officers, to be followed by the full horrors...
African History...
The Meroitic script and the documents of ancient Kush (ca. 300BC-450CE)
The Meroitic writing system of the kingdom of Kush is one of the best-known, yet most enigmatic...
3 weeks ago
The Meroitic writing system of the kingdom of Kush is one of the best-known, yet most enigmatic scripts of the ancient world.
Open Culture
The Longest Construction Projects in History: Why Sagrada Família, the Milan Duomo, Greek Temples &...
Public-transit projects are the religious building endeavors of twenty-first century America, less...
3 weeks ago
Public-transit projects are the religious building endeavors of twenty-first century America, less because they’re motivated by the belief in any particular deity than by how much time and money they now require to complete. Take New York’s Second Avenue subway, whose less than...
Dreams of Space -...
Space Ship to the Moon (1952)
Happy New Year!
A "Space Ship to the Moon" is your present for a new year. I really like the...
2 weeks ago
Happy New Year!
A "Space Ship to the Moon" is your present for a new year. I really like the illustrations in this book. The story is OK but the visions of spacecraft, a space station and mining on the Moon are worth seeing. This is a relatively low cost book used so if you like...
TheCollector
The Extraordinary Story of Dido Elizabeth Belle
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3 weeks ago
Hundred Rabbits
Summary of changes for December 2024
Hey everyone!
This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of...
2 weeks ago
Hey everyone!
This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of December.
Summary Of Changes
100r.co, updated the documentation for our various projects.
Left, added support for unicode input(Mastodon).
Rabbit Waves, added a page on Air to Ground...
Wrong Side of...
Leaving behind the history written in letters of blood
Reflections on the Revolution in Europe, Part 3
4 weeks ago
Reflections on the Revolution in Europe, Part 3
TheCollector
Can Perfumes Be Art? Famous Artists Who Designed Perfume Bottles
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4 weeks ago
TheCollector
10 Must-Visit Historic Ski Towns in the US
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3 weeks ago
TheCollector
Archaeologists Find Colorful Still Life Frescoes at Pompeii
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3 weeks ago
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...
a week 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...
Dr Alun Withey
To Tip or Not To Tip: A Victorian Traveller’s Perspective
Like it or not, tipping is a big part of hospitality and the service industry. Debates about how...
2 weeks ago
Like it or not, tipping is a big part of hospitality and the service industry. Debates about how much/whether to tip rumble on, but they are not new. Even in the 18th and 19th centuries, travellers were complaining about the amount of unwanted or unexpected extras they had to pay...
Trying to Understand...
The Long Run.
The future belongs to them.
a week ago
The future belongs to them.
Trying to Understand...
Le Missile passera toujours ... mais qui est prêt à l’admettre ?
Another of my essays in French.
3 weeks ago
Another of my essays in French.
Wrong Side of...
Technology indistinguishable from magic
Our age of miracles: the medical breakthroughs of 2024
2 weeks ago
Our age of miracles: the medical breakthroughs of 2024
TheCollector
B-24 Liberators: The Aircraft That Ended the Reign of the U-Boat
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2 weeks ago
Overcoming Bias
What Culture Can You Trust?
Star Wars came out when I was 17, and made a big impression on me; I loved it.
2 weeks ago
Star Wars came out when I was 17, and made a big impression on me; I loved it.
TheCollector
What Were Vincent van Gogh’s Composition Techniques?
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3 weeks ago
Open Culture
Explore the Newly-Launched Public Domain Image Archive with 10,000+ Free Historical Images
We’ve often featured the work of the Public Domain Review here on Open Culture, and also various...
a week ago
We’ve often featured the work of the Public Domain Review here on Open Culture, and also various searchable copyright-free image databases that have arisen over the years. It makes sense that those two worlds would collide, and now they’ve done so in the form of the just-launched...
TheCollector
What Is Panpsychism?
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2 weeks ago
CrimethInc.
Sacrificial Violence and Retribution
In the following analysis, we explore the responses to two different extrajudicial killings as a way...
4 weeks ago
In the following analysis, we explore the responses to two different extrajudicial killings as a way to understand the different forms of violence that are coming to the fore in our society right now. In the appendix, we offer an incomplete roundup of various responses to the...
TheCollector
Luxembourg in WWII: From Neutrality to Occupation
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2 weeks ago
Overcoming Bias
Decision Selection Bias
As futarchy interest and activity are way up lately, this seems a good time to elaborate on one of...
3 weeks ago
As futarchy interest and activity are way up lately, this seems a good time to elaborate on one of its most technical issues, one that @metaproph3t also discussed recently: decision selection bias.
Flashbak
The Mongrel Mob of Aotearoa New Zealand
Photographer Jono Rotman’s arresting portraits of the Mongrel Mob of Aotearoa New Zealand show us...
4 weeks ago
Photographer Jono Rotman’s arresting portraits of the Mongrel Mob of Aotearoa New Zealand show us the gang’s members in isolation. To avoid controlling the narrative and anaesthetising their spirit, while “still letting them retain their mystery and privacy”, Rotman took the...
TheCollector
10 Can’t-Miss South American Films
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3 weeks ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup
The Essential Greeks
3 weeks ago
TheCollector
The Popol Vuh: A Maya Myth Told in Dance and Song
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2 weeks ago
TheCollector
What Is Affection in Philosophy?
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a week ago
Flashbak
The Metamorphoses du Jour by JJ Grandville – 1829
Told in 73 coloured lithographs, Les Metamorphoses du Jour (1829) by French artist J.J. Gandville...
3 weeks ago
Told in 73 coloured lithographs, Les Metamorphoses du Jour (1829) by French artist J.J. Gandville (born Jean-Ignace-Isidore Gérard; 1803-1847) is a satire on the bourgeois middle class of Parisian society in the Romantic period. Grandville’s characters have a human body and an...
TheCollector
What Was the Religion of the Ancient Phoenicians and Carthaginians?
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3 weeks ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup
Wisdom for the New Year
2 weeks ago
TheCollector
A History of the House of Savoy: From Its Origins to Its End
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3 weeks ago
Classical Wisdom
Cicero and Leadership
Philosophy in Action?
2 weeks ago
TheCollector
The Historically Accurate Greek Armors of Dimitrios Katsikis (Interview)
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4 weeks ago
TheCollector
Rare Rediscovered Watercolor by J.M.W. Turner Heads to Auction
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a week ago
TheCollector
The 4 Most Important Cultures in Ancient Anatolia
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2 weeks ago
TheCollector
A History of the Free City of Danzig (Now Gdansk)
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3 weeks ago
Open Culture
Bertrand Russell’s Message to People Living in the Year 2959: “Love is Wise, Hatred is Foolish”
Bertrand Russell, the great British philosopher and social critic, appeared on the BBC program...
2 weeks ago
Bertrand Russell, the great British philosopher and social critic, appeared on the BBC program Face-to-Face in 1959 and was asked a closing question: What would you tell a generation living 1,000 years from now about the life you’ve lived and the lessons you’ve learned? His...
TheCollector
4 Important Philosophers of German Idealism You Should Know
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3 weeks ago
TheCollector
Can Violence Be Justified? A Philosophical Approach
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2 weeks ago
TheCollector
Anglo-French Wars: 13 Conflicts Between France & England
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3 weeks ago
Wrong Side of...
Hearing the language of Christ on the road to Damascus
Notes on Christian Syria
3 weeks ago
TheCollector
5 Women in Logic You Should Know
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3 weeks ago
TheCollector
How to Unlock Your Unconscious According to Carl Jung
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2 weeks ago
Flashbak
A Walk Around Leeds in The 1970s
We’re shopping in 1970s Leeds as Eric Miles shows us around the city centre. We mooch past Austicks’...
2 weeks ago
We’re shopping in 1970s Leeds as Eric Miles shows us around the city centre. We mooch past Austicks’ Bookshop, where as a teenager writer Alan Bennett worked part-time job. We pop into the County Arcade, walking amid the mahogany shop fronts, pink marble columns, and cast iron...
TheCollector
Were Anglo-Saxon Pagans a Threat to Medieval Christian Society?
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3 weeks ago
Classical Wisdom
The Pompeii Mosaics
Frozen by Fire
3 weeks ago
TheCollector
New Study May Reveal Stonehenge’s Mysterious Origins
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4 weeks ago
Flashbak
Historical Figures in Ridiculous Frippery: Ruff Love For Old Masters
“If you spent your life concentrating on what everyone else thought of you, would you forget who you...
2 weeks ago
“If you spent your life concentrating on what everyone else thought of you, would you forget who you really were? What if the face you showed the world turned out to be a mask… with nothing beneath it?” — Jodi Picoult, Nineteen Minutes Volker Hermes lampoons traditional...
TheCollector
6 Most Common Ethical Dilemmas of the 21st Century
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2 weeks ago
TheCollector
6 Facts About Ilya Repin You Should Know
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2 weeks ago
Open Culture
The Skeleton Dance, Voted the 18th Best Cartoon of All Time, Is Now in the Public Domain (1929)
The July 17, 1929 issue of Variety carried a notice about a laugh-filled new short film in which...
2 weeks ago
The July 17, 1929 issue of Variety carried a notice about a laugh-filled new short film in which “skeletons hoof and frolic,” the peak of whose hilarity “is reached when one skeleton plays the spine of another in xylophone fashion, using a pair of thigh bones as hammers.” The...
Open Culture
Radio Caroline, the Pirate Radio Ship That Rocked the British Music World (1965)
Nowadays musicians can reach hundreds, thousands, sometimes millions of listeners with a few,...
2 weeks ago
Nowadays musicians can reach hundreds, thousands, sometimes millions of listeners with a few, usually free, online services and a minimal grasp of technology. That’s not to say there aren’t still economic barriers aplenty for the struggling artist, but true independence is not an...
TheCollector
Albert Einstein: The Greatest Scientist of the 20th Century
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a week ago
Overcoming Bias
Toward More Direct Signals
As I’ve attributed a large fraction of human behaviors to signaling incentives, I feel I should...
a week ago
As I’ve attributed a large fraction of human behaviors to signaling incentives, I feel I should address a key signaling question, about which I was recently reminded.
Wrong Side of...
Truth in the old myths
On Troy, King Arthur and the Flood of Noah
2 weeks ago
On Troy, King Arthur and the Flood of Noah
Classical Wisdom
Andromeda: The Beauty of the Mediterranean
Take a Santa Pause
4 weeks ago
TheCollector
What Was the League of Cambrai?
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2 weeks ago
TheCollector
Heracles Slays the Stymphalian Birds: The Hero’s Sixth Labor
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3 weeks ago
TheCollector
Carl Jung’s Theory of Archetypes: Major Archetypes, History, Criticism
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2 weeks 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 weeks 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...
TheCollector
10 Must-Visit Historic Mountain Towns in the US
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2 weeks ago
Open Culture
Why the Tavern Scene in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds Is a Master Class in Filmmaking
Ideally, a viewer should be able to identify the work of a particular auteur from any one scene that...
2 weeks ago
Ideally, a viewer should be able to identify the work of a particular auteur from any one scene that the auteur has directed. In reality, it’s not always possible to do so, even in the work of filmmakers with highly idiosyncratic styles. But in the case of Quentin Tarantino, it...
TheCollector
Why Do Famous Artists Recreate Old Works of Art?
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2 weeks ago
History Today Feed
‘Ocean’ and ‘Tracks on the Ocean’ review
‘Ocean’ and ‘Tracks on the Ocean’ review
JamesHoare
Mon, 01/06/2025 - 11:02
2 weeks ago
‘Ocean’ and ‘Tracks on the Ocean’ review
JamesHoare
Mon, 01/06/2025 - 11:02
Open Culture
How Marcel Marceau Used Mime to Save Children During the Holocaust
In 1972, Jerry Lewis made the ill-considered decision to write, direct, and star in a film about a...
a week ago
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Image by Sasha Kargaltsev via Wikimedia Commons As every cinephile has by now heard, and lamented,...
4 days ago
Image by Sasha Kargaltsev via Wikimedia Commons As every cinephile has by now heard, and lamented, we’ve just lost a great American filmmaker. From Eraserhead to Blue Velvet to Mulholland Drive to Inland Empire, David Lynch’s features will surely continue to bewilder and inspire...
TheCollector
Discover This Historic Massachusetts Town Just Beyond Boston’s Reach
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4 days ago
TheCollector
Cerberus: The Three-Headed Dog of Greek Mythology (Myths & Origins)
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3 days ago
TheCollector
Popular Gladiator Weapons: Tools of the Arena
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a week ago
TheCollector
The Life & Mysterious Disappearance of Glenn Miller
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a week ago
History Today Feed
Ronald Knox’s Radio Revolution
Ronald Knox’s Radio Revolution
JamesHoare
Thu, 01/16/2025 - 09:17
5 days ago
Ronald Knox’s Radio Revolution
JamesHoare
Thu, 01/16/2025 - 09:17
TheCollector
10 Must-Visit Historic Towns in Colorado
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5 days ago
Flashbak
Cynthia The Celebrity Mannequin (1932)
Cynthia was a mannequin who looked remarkably human, in a sort of unusual way before extreme...
5 days ago
Cynthia was a mannequin who looked remarkably human, in a sort of unusual way before extreme cosmetic surgery became a fashion choice. Created in 1932 by sculptor and retail display designer Lester Gaba (1907-1987) for Saks Fifth Avenue, New York, Cynthia caused a stir. When...
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...
3 days 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
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 days 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...
TheCollector
What Practices Did the Puritans Enjoy?
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6 days ago
TheCollector
Haile Selassie: Divinity or Despot?
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6 days ago
TheCollector
11 Facts About Glenn Miller: The Musician Who Disappeared
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6 days ago
TheCollector
Lineup Revealed for First Sotheby’s Auction in Saudi Arabia
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6 days ago
TheCollector
6 Famous Musicians at the Center of Big Mysteries
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5 days ago
Classical Wisdom
The First Greek Philosopher
Beyond Mythology
4 days ago
TheCollector
Secrets of the Deep: What Is the History of the Mary Celeste?
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3 days ago
TheCollector
10 Must-Visit Historic Buildings in the US
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3 days ago
TheCollector
Italian vs. Northern Renaissance Art: What’s the Difference?
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a month ago
Trying to Understand...
A Week Off And A New Language
See you again soon
a year ago
TheCollector
5 Naval Battles That Defined Russian History
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a month ago
Res Obscura
Simulating History with ChatGPT
The Case for LLMs as Hallucination Engines
a year ago
The Case for LLMs as Hallucination Engines
TheCollector
Authoritarian vs. Democratic Socialism: What’s the Difference?
undefined
a year ago
Trying to Understand...
The Rise of Extractive Politics
It's about having small expectations.
a year ago
It's about having small expectations.
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup
Sacred Flames and Divine Philosophers
a year ago
Sacred Flames and Divine Philosophers
TheCollector
Explore Ancient Rome by Visiting These 6 Sites
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a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Should We Follow Silly Laws?
And what happens when we don’t?
a year ago
And what happens when we don’t?
TheCollector
Caravaggio: The Scandalous Crimes of a Baroque Artist
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a year ago
Open Culture
Binge-Watch Classic Television Programs Free: The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Lone Ranger, Dragnet, That...
Earlier this week, we featured the 99-year-old Dick Van Dyke’s performance in Coldplay’s new music...
a month ago
Earlier this week, we featured the 99-year-old Dick Van Dyke’s performance in Coldplay’s new music video, full of visual references to the sitcom that made him a household name in the early nineteen-sixties. And a household name he remains these six decades later, though one does...
Classical Wisdom
Can We Choose NOT to Be Harmed?
How can we train Resilience?
a year ago
How can we train Resilience?
TheCollector
Genoa vs. Venice: A Historic and Layered Rivalry
undefined
a year ago
African History...
A history of the Rozvi kingdom (1680-1830)
From Changamire's expulsion of the Portuguese to the ruined cities of Zimbabwe.
a year ago
From Changamire's expulsion of the Portuguese to the ruined cities of Zimbabwe.
Classical Wisdom
Do You Listen Well?
Lessons on Listening from Plutarch
a year ago
Lessons on Listening from Plutarch
Trying to Understand...
A Short Essay About A Long-Playing Record
One I bought fifty years ago.
8 months ago
One I bought fifty years ago.
Trying to Understand...
Things Are Falling Apart ...
And the centre's not looking too good, either.
a year ago
And the centre's not looking too good, either.
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup
Mothers of the Ancient World
8 months ago
Mothers of the Ancient World
A Collection of...
Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Addenda: The Socii
This week, as an addendum to our series on Roman civic governance (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV, V),...
a year ago
This week, as an addendum to our series on Roman civic governance (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV, V), we’re going to take a look at how Rome handles those parts of Italy it controls but which it does not inhabit. These are Rome’s ‘allies’ (socii), a euphemistic label for the...
Trying to Understand...
Into the Waste Land
Nothing connects.
a year ago
TheCollector
Vyacheslav Molotov: 6 Facts about Stalin’s Closest Confidant
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a year ago
History Today Feed
How Did Christianity Change the Roman Empire?
How Did Christianity Change the Roman Empire?
j.hoare
Thu, 12/07/2023 - 09:29
a year ago
How Did Christianity Change the Roman Empire?
j.hoare
Thu, 12/07/2023 - 09:29
Res Obscura
LLM-based educational games will be a big deal
For the first time, digital games can make qualitative assessments of learning. Here's what that...
8 months ago
For the first time, digital games can make qualitative assessments of learning. Here's what that might look like.
A Collection of...
Collections: On the Reign of Alexander III of Macedon, the Great?
This week, in part as a follow-on to our series on the contest between Hellenistic armies and Roman...
8 months ago
This week, in part as a follow-on to our series on the contest between Hellenistic armies and Roman legions, I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about Alexander III, who you almost certainly know as Alexander the Great. But I want to discuss his reign with that title, ‘the...
TheCollector
The Banana Wars: How the US Plundered Central America
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8 months ago
Trying to Understand...
War Is Complicated.
And not just the fighting bit.
a year ago
And not just the fighting bit.
TheCollector
What Makes Citizen Kane the Greatest Film of All Time?
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a year ago
weird medieval guys
Explore medieval life and death with these 5 brilliant interactive maps!
Travels, murders, and......eels?!!
a year ago
Travels, murders, and......eels?!!
TheCollector
Homo Habilis: The First Humans?
undefined
a year ago
A Collection of...
Collections: On the Reign of Alexander III of Macedon, the Great? Part II
This is the second and final part of our look at Alexander III of Macedon (Part I), who you almost...
8 months ago
This is the second and final part of our look at Alexander III of Macedon (Part I), who you almost certainly know as Alexander the Great. Last week, we looked at the sources for Alexander’s life, the historiography (that is, the history-of-the-history) of his modern reception and...
Trying to Understand...
Honesty: What's In It For Me?
First, do lots of harm.
a year ago
History Today Feed
On the Spot: Eugene Rogan
On the Spot: Eugene Rogan
JamesHoare
Tue, 05/14/2024 - 09:43
8 months ago
On the Spot: Eugene Rogan
JamesHoare
Tue, 05/14/2024 - 09:43
TheCollector
Emperor Nero’s “Golden House”: What Was the Domus Aurea?
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a year ago
TheCollector
Who Are the Most Famous Sorceresses of Greek Mythology?
undefined
a year ago
Dreams of Space -...
One, Two (1965)
The next few posts are some of my favorite picture books. The 1st from 1965 is a very basic counting...
a year ago
The next few posts are some of my favorite picture books. The 1st from 1965 is a very basic counting book about spaceflight. I hope that you find it as charming as I do.
DeCaprio, Annie and David Krieger. Illustrated by Nydorf, Seymour. One, Two. New York: Wonder Books. (24 p.)...
Classical Wisdom
The Mother Goddess of Rome
And Her Controversial Religion
8 months ago
And Her Controversial Religion
TheCollector
Orange Free State, South Africa: A History
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a year ago
TheCollector
‘Ain Ghazal: One of the Oldest Places in Human Civilization
undefined
a year ago
Trying to Understand...
China And Russia Walk Into A Room.
And don't say a word about Europe.
7 months ago
And don't say a word about Europe.
TheCollector
Nietzsche’s Crusade Against the Philosophers
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a year ago
Trying to Understand...
Useless in Gaza
As always, if you don't know what you're doing.
a year ago
As always, if you don't know what you're doing.
TheCollector
What Were Julius Caesar’s Greatest Achievements
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a year ago
TheCollector
Amun: The Egyptian God of Creation & King of the Gods
undefined
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Do We Need Dress Codes?
Are standards elevating or elitist?
a year ago
Are standards elevating or elitist?
Res Obscura
Centuries of Childhood
The history of childhood is one of multiplicity — so why do we tell parents such simplistic stories...
7 months ago
The history of childhood is one of multiplicity — so why do we tell parents such simplistic stories about it?
TheCollector
Ancient Egypt Under the Achaemenid Persian Empire: A Brief Overview
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a year ago
weird medieval guys
Why did medieval people invent so many collective nouns?
A pride of lions, a paddling of ducks, and....a herd of harlots?
a year ago
A pride of lions, a paddling of ducks, and....a herd of harlots?
Trying to Understand...
Teach Your Children ....
Not to be afraid of moral relativism.
a year ago
Not to be afraid of moral relativism.
Trying to Understand...
Too Much of Not A Lot
Winning the day and losing the war.
a year ago
Winning the day and losing the war.
Classical Wisdom
Are Protests the Best Way to Say Nay?
Can Mobs Make the Change They Want to See?
8 months ago
Can Mobs Make the Change They Want to See?
TheCollector
Who Were the 4 Key Players of the Risorgimento?
undefined
a year ago
TheCollector
Plato: A Complete Overview of His Life, Work, and Philosophy
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a year ago
TheCollector
Who Was the Real Mona Lisa?
undefined
11 months ago
African History...
A complete history of Abomey: capital of Dahomey (ca. 1650-1894)
Urbanism in the forest region.
a year ago
Urbanism in the forest region.
Dreams of Space -...
The Young Adventurer's Pocket Book of Space Travel (1954)
Another illustration intensive book. This one is only 3" tall and 2 " wide so you might have missed...
a year ago
Another illustration intensive book. This one is only 3" tall and 2 " wide so you might have missed it :) . It was a premium with Mickey Mouse Weekly magazine. Evidently the magazine came with some pages that you could fold up into a tiny book. The others I have found evidence of...
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
Notes on using AI to analyze three World War II-era films about drugs and PTSD
African History...
A history of the Buganda kingdom.
government in central Africa.
a year ago
government in central Africa.
Open Culture
99-Year-Old Dick Van Dyke Sings & Dances in a Touching New Coldplay Video, Directed by Spike Jonze
There’s one thing right with our world, and it’s Dick Van Dyke. Appearing in a new Coldplay music...
a month ago
There’s one thing right with our world, and it’s Dick Van Dyke. Appearing in a new Coldplay music video, Mr. Van Dyke dances barefoot and sings knowingly a little off-key—before reflecting on a century of life on this planet. What is love? Is he afraid of dying? What does luck...
Flashbak
Liverpool Kids: Surviving Inner City Life In 1975
Paul Trevor’s photographs of Liverpool in 1975 formed part of The Survival Programme, which featured...
8 months ago
Paul Trevor’s photographs of Liverpool in 1975 formed part of The Survival Programme, which featured pictures, interviews, drafts and other materials made by member of the Exit Photography Group – Nicholas Battye, Chris Steele-Perkins and Paul Trevor. Created between 1974 and...
TheCollector
7 Unusual Writing Systems From Around the World & How They Developed
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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
Why geneticists found what archeologists and historians had failed to locate.
Trying to Understand...
Let's Hear It For The "Underlying Causes."
Here's the answer. What was the question again?
a year ago
Here's the answer. What was the question again?
Dreams of Space -...
Johnny's Space Trip (1954)
A re-run--
Back to the imaginative past and Johnny's Space Trip. This 1954 fictional book captures...
a year ago
A re-run--
Back to the imaginative past and Johnny's Space Trip. This 1954 fictional book captures the spirit of doing it for yourself as Johnny and his friends build (and dream of) a spaceship for a journey from their backyard. It is pure fantasy but as you will see there is a...
African History...
a brief note on Ethnicity and the State in Africa
the evolution of the Tutsi/Hutu dichotomy in the precolonial Great Lakes.
8 months ago
the evolution of the Tutsi/Hutu dichotomy in the precolonial Great Lakes.
TheCollector
6 Key Artists of the New Objectivity Movement
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11 months ago
TheCollector
How Did Comuna 13 Transform Medellín?
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8 months ago
TheCollector
The Good and Bad in Nolan’s Oppenheimer (Critic’s Review)
undefined
a year ago
Trying to Understand...
Understanding What's Happening in France.
The kinetic phase may come next.
a year ago
The kinetic phase may come next.
Trying to Understand...
The Threat of Back to Normal
Global power has always been distributed.
a year ago
Global power has always been distributed.
Trying to Understand...
We Are All Civilisational States
It's just that some people don't realise it.
a year ago
It's just that some people don't realise it.
African History...
a brief note on contacts between ancient African kingdoms and Rome.
finding the lost city of Rhapta on the east African coast.
7 months ago
finding the lost city of Rhapta on the east African coast.
TheCollector
What Is a Good Argument According to Aristotle?
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a year ago
TheCollector
The Life of Aldous Huxley — Author of “Brave New World”
undefined
a year ago
African History...
A history of the Majeerteen Sultanate: 1700-1927.
Maritime trade and diplomacy in the northern Horn of Africa.
a year ago
Maritime trade and diplomacy in the northern Horn of Africa.
A Collection of...
Collections: Ancient Greek and Phoenician Colonization
Davis senatum consuluit a.d. III Idus Octobris apud aedem Patreontis; de colonis Graecis et Punicis...
a year ago
Davis senatum consuluit a.d. III Idus Octobris apud aedem Patreontis; de colonis Graecis et Punicis verba fecit… This week we’re taking a brief look, by ACOUP Senate request, at Greek and Phoenician colonization in the ancient Mediterranean. In particular, the focus requested was...
Trying to Understand...
One Way Or Another ....
We're going to get you.
a year ago
Patterns in Humanity
Immigration and crime: Denmark
Are immigrants overrepresented in crime? If so, which immigrants? And why?
5 months ago
Are immigrants overrepresented in crime? If so, which immigrants? And why?
TheCollector
Monstrous Births: Artistically Understanding the Mystery of Birth
undefined
a year ago
History Today Feed
How the CCP is Closing China
How the CCP is Closing China
JamesHoare
Mon, 05/13/2024 - 10:47
8 months ago
How the CCP is Closing China
JamesHoare
Mon, 05/13/2024 - 10:47
Trying to Understand...
The Year's Midnight.
Kindness can be a revolutionary act.
over a year ago
Kindness can be a revolutionary act.
African History...
Guns and Spears: a military history of the Zulu kingdom.
Popular history of Africa before the colonial era often divides the continent’s military systems...
a year ago
Popular history of Africa before the colonial era often divides the continent’s military systems into two broad categories —the relatively modern armies along the Atlantic coast which used firearms, versus the 'traditional' armies in the interior that fought with arrows and...
Flashbak
A Book of Dreams: 25 Vintage Visions To Awaken Your Mind
We’re dreaming today with collector Robert E Jackson. Triggered by the undertow of memory and fed by...
8 months ago
We’re dreaming today with collector Robert E Jackson. Triggered by the undertow of memory and fed by desire, our dreams are visions of other lives, possible clues to the future. “The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the...
TheCollector
What Is a Medieval Morality Play?
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8 months ago
A Collection of...
Collections: How to Roman Republic, Part V: The Courts
This is the fifth part of our five part series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV) on the structure of the...
a year ago
This is the fifth part of our five part series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV) on the structure of the Roman Republic during the third and second centuries BC, the ‘Middle Republic.’ Last time we looked at the odd but very important role played by the ROman Senate as the central...
Classical Wisdom
Tolkien and the Classics
Plato, Cicero... Bilbo?
a year ago
Patterns in Humanity
Sweden's immigration taboo
Immigration data kept behind closed doors
5 months ago
Immigration data kept behind closed doors
Dreams of Space -...
Техника Молодежи (Youth Technology) Issue 4 (1973 )
“ХОРОВОД КОСМИЧЕСКИХ ЛАБОРАТОРИЙ ‘Round Dance of Space Laboratories’
A re-run from a few years ago....
a year ago
“ХОРОВОД КОСМИЧЕСКИХ ЛАБОРАТОРИЙ ‘Round Dance of Space Laboratories’
A re-run from a few years ago. I really like this 1973 issue of Youth Technology. The issue was dedicated to Soviet past and future in space. It has some great illustration of what they had done and what they...
TheCollector
Roman Military Ranks: From Legionary to General
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a month ago
African History...
Life and works of Africa's most famous Woman scholar: Nana Asmau (1793-1864)
On the contribution of Muslim women in African history.
8 months ago
On the contribution of Muslim women in African history.
Trying to Understand...
Let's Be Enemies
Since it seems to be the fashion these days.
a year ago
Since it seems to be the fashion these days.
History Today Feed
An Exhibition on Rational Dress for Victorian Women
An Exhibition on Rational Dress for Victorian Women
JamesHoare
Sun, 05/19/2024 - 00:00
8 months ago
An Exhibition on Rational Dress for Victorian Women
JamesHoare
Sun, 05/19/2024 - 00:00
A Collection of...
Gap Week: April 19, 2024 (Manor Lords First Impression)
Hey folks, this week is a bit of a gap week as I am heading out to the annual meeting of the Society...
9 months ago
Hey folks, this week is a bit of a gap week as I am heading out to the annual meeting of the Society for Military History (and, indeed, by the time you read this, I will be there). Normally, I post the abstract of my conference talk for these sorts of things, but since I …...
weird medieval guys
Medieval Muslims loved their cats so much
Cat shelters, cat shoes, cat jewellery, and more from the Islamic Middle Ages
a year ago
Cat shelters, cat shoes, cat jewellery, and more from the Islamic Middle Ages
Trying to Understand...
Ukraine In NATO Would Be A Disaster ...
But not necessarily for the reasons you think.
a year ago
But not necessarily for the reasons you think.
Trying to Understand...
Games Nations Play.
But they forget the people and the Street.
8 months ago
But they forget the people and the Street.
TheCollector
6 Assassinations That Changed History
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8 months ago
Trying to Understand...
If We Had More Than a Hammer ...
We might not be in this mess.
a year ago
We might not be in this mess.
TheCollector
Why Did the Germans Struggle in the Battle of Crete?
undefined
a year ago
Dreams of Space -...
Blast Off (1973)
This is also one of my favorite picture books, very hard to find, so I would like to share the full...
a year ago
This is also one of my favorite picture books, very hard to find, so I would like to share the full book with you. And Blast Off!
Cain, Linda C. and Susan Rosenbaum. Illustrated by Dillon, Leo and Diane. Blast Off. Lexington, MA: Ginn. (24 p.) 1973.
History Today Feed
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin and the Making of Stars
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin and the Making of Stars
JamesHoare
Tue, 05/07/2024 - 12:09
8 months ago
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin and the Making of Stars
JamesHoare
Tue, 05/07/2024 - 12:09
African History...
A history of the Loango kingdom (ca.1500-1883) : Power, Ivory and Art in west-central Africa.
Africa's past carved in ivory
a year ago
Africa's past carved in ivory
Flashbak
A Shagtastic Tour of Swinging Britain in 1967
Among British Pathé’s newsreel films made for UK cinemas up until 1970 vis this wonderful time of...
8 months ago
Among British Pathé’s newsreel films made for UK cinemas up until 1970 vis this wonderful time of Swinging Britain capsule from 1967. Shot on 35mm film and backed by the lilting holiday camp music, a narrator these videos are not a little kitsch. In Swinging Britain we take an...
Global Inequality...
The life of Maynard K.
A review of Zach Carter’s “The Price of Peace”
7 months ago
A review of Zach Carter’s “The Price of Peace”
Dreams of Space -...
Let's Fly to the Universe (1962)
A rescan project, but a rescan of a reprint. I blogged about this book in 2012...
a year ago
A rescan project, but a rescan of a reprint. I blogged about this book in 2012 here:
https://dreamsofspace.blogspot.com/2012/12/flying-in-space-1961.html
I think it is Czech, but may be a difference Russian language. I got a Russian reprint of this and still find it a very...
African History...
A history of the south-western Saharan towns of Tichitt, Walata, Wadan and Chinguetti (800-1912)
Trade and civilization on west-africa's desert frontier
a year ago
Trade and civilization on west-africa's desert frontier
weird medieval guys
Why is medieval art so weird?
Listen now (73 min) | In this inaugural episode of the Weird Medieval Guys podcast, Olivia and Aran...
a year ago
Listen now (73 min) | In this inaugural episode of the Weird Medieval Guys podcast, Olivia and Aran discuss why medieval art is so intriguing to modern viewers and what makes so much of it so weird. Also discussed are Galaxy Quest, Mel Gibson's crimes against the Middle Ages, and...
weird medieval guys
The Medieval Monks Who Lived on Top of Giant Pillars
A history of the monastic high life
a year ago
A history of the monastic high life
Classical Wisdom
The Tragedy of Ajax
Greece's Second Greatest Soldier?
8 months ago
Greece's Second Greatest Soldier?
A Collection of...
Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator II, Part II
Last week, we started our nitpicking of Gladiator II (2024) by looking at the problems with the...
a month ago
Last week, we started our nitpicking of Gladiator II (2024) by looking at the problems with the films chronology and its portrayal of the Roman army of the early third century, both in its equipment and in its battle tactics. This week, we’re going to move forward to the main...
Classical Wisdom
Why Did Rome Fall?
& Which Lesson Should We Take Away?
a year ago
& Which Lesson Should We Take Away?
Res Obscura
Why I love etymologies
Telephones popularized "hello," "lox" is 8,000 years old, and other reasons why the history of words...
8 months ago
Telephones popularized "hello," "lox" is 8,000 years old, and other reasons why the history of words matters
Patterns in Humanity
The case for prisons
The purpose of prisons, and the evidence of their efficacy
4 months ago
The purpose of prisons, and the evidence of their efficacy
Global Inequality...
2x2 geopolitics
Wars and ideology simplified
6 months ago
Wars and ideology simplified
Classical Wisdom
Should We Own Stuff?
The Wealth and Gold of Ancient Georgia
a year ago
The Wealth and Gold of Ancient Georgia
Trying to Understand...
The Third World War Has Been Cancelled.
It was all too difficult, finally.
6 months ago
It was all too difficult, finally.
African History...
a brief note on the history of Music in Africa
plus an overview of Ethiopian musical traditions
a year ago
plus an overview of Ethiopian musical traditions
African History...
The myth of Mansa Musa's enslaved entourage
"Stories about his [Mansa Musa's] journey have numerous anecdotes which are not true and which the...
a year ago
"Stories about his [Mansa Musa's] journey have numerous anecdotes which are not true and which the mind refuses to admit".
Flashbak
American Noir: Mugshots And Crimes From A Small Pennsylvanian Town (1930s – 1950s)
Small Town Noir is a study of life and crime in New Castle, western Pennsylvania. The site compiles...
8 months ago
Small Town Noir is a study of life and crime in New Castle, western Pennsylvania. The site compiles the mugshots of criminals who lived in the town in the 1930, 40s and 50s, with notes on their offences. The mugshots were pulled from the rubbish when the town’s police department...
weird medieval guys
An 800 year prayer book that's decorated with puns
Plus a little history of manuscript illustration
a year ago
Plus a little history of manuscript illustration
Trying to Understand...
Another Of My Essays In French
And some odds and ends.
6 months ago
Classical Wisdom
Why Read Modern Books?
Now Available: Night Drew Her Sable Cloak
a year ago
Now Available: Night Drew Her Sable Cloak
Classical Wisdom
12 Ancient Greek Terms that Should Totally Make a Comeback
Eudaimonia, Arete, and much more...
a year ago
Eudaimonia, Arete, and much more...
Trying to Understand...
Peter Pan goes to Ukraine
Some people never grow up.
over a year ago
Some people never grow up.
African History...
A history of the Damagaram sultanate of Zinder: ca. 1730-1899.
Politics, Guns, and Trade in the pre-colonial Sahel
a year ago
Politics, Guns, and Trade in the pre-colonial Sahel
TheCollector
UNESCO Creates a Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Artifacts
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a year ago
TheCollector
The American Patriot War: “The Americans Are Coming!”
undefined
a year ago
Trying to Understand...
Service to what nation?
Why people should stop talking about conscription.
6 months ago
Why people should stop talking about conscription.
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...
8 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...
History Today Feed
Catching Nessie on Film
Catching Nessie on Film
JamesHoare
Thu, 05/16/2024 - 09:41
8 months ago
Catching Nessie on Film
JamesHoare
Thu, 05/16/2024 - 09:41
Dreams of Space -...
Dream to Meet(1958)
A very pictorial Russian book, Dream to Meet, is basically the size of a paperback book but loaded...
a year ago
A very pictorial Russian book, Dream to Meet, is basically the size of a paperback book but loaded with illustrations. I thought you would enjoy these images.
Lyapunov, B. Illustrated by Seleznev, E. Навстречу Мечте (Dream to Meet.)
Moscow: All-Union Educational Pedagogical...
Trying to Understand...
How About a Victory for the Left Occasionally?
Here are a few modest ideas.
a year ago
Here are a few modest ideas.
TheCollector
Why Did Ukraine Make Stamps of Banksy’s Art?
undefined
a year ago
TheCollector
10 Ancient Sites in New Mexico You Should Visit
undefined
a month ago
Trying to Understand...
So They Want Negotiations, Now.
Have they any idea what they are talking about?
a year ago
Have they any idea what they are talking about?
TheCollector
Does Nietzsche Believe in Free Will?
undefined
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
The Two Trojan Wars
Secret Origins
a year ago
TheCollector
Battle of Thebes: How Alexander the Great Destroyed the Great City
undefined
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Essential Classics
Memorial Sales Ends
7 months ago
Trying to Understand...
Their Enemies The Russians
But what about the rest of us?
a year ago
But what about the rest of us?
Trying to Understand...
Round Two? There Is No Round Two.
Game pretty much over in Ukraine.
a year ago
Game pretty much over in Ukraine.
Dr Alun Withey
The Troublesome Gibbet of John Haines, the ‘Wounded Highwayman’ of Hounslow.
For this post, I am going to wander into the world of crime in the late eighteenth century, and the...
11 months ago
For this post, I am going to wander into the world of crime in the late eighteenth century, and the grisly fate that befell many who committed the heinous crime of highway robbery. (Full disclosure: I’m not an historian of crime, gibbets or highwaymen…perhaps the case I’m about...
A Collection of...
Fireside Friday, July 12, 2024
Fireside this week! I had hoped to have the start of the Imperator Teaching Paradox series ready for...
6 months ago
Fireside this week! I had hoped to have the start of the Imperator Teaching Paradox series ready for this week, but it has been a bit stubborn and I do not want to derail my book writing/revising schedule in order to push it out before it is ready. So that will almost certainly...
Flashbak
Evelyn Richter’s Street Photography Reveals the Reality of Life in East Germany
For photographer Evelyn Richter (1930–2021) East Germany was not computers being towed by the...
5 months ago
For photographer Evelyn Richter (1930–2021) East Germany was not computers being towed by the bikini-clad proletariat, Western holidaymakers, badly disguised secret police and being on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall. A self-described “documentarian and historian”, Richter...
Classical Wisdom
Who’s in the Tomb?
A Macedonian Mystery: The Tombs of Aigai
8 months ago
A Macedonian Mystery: The Tombs of Aigai
Res Obscura
How well can AI imitate a 17th century doctor?
Arcadio Huang is ill in 1710s Paris. Can GPT-4 and Gemini find a cure?
11 months ago
Arcadio Huang is ill in 1710s Paris. Can GPT-4 and Gemini find a cure?
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...
12 months 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...
Trying to Understand...
They Say They Want Rearmament ....
We-ell, you know ....
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup
Plato Vs Aristotle
8 months ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup
The Best of the Best
a year ago
TheCollector
Who Won the First Battle of Bull Run in the Civil War?
undefined
8 months ago
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
Why the kingdoms of Kush and Dahomey used wheels while Asante did not.
Res Obscura
When technology follows art
From optics to machine learning, artists have played an important, if underrated, role in the...
a year ago
From optics to machine learning, artists have played an important, if underrated, role in the history of technology
African History...
a brief note on themes in African art.
Cartography, Culture and History in the artwork of the Bamum kingdom.
6 months ago
Cartography, Culture and History in the artwork of the Bamum kingdom.
Global Inequality...
The end and the beginning of history
Three ways of thinking about Lea Ypi’s Free
6 months ago
Three ways of thinking about Lea Ypi’s Free
History Today Feed
‘Spice’ by Roger Crowley review
‘Spice’ by Roger Crowley review
JamesHoare
Tue, 06/18/2024 - 09:03
7 months ago
‘Spice’ by Roger Crowley review
JamesHoare
Tue, 06/18/2024 - 09:03
A Collection of...
Collections: How to Raise a Tribal Army in Pre-Roman Europe, Part I: Aristocrats, Retainers and...
For the next few posts, I want to take a look at how some ‘tribal’ peoples raised armies, in...
7 months ago
For the next few posts, I want to take a look at how some ‘tribal’ peoples raised armies, in contrast to the way that ancient (or later) states raised armies. As moderns, we are so familiar with the way that states function that the far older systems of non-state organization and...
Res Obscura
Historical maps probably helped cause World War I
On cartography as historical argument
a year ago
On cartography as historical argument
Classical Wisdom
Plato On Knowledge
What is True?
9 months ago
Dr Alun Withey
Creams, Clothes and Cases: The material culture of pre-modern travel.
I am currently on study leave, getting on with research for my new project on the history of travel...
11 months ago
I am currently on study leave, getting on with research for my new project on the history of travel preparations. One thing that I’m particularly interested in is the material culture of travel, and what sorts of things were available for travellers as they got ready for their...
Trying to Understand...
Books To Help Us Understand The World?
Well, a few, anyway. And a bit.
a year ago
Well, a few, anyway. And a bit.
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...
8 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...
Classical Wisdom
Do We Need Passports? Or Borders?
Watch now (23 sec) | Crossing with Radiohead
a year ago
Watch now (23 sec) | Crossing with Radiohead
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup
Origins of Stoicism
6 months ago
Dreams of Space -...
Bozo and His Rocket Ship -Capitol Record-Reader (1947)
Here an old piece of "rocket" ephemera. Back when there were these big black round things called...
10 months ago
Here an old piece of "rocket" ephemera. Back when there were these big black round things called "records," there were children's record-readers. My mom had some of these from here childhood so I actually read some of them. You would put a stack of records on (this one had 4...
Trying to Understand...
Will it Bend or Will it Break?
The international system, that is.
a year ago
The international system, that is.
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...
8 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...
TheCollector
5 Notable Books by Ernest Hemingway
undefined
6 months ago
History Today Feed
‘Hitler’s People’ by Richard Evans review
‘Hitler’s People’ by Richard Evans review
JamesHoare
Tue, 08/27/2024 - 09:31
4 months ago
‘Hitler’s People’ by Richard Evans review
JamesHoare
Tue, 08/27/2024 - 09:31
Flashbak
New York City’s NIGHT Magazine – 1978-79
Launched in September 1978, Anton Perich’s self-financed NIGHT magazine showcased New York City’s...
6 months ago
Launched in September 1978, Anton Perich’s self-financed NIGHT magazine showcased New York City’s mix of fashion, art, and music at clubs like Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager’s Studio 54 and Howard Stein and Peppo Vanini’s Xenon, where nightlife and performance met. Distribution...
Classical Wisdom
The Mysterious Phaistos Disk
And the Palace where it was found...
a year ago
And the Palace where it was found...
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
Generative AI offers a new, more engaging (and, hopefully, more empathetic) way of teaching history. But how to use it?
TheCollector
11 Greek Mythological Creatures
undefined
a year ago
Trying to Understand...
Can't Do, Won't Do!
But striking poses is fun and easy.
a year ago
But striking poses is fun and easy.
Trying to Understand...
Everything is (Somewhat) Connected.
But some things are more connected than others.
a year ago
But some things are more connected than others.
African History...
The complete history of Kano (999-1903)
journal of African cities chapter 9
a year ago
journal of African cities chapter 9
Open Culture
Watch The Insects’ Christmas from 1913: A Stop Motion Film Starring a Cast of Dead Bugs
Kind Reader, Will you do us the honor of accepting our holiday invitation? Carve five minutes from...
a month ago
Kind Reader, Will you do us the honor of accepting our holiday invitation? Carve five minutes from your holiday schedule to spend time celebrating The Insects’ Christmas, above. In addition to offering brief respite from the chaos of consumerism and modern expectations, this...
A Collection of...
Collections: How to Raise a Tribal Army in Pre-Roman Europe, Part II: Government Without States
This is the second part of our (planned) three part (I) look at how some ‘tribal’ or more correctly,...
7 months ago
This is the second part of our (planned) three part (I) look at how some ‘tribal’ or more correctly, non-state agrarian peoples raised armies to fight the Romans (and others) in the third through first centuries BC. Last time, we looked at the subsistence basis of these societies...
A Collection of...
Fireside Friday, May 31, 2024 (Academic Departments)
Fireside this week! I am spinning up to write a Teaching Paradox series on Imperator later this...
7 months ago
Fireside this week! I am spinning up to write a Teaching Paradox series on Imperator later this week, but not quite ready to get started yet. I’m also thinking, perhaps before that, of doing a short post or set of posts on the organization of non-state ‘tribal’ societies in...
A Collection of...
Fireside Friday, June 28, 2024
Fireside this week! My hope in terms of the upcoming schedule is to have my usual July 4th post next...
6 months ago
Fireside this week! My hope in terms of the upcoming schedule is to have my usual July 4th post next week (we’re discussing political philosophy in an election year, so I am sure everyone will be very chill; regardless let me repeat you will be civil) and then after that to dive...
Classical Wisdom
Socrates' Wayward Student
...and the Philosophy of Pleasure
a year ago
...and the Philosophy of Pleasure
TheCollector
The Problem with Catholic Popes: Linus and the Petrine Succession
undefined
6 months ago
Trying to Understand...
And Now for Something Completely Different.
Am I me? Are You you? ?
over a year ago
Trying to Understand...
Reality Would Like A Word.
Paging Tom and Daisy Buchanan
a year ago
Paging Tom and Daisy Buchanan
African History...
The Swazi kingdom and its neighbours in the 19th century: from the rise of Zulu to the British
an island in the maelstrom
over a year ago
an island in the maelstrom
African History...
The radical philosophy of the Hatata: a 17th century treatise by the Ethiopian thinker Zara Yacob
the historical context of the Hatata in African philosophy.
9 months ago
the historical context of the Hatata in African philosophy.
African History...
The desert town of Southern Africa: A history of Khauxanas 1780-1906
A view of pre-colonial Namibia from the khoisan town of ||Khauxa!nas.
a year ago
A view of pre-colonial Namibia from the khoisan town of ||Khauxa!nas.
African History...
The pyramids of ancient Nubia and Meroe: death on the Nile and the mortuary architecture of Kush
a complete history of an African monument
a year ago
a complete history of an African monument
Flashbak
Waiting For A Miracle: Kiev in 1998
In 1998, Juri Nesterov was in Kiev, the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It was a city of...
8 months ago
In 1998, Juri Nesterov was in Kiev, the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It was a city of hope. In 1991, After 57 years as the capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union, the city became the capital of independent Ukraine. In the picture...
History Today Feed
Robert the Bruce: Born To Be King?
Robert the Bruce: Born To Be King?
JamesHoare
Mon, 06/17/2024 - 11:11
7 months ago
Robert the Bruce: Born To Be King?
JamesHoare
Mon, 06/17/2024 - 11:11
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup
Blindspots and Biographies
a year ago
Blindspots and Biographies
Dreams of Space -...
Cosmonaut-2 (1964)
Cosmonaut-2 was a Russian pamphlet for older children about Gherman Titov. It has some lovely...
over a year ago
Cosmonaut-2 was a Russian pamphlet for older children about Gherman Titov. It has some lovely illustration about the 2nd manned Russian space launch. At age 25 Titov remains the youngest man to fly in Earth orbit. Vostok 2 was launched on August 6, 1961.
Cosmonaut-2, 1964. 38 p....
History Today Feed
‘The Wild Men’, ‘The Men of 1924’ and ‘A Century of Labour’ review
‘The Wild Men’, ‘The Men of 1924’ and ‘A Century of Labour’ review
JamesHoare
Tue, 01/30/2024 -...
11 months ago
‘The Wild Men’, ‘The Men of 1924’ and ‘A Century of Labour’ review
JamesHoare
Tue, 01/30/2024 - 10:13
Flashbak
Photos of Iggy Pop And The Stooges Playing NYC Club Ungano’s in 1970
In August 1970, American photographer Bud Lee (1940-2016) took photographs of Iggy Pop and the...
7 months ago
In August 1970, American photographer Bud Lee (1940-2016) took photographs of Iggy Pop and the Stooges performing at brothers Nick and Arnie Ungano’s basement club on New York’s West 70th Street between Amsterdam and West End Avenues. The ban were celebrating the release of their...
History Today Feed
‘Age of Wolf and Wind’ by Davide Zori review
‘Age of Wolf and Wind’ by Davide Zori review
JamesHoare
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 10:27
7 months ago
‘Age of Wolf and Wind’ by Davide Zori review
JamesHoare
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 10:27
TheCollector
First Nations of the Canadian Atlantic Provinces: A Brief History
undefined
5 months ago
Trying to Understand...
The Evils Of Professionalism
In politics, anyway.
7 months ago
TheCollector
Top Five Painters To Watch in 2024
undefined
a year ago
African History...
a brief note on Africa in 16th century global history.
the international relations and manuscripts of Kongo
10 months ago
the international relations and manuscripts of Kongo
Open Culture
The Sinking of the Britannic: An Animated Introduction to the Titanic’s Forgotten Sister Ship
We all know about the Titanic. Less often do we hear about the Britannic—the sister passenger liner...
a month ago
We all know about the Titanic. Less often do we hear about the Britannic—the sister passenger liner that the British turned into a hospital ship during World War I. Launched in 1914, two years after the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Britannic featured a number of...
Trying to Understand...
Don't Give Peace Too Many Chances.
Nothing is more dangerous than a flawed peace treaty.
over a year ago
Nothing is more dangerous than a flawed peace treaty.
Classical Wisdom
Emotions: Better Out or In?
Can Catharsis Help... or Harm?
8 months ago
Can Catharsis Help... or Harm?
Dreams of Space -...
Satellites As A Hobby (1962)
Satellites as a Hobby was a children's book from Hammond (the atlas people) They commissioned and...
a year ago
Satellites as a Hobby was a children's book from Hammond (the atlas people) They commissioned and created a space map in 1958 (see Sept 8, 2011 blog post). They reused these illustration in several publication which may explain why they seem a little "dated" for 1962. This book...
Classical Wisdom
Events Listing
Ancient Women, Marcus Aurelius, Economics and Resilience...
a year ago
Ancient Women, Marcus Aurelius, Economics and Resilience...
History Today Feed
The Scandalous Success of the Daily Mail
The Scandalous Success of the Daily Mail
j.hoare
Mon, 01/01/2024 - 13:07
a year ago
The Scandalous Success of the Daily Mail
j.hoare
Mon, 01/01/2024 - 13:07
Classical Wisdom
Artemisia of Caria
Commander, Queen, and Eva Green
a year ago
Commander, Queen, and Eva Green
African History...
A history of Women's political power and matriliny in the kingdom of Kongo.
In the 19th century, anthropologists were fascinated by the concept of matrilineal descent in which...
a year ago
In the 19th century, anthropologists were fascinated by the concept of matrilineal descent in which kinship is traced through the female line. Matriliny was often confounded with matriarchy as a supposedly earlier stage of social evolution than patriarchy. Matriliny thus became a...
Trying to Understand...
Little People With Agency.
No, not that Agency.
4 months ago
Dr Alun Withey
Cuts, Rashes & Chatter! The Pain of the 18th-century Shave!
Unless there are particular reasons, for example a skin condition, or a faulty razor, shaving today...
over a year ago
Unless there are particular reasons, for example a skin condition, or a faulty razor, shaving today is usually a pretty mundane – if not a pleasant – experience. Indeed, the rise of traditional barbershops over the past few years, offering shaving as an experience, together with...
Classical Wisdom
Sparta and… Scotland?
Laconic wit through the centuries
a year ago
Laconic wit through the centuries
Dreams of Space -...
Yuri's Night is April 12th!
Dream About Gagarin (1961)
Celebrating "Yuri's Night." This is the celebration of Yuri...
a year ago
Dream About Gagarin (1961)
Celebrating "Yuri's Night." This is the celebration of Yuri Gagarin 1st manned flight into space in Vostok 1, which completed one orbit of Earth on 12 April 1961. So this book is also from 1961 suggesting that children should dream of this...
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...
6 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...
A Collection of...
Collections: How to Raise a Tribal Army in Pre-Roman Europe, Part III: Going To War With the Army...
This is the third and final part of our three-part (I, II, III) look at how some ‘tribal’ or more...
7 months ago
This is the third and final part of our three-part (I, II, III) look at how some ‘tribal’ or more correctly, non-state agrarian peoples – particularly the Celtiberians, Gauls and also many Germanic-language speaking peoples on the Rhine and Danube- raised armies to fight the...
Classical Wisdom
Does FREE WILL Exist?
And if not, what are the consequences?
a month ago
And if not, what are the consequences?
A Collection of...
Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Addenda: The Provinces
This is the second and (in theory) last addendum to our series on Roman civic governance (I, II,...
a year ago
This is the second and (in theory) last addendum to our series on Roman civic governance (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV, V, A1). Having discussed how Rome handles those parts of Italy it controls but which were not part of the Roman Republic itself, we now look at how the Romans...
Dr Alun Withey
Medicine on the Move: Early Modern Travel and Remedies
As my new project on the history of travel, health risk and preparation begins to get underway, one...
a year ago
As my new project on the history of travel, health risk and preparation begins to get underway, one of the things that I am thinking about is the place of travel within early modern medical remedy culture. What kinds of conditions could befall travellers? What did early modern...
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
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...
African History...
The heroic age in Darfur: a history of the pre-colonial kingdom of Darfur ca. 1500-1916.
The political marginalization of the Darfur region since the creation of colonial Sudan has resulted...
6 months ago
The political marginalization of the Darfur region since the creation of colonial Sudan has resulted in one of the continent's longest-standing conflicts, which threatens to destroy the country's social fabric and its historical heritage. Just as the plight of modern Darfur...
Open Culture
How Medieval Islamic Engineering Brought Water to the Alhambra
Between 711 and 1492, much of the Iberian Peninsula, including modern-day Spain, was under Muslim...
a month ago
Between 711 and 1492, much of the Iberian Peninsula, including modern-day Spain, was under Muslim rule. Not that it was easy to hold on to the place for that length of time: after the fall of Toledo in 1085, Al-Andalus, as the territory was called, continued to lose cities over...
Classical Wisdom
Religion in the Olympics
The Olympics: Do they Unite or Divide Us?
5 months ago
The Olympics: Do they Unite or Divide Us?
Classical Wisdom
Art of the Etruscans
Romans before the Romans
9 months ago
African History...
a brief note on African travel literature in history
a Swahili document on south-central Africa.
7 months ago
a Swahili document on south-central Africa.
Classical Wisdom
Empedocles
The Philosopher God?
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup
Plutarch and Pleasure
a year ago
Dreams of Space -...
The Great Experience (1963)
I have been collecting these books for such a long time that it is rare to come across one I haven't...
a year ago
I have been collecting these books for such a long time that it is rare to come across one I haven't seen. I know there are still many out there but my language skills are poor enough that I rarely find the many books that exist in other languages. So I present today The Great...
African History...
A history of the west African diaspora in Arabia and Jerusalem before 1900
The legacy of west African travel to Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem.
a year ago
The legacy of west African travel to Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem.
Res Obscura
Why did clothing become boring?
An investigation into when, how, and why everyone started dressing the same — and what it was like...
a month ago
An investigation into when, how, and why everyone started dressing the same — and what it was like when they didn't
TheCollector
7 Artists of German Expressionism You Should Know
undefined
a month ago
Trying to Understand...
A Fistful of Clockwork Oranges
What's it going to be, then?
a year ago
What's it going to be, then?
Global Inequality...
Marx Truncated
A review of Shlomo Avineri’s “Karl Marx”
7 months ago
A review of Shlomo Avineri’s “Karl Marx”
Dr Alun Withey
Should I Stay or Should I go?: Encouraging travel in the early modern period.
Travel today is often portrayed as a healthy activity, good for body, mind…and what’s left of the...
7 months ago
Travel today is often portrayed as a healthy activity, good for body, mind…and what’s left of the spirit! A good holiday is generally viewed as a tonic, and holiday company advertisements extol the virtues of ‘getting away’, encountering new places, people and cultures and (if...
Trying to Understand...
NATO's Phantom Armies.
And the ghost of Carl von Clausewitz.
8 months ago
And the ghost of Carl von Clausewitz.
Dreams of Space -...
Moon Trip (1958)
Some of you are familiar with the Ley-Polgreen 4 book "Adventures in Space series (Man-Made...
a year ago
Some of you are familiar with the Ley-Polgreen 4 book "Adventures in Space series (Man-Made Satellites, Space Pilots, Space Stations and Space Travel)."
This is about a 4 book space series you may never have seen. Michael Chester and William Nephew also did a great series of...
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup
The Story of Thebes
a year ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup
Constantine and the Queen of Carthage
a year ago
Constantine and the Queen of Carthage
TheCollector
Who Were Bonnie and Clyde & Why Are They Famous?
undefined
6 months ago
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Roundup
Lost and Found
a year ago
A Collection of...
Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IVb: Antiochus III
This is the second part of the fourth part of our four(ish) part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa)...
9 months ago
This is the second part of the fourth part of our four(ish) part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa) look at the context between the Roman military system based on the manipular legion and the Hellenistic military system structured around the Macedonian sarisa phalanx in the...
Dreams of Space -...
Man-Made Moons (1960)
Another book re-scanned. This one has some wonderful graphics and book design. The design is meant...
a year ago
Another book re-scanned. This one has some wonderful graphics and book design. The design is meant to be an example of isotype graphic design. This was a visual language created to unite the world without using words at all: International System Of Typographic Picture Education,...
African History...
The intellectual history of Ethiopia and Eritrea: Ge'ez manuscripts and scholars (ca. 200-1900CE)
The unique manuscript collections of Ethiopia and Eritrea written in the Ge'ez script are arguably...
a month ago
The unique manuscript collections of Ethiopia and Eritrea written in the Ge'ez script are arguably the best-known works of literature produced in pre-colonial Africa.
Trying to Understand...
The Modern World Is Boring.
Where are the heroes and the adventures now?
7 months ago
Where are the heroes and the adventures now?
Dr Alun Withey
Barbers and (the lack of!) Polite Advertising
Over the past few years, I have spent much time looking at ‘polite’ advertising in the 18th century....
over a year ago
Over the past few years, I have spent much time looking at ‘polite’ advertising in the 18th century. During this period, a whole range of retailers advertised their goods and services to appeal to ladies and gentlemen of taste. Without discussing anything so base as price or...
Classical Wisdom
Jews in the Roman Bathhouse
Is it time to rethink the relationship between Judaism and Greco-Roman society?
a year ago
Is it time to rethink the relationship between Judaism and Greco-Roman society?
History Today Feed
The Prophecies of Merlin
The Prophecies of Merlin
JamesHoare
Mon, 04/22/2024 - 11:22
9 months ago
The Prophecies of Merlin
JamesHoare
Mon, 04/22/2024 - 11:22
TheCollector
Understanding the Theology of Cosmic Horror in H.P. Lovecraft’s Works
undefined
7 months ago
Trying to Understand...
You And Whose Army?
NATO would do well to stay out of Ukraine.
a year ago
NATO would do well to stay out of Ukraine.
Trying to Understand...
It's War, Josep, But Not As We Know It
Trying to understand what Ukraine is all about.
over a year ago
Trying to understand what Ukraine is all about.
African History...
The Dahlak islands and the African dynasty of Yemen
a complete history of a cosmopolitan archipelago in the red sea (4th-19th century)
a year ago
a complete history of a cosmopolitan archipelago in the red sea (4th-19th century)
African History...
Join me on Notes
"On the Zanzibari envoy to 11th century china and the recent Swahili-Persian DNA study"
a year ago
"On the Zanzibari envoy to 11th century china and the recent Swahili-Persian DNA study"
Trying to Understand...
Macron is Safe for the Moment
But the future worries me.
a year ago
But the future worries me.
Classical Wisdom
Dido: Queen of Carthage
Doomed Lover of Ancient Myth
a year ago
Doomed Lover of Ancient Myth
TheCollector
10 Facts About the Surreal Life of Antonio López de Santa Anna
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6 months ago
Dreams of Space -...
I See The Earth! (1968)
I See The Earth! was a young adult/adult book about what technology would be like in the future. It...
over a year ago
I See The Earth! was a young adult/adult book about what technology would be like in the future. It included exploring and farming the ocean, monorails, huge cities and space exploration. The illustration in the margins are small but I rather enjoyed the space flight...
African History...
a brief note on the intellectual contributions of African scholars in the diaspora
the biography of a West African mathematician in Cairo.
9 months ago
the biography of a West African mathematician in Cairo.
Dreams of Space -...
Searching In Science (1965)
To continue with my post from last week, Searching in Science was another science textbook that also...
over a year ago
To continue with my post from last week, Searching in Science was another science textbook that also issued booklets of content. These were more astronomy than manned space flight but also had some very nice illustrations.
The Moon
The Milky Way and The...
Trying to Understand...
People, States and Borders.
And other dubious ideas.
5 months ago
Trying to Understand...
Don't Confuse Me With Facts.
They know what they think.
a year ago
They know what they think.
Classical Wisdom
Origins of Latin Literature
...and the Master of Roman Comedy
a year ago
...and the Master of Roman Comedy
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,...
6 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...
Dr Alun Withey
Finding Your Beard Style in the 19th Century
In the previous post I noted the variety of facial hair styles that were worn by men in the...
over a year ago
In the previous post I noted the variety of facial hair styles that were worn by men in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, depending on factors including status, location and age. Rather than each age having one particular style of facial hair that was ubiquitous, the...
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...
a month 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...
Dreams of Space -...
Into Space: Man's First Controlled Space Flight (1961)
A bit of ephemera today. This is a pamphlet from a Revell Model Kit. They issued this kit quickly to...
a year ago
A bit of ephemera today. This is a pamphlet from a Revell Model Kit. They issued this kit quickly to take advantage of the excitement about this launch. So they had to include a booklet to explain why this slightly inaccurate model was so special. Imagine opening the model kit...
Trying to Understand...
I Hate My Job And I Want To Cry.
Tried chopping wood and carrying water?
a year ago
Tried chopping wood and carrying water?
Dreams of Space -...
Cosmodrome (1987)
Cosmodrome is a paper cut-out book that you could use to build a cosmodrome. Admittedly it is...
a year ago
Cosmodrome is a paper cut-out book that you could use to build a cosmodrome. Admittedly it is published in 1987 so it is way out of scope for my blog. But it has some great visuals and so I think it is worth sharing. I have never had the nerve to cut this out and build it. Most...
Dreams of Space -...
New Treasury for Young Readers (1963)
More or less a "housekeeping" post today. I wanted to scan this book after finding the other one...
11 months ago
More or less a "housekeeping" post today. I wanted to scan this book after finding the other one just for balance. Some fine illustration is a lost bit of space flight for children.
New Treasury for Young Readers. Reader’s Digest. Pleasantville, NY. Reader’s Digest Association....
Classical Wisdom
[Video] Roundtable Discussion with Mary Naples
Watch now (60 min) | Cult of the Capture Bride: How Ancient Women Took Power
a year ago
Watch now (60 min) | Cult of the Capture Bride: How Ancient Women Took Power
History Today Feed
The Death of Caspar Hauser
The Death of Caspar Hauser
j.hoare
Sun, 12/17/2023 - 00:00
a year ago
The Death of Caspar Hauser
j.hoare
Sun, 12/17/2023 - 00:00
Dr Alun Withey
The Health Risks of Travel in Early-Modern Britain
As I start to make some progress on my new research project on travel, health and risk I am turning...
a year ago
As I start to make some progress on my new research project on travel, health and risk I am turning my attention to the sorts of things that early modern travellers were fearful of. As a bit of a nervous traveller myself, it’s quite comforting to know that there is actually a...
TheCollector
Andy Warhol’s Mother: Who Was Julia Warhola?
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8 months ago
Dreams of Space -...
Collier's Encyclopedia Space Articles (1959)
This is a pamphlet distributed to schools to convince student and teachers to buy their...
a year ago
This is a pamphlet distributed to schools to convince student and teachers to buy their encyclopedia. It was also a nice "free" classroom supplement for teachers trying to teach about the coming space age.
This last essay is actually from 1952, it is a nice...
Dreams of Space -...
Building Reading Skills (1951)
Today is a series of school spelling workbooks. What does that have to do with space? They chose an...
a year ago
Today is a series of school spelling workbooks. What does that have to do with space? They chose an aerospace theme for their series of books and since spaceflight was the trend for children they "branded" them. Truly these are pretty dull books even with a couple of space...
Dreams of Space -...
Wonders of Space Travel (1954)
I have not blogged about this pamphlet since 2010 so here is a more complete scan. Wonders of Space...
a year ago
I have not blogged about this pamphlet since 2010 so here is a more complete scan. Wonders of Space Travel was a pamphlet that came enclosed in the May 8th issue of Lion Weekly (#116) in 1954.
Lion Weekly was a magazine for children with comics and stories. (from Wikipedia...
Open Culture
How Keith Jarrett Played on a Broken Piano & Turned a Potentially Disastrous Concert Into the...
Nearly fifty years ago, the celebrated young pianist Keith Jarrett arrived in the West German city...
a month ago
Nearly fifty years ago, the celebrated young pianist Keith Jarrett arrived in the West German city of Köln (better known in English as Cologne). Having just come off a 500-mile-long road trip from Switzerland, where he’d played a concert the previous day, he was left with barely...
TheCollector
Mansa Musa: The Golden Ruler of the Mali Empire
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8 months ago
TheCollector
10 Historic Christmas Towns in the US to Visit
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a month ago
History Today Feed
Radical Conservatives and the Federal Union
Radical Conservatives and the Federal Union
JamesHoare
Tue, 08/13/2024 - 09:21
5 months ago
Radical Conservatives and the Federal Union
JamesHoare
Tue, 08/13/2024 - 09:21
Classical Wisdom
Marcus Aurelius VS Diogenes
Comparing the Stoics and the Cynics...
a year ago
Comparing the Stoics and the Cynics...
Res Obscura
Why Early Modern Books Are So Beautiful
Three theories
a year ago
Dreams of Space -...
Hombres Del Espacio (1960)
So a fun one today. This is so silly and dated that I almost feel like apologizing, but I won't....
over a year ago
So a fun one today. This is so silly and dated that I almost feel like apologizing, but I won't. This is the story of the exploration of space and has to be seen! It might have been assembled from stills from a Spanish film (I don't recognize it so feel free to tell me). But...
TheCollector
Pompeii: Frozen in Time or an Ever-Evolving Landscape?
undefined
6 months ago
Classical Wisdom
Aristotle on Luck
Do You Feel Lucky?
a year ago
TheCollector
8 Works of Art & Architecture Commissioned by the Medicis
undefined
4 months ago
Dr Alun Withey
How Much?! Barbers & the Price of Shaving.
One of the central themes of my new book is how the practice of shaving has changed over time and,...
over a year ago
One of the central themes of my new book is how the practice of shaving has changed over time and, more importantly, who has been responsible for it. From the second half of the eighteenth century, individual men began to take more responsibility for shaving themselves, helped on...
Classical Wisdom
The First Biographers
...and the Surprising Legacy of Ancient Literature
a year ago
...and the Surprising Legacy of Ancient Literature
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...
6 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...
Classical Wisdom
Have We Become Anti-Human?
Is this a problem? And Can/Should it be Helped?
a year ago
Is this a problem? And Can/Should it be Helped?
Trying to Understand...
The Past Is Another Country.
A book review from the future.
6 months ago
A book review from the future.
A Collection of...
Collections: The Philosophy of Liberty – On Liberalism
It is once again the week of July 4th and so, as is customary here, I am going to use this week’s...
6 months ago
It is once again the week of July 4th and so, as is customary here, I am going to use this week’s post to talk about the United States or more correctly this week about the political philosophy the United States was founded on: liberalism. Now an immediate clarification is...
TheCollector
Paul Klee: The Life & Work of an Iconic Artist
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6 months ago
TheCollector
5 Quotes by Locke Explained
undefined
6 months ago
African History...
The forgotten ruins of Botswana: stone towns at the desert's edge.
At its height in the 17th century, the stone towns of the ‘zimbabwe culture’ encompassed an area the...
7 months ago
At its height in the 17th century, the stone towns of the ‘zimbabwe culture’ encompassed an area the size of France. The hundreds of ruins spread across three countries in south-eastern Africa are among the continent’s best-preserved historical monuments and have been the subject...
Trying to Understand...
The West is Weak Where it Matters ...
...and some of the consequences are not obvious.
over a year ago
...and some of the consequences are not obvious.
Dreams of Space -...
The Man Who Sold The Moon (1951 edition)
This is a 1951 paperback collection of 4 Robert Heinlein stories. Normally I would not blog about a...
a year ago
This is a 1951 paperback collection of 4 Robert Heinlein stories. Normally I would not blog about a science fiction collection but I found this charming. I imagined some older avid child finding this collection and devouring it. Both the title and cover have a lot of appeal and...
Dreams of Space -...
Out of This World (1953)
Happy Friday the 13th (in October too). Don't worry, you have gotten really lucky today.
Out of...
a year ago
Happy Friday the 13th (in October too). Don't worry, you have gotten really lucky today.
Out of this World was one of my favorite "discoveries" when I first started collecting these books. It is a massive 160 pages of games, jokes, riddles, and space facts. I last blogged about...
History Today Feed
The UN Declaration of Human Rights
The UN Declaration of Human Rights
JamesHoare
Tue, 12/10/2024 - 09:05
a month ago
The UN Declaration of Human Rights
JamesHoare
Tue, 12/10/2024 - 09:05
Trying to Understand...
No Cheers for Authoritarianism
Remind me what it was, exactly ....
over a year ago
Remind me what it was, exactly ....
African History...
The kingdom of Ndongo and the Portuguese: Queen Njinga and the dynasty of women sovereigns...
The effects of early colonial warfare in central Africa
over a year ago
The effects of early colonial warfare in central Africa
Dr Alun Withey
Are Beards Over? A Historical Perspective.
Recently I spoke with the Guardian journalist Tim Dowling for an excellent article he was writing...
over a year ago
Recently I spoke with the Guardian journalist Tim Dowling for an excellent article he was writing (published last week) about whether beards are finally ‘over’, and I thought it would be interesting to reflect on some of this. Since re-emerging around 2014, gaining popularity...
Trying to Understand...
A Short Service Announcement.
From this week, and on an experimental basis, I’m enabling paid subscriptions for those who may be...
a year ago
From this week, and on an experimental basis, I’m enabling paid subscriptions for those who may be interested. The essays themselves will continue to be entirely free, and I don’t have plans to produce subscriber-only material. I’ve also set up a Buy Me a Coffee cup.
African History...
A muslim kingdom in the Ethiopian highlands: the history of Ifat and Adal ca. 1285-1520.
During the late Middle Ages, the northern Horn of Africa was home to some of the continent's most...
7 months ago
During the late Middle Ages, the northern Horn of Africa was home to some of the continent's most powerful dynasties, whose history significantly shaped the region's social landscape. The history of one of these dynasties, often referred to as the Solomonids, has been...
Dreams of Space -...
The Conquest of Space (1962?)
I last blogged about this book in 2015 so it is time for a revisit. I got a second copy that has a...
a year ago
I last blogged about this book in 2015 so it is time for a revisit. I got a second copy that has a couple of things I had not seen before. The Conquest of Space is a 1962 (?) Australian stamp album. It is intended for children to collect paper stamps they get in Nestle chocolate...
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