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TheCollector
The Arch of Titus in Rome: Iconography and Ideology The Arch of Titus is one of the most magnificent ancient monuments surviving in Rome and offers a...
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The Arch of Titus is one of the most magnificent ancient monuments surviving in Rome and offers a fascinating insight into one of the most volatile periods in Roman imperial history. The Flavians bridged the end of Augustus’s Julio-Claudian Dynasty, when the Romans still...
Flashbak
Terrible Visions of Death And Evil on Alfred Kubin’s Journey Back To The Womb “I definitely prefer the four-horned cow to the one having only two horns” – Alfred Kubin (10 April...
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“I definitely prefer the four-horned cow to the one having only two horns” – Alfred Kubin (10 April 1877 – 20 August 1959), 1911   In Alfred Kubin’s bizarre and horrific illustrations, humans appear as skeletal, ghost-like creatures or hideously deformed things. They share...
TheCollector
What is Purim? Exploring the Story of Esther and Jewish Resilience The most well-known Jewish holiday is probably either Passover or Hanukkah. Passover is prescribed...
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The most well-known Jewish holiday is probably either Passover or Hanukkah. Passover is prescribed in the Bible, while Hanukkah commemorates events that happened after the Hebrew Bible was written. These two holidays are similar, however, since they both celebrate divine...
Overcoming Bias
Unleash Capitalism Capitalism today is in chains, allowed to perform many social functions, but held back from...
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Capitalism today is in chains, allowed to perform many social functions, but held back from realizing its full potential.
TheCollector
What Were the Economic Effects of the Iran-Iraq War? In September 1980, fearful of the fiery Islamic revolution in neighboring Iran and taking advantage...
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In September 1980, fearful of the fiery Islamic revolution in neighboring Iran and taking advantage of the resulting chaos (including Western sanctions), Iraq invaded. At the time, Iraq was flush with cash thanks to high oil prices resulting from the 1973 OPEC oil embargo. Taking...
Dreams of Space -...
Caroline Sur La Lune (Caroline on the Moon) 1965 A nice treat today as Caroline goes to the Moon! This was a popular French fictional series but I...
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A nice treat today as Caroline goes to the Moon! This was a popular French fictional series but I had not been able to find the one about the Moon trip until recently. The illustrations are beautiful and full color. Well worth examining each one for its details. Pierre Probst...
A Collection of...
Fireside Friday, April 4, 2025 Fireside this week! I am still a bit behind after attending the annual meeting of the Society for...
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Fireside this week! I am still a bit behind after attending the annual meeting of the Society for Military History – conferences always leave me a bit tired and slow to get back to writing, even as they also stimulate my thinking – so the conclusion of our look at Rings of Power...
TheCollector
The 8 Must-See Rooms at the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) is home to one of the world’s most spectacular...
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New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) is home to one of the world’s most spectacular collections of art, sculpture, and artifacts. The museum offers a wide array of exhibits spread across multiple galleries, from a fully reconstructed Egyptian temple to mosaics and...
Flashbak
Painted Ants Scurry Over Vintage Porcelain by Evelyn Bracklow German artist Evelyn Bracklow’s porcelain cups, saucers, teapots and dinner service is covered in...
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German artist Evelyn Bracklow’s porcelain cups, saucers, teapots and dinner service is covered in ants. On some she’s painted a piece of food and then had her hand-painted black ants congregate around it. The effect is fascinating stuff and unsettling. We know that ants exist in...
Classical Wisdom
Odysseus in Hell Classics and the Divine Comedy
5 months ago
TheCollector
Auguste Comte: The Life & Legacy of the Philosopher of Positivism Auguste Comte developed a way of thinking that says you should have evidence and reasons for what...
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Auguste Comte developed a way of thinking that says you should have evidence and reasons for what you believe. Comte had a big effect on how people in the 19th century thought. He came up with some really new ideas. They changed completely how people looked at things like history...
Open Culture
How Italy Became the Most Divided Country in Europe: Understanding the Great Divide Between North &... Prada, Alfa Romeo, Pellegrino, Ferrari, Illy, Lamborghini, Gucci: these are a few Italian...
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Prada, Alfa Romeo, Pellegrino, Ferrari, Illy, Lamborghini, Gucci: these are a few Italian corporations we all know, though we don’t necessarily know that they’re all from the north of Italy. The same is true, in fact, of most Italian brands that now enjoy global recognition, and...
TheCollector
10 Must-Visit Historic Towns in Washington Washington State has a history as expansive and layered as its landscapes. Long before statehood in...
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Washington State has a history as expansive and layered as its landscapes. Long before statehood in 1889, the region was home to numerous Indigenous tribes who shaped its identity and geography. The arrival of explorers, traders, and pioneers brought about a new chapter, marked...
Wrong Side of...
40k Wrong Side of History Newsletter #61
5 months ago
TheCollector
Pop Art and Surrealism: What Do They Have in Common? Surrealism and Pop Art remain some of the most popular and loved art movements of the 20th century,...
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Surrealism and Pop Art remain some of the most popular and loved art movements of the 20th century, well-known even by those who are not deeply interested in the history of art. The aestheticized weirdness of Surrealist art gave birth to countless images and ideas that settled in...
Open Culture
The Steps a President Would Take to Destroy His Nation, According to Grok Just out of curiosity, and apropos of nothing, we asked Grok (the AI chatbot created by Elon Musk)...
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Just out of curiosity, and apropos of nothing, we asked Grok (the AI chatbot created by Elon Musk) the following question: If a president of a superpower wanted to destroy his own country, what steps would he take? Here’s what Grok had to say: If a president of a superpower aimed...
TheCollector
What Is an Ideal Government? A Philosophical Approach What makes a perfect government? Is it one governed by the wisest people or one that ensures the...
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What makes a perfect government? Is it one governed by the wisest people or one that ensures the greatest possible happiness for the largest number of citizens? These questions have fascinated thinkers since ancient times—from Plato and other classical philosophers to John Locke...
CrimethInc.
A Demonstrator's Guide to Lockdowns and Blockades A complete guide to assembling and employing lockboxes and other means of blockading. There is a...
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A complete guide to assembling and employing lockboxes and other means of blockading. There is a broad spectrum of tactics to choose from between simply holding up a protest sign and setting things on fire. If you are looking to intensify a pressure campaign or to stand your...
Open Culture
Why the Romans Stopped Reading Books Nobody reads books anymore. Whether or not that notion strikes you as true, you’ve probably heard it...
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Nobody reads books anymore. Whether or not that notion strikes you as true, you’ve probably heard it expressed fairly often in recent decades — just as you might have had you lived in the Roman Empire of late antiquity. During that time, as ancient-history YouTuber Garrett Ryan...
Flashbak
The Mystery Remains: Found Kodachrome Photos From 1960s San Francisco In 2020, David Gallagher, who runs SF Memory, opened a cabinet found abandoned in San Francisco’s...
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In 2020, David Gallagher, who runs SF Memory, opened a cabinet found abandoned in San Francisco’s Mission District, somewhere around Tiffany and Duncan streets. Inside were 920 Kodachrome slides by a then unknown photographer capturing life in the city throughout the 1960s. They...
TheCollector
10 Must-See UNESCO World Heritage Sites in France UNESCO World Heritage Sites are places of outstanding cultural or natural importance recognized for...
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UNESCO World Heritage Sites are places of outstanding cultural or natural importance recognized for their universal value to humanity. Spanning continents, these sites include ancient ruins, architectural marvels, sacred landscapes, and natural wonders, each telling a unique...
History Today Feed
Early Modern Millers’ Tales Early Modern Millers’ Tales JamesHoare Thu, 04/03/2025 - 09:05
5 months ago
TheCollector
6 Famous Land Artists You Should Know Land Art, also known as Earth Art, is a name applied to artworks that operate within the natural...
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Land Art, also known as Earth Art, is a name applied to artworks that operate within the natural realm rather than in artistic studios, using earth, stones, and other natural materials. In some ways, Land Art was a category of art rather than a coherent movement. Artists who...
Open Culture
Watch Jazz ‘Hot’, the Rare 1938 Short Film With Jazz Legend Django Reinhardt Here’s a remarkable short film of the great jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, violinist Stéphane...
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Here’s a remarkable short film of the great jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, violinist Stéphane Grappelli and their band the Quintette du Hot Club de France performing on a movie set in 1938. The film was hastily organized by the band’s British agent Lew Grade as a way to...
TheCollector
Was Chernobyl the Catalyst for the Soviet Union’s Collapse? On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant exploded. The fallout left large parts of modern-day...
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On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant exploded. The fallout left large parts of modern-day Ukraine and Belarus uninhabitable. Six years after the explosion, the Soviet Union collapsed. Many historians, including Mikhail Gorbachev himself, believe Chernobyl was the real...
Overcoming Bias
Futarchy For Fundraising The Making of Modern Corporate Finance: A History of the Ideas and How They Help Build the Wealth of...
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The Making of Modern Corporate Finance: A History of the Ideas and How They Help Build the Wealth of Nations (quotes below), by Donald Chew, persuaded me that for-profit-firm capitalism has varied quite a lot over space and time, and that the U.S.
Res Obscura
When Jorge Luis Borges met one of the founders of AI One reason I became a historian is the joy of encountering moments in the past that are foreign, yet...
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One reason I became a historian is the joy of encountering moments in the past that are foreign, yet also oddly familiar.
TheCollector
Antiochus IV & the Siege of Jerusalem: What Really Happened For centuries, the people of Judaea had seen many foreign dynasts claim hegemony over them; the...
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For centuries, the people of Judaea had seen many foreign dynasts claim hegemony over them; the Greeks were but the latest. Antiochus IV’s interactions with the Judaeans were, to put it mildly, troubled. Does Antiochus IV deserve the mantle of villainy that ancient sources such...
Classical Wisdom
The Madness of Messalina What Sort of Woman Makes History?
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Trying to Understand...
Being Non-Transactional. Beyond "What's in it for me?"
5 months ago
TheCollector
What Were the Political Effects of the Iran-Iraq War? The Iranian Revolution and Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979 shocked the world and turned the West against...
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The Iranian Revolution and Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979 shocked the world and turned the West against the new Islamic revolutionary government of Iran. Less than a year later, the neighboring nation of Iraq, a secular dictatorship under former army officer Saddam Hussein, invaded...
Wrong Side of...
Fiction is truer than fact Willing suspension of disbelief is not a good basis for lawmaking
5 months ago
Open Culture
In 1927, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis Created a Dystopian Vision of What the World Would Look Like in... Ultra-tall high-rises against dark skies. A huge distance between the rich and the poor. Robber...
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Ultra-tall high-rises against dark skies. A huge distance between the rich and the poor. Robber barons at the helm of large-scale industrial operations that turn man into machine. Machines that have become intelligent enough to displace man. These have all been standard elements...
History Today Feed
‘The Crisis of Colonial Anglicanism’ by Martyn Percy review ‘The Crisis of Colonial Anglicanism’ by Martyn Percy review JamesHoare Wed, 04/02/2025 - 09:13
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Open Culture
Watch Bob Dylan Make His Debut at the Newport Folk Festival in Colorized 1963 Footage ?si=l7KWVf9NZBUkPyM6 In July 1963, Bob Dylan made his first appearance at the Newport Folk Festival....
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?si=l7KWVf9NZBUkPyM6 In July 1963, Bob Dylan made his first appearance at the Newport Folk Festival. On opening night, he captivated a crowd of 13,000 with a performance of “Blowin’ in the Wind,” accompanied by Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, and Peter, Paul, and Mary. Then, the...
TheCollector
Paulo Freire’s Philosophy of Education: An In-Depth Guide If you’re an educator, student, or just someone who loves to learn, it’s worth checking out Paulo...
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If you’re an educator, student, or just someone who loves to learn, it’s worth checking out Paulo Freire. His educational philosophy changed the game. Freire believed that teaching shouldn’t be about bossing kids around—and that schools shouldn’t reproduce systems of oppression....
Global Inequality...
Do you want to be a synonym? I had a dinner with a friend tonight and we spoke of how the new era which has just begun makes lots...
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I had a dinner with a friend tonight and we spoke of how the new era which has just begun makes lots of our knowledge, or the ways of thinking, about international relations, economic policies, poverty and wealth etc.
TheCollector
Archaeologists Find Ancient Tomb of Egyptian Military Commander The ancient tomb of a military commander has been uncovered in Egypt, reported the country’s...
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The ancient tomb of a military commander has been uncovered in Egypt, reported the country’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The burial site belonged to a high-ranking leader who served under King Ramesses III, who is considered to be the last pharaoh of Egypt’s New Kingdom...
Hidden History
The Assassination of Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr Civil rights icon Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr was shot and killed on April 4, 1968, on a motel...
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Civil rights icon Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr was shot and killed on April 4, 1968, on a motel balcony in Memphis. One of the earliest successes of the civil rights movement was a boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.  In 1955, after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her...
Classical Wisdom
How Extra Virgin Olive Oil Got its Name The Ancient History in Your Kitchen
5 months ago
TheCollector
What Were the Sociocultural Effects of the Iran-Iraq War? After the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the start of the Iran Hostage Crisis, Iran fought its...
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After the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the start of the Iran Hostage Crisis, Iran fought its neighbor Iraq for eight years. This war—the largest industrialized war since World War II—demonstrated the tenacity and radicalism of Iran’s Islamist regime. In battle, it used...
Flashbak
The Life of Flowers In Vintage Found Photographs Flowers speak a language we understand. They tell us of time and its passing. They speak of life and...
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Flowers speak a language we understand. They tell us of time and its passing. They speak of life and death, enduring, waiting and survival. They speak of hope and renewal. “To be a flower,” Emily Dickinson wrote in Bloom, a poem, “is profound Responsibility”. We’re thinking of...
TheCollector
Elizabethan vs. Jacobean Theatre: What are the Differences? Before Elizabeth I ascended to the British throne, theatre was broadly seen as sinful and crude. The...
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Before Elizabeth I ascended to the British throne, theatre was broadly seen as sinful and crude. The Renaissance, accompanied by the Reformation and philosophical Humanism, elevates the artform from traditional church led ‘mystery plays’ to classical drama. It could be argued...
Open Culture
The Only Illustrated Manuscript of Homer’s Iliad from Antiquity Despite its status as one of the most widely known and studied epic poems of all time, Homer’s Iliad...
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Despite its status as one of the most widely known and studied epic poems of all time, Homer’s Iliad has proven surprisingly resistant to adaptation. However much inspiration it has provided to modern-day novelists working in a variety of different traditions, it’s translated...
History Today Feed
Wool Aliens of the British Empire Wool Aliens of the British Empire JamesHoare Tue, 04/01/2025 - 09:07
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Open Culture
The Great Gatsby: A Free Audio Book April 10th will mark the 100th anniversary of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel, The...
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April 10th will mark the 100th anniversary of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel, The Great Gatsby. As A.O. Scott notes in a recent tribute, when first published, The Great Gatsby got off to a slow start. Initially, “Reviewers shrugged. Sales were sluggish. The novel...
TheCollector
Trofim Lysenko: The Controversial Scientist Who Changed the Soviet Union During the early 20th century, Trofim Lysenko was perhaps the most influential scientist within the...
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During the early 20th century, Trofim Lysenko was perhaps the most influential scientist within the Soviet Union. He steered Soviet biology and agriculture through the 20th century, and today he is remembered as a figure known for his controversial and dangerous theories. With...
The Scholar's Stage
The Eight Tribes of Trump and China LAST OCTOBER I published a short breakdown of four geopolitical ‘schools’ that might shape China...
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LAST OCTOBER I published a short breakdown of four geopolitical ‘schools’ that might shape China strategy under Trump. That piece was a pre-election preview of a much larger report I was writing for the Foreign Policy Research Institute. I published the preview as security: Trump...
TheCollector
“To Be Is to Be Perceived”: The Concept of Berkeley’s Idealism Ever thought about whether the world is there only because you think it is? That’s what George...
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Ever thought about whether the world is there only because you think it is? That’s what George Berkeley meant with his philosophy of idealism. The 18th-century philosopher came up with a pretty wild idea: “To be is to be perceived.” According to him, we don’t find objects, and...
Classical Wisdom
The 7 Sages of Ancient Greece From Dwarfs to Wise Men... What's Up With the Number 7?
5 months ago