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Wrong Side of...
Democracy vs liberalism in the heart of Europe ‘All state authority is derived from the people’
6 months ago
TheCollector
10 Must-Visit Historic Towns in Mississippi From its early indigenous cultures to European settlement and its role in pivotal moments like the...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
From its early indigenous cultures to European settlement and its role in pivotal moments like the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement, the Magnolia State has been at the heart of American history. Known for its Delta blues, rich literary tradition, and Southern hospitality,...
Dreams of Space -...
Die Mondexpedition (1966) Die Mondexpedition is the original  German book that was translated into English in 1969 as The Log...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Die Mondexpedition is the original  German book that was translated into English in 1969 as The Log of a Moon Expedition. It's full title at the time was Die Mondexpedition: 14 Mal 24 Stunden auf dem Mond roughly translated as The Lunar Expedition: 14 times on the moon for 24...
Global Inequality...
Poison for the soul Review of David Lay Williams’s “The Greatest of All Plagues”
6 months ago
TheCollector
Why European Militaries Collectively Downsized After the Cold War Throughout the Cold War, European militaries were very well-armed and capable of fighting intense...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Throughout the Cold War, European militaries were very well-armed and capable of fighting intense conflicts over an extended period. Centuries of warfare on the European continent had conditioned people throughout Europe that war was a fact of life. Yet by the 1990s and early...
A Collection of...
Collections: The Siege of Eregion, Part I: What Logistics? This is the first part of our [I don’t know; a few?] part series looking at the Siege of Eregion...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
This is the first part of our [I don’t know; a few?] part series looking at the Siege of Eregion sequence from the second season of Amazon’s Rings of Power and what we can learn by pointing out its missteps. And I’m not going to bury the lede here: this entire sequence is a mess....
TheCollector
Leahy Law: Context, Overview, & History During the Cold War, the United States became a major exporter of weapons to countries fighting...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
During the Cold War, the United States became a major exporter of weapons to countries fighting communism around the world. The issue of US arms sales to foreign militaries accused of human rights violations has been the subject of intense debate in the American political arena...
Classical Wisdom
The Colosseum Rome's Iconic Arena
6 months ago
TheCollector
Bodhidharma: The Legendary Founder of Kung Fu & Zen (Myth vs Facts) Zen Buddhism’s enigmatic teachings and its masters have influenced East Asian art, philosophy, and...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Zen Buddhism’s enigmatic teachings and its masters have influenced East Asian art, philosophy, and poetry for over a thousand years. However, the entire tradition traces itself back to one legendary man, credited not only with bringing Zen to China but also with the development...
CrimethInc.
Become an Anarchist or Forever Hold Your Peace As Donald Trump and Elon Musk subordinate the United States government to their pursuit of...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
As Donald Trump and Elon Musk subordinate the United States government to their pursuit of totalitarian power, Democrats remain in a defensive posture, accusing them of lawlessness. But neither courts nor laws will suffice to halt the descent into autocracy. Massive numbers of...
TheCollector
How Did the Arrival of Europeans Change North America? The process of colonizing North America transpired quickly between 1492 and 1620 with an increasing...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
The process of colonizing North America transpired quickly between 1492 and 1620 with an increasing number of settlers arriving in bigger groups after 1600. As more Europeans arrived in the region, demand for land escalated. Eventually, the invaders displaced Native Americans...
Open Culture
How Do You Use AI in Your Daily Life? Share the Applications That Have Made a Big Difference Image by Jernej Furman, via Wikimedia Commons It would be difficult to imagine the last couple of...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Image by Jernej Furman, via Wikimedia Commons It would be difficult to imagine the last couple of years without artificial intelligence, even if you don’t use it. Can you recall the last day without some AI-related news item or social-media post — or indeed, a time when the hype...
TheCollector
10 Historic Towns in Germany You Should Visit Germany’s past is written across its landscapes, from the Roman frontier to medieval fortresses and...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Germany’s past is written across its landscapes, from the Roman frontier to medieval fortresses and the echoes of empire. It was here that Charlemagne forged the foundations of the Holy Roman Empire in the 9th century, where Martin Luther ignited the Protestant Reformation in the...
The Scholar's Stage
The Euro-American Split (I): Dread Possibility THERE ARE DECADES WHEN possibility is constrained in a narrow frame. The terrain has been surveyed,...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
THERE ARE DECADES WHEN possibility is constrained in a narrow frame. The terrain has been surveyed, boundaries have been laid, and rules have been established. In such an age there is still room for high drama: The decisive round of a boxing match draws the eye despite the...
TheCollector
El Greco Altarpieces Reunited For First Time in 200 Years Nine monumental paintings by El Greco once decorated monastery walls in Toledo, Spain, where the...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Nine monumental paintings by El Greco once decorated monastery walls in Toledo, Spain, where the Greek-born artist spent most of his career. Most of these canvases eventually ended up elsewhere—but now, thanks to Madrid’s Prado Museum, they are hanging together again for the...
Patterns in Humanity
Sub-replacement fertility in pre-baby boom Europe Past perspectives on fertility decline
6 months ago
Flashbak
The International Atlas of Clouds and of States of the Sky by the Office National Météorologique,... “Ho! Ho! Ho! To the bottle I go To heal my heart and drown my woe Rain may fall, and wind may blow...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
“Ho! Ho! Ho! To the bottle I go To heal my heart and drown my woe Rain may fall, and wind may blow And many miles be still to go But under a tall tree will I lie And let the clouds go sailing by” — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring     … Continue reading "The...
TheCollector
What We Know About Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ So Far For his next historical blockbuster, award-winning filmmaker Christopher Nolan is taking on The...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
For his next historical blockbuster, award-winning filmmaker Christopher Nolan is taking on The Odyssey. The film, set to be released next year, will likely be the most ambitious—and the most expensive—adaptation of Homer’s epic Greek poem to date. Read on to discover newly...
Open Culture
The Architectural History of the Louvre: 800 Years in Three Minutes Setting aside just one day for the Louvre is a classic first-time Paris visitor’s mistake. The place...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Setting aside just one day for the Louvre is a classic first-time Paris visitor’s mistake. The place is simply too big to comprehend on one visit, or indeed on ten visits. To grow so vast has taken eight centuries, a process explained in under three minutes by the official video...
TheCollector
10 Locations from the Odyssey and Their Real-Life Counterparts Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film, “The Odyssey,” slated for release on July 17, 2026, is a...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film, “The Odyssey,” slated for release on July 17, 2026, is a cinematic adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek epic poem. The narrative follows Odysseus, portrayed by Matt Damon, on his arduous journey home following the Trojan War, encountering...
Open Culture
Optical Poems by Oskar Fischinger: Discover the Avant-Garde Animator Despised by Hitler & Dissed by... At a time when much of animation was consumed with little anthropomorphized animals sporting white...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
At a time when much of animation was consumed with little anthropomorphized animals sporting white gloves, Oskar Fischinger went in a completely different direction. His work is all about dancing geometric shapes and abstract forms spinning around a flat featureless background....
TheCollector
Satyrs in Greek Art: Rowdy Party Animals Satyrs were creatures linked strongly with Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, pleasure, and theater....
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Satyrs were creatures linked strongly with Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, pleasure, and theater. These party-loving, mischievous, and uninhibited creatures were an exception in ancient Greek art because there was no solid mythological tradition around satyrs. Instead, they were...
Classical Wisdom
The Top 10 Pre-Socratics, ahem, Natural Philosophers Time to Rename "the tyrants of the spirit"?
6 months ago
TheCollector
Egypt Announces First Royal Tomb Discovery Since King Tut The royal tomb of King Tutankhamun, located in Egypt’s famous Valley of the Kings, was discovered in...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
The royal tomb of King Tutankhamun, located in Egypt’s famous Valley of the Kings, was discovered in 1922. Now, for the first time since then, another royal tomb has been unearthed in Egypt: that of King Thutmose II. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiques has dubbed the...
Classical Wisdom
Who Were the "Pre-Socratics"? Classical Wisdom Litterae
6 months ago
TheCollector
5 Women in Epistemology You Should Know Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that deals with knowledge, belief, and the relationship...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that deals with knowledge, belief, and the relationship between the two. Being one of the core philosophical disciplines from antiquity, epistemology has always been dominated by men. Nonetheless, in the last decades, almost all novelties...
Flashbak
Cover Stars of The Face Magazine – Photos 1980 – 2004 There’s a new exhibition of The Face, the glossy British magazine that through the 80s and 90s was...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
There’s a new exhibition of The Face, the glossy British magazine that through the 80s and 90s was the lightning rod of the progress of popular culture and styled a generation. The Face was well produced, designed and written monthly with music at its core but an expanded focus...
TheCollector
What Is Black History Month? Originating in the United States, BHM has become an annual celebration of the history and...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Originating in the United States, BHM has become an annual celebration of the history and achievements of black people in many countries across the world, such as the UK and Canada. The months predominantly used for celebration are February and October, with the celebrations...
Open Culture
Watch David Byrne Lead a Massive Choir in Singing David Bowie’s “Heroes” Throughout the years, we’ve featured performances of Choir!Choir!Choir!–a large amateur choir from...
6 months ago
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6 months 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 Leonard Cohen’s...
Trying to Understand...
What We Talk About, When We Talk About Talks. The End may be further away than you think.
6 months ago
TheCollector
What Did Albert Camus Really Mean by the Absurd? It is widely (but wrongly) believed that what Camus means by the absurd is something like life...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
It is widely (but wrongly) believed that what Camus means by the absurd is something like life viewed from a distance is completely meaningless. What Camus actually says is that life viewed in a particular way only appears meaningless. The crucial nuance, often missed, is that...
Wrong Side of...
The lone wolves of Germany Why weak states resort to collective punishment of citizens
6 months ago
TheCollector
The Battle of Navarino: The Last Battle of the Age of Sail The Battle of Navarino on October 20, 1827 sits between two eras. As the first steam-powered ships...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
The Battle of Navarino on October 20, 1827 sits between two eras. As the first steam-powered ships took to the seas, two great masses of wooden sailing ships clashed in one last fleet action with the fate of an empire on the line. For a final time fleets of sailing ships impacted...
Hidden History
The Vigenere Cipher The Vigenere Cipher is an encryption system that was developed over 500 years ago, and a variant of...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
The Vigenere Cipher is an encryption system that was developed over 500 years ago, and a variant of it was still being used by Soviet KGB spies in the 1950s. Ever since people have been writing, they have been searching for ways to make their written messages secure. This has...
TheCollector
The Stono Rebellion: America’s Largest Slave Uprising By 1739, slavery in colonial America had been entrenched for over 100 years. The dependence on...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
By 1739, slavery in colonial America had been entrenched for over 100 years. The dependence on enslaved people to grow American crops was only increasing, but freedom was in the air. One September night, South Carolina slaves rose up to fight for their liberty. Though the exact...
Open Culture
Why Are the Names of British Towns & Cities So Hard to Pronounce?: A Humorous But Informative Primer When they make their first transoceanic voyage, more than a few Americans choose to go to England,...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
When they make their first transoceanic voyage, more than a few Americans choose to go to England, on the assumption that, whatever culture shock they might experience, at least none of the difficulties will be linguistic. Only when it’s too late do they discover the true meaning...
TheCollector
Who Is Ruby Bridges? On November 14, 1960, six-year-old Ruby Bridges became one of the first Black students to attend an...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
On November 14, 1960, six-year-old Ruby Bridges became one of the first Black students to attend an all-white public school in the South. Escorted by federal marshals through crowds of segregationists, Ruby stepped onto her new school’s campus and into the history books. Ruby is...
Open Culture
When William S. Burroughs Appeared on Saturday Night Live: His First TV Appearance (1981) Though he never said so directly, we might expect that Situationist Guy Debord would have included...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Though he never said so directly, we might expect that Situationist Guy Debord would have included Saturday Night Live in what he called the “Spectacle”—the mass media presentation of a totalizing reality, “the ruling order’s nonstop discourse about itself, its never-ending...
TheCollector
What Is Rudolf Steiner’s Philosophy of Freedom? Do you want to learn about philosophy and how it affects our idea of freedom? If you do, then Rudolf...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Do you want to learn about philosophy and how it affects our idea of freedom? If you do, then Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy of freedom is something you’ll find incredibly interesting. In his famous book The Philosophy of Freedom, Steiner, an Austrian philosopher, anthroposophist,...
Classical Wisdom
The American Cincinnatus Washington's Great Inspiration
6 months ago
Overcoming Bias
Futarchy And Self-Dealing Governance Compared to divided government, a more central government has stronger incentives to help the polity...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Compared to divided government, a more central government has stronger incentives to help the polity as a whole.
Flashbak
Marvels of the Universe, 1912 – Curious Scientific Illustrations From A Compendium of Life First published in 1912, readers could learn all things about everything in Marvels of the Universe...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
First published in 1912, readers could learn all things about everything in Marvels of the Universe : a popular work on the marvels of the heavens, the earth, plant life, animal life, the mighty deep. It was published as a periodical in London by Hutchinson and Company, founded...
Open Culture
Brian Eno Attempts to Figure Out What Art Does in a New Book Co-Written with Artist Bette A Brian Eno was thinking about the purpose of art a decade ago, as evidenced by his 2015 John Peel...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Brian Eno was thinking about the purpose of art a decade ago, as evidenced by his 2015 John Peel Lecture (previously featured here on Open Culture). But he was also thinking about it three decades ago, as evidenced by A Year with Swollen Appendices, his diary of the year 1995...
Classical Wisdom
Weekend Quiz Lots and Lots of Love
6 months ago
African History...
Internal diasporas and the state in African history The Wangara chronicle, one of West Africa's oldest surviving historical texts composed around 1650,...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
The Wangara chronicle, one of West Africa's oldest surviving historical texts composed around 1650, contains an interesting account explaining the migration of a group of scholars from medieval Malī against the wishes of its ruler:
Overcoming Bias
Futarchy and the Transfer Problem I recently tweeted on the ineffectiveness of Medicine, and thus on waste we could cut by cutting...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
I recently tweeted on the ineffectiveness of Medicine, and thus on waste we could cut by cutting back on it.
Global Inequality...
Trump, the state and the revolution To say that Trump in his new incarnation is different from the Trump No.
6 months ago
Flashbak
Grant Wood: America The Sensual Grant Wood’s most famous picture is American Gothic (1930), that painting stepped in storytelling...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Grant Wood’s most famous picture is American Gothic (1930), that painting stepped in storytelling and subversive wit of two farmers looking lean, staid and weather-beaten as they stand guard before their lean and staid home. But there’s lot more to him that than hit. Wood was a...
Wrong Side of...
Rome’s miserable fate The Year of the Plague #3
6 months ago
A Collection of...
Fireside Friday, February 14, 2025 (On Grant Funding) Hey folks! Happy Valentine’s Day. Fireside this week and then hopefully next week we’ll start into...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Hey folks! Happy Valentine’s Day. Fireside this week and then hopefully next week we’ll start into our look at the Siege of Eregion in Season 2 of Rings of Power and also the larger Tolkien legendarium. I confess, watching the show, my suspension of disbelief fell much faster...