Words Are the Only Victors
Salman Rushdie’s new novel is a powerful reminder of his vital role in the endless battle for free speech.
Christian Kriticos
· 11 min read
Art and Culture
A collection of 718 posts
A Conspiracy Theory of Connotations
The obsessive policing of language in the name of progress relies on magical thinking.
Oliver Traldi
· 7 min read
Heidegger’s Downfall
Richard Wolin’s reappraisal of Martin Heidegger offers both original contributions and a synthesis of critical scholarship. The result is a timely work of enduring importance.
Jeffrey Herf
· 18 min read
Roald Dahl and the Ethics of Art
The urge to censor is based on a misunderstanding of what makes literature valuable.
Iona Italia
· 11 min read
Aristotle (and the Stoics): An Interview with John Sellars
A new book by John Sellars explores the life’s work and extraordinary legacy of the man he has provocatively called “the single most important human being ever to have lived.”
Riley Moore
· 20 min read
Nick Cave: “Conservatism Is an Aspiration”
The lead Bad Seed shares his thoughts on creativity, marriage, and having a conservative temperament.
Claire Lehmann
· 13 min read
Low Life and High Style
Cruel, indiscreet, misanthropic and miserable, columnist Jeffrey Bernard nevertheless produced some bracing and scabrously funny journalism.
Robin Ashenden
· 14 min read
The Approaching Disintegration of Academia
Universities cannot withstand the assault on objective truth.
Mark Goldblatt
· 7 min read
The Crack-Up
How individual and civilisational identities collapse.
Peter Hughes
· 10 min read
The Eyes of Another
Dostoevsky’s masterpiece, ‘Crime and Punishment,’ offers a radical reinterpretation of guilt and redemption.
Marilyn Simon
· 8 min read
Boring Art, Impotent Politics
Mixing aesthetics and activism does a disservice to both.
Julia Friedman
· 11 min read
Whatever Happened to Light Verse?
A paean to a disappearing and misunderstood literary tradition.
Kevin Mims
· 21 min read
A Bore of a Blockbuster
Next time, one hopes, James Cameron will focus as much on the story he tells as the means he uses to tell it.
Allan Stratton
· 7 min read
Scenes from a Marriage
In 2020, a British High Court judge ruled that actor Johnny Depp was probably a “wife beater.” Earlier this year, an American jury disagreed. Who got it right?
Charlotte Allen
· 70 min read
The Inner Life of Transcendent Genius
In ‘The Philosophy of Modern Song,’ Dylan contemplates himself and the art form of which he is the acknowledged master.
Benjamin Kerstein
· 13 min read