In Memoriam, 2023 A tribute to three pop-fiction authors who passed away this year. Kevin Mims 19 Dec 2023 · 13 min read
From out of the Steppes, a ‘Whirlwind of Nations’ In the sixth instalment of ‘The So-Called Dark Ages,’ Herbert Bushman describes the rise of the Huns, who struck terror into the hearts of Goths and Romans alike. Herbert Bushman 19 Dec 2023 · 20 min read
Mutual Friends: The Adventures of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins A charming exhibition at London’s Charles Dickens Museum provides a fascinating glimpse into the private lives of two great English writers. Hannah Gal 11 Dec 2023 · 6 min read
Sailing Into Canada’s Great ‘Northern Sea’ In the fifteenth instalment of his series on the history of Canada, Greg Koabel describes Henry Hudson’s tragic 1610-11 voyage to the saltwater bay that now bears his name. Greg Koabel 11 Dec 2023 · 31 min read
How Superhero Franchises Are Killing Original Cinema Most new movies feature neither good storytelling nor innovative filmmaking. Instead, they rely on the nostalgia of ready-made fan bases. Jacob Bielecki 7 Dec 2023 · 7 min read
Robots, Rats and Hoverchairs: Three Dystopian AI Fantasies Human beings need meaning, and a life in which all one’s needs were met by external agents would fail to provide it. Stewart Slater 5 Dec 2023 · 8 min read
History on Horseback: Napoleon Bonaparte The French emperor and military commander played a pivotal role in an epochal transformation. Ralph Leonard 4 Dec 2023 · 16 min read
The Athens of Asia: A History of Gaza For much of its history, Gaza moved people, things, and ideas by land and sea, and its name was associated with geographic interconnectedness. Robert C. Thornett 1 Dec 2023 · 8 min read
Black Progress and Black Rage A new biopic about Bayard Rustin and the New York Met’s opera about the life of Malcolm X celebrate very different notions of black struggle. Joshua Muravchik 30 Nov 2023 · 8 min read
Chasing the Ice Moon A new book describes the crackpot anthropological theories that Nazis used to justify their belief in Aryan racial superiority. Steven Tucker 27 Nov 2023 · 9 min read
The Pervert’s Guide to Philosophy Costin Alamariu’s (AKA Bronze Age Pervert's) doctoral dissertation is attracting a lot of interest but it doesn’t add up to much. Oliver Traldi 25 Nov 2023 · 18 min read
The Greatest American Western Novel of All Elmer Kelton’s ‘The Time It Never Rained’ is an overlooked classic. Kevin Mims 23 Nov 2023 · 12 min read
The Long Road to Aquitaine In the fifth instalment of ‘The So-Called Dark Ages,’ Herbert Bushman describes the conclusion to the Visigoths’ four-decade quest for a permanent homeland. Herbert Bushman 21 Nov 2023 · 13 min read
Concealed Carry For more than five centuries, the humble pocket has changed the way we equip ourselves to face the world. Virginia Postrel 17 Nov 2023 · 6 min read
Humanism and Its Discontents Humanism aspires to ethical universalism but in practice it is defined by what it opposes and excludes. Robert Huddleston 16 Nov 2023 · 9 min read