Episodes

Friday Feb 07, 2020
The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics (Mark Lilla)
Friday Feb 07, 2020
Friday Feb 07, 2020
Mark Lilla's polished examination of philotyrannical intellectuals of the twentieth century. (The written version of this review was first published January 14, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Tuesday Feb 04, 2020
Stasiland: Stories from behind the Berlin Wall (Anna Funder)
Tuesday Feb 04, 2020
Tuesday Feb 04, 2020
Of why those who opposed Communism when it ruled are forgotten or dishonored, while those who supported it paid no price (yet). (The written version of this review was first published January 13, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Saturday Feb 01, 2020
Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World (Laura Spinney)
Saturday Feb 01, 2020
Saturday Feb 01, 2020
A year ago, I offered thoughts on the next pandemic, in particular its possible effects on society and the reaction of the government. This review seems timely now. (The written version of this review was first published November 15, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Wednesday Jan 29, 2020
Wednesday Jan 29, 2020
An exploration of twentieth-century government's role in African American segregation and its subsequent ill effects. (The written version of this review was first published August 15, 2017. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Monday Jan 27, 2020
Monday Jan 27, 2020
Of bees, and today's agriculture, and atrazine, and cheap food. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Friday Jan 24, 2020
Friday Jan 24, 2020
Straight history today, not politics, in the form of Christian (and Muslim) heroism at the final end of the Crusades. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Tuesday Jan 21, 2020
Why Liberalism Failed (Patrick J. Deneen)
Tuesday Jan 21, 2020
Tuesday Jan 21, 2020
Thoughts, from two years ago now, on Patrick Deneen's seminal work, the first major work of post-liberalism in the modern era. (The written version of this review was first published December 19, 2017. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Saturday Jan 18, 2020
Saturday Jan 18, 2020
My review of @sapinker's "Enlightenment Now." A mixed bag, as usual with Pinker, lurching wildly from Very Good to Very Bad. (The written version of this review was first published February 16, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Thursday Jan 16, 2020
Thursday Jan 16, 2020
Peerless NeverTrumper Jonah Goldberg instructs us how to view the world. (The written version of this review was first published May 2, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Tuesday Jan 14, 2020
Nemesis: Alcibiades and the Fall of Athens (David Stuttard)
Tuesday Jan 14, 2020
Tuesday Jan 14, 2020
Of Men of Destiny, and of the protean Alcibiades, man of glory and contradiction, and of what his life says to us today. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)