A true opium of the people is a belief in nothingness after death — the huge solace of thinking that for our betrayals, greed, cowardice, murders we are not going to be judged.— Czeslaw Milosz, born on this in 1912
The Emotional Toll Of Dying Onstage Every Night
“Halfway through the Broadway run, I started to feel the weight of doing this every single day. Everything was tight, so I talked to a physical therapist.” - The GuardianHow Van Gogh Found His Purpose: Heartfelt Letters to His Brother on How Relationships Refine Us The Marginalian
Our Metaphors For Language Shape How We Think
For example, if we talk about “wasting” or “saving” time, we treat time as if it were a commodity. Or, if we say that we’re “going through” a difficult period, we’re treating time as if it were space through which we move. Like time, language is one of these really complex concepts. - The Conversation
Satire Seems To Be Dead (For Now)
After mobilizing an army of 13,000 to put down the Whiskey Rebellion, George Washingtonbecame a whiskey producer himself... Whiskey »
The eminent historian Peter Brown has written a 700 page memoir. “To today’s academic precariat, his habits might seem as remote as late antiquity itself”... more »
Essays & Opinions
“One writes fables in periods of oppression,” noted Italo Calvino in 1943. But when fascism passed, he kept on writing them... Fables »
The eminent historian Peter Brown has written a 700 page memoir. “To today’s academic precariat, his habits might seem as remote as late antiquity itself” antiquity itself »
“One writes fables in periods of oppression,” noted Italo Calvino in 1943. But when fascism passed, he kept on writing ✍️ them »
Seductive sinner, repentant prostitute, host to seven demons? The enigma of Mary Magdaleneremains inextinguishable... Mary Magdalene »
In our search for meaning, we dream of roads not taken. And these alternative lives take on a reality of their own »
