Malarkey is a colorful and punchy term for nonsense or foolishness. It can also be used to describe insincere or exaggerated talk. It is a word that carries a specific weight when you use it to…

For the past year, I’ve been learning Kabbalah for the first time in my life. It has been a fascinating journey. I haven’t really shared much about it publicly, and I’m not sure whether I’m going to…

You don’t know half of it! Seriously, it would be beyond ugly. And I’m not talking about the cosmic perspective of, you know, not even being born if He hadn’t made me, or that if He…

On the morning of April 26, 1478, inside Florence’s cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, a group of men waited for the priest to raise the host. When he did, they drew daggers and attacked Lorenzo de’…

On the morning of January 17, 1917, Nigel de Grey burst into his superior’s office clutching a partial decode of a German diplomatic telegram and asked a single question: “Do you want to bring…

Exploring a philosophic topic based on the title 'War'

June 21, 2026. The New Paltz Zen Center’s first shuso hossen ceremony, in which Zen student Monshin gave her first dharma talk and became a senior student. It’s a big step in NPZC’s…

When you disagree with an author about her own story.

After plenty of time at the workbench, my First Crusade Frankish knights are officially based, grouped, and ready to ride down the enemies of Christendom. These, iron-clad knights of the Italo-Norman…

As expected, the cover of Andrew McKenzie-McHarg’s The Hidden History of Conspiracy Theory (Princeton University Press, 2026) features a hand-drawn variant on its cover.

I have a new piece in National Affairs, i n which I explain (drawing on Milton, Mill, and Aristotle) why exposure to worthless and harmful speech can make you a better person.

A Dear Prudence reader who needs to unplug from current events every few weeks asks (search "autism and ADHD") what to do about people who "accuse me of not caring about what's happening outside my…

Impressive new research sheds light on the size of the Viking fleets operating in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean between c. 750 and 1100. The post Viking Ships and Fleets – How Large Were They?…

Fill out a bank cheque in Japan and you may hit a strange little wall. The amount does not read 八 for eight. It reads 捌. A character with a hand on its left side, a character that looks like a verb…

Writing to Learn Math: What did the author mean? Put the thought in your own words. Do you agree or disagree? Why? Do you want your children to develop the ability to reason creatively and figure out…

Ever since the Protestant Reformation , Christians have tended to read Paul as opposing any notion of “works-based righteousness.” Salvation, in this familiar telling, is secured entirely by faith.…

In the US at least, as far as I can tell, Jean Hyppolite is largely unknown outside of specialists in 20c French thought and Hegel.  Hyppolite is best-known here for his influential Genesis and…

Rome had huge armies. “This is a common misconception in the public, that the ‘legion’ was essentially the Roman word for ‘army.’ It wasn’t (that word was exercitus); the legion was, by the…

Mexico’s Yūshūkan Mindset by Joshua S. Treviño > Ulysses S. Grant, in his Memoirs, disagreed emphatically with the characterization of Mexico’s soldiery of 1846–1848 as intrinsically inferior, and…

Union Square 14th Street & 4th Avenue 1905 We are looking east along 14th Street towards Fourth Avenue. The lack of pedestrians and traffic indicates that this was probably Sunday morning. The…

Today we learn one of the central texts in the Talmud that discusses the relationship between experience and authority.חולין נז, ב…אמרו עליו על רבי שמעון בן חלפתא שעסקן בדברים היהמאי עסקן בדברים? א"ר…

seekingstars:Søren Kierkegaard

By Greg Laurie I find it interesting that the one day of the year when the most phone calls are made is Mother’s Day, while the one day of the year when the most collect calls are made is (you…

More podcast episodes online or in your favorite app. You know I love simple practices. This is one of the simplest, coursing down the centuries since, at least, these discourses in the Pāli…

She voiced genocide for twenty years. Now she lives in silence, still deciding which sorry she means.

Chelsea Old Church has stood quietly on the banks of the River Thames for more than 700 years. It may not be London’s most spectacular church, but like Chelsea itself, is steeped in history.…

A new excavation at Søften, near Lisbjerg, has revealed an extensive production environment that may have supplied Viking Age Aarhus with textiles and other craft products. The post Weaving Sails for…

Excuse this detour to another topic in the 19th century. I’m currently doing research into views of spinsterhood in the early twentieth century, background for a project on the dashing spinster…

This is not transvetigating. Transvestigating is a term for when transphobic people point to "biological" reasons why someone is trans, and use it as a way to push the idea of some major trans agenda…

A continued analysis of four images posted to social media by the Trinitarian Bible Society. Once again, I won't argue either way as to whether Mark 16:9-20 was originally part of the Biblical…

My grandpas and uncles often talk about how millionaires and billionaires (now even trillionaires) are greedy and “evil”. And of course, also how marketers and advertisers are tricking people into…

I am called by the name Caput, a citizen in the practice of statuary. Some days ago, a citizen called by the name Iratus commissioned me to create a statue of his lately departed father. I started…

Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons' is one of the most recognisable and beloved of all pieces of classical music. The author Hannah French investigates its origins

Earlier this year, I read An Ottoman Traveller: Selections from the Book of Travels by Evliya Çelebi , in part following a very exciting and happy trip to Istanbul in December/early January. Evliya…

Learning Chinese, or any language, makes you more aware of language in general. And one thing that surprised me is that, despite Mandarin being so different from my mother tongue (Dutch), both…

I have linked to videos from OTR a few times on my link blog but this one deserves a post on here. It’s a feature-length documentary about the “Golden Triangle” within Thailand,…

I love annotating books. Irreverently. With diagrams and research notes. When I open a book after months of not touching it, I often laugh, trying to understand what I was thinking at the time. I…

Should Christians Teach Their Children Bible Prophecy? For many believers, the answer is not as obvious as it should be. Some Christians assume prophecy is too complicated for children. Others worry…

My experiences of 1960s culture during my youth run deep. Understanding the changes taking place in the 2020s also requires “deep immersion”—there are no quick shortcuts. It is particularly…

In his response to Casey Spinks, John Fea objects to a “textualist” approach to the Declaration of Independence. Fea wants something “more nuanced: an approach that takes the document’s original…

In June of 1906, my maternal great-grandfather became a naturalized American citizen in US District Court, Brooklyn, New York. Moritz Farkas (1857-1936) was born on July 3d in the small country…

Kaltxì nìmun! As many of you know, Jay Edwards, a graduate student working under the direction of Dr. Christine Schreyer at the University of British Columbia, is developing a Na’vi digital archive.…

In the hundredth year after the ascension of Christ into that heavenly place, and the apostles having traveled throughout the lands performing miracles and preaching the word, many have turned to Him…

My interview with Dr. Paul Bartha on The Blue Hour is now available as a podcast. In this conversation, I speak with Dr. Paul Bartha, Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia,…

In Montreal, a city blessed with so very many works of public art, the Monument aux Patriotes stands as one of the most poignant. It was unveiled one hundred years ago today by nonagenarian Marion…

Students sought refuge in southern China during World War II

I hope that many readers of this blog will consider contributing to this! ANNOUNCEMENT SEV26 Synthese Topical Collection CFP: Severity and Learning from Error This Topical Collection examines how…

I am a follower of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, and I believe the Torah (the Law of Moses) remains relevant for God’s people today and should still be obeyed. So does that make me part of the Hebrew…

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_18 Seneca recommended an exercise that I’ve found helpful: “I am so firmly determined, however, to test the constancy of…

‘For he who leads the contemplative life cannot help influencing the active ... Philosophical and psychological theories, historical doctrines and all sorts of speculations and discoveries, have…