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It’s Your Job To Set The Record Straight (Podcast)
After reading Charles Leerhsen’s excellent biography of baseball player Ty Cobb (Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty), it’s clear that each of us is responsible for making sure that misinformation and lies do not go unanswered. Even if you are not a baseball fan–maybe especially if you are not a baseball fan–there are very important life…
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Movie Roundup (10/5/2019)
In this podcast, we discuss two films: “Joker” (2019), and “The Killing Fields” (1984), both of which I recommend.
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Hercules And The Apple Of Athena
One of the fables of Aesop concerns Hercules and Athena. One day, Hercules was proceeding along a pathway in the mountains when he spotted an apple lying on the ground. Irritated at its presence, he decided to smash it with his club; and when he tried to do so, the apple doubled in size. Shocked,…
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Angelo Poliziano’s 1484 Description Of A Planetary Clock
In studying the writings of scholars of ages past, one often begins to suspect that they were aware of more things than we generally give them credit for. We begin to understand that the progress of knowledge is not always “upwards” in a steadily sloping straight line; there are periods of setbacks, stagnation, and decay. …
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The Illustrated, Annotated Translation Of Cornelius Nepos’s “Lives Of The Great Commanders” Is Now Available
My fully illustrated and annotated translation of Cornelius Nepos’s Lives of the Great Commanders was published on September 20, 2019. It is available in paperback, hardcover, audiobook, and Kindle editions.
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What Are We, After All?
I was recently reading some of Cicero’s letters to Atticus, and came across this sentence in one of them: Quid enim sumus, aut quid esse possumus? Domis an foris? [Epistulae XIII.10]
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Camels, Eyes Of Needles, And An Old Proverb
Readers are likely to have heard, in one form or another, the New Testament proverb, “And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24). The saying is an old one, and…
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Two Recent Questions From Readers (Podcast)
In this podcast we deal with two recent emails. One email asks about the military: what lessons did I learn, and how did it change me. Another email is from a man asking about what subjects he should be studying in college, and what sort of career he should pursue. There are no easy answers…
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The Chain Of Fortune Links The Fates Of Men
The British invasion of the Dardanelles in 1915 is a text-book example of how wishful thinking and imagination can override sound judgment and careful planning. The idea of knocking Turkey out of the war with an amphibious landing at Gallipoli, followed by a march on Istanbul, was in principle strategically sound; but as a practical…
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A Pineapple Plantation, Sete Cidades, Ribeira Grande, And More
Yesterday saw a lot of travel around São Miguel. We started at a pineapple plantation near Ponta Delgada. Pineapples are here called “ananas” instead of the word they use in Brazil, which is abacaxi. I’m told there is a botanical difference between these two words, depending on who you speak to. Those interested in learning…
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Visiting Lagoa Do Fogo, A Tea Factory, Santa Iria, Lagoa Das Furnas, And More
We explored more of the island of San Miguel today. Starting off early in the morning, we drove by van to the volcanic lake known as Lagoa do Fogo. It’s a very scenic drive from the city of Ponta Delgada, and I was impressed with how organized and well-planned the agricultural efforts are here.
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Ponta Delgada, San Miguel, The Azores
I arrived in Ponta Delgada on the island of San Miguel in the Azores early yesterday morning. I have had a chance to do a bit of exploring of the city, and have some short trips lined up for the coming week. I’m very impressed so far; the climate is temperate and pleasant, and the…
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On Choosing Between Alternatives
Many times in life we will be faced with a choice between two or more alternatives. As we weigh each option, it may become difficult to know which choice is best; the strengths and merits of each possibility cancel each other out, and we are left only with indecision.
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Where Have All The Leaders Gone? (Podcast)
Does it sometimes seem as if there are no leaders of substance any more? That, as we look around the world, or around our nation, every so-called “leader” is a mediocrity who does nothing of consequence? Did leaders of previous eras have better character and overall fortitude? We ask whether this sweeping generalization has some…
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The Merciful Filtration Of Memory
James Boswell, in his 1785 memoir Tour to the Hebrides, makes the following psychological observation:
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Two Questions From Readers: A Failed Relationship, And A Career Question (Podcast)
In this podcast, we deal with two different questions from two different readers. The first question is from a girl who has recently broken up with her boyfriend, and can’t decide if she should “give it a second chance.” There are complications. The second question is from a high school student who wants to know…
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What You Wish To Avoid, Fortune Compels You To Do
It often happens that we are forced to accept what we wish to avoid. Avarice, for example, defeats itself; and the miser who in futility clings to every penny finds himself compelled to part with greater sums than he might otherwise have spent. The health fanatic who obsesses about every morsel of food that goes…
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MMA Fighter Carlo Prater Talks About Training, Preparation, And What Comes After (Podcast)
This podcast is a great conversation I had with my friend Carlo Prater, who has been an accomplished MMA fighter for 17 years. He discusses the mental steps he goes through before, during, and after a bout, as well as other general thoughts on life and work. Don’t miss it!
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The World’s Smallness, And The Permanence Of Noble Actions
The world is a much smaller place than we are aware. Things we do, actions we take, can have far-reaching effects that come back to us in ways we can never imagine. While events, places, and the flowing rush of time are shifting and transitory, the power of virtue is such that it transcends time…
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“Should I Forgive An Abusive Father, And Re-Establish Contact With Him?” (Podcast)
This is probably the most serious question I’ve ever received from a reader. A very heart-felt email from a man who is faced with an extremely difficult situation: he has been contacted by a dying father who abandoned and abused him as a child, and who now wants to have contact with him. He is…
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Taming The Soul’s Turbulence
In our lives we often encounter people whose behavior seems to make no rational sense. I am referring to people who do things that seem to be against their own self-interest: those who say one thing, but do something else. We ourselves can fall into this trap on occasion. It is almost as if there…
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“Plutocratic Insurgency Reader”: Documenting A Critical Issue Of Our Time
Earlier this month, Dr. Robert J. Bunker and Dr. Pamela Ligouri Bunker published the long-awaited Plutocratic Insurgency Reader through the Small Wars Institute. Available in both Kindle and paperback, the book is a well-researched anthology of over thirty articles by fifteen different contributors, and is the first coherent attempt to document what I believe is…
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“How Should I Be Planning For My Future?” (Podcast)
A young man of 24 years has a lot of questions running through his head. He doesn’t know what he should be focusing on right now, and is not sure he should focus on business growth, travel, or family issues. Young men by nature are idealistic and vigorous, and sometimes need guidance to point them…
Original copy of Cicero’s De Officiis (On Duties) published in Holland in 1642. From the collection of Fortress of the Mind.
Quintus Curtius 
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