I recently had a great talk with the esports historian Thorin on his podcast “Thorinquiry.” The discussion ranged over a wide variety of subjects. His Twitter account can be found here. I’m posting the YouTube link to the podcast below.
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A young woman from a conservative culture asks a relationship question. She is very fond of her boyfriend, an American man. She wants to move things in the direction of marriage, but the young man is ambivalent. He keeps putting her off. She wants to know what she can do to deal with the situation.
Continue readingFor several years now, Michael Fontaine has dedicated himself to discovering and reanimating the buried treasures of late Latin literature. This is a mark of the true humanist: the ability to sift, patiently and deliberately, through the silt of literary time, and locate those true gems that have been consigned to undeserved neglect. In 2020 he published an adroit translation of John Placentius’s unique satirical poem, The Pig War; that same year he released a wonderful rendition of Vincent Obsopoeus’s guide to controlled inebriation, How To Drink.
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Honorius, who manages a blog dealing with themes of history, virtue, and philosophy, has just published a beautiful Arabic translation of my essay, Seven Pillars of a Noble Youth. It is very much appreciated.
Continue readingFor the student of politics and public affairs, there are few fields so richly rewarding as study of historical figures. We find that the same circumstances, the same problems, and the same challenges present themselves again and again; and the solutions crafted in one era, even if not fully applicable to another, at least provide us some rudimentary guidance.
I was in a grocery store the other day and saw a package of smoked pork neck bones. I don’t recall ever eating them before; but they were enticing, and I had a good intuition on how they might be prepared. Slow-cooked with spices and black beans, I thought, and they might evoke memories of Brazilian feijoada. Now before you rap my knuckles, understand that I am not saying this is anything that approximates feijoada: I know that the real thing requires multiple steps and is a very complicated dish. I only say that this dish may evoke memories of that venerable Brazilian dish. Decide for yourself. In any case, this is a simple matter to prepare, is very inexpensive, and is undeniably delicious.
I’m going to share an easy and satisfying recipe that I threw together yesterday. It doesn’t have a name, and I didn’t get it from any recipe book. I’ve been experimenting with this very useful Instant Pot pressure cooker lately, and thought readers might want to hear about this. If you don’t have one of these, you should consider getting one. Even if you don’t have one, you can make this recipe on the stove in a pot, although the preparation time will be longer. It’s very easy, and you can substitute different ingredients, or add additional ingredients. It’s all up to you.
Before one can philosophize, one must eat. And so we turn now to the subject of eating. I wanted to share this recipe because I think it is inexpensive, flavorful, and simple to prepare. It requires no further justification.
If you’re feeling down and have two hours to spare watching an old sporting event, here is something guaranteed to lift your spirits. It is the hockey game played between the United States and the Soviet Union at the 1980 Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York. I wanted to post this game for several reasons.
The ancient town of Cumae was the oldest Greek colony in the west. It was founded in the last quarter of the 8th century B.C. From the town’s acropolis one can see the island of Procida and its smaller islet of Vivara; farther away is the island of Ischia. Mycenaean artifacts have been found on these islands, proving the presence of Greek colonists in the area in the 8th century. We are told that Ischia was called Pithekoussai in Greek, which means “island of the monkeys.”
Quintus Curtius 
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