Originally published on the author’s Substack In today’s fast-paced world, the word “leisure” typically means little more than time off: weekends, vacations, or breaks from the grind. It’s seen primarily as a way to recharge, to rest before plunging back into work. But in Leisure: The Basis of Culture, German philosopher […]
“Why the Dark Ages Were Never Dark”
Originally posted on the author’s Substack An age of enchantment… Between the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD and the Renaissance nearly a thousand years later, there lies an interesting in-between period — a “middle age.” The early medieval period, known to many scholars as the “Dark […]
“Why Plato Hated Democratic Elections”
Original article And how to break the endless cycle Ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates and Plato held deep reservations about democracy. They saw it as inherently flawed and doomed to descend into tyranny. But a later thinker saw a way to avoid this inevitable cycle. The Greek historian Polybius, writing […]
“Lessons from C.S. Lewis”
Original article How did a brilliant young man who considered himself too smart for Christianity become the 20th century’s greatest advocate for it? C.S. Lewis is widely considered one of the sharpest minds — and pens — of the last century. After becoming Christianity’s “most reluctant convert,” he turned his […]
“Da Vinci’s Big Idea”
Originally posted on the author’s Substack The iconic Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci was more than one of history’s greatest artists. He was also a medical researcher, an inventor, and an engineer. For Leonardo, though, these streams of thought weren’t separate from one another. They were linked by a key […]
“What Does Satan Look Like?”
A brief history of evil… The question of evil is foundational to human culture — but what actually is evil, why does it happen, and what does it look like? Today, we take a stab at the third question: a brief history of what evil looks like, not just in appearance but […]
“How to Fix Education”
Originally posted on the author’s Substack What the ancients knew that we forgot… The word education has meant a lot of different things over the centuries. You may think it comes from the Latin ēdūcere, “to lead out” — because the tutor of a wealthy Roman family would lead the children to school, […]
“Should Objects Be Beautiful?”
Originally published on the author’s Substack An intro to Art Nouveau… Should objects be beautiful, or should they be useful? Faced with the crushing pressure of the Industrial Revolution, one artistic movement proved that culture need not choose between the two. Let’s dive into one of history’s most under-appreciated (yet […]
“How Christianity Shaped Art”
Originally published on the author’s Substack Incarnation and culture Christianity began as an obscure religion in a remote strip of land in the ancient world. Within 300 years, it was the official religion of the world’s most powerful empire. But it wasn’t Christianity’s political power that changed the world. It […]
“How Were Gothic Cathedrals Built?”
Originally published on Substack Miracles of engineering and faith… From pyramids to temples, many of the great works of ancient architecture were built for a similar purpose: as monuments to a single man. But there’s something different about the great cathedrals of the Medieval era — instead of being ordered […]
“History’s Biggest Scapegoat”
Marie Antoinette, France’s last queen before the Revolution, is often remembered more for the scandals and accusations surrounding her than for her true character. From her arrival in France as a young Austrian archduchess to her tragic death at the guillotine, she became the embodiment of all that was wrong with the […]
“Leonardo da Vinci’s Achilles’ Heel”
And why he thought he was a failure… The main ingredient behind Leonardo da Vinci’s incredible success can be boiled down to one thing: curiosity. His intense curiosity was the engine of his genius, propelling him to make groundbreaking observations and contributions across various fields. From anatomy to botany, […]
“A History of the World in 5 Nudes”
What 40,000 years of art reveals about us… What do our clothes really cover? When we remove them, what is revealed? Nudes are among the oldest and most ubiquitous forms of art that human culture has created, but they vary widely from era to era. These five pieces tell […]
“This Was ‘The Paris of South America'”
Originally published on Substack So what happened to it? When you think of cities that dominate the international landscape of culture, commerce and politics, does Buenos Aires make the list? Well, a century ago, Argentina was a world power that rivaled the United States — with a capital city to […]
“How Much Knowledge Was Lost to History?”
Originally posted on Substack Temples to Wisdom Only truly civilized cultures dedicate themselves to building up a storehouse of knowledge. That’s why libraries are the trademark of civilization — and the their destruction reflects the downfall of culture. Here’s a look at three of the greatest libraries in history that […]
“This Discovery Broke the Human Timeline”
For a brief period of time, there was a consensus view on the history of human civilization: humans were first hunter-gatherers, then developed agriculture, and finally developed religion, art, technology, and other aspects of culture. But then, a 20th-century architectural discovery threw all of this into question. Turkey’s Göbekli Tepe […]
“Dante’s 9 Circles of Hell”
A guide to the very bottom… Few works of Western literature can compete with Dante’s Divine Comedy. It’s a fascinatingly engaging read, despite being written over 700 years ago and containing many complex references to history and myth. For those who want to master the cultural heritage of the West, it’s […]
“5 Materials That Shaped the World And The Legacy They Left Behind”
Originally published on Culture Critic From the ruined walls of the earliest Mesopotamian cities to the skyscrapers of the 20th century, the story of civilization can be told through five main building materials. Without brick, concrete, stone, wood, and steel, the world would look totally different. But culture itself […]
“Why Do We Keep Going back to Ancient Greece?”
A culture that never dies… Ancient Greece never dies. Every few hundred years, Western culture remembers its roots, and artists and architects find themselves harkening back to the civilization that started it all. In many ways, there’s a continuous thread running back in time from the United States Capitol Building […]
“What Was Lost When The Library of Alexandria Burned?”
Original Thread: https://x.com/Culture_Crit/status/1798069581871038778 What was lost when the Library of Alexandria burned? Well — our entire knowledge of the Greco-Roman world comes from about 500 volumes. 700,000 scrolls were potentially lost at Alexandria alone. Alexandria was once antiquity’s greatest city — a trade port connecting Africa, Europe and Asia. When […]