This one is just plain crazy, and it’s by the French painter Gustave Moreau. Here is a wiki on the story of Diomedes, by the way. And here is Barry Stocker on ancient Greek thought.
Afternoon Tea: Diomedes Devoured by his Horses (1866)
Author: Brandon Christensen
Nightcap
- Anti-Semitism from Trotsky to Soros James Sheehan, Commonweal
- How to combat parochialism in philosophy Peter Adamson, Times Literary Supplement
- The era of limited government is over Ross Douthat, New York Times
- The paradox of voting Arathy Puthillam, Pragati
Nightcap
- Why weakly enforced rules? Robin Hanson, Overcoming Bias
- What’s changed since Salman Rushdie’s notorious novel? Bruce Fudge, Aeon
- Spacefaring civilization Nick Nielsen, Grand Strategy Annex
- Is the universe pro-life? Bobby Azarian, Quartz
Afternoon Tea: Urvashi and Pururavas (unknown)
From the great Malayi (India) painter Raja Rami Varma:
Varma was one of the first artists in colonial India to blend Western art with Indian traditions. Urvashi and Pururavas is an old Hindu love legend (wiki). And here is a wiki on Varma.
Here is yet another wiki, on the Malayali.
Nightcap
- A Mexican perspective on NAFTA Roberto Salinas-Leon, Law & Liberty
- Prosperity, the periphery, and the future of France Andrew Hussey, Literary Review
- The Indian Ocean slave trade Geoffrey Clarfield, Quillette
- The meaning of the exoplanet revolution Caleb Scharf, Aeon
Nightcap
- Have we ever been modern? Anthony Pagden, Cato Unbound
- Missing the elephant in the room Chris Dillow, Stumbling & Mumbling
- Why celibacy matters Ross Douthat, New York Times
- A reflection on Tito and Franco Branko Milanovic, globalinequality
Nightcap
- Can there be peace in Afghanistan? Shreyas Deshmukh, Pragati
- Competition among states wasn’t sufficient for religious liberty Johnson & Koyama, Cato Unbound
- Transnational queenship Michelle Beer, JHIBlog
- Russia the Terrible Timothy Crimmins, Modern Age
From the Comments: who is the conservative or libertarian equivalent of Nancy MacLean?
Rick posed a great question about Nancy MacLean awhile back. I haven’t been neglecting it. I’ve been thinking about it. Here it is:
Question for those more abreast than me: do conservatives or libertarians have an equivalent of Nancy MacLean? All sides have irresponsible pseudo-scholars, but how often do the various camps launch one of them to undue prominence instead of just ignoring them?
Michelangelo suggests Murray Rothbard as one example, and I had that thought as well, but that’s almost too obvious, and he’s been dead for a long time now.
Libertarians today are pretty firmly divided by the cosmos and paleos, so undue prominence is hard to get. When was the last time you saw Jason Brennan or Bryan Caplan praising the work of Justin Raimondo or Lew Rockwell?
With that being said, I think libertarians nowadays tend to launch intellectual fads into undue prominence, rather than scholars. Stuff like Open Borders or signaling or my personal favorite, non-intervention in foreign policy, tend to hold a prominence in libertarian circles that I find ridiculous. If you don’t believe me, find your nearest Cato Institute scholar on Twitter and ask him (yes, him) if his pet policy project has any potential flaws in it…
Afternoon Tea: Ahasver (1910)
This beauty is by Ferdinand Hodler, a Swiss painter. Rest assured, there’ll be more from him.
Nightcap
- How to pay for the Green New Deal Simon Wren-Lewis, mainlymacro
- Racism in an elevator Alison Bowles, Policy of Truth
- The fitful march of religious liberty Johnson & Koyama, Cato Unbound
- The why of religious freedom Ethan Blevins, NOL
Nightcap
- Franklin D. Roosevelt Jackson Lears, London Review of Books
- Memoir of captivity in Iran John Tamny, RealClearMarkets
- Towards decentralization Andy Smarick, National Affairs
- Did humans tame themselves? Melvin Konnor, the Atlantic
Afternoon Tea: Isaac Newton (1795)
From the British artist and poet William Blake:
I’ve never been a huge fan of English art, but Blake is an obvious exception to the rule when it comes to art out of England. If you expand British art to include its imperial domains, then British art is spectacular, but as for England itself, meh. (William Blake excepted, of course.)
Nightcap
- Ottoman nostalgia (back to the Balkans) Alev Scott, History Today
- Did post-Marxist theories destroy Communist regimes? Branko Milanovic, globalinequality
- Islam in Eastern Europe (a silver thread) Jacob Mikanowski, Los Angeles Review of Books
- Against Imperial Nostalgia: Or why Empires are Kaka Barry Stocker, NOL
Nightcap
- Tensions between liberalism and democracy from a Tocquevillean perspective Ewa Atanassow (interview), JHIBlog
- High theory and low seriousness Gustav Jönsson, Quillette
- Another misuse of Eastern ideas Amy Olberding, Aeon
- The real reason Netflix is cancelling their Marvel shows Mark Hughes, Forbes
Afternoon Tea: Female Organ Player (1885)
From Gustav Klimt, still my favorite artist of all time…
Notes On Liberty 