- The pre-Stalinist Soviet art scene Polina Godz, Jacobin
- Skeletons down by the lake Douglas Preston, New Yorker
- Company-states and the creation of the global international system Phillips & Sharman, EJIR
- Thoughts on alien life Robin Hanson, Overcoming Bias
art history
Nightcap
- Goya Robin Simon, Literary Review
- Muslim guilt Mahvish Ahmad, Disorder of Things
- Postwar prosperity Jonathan Hopkin, Aeon
- Tripling America Kay Hymowitz, City Journal
- The tragedy of Donald Trump Ross Douthat, NY Times
Nightcap
- Old Vienna’s cosmopolitanism, Nazi looting, and famous paintings in museums John Geddes, Maclean’s
Nightcap
- On LBJ’s (not so) Great Society William Voegeli, New Criterion
- All roads need not lead to China Parag Khanna, Noema
- The guileful, soulful art of Khadija Saye Stuart Jeffries, Spectator
- Being black in Argentina Gabby Messina (interview), Latitude
Nightcap
- Behind the Iron Curtain: Soviet space art (gallery) Kadish Morris, Guardian
- The year I left the Soviet Union Alex Halberstadt, New Yorker
- Free speech, libel, and privacy rights Mark Hemmingway, RealClearPolitics
- 8 out of 10 Texans already live in cities and metropolitan areas Steven Pedigo, Dallas Morning News
Nightcap
- Central Saharan rock art Jean-Loïc Le Quellec, Inference
- Indigenous Japanese tattoo cultures are making a comeback Alex Martin, Japan Times
- 3 personality traits in the US, mapped Olga Khazan, Atlantic
- Humanity just had the best decade ever Matt Ridley, Spectator
Afternoon Tea: Pigeons (1910)

This is from John French Sloan, an American and a socialist. Check out his wiki. Click here to zoom in on this marvelous painting.
Afternoon Tea: Pear Tree (1903)

This is from Gustav Klimt, my favorite artist of all time. Click here to zoom. I just started getting in to his “nature” stuff. He and Egon Schiele made cool landscapes. Have a good rest of the day!
Nightcap
- The state of American alliances in Asia Panda & Parameswaran, Diplomat
- India’s new dark age Shikha Dalmia, the Week
- On the socialist revival in the United States John Judis, American Affairs
- Holocaust art and the temptation to pigeonhole Simon Schama, Financial Times
Nightcap
- The Taliban of San Francisco Serge Halimi, Le Monde Diplomatique
- Citizens of the State Maeve Glass, University of Chicago Law Review
- A wake-up call the woke won’t read J Oliver Conroy, Guardian
- The man behind national conservatism Daniel Luban, New Republic
Nightcap
- Michael Pollan interview on psychedelics Fresh Air
- Spinelli vs. Hayek Federico Ottavio Reho, EPICENTER
- The Rock Art of Malarrak Archaeology
- How Islam shaped the West Rowan Williams, New Statesman
Nightcap
- The street gangs of Weimar Berlin Marilyn Macron, Los Angeles Review of Books
- The road to compromise (LGBT and religion) Mark David Hall, Law & Liberty
- Angels through the ages Ysenda Maxtone Graham, Spectator
- France and Africa Dave Glovsky, Africa is a Country
Afternoon Tea: Minerva or Pallas Athena (1898)
From my main man Gustav Klimt.
Afternoon Tea: The Scapegoat (1854)
Man, I like this one. It was painted by William Holman Hunt, an English painter. Hunt belonged to a school of art that called itself the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Here is a wiki on the Brotherhood.
Afternoon Tea: The Women of Algiers in their Apartment (1834)
From Eugene Delacroix, as requested by Jacques Delacroix (no relation):