“When The Waste Land was published in 1922, T.S. Eliot changed the course of literary history. Hailed as the most influential English-language poem of the twentieth century, this masterpiece of modernist poetry was born not only from a shattered world—but from Eliot’s own psychological collapse. In this in-depth lecture, we explore the rich historical, philosophical,… Read More April is the Cruelest Month
For one of the most famous historians in Britain, conquering the past is not enough. This month, alongside co-host Tabitha Syrett, Dominic Sandbrook is launching a new podcast – this time shifting his focus from history to literature. Hear the discussion Note: I may have spoken incorrectly or too soon about Google not allowing us… Read More Historian Dominic Sandbrook on the Decline of Reading
And the end of civilisation. Excerpt. James Marriott Sep 19, 2025 What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book because there would be no one who wanted to read one. — Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death The age of… Read More The dawn of the post-literate society
Put the news aside for a time. If unhappiness is growing consider it a reset signal to return to philosophy where all education and earthly wisdom began. …This is an excellent series, very informative and very fair to Catholic, Protestant and Enlightenment philosophies. Thales to Sartre and beyond. 81 comprehensive episodes. One can learn something… Read More Dr. Arthur Holmes Lectures. A History of Philosophy.
David Starkey tracks the history and influence of the Dada movement of art and its influence in modern culture and life through his experiences with the Royal Academy. BBC: December 3, 2004. An autographed gentleman’s urinal has been named the most influential modern art work of all time. “Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, which shocked the… Read More April is the cruellest month
For years now very many “influencers” (Catholics very much included of course) spend much of their time making and promoting videos to share their points of view, or those of others. The camera is alluring. Many dream of becoming popular, the next Joe Rogan or Tucker Carlson. But very few videos are all that memorable;… Read More How to Mark (Read) a Book By Mortimer J. Adler, Ph.D.
‘Luddite’ Teens Don’t Want Your Likes. Updated. “When I got my flip phone, things instantly changed,” Lola continued. “I started using my brain. It made me observe myself as a person. I’ve been trying to write a book, too. It’s like 12 pages now…You post something on social media, you don’t get enough likes, then… Read More “Social media and phones are not real life”
By Joseph Pearce. As mentioned earlier … I was honoured to be asked to write the introduction to the first Spanish edition of the play, Sir Thomas More, which was authored by Shakespeare in collaboration with several other contemporary playwrights. Querying some of the assertions that I made in that introduction, a Spanish correspondence wrote to… Read More Shakespeare, Thomas More, and Henry VIII
“On August 13, 1961, the Communistgovernment of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) began to build a barbed wire and concrete “Antifascistischer Schutzwall,” or “antifascist bulwark,” between East and West Berlin. The official purpose of this Berlin Wall was to keep so-called Western “fascists” from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state,… Read More Far Left Power. A New Berlin Wall.
Chilling, Lovely and Important Reviewed at Amazon by Author Richard Schwartz. Prof of English and served as Dean of Arts & Science (1998-2006) at the U of Missouri-Columbia. Anthony Esolen’s new book, SEX AND THE UNREAL CITY, taps into Augustine’s notion of the city of God but utilizes more of a Chestertonian voice. As such… Read More Sex and the Unreal City: The Demolition of the Western Mind by Tony Esolen
