Communism
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Repudiating Genesis April 07, 2025
When the quarantine against the unwalled capitalists literally crumbled in 1989 and the walled-in workers fled their paradise in droves, Western analysts were confounded. Wasn’t history supposed to move leftward? Some resorted to the “it wasn’t real ...
Leslie Bibb Is Having the Time of Her Life April 03, 2025
Leslie Bibb stops herself midway through a long and beautiful rumination about season 3 of The White Lotus to exclaim, “I’m like a babbling brook!” As part of the trio of lifelong friends (alongside Carrie Coon and Michelle Monaghan) reuniting in Tha...
The Fall and Rise of Communism April 01, 2025
Discussing totalitarianism today, as well as yesterday, with historian Sean McMeekin....
Moving Seats, Rain and Wind October 25, 2024
American moviegoers felt the emotional impact of Dolby surround sound when the Imperial Star Destroyer roared over their heads in the opening of “Star Wars” in 1977. In the words of industry experts, that movie “put Dolby on the marquee.”The same may...
‘To Overthrow the World’ Review: Communists in Control October 25, 2024
In 1797, as the revolution in France cooled down following the Reign of Terror, François-Noël “Gracchus” Babeuf stood trial for organizing a putsch against the governing directorate running Paris at the time. In an undaunted defense of his actions, B...
Ad for Israel Book Canceled October 24, 2024
A prominent trade publication refused to advertise a new book because it feared the word Israel in its title might upset its audience, The Free Press has learned. This month Melanie Notkin, an author and communications consultant, tried to place an a...
Slowing It Down October 24, 2024
“Are you a control freak?” Author Cal Newport paused after reading the inquiry from a listener during an episode of his podcast, Deep Questions. The subtle smackdown that ensued hinted at a history of receiving similar criticisms, and Newport did not...
We Live In Imaginary Worlds October 23, 2024
We are all aware by now that this is a lonely age. Friendships feel shallow and superficial. Local communities have deteriorated. The promise of constant connection turned out to be a cruel trap. A generation with access to billions of people say the...
How Art Lasts October 23, 2024
It helps when first watching The Party and the Guests not to know a thing about its plot or the film’s fate, about Jan Němec, about FAMU (the Prague film school) and Czech New Wave cinema, about post-1948 Czechoslovak society and that state’s governm...
In Defense of the Hot Rabbi October 17, 2024
Netflix’s newest chart-topper, Nobody Wants This, is about a gorgeous sex podcaster who falls for a charming rabbi. What’s not to love? Here is a highly accessible story featuring Jews that is not about escaping an insular ultra-Orthodox community to...
A New Chapter in an Old Story October 16, 2024
Just a few weeks ago, writer and publisher Zibby Owens weighed in on Instagram about the latest antisemitic incident in the literary world. Writer Elisa Albert was invited to be on a panel in September at the Albany Book Festival with novelists Lisa ...
It's Time To End Normal Trade Relations With China October 15, 2024
After more than 20 years of so-called "normal" trade relations between the United States and China, the consensus on the desirability of that trade relationship has shifted dramatically—and for good reason. After China received Permanent Normal Trade...
God Bless the Misfits October 10, 2024
Both those who oppose populism and those who look at it with favor seem to broadly agree that populism is engendered by rapid and deep changes in a society. One way or another, change is supposed to trigger a sense of insecurity. This is the common g...
Prague Calling July 09, 2024
“The medium is the message,” wrote Marshall McLuhan in 1964. This rings true today, but was it always the case? What’s more, how can this phrase illuminate the political and ideological forces of a particular time and place?In Red Tape: Radio and Pol...
On Scott Howard-Cooper's 'Kingdom on Fire' July 08, 2024
In his excellent 2022 book Unreasonable Hospitality, restaurateur Will Guidara recalled his extraordinary attention to detail while operating Eleven Madison Park on its path to best restaurant in the world. As he explained it, “We trained the people ...
Why Liberals Lose July 03, 2024
Since 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron has been the de facto leader of the Western liberal democracies. By comparison, Trump is too nationalist, Biden too old, British politics have been too turbulent, Trudeau is too vapid, and Scholz too pliab...
On Dino Buzzati’s “The Singularity” July 03, 2024
The kitchen sink drain in my apartment gurgles, produces guttural noises at all hours, prompts people on the other end of calls to ask me if I’m at sea and someone’s there drowning, at times seems to grow louder in agitation as if trying to communica...
Hints of an Unknown Reality July 02, 2024
Sebastian Junger was in seemingly good health. For those who have read Junger’s books or are familiar with his work as a war reporter, this would only confirm one’s impressions: Junger has always been a man of action, interested in the heroic and adv...
Europe is Healthier than US July 01, 2024
The above picture, from a cafe where I rested after a sixteen-mile walk, isn’t anything special. Neither is the town it’s in, Tournon-sur-Rhône, which is my least favorite of the string of mid-sized and smaller towns I stayed in along the Rhône Valle...
