There’s a good reason Karl Popper titled the first volume of his magnum opus against authoritarianism, The Spell of Plato. For millennia, much of the Western mind has been in thrall to Plato: for better, or more often, for much, much worse. Plato was one of the giants of
Joe Perry Georgia State University In 1921, in a Munich beer hall, newly appointed Nazi party leader Adolf Hitler gave a Christmas speech to an excited crowd. According to undercover police observers, 4,000 supporters cheered when Hitler condemned “the cowardly Jews for breaking the world-liberator on the cross” and
William Keylor Boston University The Christmas Truce is no stranger to popular entertainment – this year more than any other as its 100th anniversary is marked. The famous moment when British and German soldiers climbed out of the trenches in peace on Christmas Day 1914 has been replicated and ruminated upon
Thomas Adam University of Arkansas Thomas Adam, PhD, is an associate professor of international and global studies in the Department of Political Science at the University of Arkansas. He also serves as associate director of the International and Global Studies Program at the University of Arkansas. Each season, the celebration
William Norman Grigg (1963-2017) was Managing Editor of the Libertarian Institute and an award-winning investigative journalist and author. He was the author of five books, most recently Liberty in Eclipse: The War on Terror and the Rise of the Homeland Security State. Mr. Grigg wrote and published the Pro Libertate
Fion Waisum Ma University of Birmingham Fion Waisum Ma is a palaeobiology PhD researcher at the University of Birmingham, specializing in the feeding mechanics of oviraptorosaurs and their close relatives. After getting a BSc in Geology and Ecology & Biodiversity at The University of Hong Kong, she completed a Palaeontology
Sir Bob Jones nopunchespulled.com This totally redundant treaty, applying to circumstances nearly two centuries ago, has spawned a truly astonishing “industry” in claims as to what it meant, despite never actually saying as much. The latest and most absurd comes from something called the Health Coalition Aotearoa, specifically, (lie
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Advent calendars have become a near-ubiquitous staple of pre-Christmas commerce, and, like almost everything else about one of the signature festivals in Western culture, have been ruthlessly secularised and commercialised. There are Lego Advent calendars, Disney Advent calendars and even Bluey Advent calendars. But, as we once again navigate the
It’s the sort of craziness that can only happen on a battlefield: soldiers are battling out in a major offensive when out of the smoke emerges an incongruously familiar figure. It’s one of their buddies from back home, carrying cans of beer. We’ve all done some wild
Canapés seldom travel alone. An event that is worth one’s salt will have three to five different competing canapés offering a cornucopia of tastes, colours and textures. This week’s addition is a small phyllo pastry basket filled with a mushroom and tomato mix topped off with shaved parmigiano
It takes a special kind of chutzpah to accuse others of “inaccuracy”, “disinformation” and “writing with an agenda” when those are exactly the tools you’re using to attack them. But then, this is the New Zealand mainstream media and left-cultural establishment we’re talking about. These sorts of deceitful
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You never know when the next cocktail party will appear on the calendar or when your better half without warning invites home a baker’s dozen of business colleagues or clients for drinks with a need for something a little more classy than salty chips and peanuts from the supermarket.
