Reviews
Economics, Politics & Rights, Reviews
Wall Street (1987), by Stanley Weiser and Oliver Stone
F. F. Mormanni April 29, 2021
Although fraudsters certainly exist on Wall Street, the vast majority of traders are honest, value driven, and focused on innovating and creating wealth.
Politics & Rights, Reviews
What Killed Michael Brown? by Shelby Steele
Molly Sechrest April 23, 2021
Steele clarifies key issues in the discussion on race, showing how leftists grabbed power by claiming the moral high ground, despite their abysmal disregard for those whose lives are destroyed by their policies.
Reviews
Letter to the Editor: Keep the TOS Reviews Coming
TOS Admin April 20, 2021
I just wanted to send a note expressing my appreciation of the book/film/TV reviews that you publish periodically. Over the past few weeks, I have been watching Anne with an “E”, but I would never even have heard of it if not for the review published in TOS.
History, Reviews
Creating Christ: How Roman Emperors Invented Christianity by James Valliant and Warren Fahy
Andrew Bernstein April 20, 2021
Creating Christ provides a trove of unprecedented insights about the genesis of the modern world’s most popular religion. All interested in Christianity’s provenance would do well to read this boldly original book.
Arts & Culture, History, Reviews
The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War by Louis Menand
Timothy Sandefur April 13, 2021
Louis Menand is a writer of great gifts, whose 2000 book The Metaphysical Club is a masterpiece of intellectual history. Unfortunately, The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War fails to recapture the magic. That’s partly because despite its bulk—880 pages—it’s curiously incomplete.
Arts & Culture, Reviews
WandaVision, Created by Jac Schaeffer
Thomas Walker-Werth March 12, 2021
WandaVision makes the viewer think while also providing a feast of artistic detail and a gripping mystery story. It’s a rare gem in today’s television landscape.
Economics, Politics & Rights, Reviews
Secrets of the Magna Carta, Written by Martin Durkin
Thomas Walker-Werth March 7, 2021
The sealing of the Magna Carta in 1215 was a major turning point in world history. In the 2017 two-part documentary Secrets of the Magna Carta, writer Martin Durkin sets out to tell the story of this incredible document and its legacy.
Arts & Culture, Education & Parenting, Reviews
Phineas and Ferb by Dan Povenmire and Jeff ‘Swampy’ Marsh
Andreea Mincu March 2, 2021
Cheerful songs, witty writing, benevolent humor, and contagious optimism make Phineas and Ferb a great work of soul-fueling art, not only for children but for adults as well. Its brilliant optimism and reality-first approach make every episode a delight.
Arts & Culture, History, Reviews
Sophocles: Oedipus the King, A New Verse Translation by David Kovacs
Timothy Sandefur March 2, 2021
Oedipus the King has been considered a masterpiece for two and a half millennia. No less a luminary than Aristotle called it the ideal tragedy. But today’s readers are often disturbed by its apparent injustice. How is it fair that the gods consign Oedipus—a genuine hero who strives to avoid committing the sins for which he is damned—to such an awful fate?
Arts & Culture, Reviews
The Iron Lady, Written by Abi Morgan
Angelica Walker-Werth February 12, 2021
Margaret Thatcher is one of the most controversial figures in modern history. Some consider her to have been a cruel, heartless villain who destroyed jobs and livelihoods, whereas others revere her as a valiant defender of liberty and the free market who saved her country’s economy.