Arts & Culture

First and foremost a magnificent novel, George Orwell’s 1984 is also a terrifyingly prescient political commentary. Written by an Englishman in 1949, it substantially mirrors the trajectory of American politics today.

Babylon 5 is a unique science-fiction series that tells an epic story rich in philosophic ideas and moral messages. These make it timeless and well worth watching for anyone interested in complex drama.

Contra those who think it’s not possible to ethically accumulate so much wealth, Taylor Swift has done so by trading value for value—never resorting to force or fraud. She created that wealth, and fans upset about this “need to calm down” and acknowledge this fact.

The Chinese Communist Party perpetrates some of the worst censorship in the modern world. Film companies have a moral responsibility not to sanction the CCP and its horrors by capitulating to them—much less collaborating with them.

A. E. Stallings’s distinctive poetry succeeds because it merges a conscientious focus on meaningful content—saying relevant and powerful things about human experiences—with a painstaking attention to formal design. The results are masterpieces of integration.

Superb literary tragedy induces in us unforgettable intellectual-emotional experiences of human error leading to the agonizing downfalls of even great (or formerly great) men. As philosophy, it does not tell but shows us in searing action many major errors to avoid if a flourishing life is our goal.

Including works by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Claude McKay, Eliza Cook, Walter de la Mare, and Sara Teasdale.

The Orville: New Horizons explores complex issues in a balanced manner and presents a positive but believable vision of the future, resulting in one of the best science-fiction shows in recent decades.

Unfortunately, Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) features only the trappings of the original, with watered-down characters, a weak plot, and no moral message.

The life and fate of banned Russian novelist Vasily Grossman is a tragedy worthy of his own novelistic skills. More than fifty years after his passing, we can only imagine what he might have achieved had communist tyranny not stifled him.