The Economic Muse
Shakespeare knew everything. He even knew the law of supply and demand, long before Adam Smith or any modern economist formulated it. Book Review
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Average Bill
If you really want to learn something about Shakespeare, go back to the plays. Book Review
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History Plays
Shakespeare's ability to provoke a variety of thoughtful responses is one measure of his enduring greatness. Book Review
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Playwright of the Globe
Shakespeare tried to understand the world, and now the world tries to understand him. Essay
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Is There Intelligent Life on Television?
The fact that we now need books to explain our favorite TV shows suggests that the best products of the medium have developed the aesthetic virtues we traditionally associate with books. Essay
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A Handshake Across the Centuries
Things Fall Apart, the most famous postcolonial novel, actually has deep roots in European culture, the deepest roots possible. It has become a classic because of its ties to the ancient Greek classics.
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Aristocracy in America
Huckleberry Finn shows that a nation devoted to fresh starts will also invite false starts and upstarts. Book Review
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A Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma
Jonathan Swift was one of the most secretive men who ever lived, the Howard Hughes of 18th-century Britain. Given how well-known his name is today, it comes as a surprise to learn that most of his writings were initially published anonymously. Book Review
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The Case for Barbarism
Ordinary life improves when empire falls. Book Review
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Ink-Stained Genius
Writing a biography of Charles Dickens is not an enviable task. It is much like trying to paint a portrait of Rembrandt—the Dutchman already did such a good job himself. Book Review
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Postmodern Prophet: Tocqueville Visits Vegas
If in the year 2000 Alexis de Tocqueville could somehow be given the opportunity to revisit the United States, he would be gratified to see how many of his observations concerning the country had proven to be correct. Essay
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Epic Decision: From Homer to Milton
Epic decisions shape cultures. Why does Milton have the Christian epic decision be one that rejects God? Essay
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Olympics of the Mind
Why were the Greeks the most competitive people in history? A profound examination of psychology and philosophy of ancients and moderns. Essay
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Northern Eye
It sounds like a Saturday Night Live sketch when you first hear about it. Steve Martin— the Steve Martin—is curating a museum exhibition of works by a supposedly famous Canadian painter you've never heard of. Essay
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Shakespeare's Rome: Republic and Empire
In Shakespeare’s Rome, Cantor examines the political settings of Shakespeare’s Roman plays, Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra, with references as well to Julius Caesar. Book
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Dark Side of the American Dream
Applying the critical skills he developed as a Shakespeare scholar, Paul A. Cantor finds new depth in familiar landmarks of popular culture. Video
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Shakespeare's Roman Trilogy: The Twilight of the Ancient World
Cantor analyzes the way Shakespeare chronicles the rise and fall of the Roman Republic and the emergence of the Roman Empire. Book
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Hyperinflation and Hyperreality: Thomas Mann in Light of Austrian Economics
With the worldwide collapse of socialism as an economic system, Marxism today stands thoroughly discredited as an intellectual position. Essay
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Beavis and Butt-Head Take Over Silicon Valley
With Beavis and Butt-head and King of the Hill, Mike Judge earned his place in pop culture history. His new HBO comedy Silicon Valley seems an unlikely follow-up to his earlier successes. Essay
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Inviting Evil In: Horror Stories and the Monstrous Double
From a vampire slinking through a dark forest, to the deformed creation of mad science, to a lumbering dinosaur in central London, to a radioactive mutation marching on Tokyo, to a reanimated mummy scheming to take over the world, to a giant ape atop the Empire State Building—we have met the monsters, and they are us. Essay
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