We're losing our ability to sit down, slow down, and focus on a book. So what? Why does this matter? I'll tell you why.

A look at Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset's thoughts on how modernity created the mass-mind and what that means for us today.

A poem on maturity, idealism (or the death of it, anyway), and how we kill our souls long before our bodies kill us.

I look at Thucydides' Melian Dialogue from the Peloponnesian War and how it still matters today.

A look at Vasily Grossman's epic masterpiece "Life and Fate" and some of the themes that made it unpublishable in the Soviet Union.

Poem for the daydream believers, or how the world loathes those who don't plug in, pay their attention taxes, and aren't "practical" enough.

Byzantine emperor Heraclius's life was filled with both triumph and tragedy, victories and defeats. I look at the life of a fascinating man.

The three magi brought Jesus gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But what is myrrh? And what is the ancient incest myth behind it? I take a look.

Jacques Ellul believed technique and technology were toxic to human freedom. Yet most people wouldn't have it any other way.

A look at three talented artists murdered by the Nazis: Charlotte Salomon, Franz Karl Bühler, and Felix Nussbaum.