All posts tagged: great

New St. John’s College master’s program bridges Jewish and Islamic traditions through the Great Books—and conversation

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] SANTA FE, N.M. — St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has announced a new graduate program that reshapes what it means to study the Great Books in the 21st century. The Master of Arts in Middle Eastern Classics (MAMEC) offers a one-year, in-person course of study focused on the great texts of Jewish and Islamic civilizations—texts that are often overlooked in Western curricula, but which have shaped the course of philosophy, religion, and poetry across centuries. While these two traditions have often been portrayed as being in tension, MAMEC will provide students a singular opportunity to immerse themselves in the original Jewish and Islamic texts, far from the rhetoric of the last 150 years of Middle Eastern politics. Together, faculty and students will learn through the close reading of original texts and respectful discussion what philosophers such as Maimonides, Rumi, ‘Ibn al-‘Arabī, and Judah Halevi thought and wrote. Students will read English translations of great works from both traditions, while also having the choice between studying classical Arabic or Hebrew. “These texts …

Anthros Chair V2 Review: Surprisingly Great

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] It’s rare for me to keep sitting on a chair I’m reviewing well after I’ve given it enough testing time. Usually, I want to hop back on my Herman Miller Embody, which feels just right for my body. But the Anthros V2 has been a pleasant surprise. It’s been on my radar for several months, thanks to endless Instagram marketing reels, but honestly, those just made me even more skeptical. Anthros is a newcomer to the scene, only launching the first version of the chair in 2023. It makes grand claims about improving your posture and offering better support than office stalwarts like Herman Miller. It doesn’t help that the V2 chair is north of $2,000, though it seems to be on sale often enough for around $1,900. But after nearly two months of sitting, the claims hold up—I find it more supportive than almost all the chairs I’ve tested, and my posture has been great. The Embody still holds a place in my heart, but the Anthros V2 might be the best chair …

Trump Wants to ‘Make Iran Great Again’

Published by Sam

[ad_1] This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. When Donald Trump raised the idea of toppling Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei yesterday, it wasn’t just the idea that was surprising. It was the particular phrase he used to describe it. “It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!” he posted yesterday on Truth Social. The phrase became toxic for a reason. Two years ago, an essay in the Claremont Review of Books noted that regime change entered the popular lexicon in “the early days of the 9/11 wars, when the Bush (43) Administration argued that the security of America and of the entire world depended not merely on defeating hostile countries militarily but on changing their governments into ones more inherently peaceable and …

David Beckham says knighthood ‘truly humbling’ – as rock star and acting great also honoured | UK News

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] David Beckham has called it “truly humbling” and an “emotional moment” to be made a knight in the King’s Birthday Honours. The former England captain receives the honour alongside The Who frontman Roger Daltrey and Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman. Singer and actress Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Baker, and former defence secretary Penny Mordaunt have been awarded damehoods. Image: Sir David chatted to the King at an event on Thursday. Pic: PA Meanwhile, Strictly Come Dancing hosts Tess Daley and Claudia Winkleman, as well as darts stars Luke Littler and Luke Humphries, will all get MBEs. Beckham was made an OBE in 2003, but now finally becomes Sir David after being in the running for many years. He gets the honour for his services to sport and charity. Sir David was said to be close to a knighthood in 2014, but reportedly lost out after HM Customs and Revenue flagged his involvement in an alleged tax avoidance scheme. “Growing up in east London with parents and grandparents who were so patriotic and proud to be …

Great Black Hope by Rob Franklin

Published by José

[ad_1] Rob Franklin’s debut novel “Great Black Hope” arrives as a singular achievement in contemporary literary fiction, offering readers a nuanced exploration of identity, privilege, and loss that feels both deeply personal and universally resonant. This is not merely another coming-of-age story; it’s a sophisticated examination of what it means to exist in the liminal spaces between worlds—caught between Black and white, privileged and precarious, guilty and innocent. The Architecture of Tragedy: Plot and Structure The novel follows Smith, a young queer Black Stanford graduate whose life unravels following two devastating events: his arrest for cocaine possession in the Hamptons and the mysterious death of his beloved roommate Elle, a glamorous member of New York’s Black elite. Franklin structures his narrative like a slow-burning psychological thriller, gradually revealing the layers of Smith’s world through a series of interconnected crises that force him to confront uncomfortable truths about himself and those closest to him. What makes Franklin’s plotting particularly effective is his restraint. Rather than rushing toward easy revelations, he allows the mystery of Elle’s death …

‘Welcome home’ in a time of great division and disruption

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] (RNS) — A faded cloth banner framed in a wood-paneled restaurant stopped me in my tracks recently. Against a deep navy background, the golden words “WELCOME HOME” arched over the proud Great Seal of the United States. The eagle clutched arrows and an olive branch. The motto, E pluribus unum — out of many, one — floated across a ribbon in its beak. It wasn’t a marketing sign or a Fourth of July decoration. It was an artifact of national gratitude. A real WWII-era banner that once hung in a train station or town hall, awaiting the arrival of soldiers coming home. You can picture the scene: the clatter of boots on wooden platforms, tanks leaving war-torn cities, the embrace of families, and a nation attempting to stitch itself back together. The welcome was not only ceremonial — it was a moral recognition. A civic ritual that said, “You belong. Your service matters. We did this together.” That banner is more than a nostalgic decoration. It’s a reminder, at a moment when we seem …

These mainline OnePlus earbuds are a great buy at full price – but now they’re $30 off

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] OnePlus/ZDNET You don’t have to shell out the big bucks for studio-grade audio. Plenty of top-notch headphones and earbuds cost less than $200, such as the OnePlus Buds Pro 3, which is currently on sale at OnePlus’ official website. Right now, you can purchase a pair for $150, which is a $30 discount. This deal applies to all three color options: Midnight Opus (black), Lunar Radiance (white), and Sapphire Blue. With your purchase, you’ll also receive a charging case, a Type-C charging cable, a user manual, and four pairs of eartips ranging from extra small to large. Also: The best noise-canceling earbuds you can buy It’s also possible to shave off an extra 10% through the company’s Education or Employee discount program. For the former, you’ll need to verify your university email, while the latter requires professionals to verify whether their place of work is partnered with the OnePlus Store. The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 are a solid pair of midrange earbuds. They have a similar design and appearance to the previous generation, the OnePlus …

What Spinoza can teach us about living a great life

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] Sign up for Big Think on Substack The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free. This article was first published on Big Think in September 2021. It was updated in May 2025. Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was a philosopher of the Dutch Golden Age when advances in mathematics and the sciences expanded and flourished. Spinoza’s tumultuous rise as a philosopher came after a long battle with his traditional Jewish faith — having been raised in and harshly excommunicated by the Sephardic community in Amsterdam. Spinoza’s excommunication came in response to his Tractatus Theological-Politicus (Theological-Political Treatise), one of the first significant instances of biblical criticism written and widely published in the West. And while this earned Spinoza the reputation of heresy and atheism, Spinoza believed that he was far from either. Rather, his view was that the system of philosophy and theology he created — purely through his reasoning faculties — could make humanity more rational, moral, and happy if followed. Spinoza’s intellectual journey largely began in the way …

Before the Great Wall, Chinese rulers built a shallow ditch

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] Archaeologists excavate part of the medieval wall system in Mongolia Gideon Shelach-Lavi et al. 2025 Long before the Great Wall of China was constructed, other monumental walls were built across the Eurasian steppes – but they weren’t designed to defend against Mongol armies. Recent excavations reveal that they were erected to control movement of people or demonstrate power, much like border walls today. The Great Wall of China spans many thousands of kilometres, the longest stretch running some 8850 kilometres. This part dates from the Ming dynasty (AD 1368 to 1644) and served as a physical barrier to defend against Mongol raids. Unlike the Great Wall, which is – as the name implies – made up of large walls, the earlier system is a network of trenches, walls and enclosures stretching approximately 4000 kilometres across more northerly regions in China, Mongolia and Russia. It was built between the 10th and 12th centuries by several dynasties, chiefly the Jin dynasty (AD 1115 to 1234), which was founded by Jurchen people from Siberia and north-east China, …

The great debate: Should you eat on the tube?

Published by Sam

[ad_1] The video is uncaptioned. TikTok user @ub1ub2 is speechless. In the clip, a woman eats curry and rice with one hand, and chats on the phone with the other. The comments are divided; some outraged, some indifferent. Hot food, on the tube — can this ever be ok? The woman is hardly alone. Not long ago, I witnessed a fellow commuter demolishing two steak bakes, a sausage roll and a cake in the space of perhaps four stops. This person was next to me and, after swiping the debris off my lap, I was left pondering whether this was acceptable behaviour or not. I concluded — of course — that food should stay off the tube, especially if it does any of the following: smell, crumble, ooze, melt, pop, squirt, or offend (granted, this last one is perhaps less subjective than the others…). I was naive enough to believe that this was a fairly universal view until I checked the comments of a video I posted on TikTok, where a seemingly hostile debate was …