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Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte e la vita: Inferno, Canto I: il viaggio della nostra vita e l'importanza dei classici

Una serie di Reading Room su La Divina Commedia
La scorsa settimana abbiamo iniziato il nostro epico viaggio con Dante accompagnando Dante mentre si perde nei boschi, prima di incontrare il suo idolo letterario Virgilio e…

The Semantic Revolution

Pedaling my exercise bicycle is made tolerable by watching history lectures from The Teaching Company’s Great Courses. Today I watched part of a course on the French Revolution and Napoleon. 

Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life: Canto One

A Reading Room series on The Divine Comedy
Last week we began our epic journey with Dante by accompanying him as he is lost in the woods, before meeting his literary idol Virgil and agreeing to set forth with Virgil upon another…

Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte e la vita: Inferno, Canto 1

Una serie di Reading Room su La Divina Commedia
La settimana scorsa abbiamo visto come Dante scrivesse del suo viaggio attraverso l'inferno, il limbo e il paradiso come se si trattasse di un viaggio vero, realmente intrapreso (a…

Discussing Milton

I recently had a chance to host a book discussion with Reading Room blogger, Garth Bond, and our friend Steve Pincus about Nicholas McDowell's new book Poet of Revolution: The Making of John Milton, which considers the question of…

Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life, Inferno: Canto I

A Reading Room series on The Divine ComedyLast week we saw how Dante wrote about his journey through hell, limbo, and paradise as if it were a real journey that he really undertook (beginning, in his recounting of it, on Good Friday…

Why Marvel’s Black Widow Would Love Mary Wollstonecraft

In Marvel's film Black Widow (2021), the Red Guardian (Alexei) praises the achievements of the two women he had pretended to father as part of a Russian sleeper cell: "Yelena, you went on to become the greatest child assassin the…

Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life: Inferno, Canto I: The Importance of Imagination

A Reading Room blog series on The Divine Comedy
Last week we concluded our introduction to Dante’s Divine Comedy by presenting the seven cardinal lessons that the epic poem can teach us today. If you missed this introduction you…

Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte. e la vita ,Introduzione, seconda parte

Una serie di Reading Room su La Divina Commedia
La scorsa settimana abbiamo iniziato la nostra introduzione alla Divina Commedia di Dante con le prime tre delle sette lezioni generali che possiamo imparare dall'immortale italiano…

Arabian Nights and Commercial Culture

The classic collection of middle eastern stories known as  The Arabian Nights is not in the Online Library of Liberty, which is perhaps understandable given its emphasis on irresponsible liberties taken and arbitrary exercises…

Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life, Introduction Part Two

A Reading Room blog series on The Divine ComedyLast week we began our introduction to Dante’s Divine Comedy with the first three of the seven overarching lessons that we can learn from the immortal Italian about work, art, love,…

Luxury and Literature in Shakespeare and Mandeville: Too Much of a Good Thing

Whenever economic times get tough, the debate over luxury--what defines it and how much of it is too much--reappears as part of public discourse. Photos from this year’s Met Gala, and the recent return of “maximalism” and its “too…

Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte e la vita

Quest'anno ricorre il 700 anniversario della morte di Dante. Numerosi eventi sono stati programmati in tutto il mondo, soprattutto nella nativa Italia di Dante, per celebrare l'eredità del Il Sommo poeta. Ma di gran lunga il modo…

Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life

A Reading Room Series This year marks the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death. Numerous events have been planned throughout the world, especially in Dante’s native Italy, to celebrate the supreme poet’s legacy. But by far the…

The Green Knight: Romance isn’t Dead

David Lowery’s film adaptation of the 14th Century alliterative romance, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, is a thoughtful and provocative response to its source, at once more faithful and more innovative than previous film versions.…