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Jeb Bush: Policy, Politics, Life
Over the years, I have done several podcasts with Jeb Bush. They are always interesting and refreshing. For two terms, 1999 to 2007, he was the governor of Florida. Other governors looked to him for inspiration and advice. (I heard several of them say so, on the record and off.)
Beyond Bedlam
In August 1843, the English painter Richard Dadd stabbed his father to death. The Egyptian sun god Osirus told him to. Dadd, an ambitious and accomplished young artist, had returned from a Grand Tour of the Eastern Mediterranean in a high state of psychosis. After killing his father, he escaped to France intending to assassinate the Emperor of Austria. Instead, he was caught and spent the remaining 42 years of his life in English asylums, first in the notorious Bethlem (popularly known as Bedlam) and then in Broadmoor.
Being the Trouble
Ein Gespräch mit Mithu Sanyal über Literatur, digitale Medien, Krieg und Shitstorms Von Anna-Lena Eick und Inge van de Ven
Locked up with a Nazi
We’re back — and starting with a book that genuinely floored us.In 1949, Polish resistance fighter and journalist Kazimierz Moczarski was thrown into a Warsaw prison cell with Jürgen Stroop, the SS general responsible for the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto. They lived together for 255 days.The result was Conversations with an Executioner: Moczarski’s extraordinary attempt to understand the man beside him.
Die Welt als Dienstleistungsdorf
Tomer Gardi widmet sich in „Liefern“ dem Phänomen der omnipräsenten Lieferdienste per App und richtet den Blick auf die Gesichter der Menschen hinter den bunten Lieferboxen Rezension von Monika Grosche zu Tomer Gardi: Liefern. Roman Tropen Verlag, Stuttgart 2026
Eine lyrische Utopie mit Ecken und Kanten
Artur Nickel entwirft in “den frühling an den regenbogen erinnern”ein buntes Kaleidoskop aus Gedichten, das Hoffnung bewahrt, ohne die vielfältigen Krisen der Gegenwart auszublenden Rezension von Florian Birnmeyer zu Artur Nickel: den frühling an den regenbogen erinnern. gedichte & fragmente Geest-Verlag, Vechta 2026
Tune In, Drop Out, Start Up
This article appears in the forthcoming Fall 2026 Claremont Review of Books Because I’m going to be quite critical of Theo Baker’s How to Rule the World, it feels only right to start with three pieces of sincere praise: the book held my attention all the way to the end, I learned things from it, and
Betrachten, erinnern, sich selbst vergewissern
Jens Wonneberger beglückt mit Autopsien biographischer und autobiographischer Art Rezension von Günter Helmes zu Jens Wonneberger: Inventur Müry Salzmann Verlag, Salzburg 2026
„Staub fällt von den Schuhen“ von Christa Hagmeyer
Hinweis von Redaktion literaturkritik.de zu Christa Hagmeyer: Staub fällt von den Schuhen Molino Verlag, Leonberg 2026
Anand Gopal: Days of Love and Rage
Listen to Anand Gopal: Days of Love and Rage from The Book Club. In this week’s Book Club podcast, Sam Leith is joined by The New Yorker writer Anand Gopal, whose new book, long-listed for the Baillie Gifford Prize, is Days of Love and Rage: A Story of Revolution.What does freedom mean once the dictator has gone? Anand explains why he spent eight years reporting on Manbij, a city of 150,000 that pushed out the Assad regime and set about building a democracy from scratch – and how the argument over what came next split the revolution in two.
- Literaturcafe.de Read
»Corpus Delicti« von Juli Zeh im Kino - Wir verlosen Eintrittskarten für den Film
Am 1. Oktober 2026 kommt »Corpus Delicti« in die Kinos, die Verfilmung von Juli Zehs Bestseller-Roman über einen totalitären Gesundheitsstaat. Hannah Herzsprung und Damian Hardung spielen die Geschwister Mia und Moritz Holl, deren Leben aus den Fugen gerät, als Moritz eines Mordes beschuldigt wird. Wir verlosen dreimal je zwei Kinotickets für »Corpus Delicti«. Hier klicken und weiterlesen: »»Corpus Delicti« von Juli Zeh im Kino – Wir verlosen Eintrittskarten für den Film« >
Book Club Recap: City of God (Augustine)
Session 1 of 2 (Books 11, 12 & 14)
Who’s afraid of realism?: ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ by Muriel Spark
When Muriel Spark describes the art teacher, Mr Lloyd, in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, she writes that ‘most wonderful of all, he had only one arm, the right, with which he painted’. The loss of an arm was hardly wonderful for Mr Lloyd, but for the girls at the centre of the novel it is a rich source of fascination, and Spark’s description exemplifies her use of one of the classic realist tools, free indirect style, to fill her short book with the life and character of adolescent girlhood at an Edinburgh school in the 1930s.
- Onward and Upward Read
Living in Truth, &c
On a political prisoner in Hong Kong; ugliness in Texas; principles for a new party; and more
NEW BOOK CLUB and Neil Gaiman’s “Chivalry” with H.E. Eduard Habsburg
We have BIG NEWS! We have launched the new Ascend Book Club! Ascend: The Great Books Podcast has partnered with “The Ascent” here on Substack to transform it into the new Ascend Book Club to offer you the most comprehensive online book club focused on reading the great books and living a beautiful, virtuous life. You’ll receive the same great content as before but with much more—which now includes: Weekly podcast and videos on the great books Weekly articles on the great books In-depth, detailed pdf guides on the great books
- St. Austin Review Read
The Greatest Englishman
Is a little-known Jesuit martyr the greatest ever Englishman? The Greatest Englishman – Joseph Pearce
- St. Austin Review Read
Why Catholics Should Read Classic Fiction
The greatest truths are to be found in the greatest fiction... Why Catholics Should Read Classic Fiction - Joseph Pearce
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