The Beautiful Suit

In this podcast we discuss H.G. Wells's fable "The Beautiful Suit." It was originally published in 1909 under the title, "A Moonlight Fable." You have probably never heard of the story, but it imparts a powerful message. What does it mean? What is the author trying to communicate to his readers? And what lesson can we take from the tale, and incorporate into our own lives?

Recent events have prompted some reflection on general principles of conflict. In this podcast we discuss ten of them.

In this podcast we discuss love, sloth, and free will in the context of Canto 18 of Dante's "Purgatorio." What is the nature of love, and how does it affect our souls? What is the true meaning of sloth? What place does free will have in our lives? We explore these questions.

We begin with a few recommendations on books and resources to use in understanding Dante's "Divine Comedy." Then we switch gears, and get into the meat of the podcast. It seems we become substantially different people every seven to ten years, more or less. We may feel self-conscious or uncomfortable about the things we said, wrote, or believed when we were younger. Is it normal to feel this way? And is it better to preserve a record of one's thought, or to renounce beliefs one no longer holds? We discuss.

Rights and liberties that have been won by past generations will not remain won without active and forceful advocacy by successive generations. Systems of power and control will inevitably regroup and counterattack, and seek to roll back the clock. This is happening all around us now. Those who are unwilling to assert their rights, and unwilling to protect what past generations earned, will find themselves stripped of their patrimony.

In an 1842 letter to Ralph Waldo Emerson, the Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle chastised Emerson, saying, "A man has no right to say to his generation, turning away from it, 'Be Damned!' It is the whole past and the whole future, this same cotton-spinning, dollar-hunting, canting and shrieking, very wretched generation of ours. Come back into it, I tell you." What did he mean by this? And what importance does Carlyle's admonition have for us today? We discuss.

In this podcast I describe unforgettable images that emerge from the aftermaths of certain battles. We discuss Livy's description of the battlefield after Cannae, a scene in Dante, and an anecdote from the American Civil War.

In this podcast we take a quote from Seneca, discuss its meaning, and apply it to some modern life lessons.

Several days ago I published a new, annotated translation of the "Stratagems" of Frontinus. It is a vastly underappreciated classic of military theory. In this podcast, I present the work and the author. I also explain why "Stratagems" is unique, and why it is a superb manual on leadership and how to prevail in any conflict.

In this podcast we discuss the story of "Akulka's Husband," which is found in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel "The House of the Dead." What does the story mean, and what conclusions can be drawn from it?