Regular observations and conversations on ways the humanities serve, or fail to serve, the greater good.
The Two Gardens
Do gardens display the course of time, or a timeless science?
The Shipwreck of the Humanities
Do the humanities prevent or foster our cultural shipwreck?
Out of the woods: no trees at the library
The Vatican City correspondent deliberates on the absence of trees at the library.
The Worry-Fencer: the roots and restlessness of our present time.
Tracing the source of our restlessness, in dialogue.
Fables for the Present Time
Stories of science and learning in our time.
Death has no answer
A dialogue about life extension and limits, beyond biology and scholarship.
On silence
On silence. Why poets, and others, look for quietude – with lovers, friends, or by themselves – in lieu of words Doodle: Good morning, Noodle. You appear deep in thought. Noodle: Thanks for the interruption. [...]
Mountain shadows, mountain light
The balance needed for wholeness.
The Greatest of New Years
The Greatest of New Years: that our age of science is also the age of the humanities, from our St. Petersburg correspondent, 1 January 2017 “S nastupivishim!”: “Happy upcoming New Year!” So the new year begins [...]
Science and the music of history
Science and the music of history: is this a new age of knowledge? A scientist and an historian discuss the value of the past, and the promise of the future. Scientist: Hey there, Scrupulus, what have [...]