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The Dark Truth About Revolutions

2 months ago | culture-critic.com | Evan Amato

Everyone thinks they know this painting. Plastered on everything from posters to t-shirts to textbooks, Liberty Leading the People has become a visual shorthand for revolution itself. In it, the goddess of liberty leads the French to freedom — she’s armed with nothing more than a musket and the tricolor flag, yet the crowd surges forward and follows her to victory. It’s easy to see why this image is used to celebrate revolution. It looks heroic. It looks like the triumph of freedom over tyranny.
Why Tolkien Hated Dune

Mar 29, 2025 | culture-critic.com | Evan Amato

J.R.R. Tolkien didn’t offer many harsh opinions about his contemporaries. But in an unsent letter, he made an exception — writing that he disliked Frank Herbert’s Dune “with some intensity.”On the surface, it’s a puzzling statement. Dune is a sweeping myth of prophecy and power, a richly built world with its own languages, genealogies, and histories. In many regards, it’s a natural cousin of The Lord of the Rings — a saga of destiny and leadership set against the fall of civilizations.
Was Aristotle Right About Happiness?

Mar 27, 2025 | culture-critic.com | Evan Amato

What is Eudaimonia? The ancient Greek word for flourishing, often translated as Happiness, is the goal of one’s life… according to Aristotle. But what does it entail? How exactly do we achieve it? And is the process the same for everyone? We discussed all this with Anya Leonard of Classical Wisdom — the full recording is available to watch now…
How Did Christianity Conquer Rome?

Mar 22, 2025 | culture-critic.com | Evan Amato

For centuries, Christianity was a faith of the persecuted. Its followers met in secret, its leaders were hunted, and its martyrs were torn apart in arenas. The full might of Rome was arrayed against it, and thousands of early Christians died in the same way as the man they called the Messiah. Then, in one of history’s most dramatic reversals, the world’s greatest empire didn’t just stop persecuting Christianity, but embraced the faith as its own.
Who From History Inspires You Most?

Mar 17, 2025 | culture-critic.com | Niall Ferguson

Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -45:05Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. How can the modern man be noble? And which great minds from history can he look to for guidance? We discussed these very questions with renowned historian Niall Ferguson and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale on X Spaces last week.
The Devil vs. Jesus

Mar 8, 2025 | culture-critic.com | Evan Amato

Lent commemorates Christ’s 40 days in the Judaean Desert — a period of fasting, solitude, and preparation before his public ministry. But it’s also the moment in which he faced down Satan for the first time, in a battle of cosmic significance. In this often overlooked story, the Gospels recount how the devil approaches Jesus after his forty days of fasting. First, Satan tempts him to turn stones into bread to satisfy his hunger.