Category: Europe

Europe, History, Philosophy, PoliticsLeave a comment

Against power

Fernando Kaskais

Louis XVI, roi de France (1778-79) by Antoine-François Callet. Courtesy of the Palace of Versailles, France As a republican, Sophie de Grouchy argued that sympathy, not domination, must be the glue that holds society together Sandrine Bergès is a professor in the Department of Philosophy at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. Her books include Sophie de Grouchy’s Letters on Sympathy (2019) and Liberty in Their Names: The Women Philosophers of the French Revolution (2022). Eric Schliesser is professor of political science at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. His books include Sophie de Grouchy’s Letters on Sympathy (2019) and Newton’s Metaphysics: Essays (2021). During the Paris Commune of 1871, … Continue reading Against power

Climate Change, Eco, Europe, PoliticsLeave a comment

Broken Zipper? France Will Pay to Get It Fixed

Fernando Kaskais

Mireille Paumier’s clothing repair shop. Credit: Klaus Sieg Cheap, disposable clothing is causing an environmental disaster. Now, the home of haute couture is chipping in for its citizens’ garment repairs. By: Klaus Sieg In downtown Bordeaux, the big fashion brands of the world dominate the district around Rue Sainte-Catherine, nearly upstaging the St. Andre Cathedral and the famous Grand Theatre de Bordeaux. Their LED signs blaze from behind magnificent neoclassical facades: H&M, Old Navy, G-Star RAW — a modern cultural form embedded within the old.  Mireille Paumier’s studio for repairs is located on a far less ostentatious side street. Top Retouches … Continue reading Broken Zipper? France Will Pay to Get It Fixed

Curiositys, Europe, History, LivingLeave a comment

Here’s what it was like to live in ancient Rome

Fernando Kaskais

Historians have been able to piece together a clear picture of how the average Roman citizen spent their waking hours. KEY TAKEAWAYS By Tim Brinkhof This article was first published on Big Think in January 2022. It was updated in September 2023. There are, roughly speaking, two types of historians: those who look at the past from afar, recording its wars, epidemics, and recessions; and those who look at the past from up close, studying the lives and livelihoods of ordinary people. Macro-historians help us understand the events that led up to the present moment, while micro-historians try to show … Continue reading Here’s what it was like to live in ancient Rome

Europe, Fascism, History, Politics, PsychologyLeave a comment

Those born later

Fernando Kaskais

At the Grunewald Gleis 17 (Platform 17) Memorial in Berlin. From this former railway station, more than 50,000 Jewish people were sent to Auschwitz between October 1941 and February 1945. Photo by Michael Dalder/Reuters How does a nation begin to take responsibility for its past wrongs? The German case suggests courage comes locally Helmut Walser Smith is the Martha Rivers Ingram Chair of History and professor of history at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. His books include The Butcher’s Tale: Murder and Antisemitism in a German Town (2002), The Continuities of German History: Nation, Religion, and Race across the Long 19th Century (2008) and Germany: A … Continue reading Those born later

Eco, Europe, Planet, ScienceLeave a comment

In Southern Italy, the Looming Threat of an Underground Volcano

Fernando Kaskais

Top: Tourists visit the Solfatara crater, part of the Phlegraean Fields, an active volcano near Naples, Italy. Visual: Salvatore Laporta/Kontrolab/LightRocket via Getty Images An uptick in small earthquakes has caught the attention of scientists, who watch for signs of an imminent eruption. BY AGOSTINO PETRONI ACURTAIN OF WHITE VAPOR blurred the outline of Alessandro Santi as he bent over the edge of a gray bubbling pond in Pozzuoli, a city in southern Italy. In the thick sulfurous cloud, the 30-year-old technician dipped a six-foot pole, the end of which was attached to a plastic cup, into the 180-degree Fahrenheit water and pulled … Continue reading In Southern Italy, the Looming Threat of an Underground Volcano

Brain, Europe, Health, History, PsychologyLeave a comment

How Was Madness Shown in Early Modern Europe?

Fernando Kaskais

In early modern Europe, madness was a mysterious phenomenon. This article observes the multiple ways in which it was imaged and imagined. By Alice Marinelli, PhD History of Art It is widely accepted that the birth of scientific psychiatry and clinical psychology dates back to the 19th and 20th centuries, with Sigmund Freud being recognized as the undisputed father of psychoanalysis. The brain and its functions and dysfunctions, however, were already fascinating objects of study for early moderns. This article uses the phenomenon of the Dancing Plague as a lens through which to observe how madness was imagined in 16th and 17th century Europe. … Continue reading How Was Madness Shown in Early Modern Europe?

Curiositys, Europe, Freak U.S.A, Media&Culture, PsychologyLeave a comment

Crème de la crème

Fernando Kaskais

Ooh-la-la! Guests at the Chanel Artists Dinner at the renowned French restaurant Balthazar in New York on 12 June 2023. Photo by Lexie Moreland/WWD/Getty How French cuisine became beloved among status-hungry diners in the United States, from Thomas Jefferson to Kanye West Kelly Alexander is an anthropologist at the Department of American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her books include Hometown Appetites: The Story of Clementine Paddleford (2008), co-authored with Cynthia Harris, and Peaches: A Savor the South Cookbook (2013). Claire Bunschoten is the Abbott Lowell Cummings Postdoctoral Fellow in American Material Culture at Boston University. She is working on … Continue reading Crème de la crème

Europe, History, Politics, SexLeave a comment

The horrors of Pompeii

Fernando Kaskais

Fresco from the Lupanar brothel, in Pompeii, c70-79 CE. Courtesy Wikipedia The name ‘Eutychis’ was etched into a wall 2,000 years ago. Finding out who she was illuminates the dark side of Rome Guy D Middleton is a visiting fellow in the school of history, Classics and archaeology at Newcastle University, Newcastle. His books include Understanding Collapse: Ancient History and Modern Myths (2017), Collapse and Transformation: The Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age in the Aegean (2020) and Women in the Ancient Mediterranean World: From the Palaeolithic to the Byzantines (2023). ‘Eutychis, a Greek lass with sweet ways, 2 asses.’ This pithy graffito advertising sex for sale comes from … Continue reading The horrors of Pompeii

Europe, Living, Media&Culture, PsychologyLeave a comment

A gospel of enjoyment

Fernando Kaskais

Making the herbal liqueur at the Grande Chartreuse Monastery in France, 1953. Photo by Bert Hardy/Getty The French idea of the good life doesn’t always make rational economic sense. So much the worse for traditional economics By Charly Coleman, is associate professor in the Department of History at Columbia University in New York. He is the author of The Virtues of Abandon: An Anti-Individualist History of the French Enlightenment (2014) and The Spirit of French Capitalism: Economic Theology in the Age of Enlightenment (2021). Apparently, the Carthusian monks who distil the herbal liqueur Chartreuse have been struggling to maintain a work-life balance. Sales of the … Continue reading A gospel of enjoyment

Curiositys, Europe, Future, Politics, RussiaLeave a comment

What To Do With Communist Decay

Fernando Kaskais

All photos by Nikolay Doychinov for Noema Magazine Buzludzha was the pinnacle of Bulgaria’s communist-era monuments and drew international visitors as a modern ruin. Now, it’s poised to be the country’s first monument presented like a museum. BY ASHIRA MORRIS, is a freelance writer based in Sofia, Bulgaria and Tallahassee, Florida. BUZLUDZHA PEAK, Bulgaria — The double doors to Buzludzha are secured with a large metal lock across white metal grating. The lock is relatively new, as is the “ENTRY PROHIBITED” sign in Bulgarian and English over the door and the guard posted on site.  Buzludzha, officially called the Memorial House … Continue reading What To Do With Communist Decay