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July 2025

Dissident Spotlight: Marko Vidojković
Marko Vidojković's 2020 novel was real enough to lead to death threats and legal consequences years after its publication.
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Christopher Gerlacher
Speculation, Storytelling, and the Perils of Overconfidence
Emotional attitudes frequently overwhelm objective assessments, leading to risks disguised as opportunities in financial markets.
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Christopher Gerlacher
Dissident Spotlight: Pema Rinchen
Pema Rinchen wrote a book about Tibetans' resistance to China's 2008 crackdown against the autonomous state. He spent four years in prison for it.
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Christopher Gerlacher
Time’s Echo and the Burden of Musical Memory
Jeremy Eichler explores how 20th-century music preserves memories of war and what it means when remembrance comes with ambiguity.
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Christopher Gerlacher
Dissident Spotlight: Norman Tumuhimbise
Norman Tumuhimbise is one of many victims of a leader's thin skin and quick resort to "offensiveness" as a crime against the state.
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Christopher Gerlacher
The Dark Side of Achievement Culture in Digital Times
Byung-Chul Han paints a troubling picture of the impact the pressure to achieve and monetize life online leads to isolation.
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Christopher Gerlacher
Dissident Spotlight: Daphne Caruana Galizia
Daphne Galizia's murder shows how journalists can be unsafe even in developed countries if their leaders are accustomed to dangerous levels of…
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Christopher Gerlacher
Lessons from the Askari: How Oppressive Regimes Endure
Discover what the askari story teaches about complicity, survival, and the mechanisms that sustain violent governments.
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Christopher Gerlacher
Dissident Spotlight: Rania al-Assal
Rania al-Assal is an Egyptian journalist who disappeared during her pilgrimage to Mecca. Saudi Arabia released her almost a year after seizing her.
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Christopher Gerlacher

June 2025

© 2025 Christopher Gerlacher
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