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Books: Literature, Memiors, & Philosophy

A Practical Guide to Navigating Hell
R. F. Kuang's Katabasis is an exploration of not only the author's fictional Hell, but also the myriad Hell myths we've created over thousands of years.
 • Christopher Gerlacher
How a 1,000-Year-Old Poem Undermines the Iranian Regime
Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat celebrates earthly pleasures that, like the author, remain banned under Iran's revolutionary government.
 • Christopher Gerlacher
How Movies Make the World Feel More Real
The Moviegoer is an exploration of the search for meaning and the disconnect between a well-crafted world and the real one.
 • Christopher Gerlacher
How We Lie to Ourselves About Our Inherent Goodness
Albert Camus' book The Fall is a challenge to confront the worst parts of ourselves that may never be tested in the real world.
 • Christopher Gerlacher
How Extremists Give Permission to Relinquish Moral Responsibility
Salman Rushdie's fifth novel is a family saga warning of the dangers of political extremism and how quickly societies can change.
 • Christopher Gerlacher
Mephisto, the Critic of the Digital Age
The Devil's manipulative abilities in Goethe's play, Faust, reveal frailties that remain common two centuries after its publication.
 • Christopher Gerlacher
The Tragedy of Dmitri Shostakovich
Even as he undercut one of history's most brutal dictators, Shostakovich couldn't keep himself from collaborating with the Soviet regime late in his…
 • Christopher Gerlacher
Incentives Don't Paint a Full Picture of Moral Choice
Resurrection shows how even “rational” systems can reward hypocrisy, offering insight for an age of influencers enamored with behavioral economics.
 • Christopher Gerlacher
Violence, Power, and the Trivialization of Corruption
A journalist's battle to end a child sex trafficking ring shows what a corrupt court system really looks like.
 • Christopher Gerlacher
How Grandstanding Undermines Genuine Dialogue
Moral grandstanding is rotting online discourse, cheapening essential words and rewarding performative cruelty over genuine dialogue.
 • Christopher Gerlacher
Albert Camus on the Courage to Resist Authoritarianism
Camus, the founder of absurdism, risked his life in the French Resistance. His lessons remain urgent for divided societies.
 • 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.
 • Christopher Gerlacher
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