So I’ve been away for the last few weeks, first visiting family for the first time in a long time, and now at a conference put on by The Claremont Institute. I’ll be back to full speed (on both the Substack and Unraveling w/Jocko) in couple of days, but in the meantime I had a fun interaction yesterday.

Hey everybody.

As NATO meets to discuss the tension on the Russian border to Ukraine, and the papers fill with denunciations of Putin’s aggression, I still find it useful to return to the framework I developed in Crashed for analyzing the intersection of geopolitics and economics and the rise of Russia as a challenger.

Great links, images and reading from Chartbook Newsletter by Adam Tooze

I will be reading my own verse as well as assorted 20th-century material.

"It's as hard as you'll ever get."

On April 18, I went to my regularly scheduled doctor’s appointment and got some unexpected news.

I don’t call my chairs “Welsh stick chairs” for good reasons.

Sveiki atvykę į pirmajį audio mini serialą mano Substack kanale.

Iš Michaelo Schumano knygos "Supervalstybė sugrįžta"

And now is not the time to work harder but to pause and lament.

Preparing for the next presidential administration

And how to break the endless cycle

The coolest language you’ve never heard of

Words by Rosa Kumar

Can a doll, no matter how well-intentioned, dismantle entrenched biases when it is built on an idealized, homogenized image of South Asian femininity?

Welcome to the Good Timeline

Homecoming

Do you?

With a nod to Terry Brooks

On this day in 1945, Dorothy Parker had writer's block

On this day in letters

An Introduction to Applied History

Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit

Will there ever be a Secrets of Great British Castles season 3? How much of a boss was William Marshal? What is my favourite beer? And other pressing questions...

Six archbishops who suffered the ultimate bad day at the ecclesiastical office

The former "Celebrity Apprentice" talent handler on what he saw behind the scenes.

Waiting for the Great Schism

"I used to write long-winded descriptions...in a kind of cipher shorthand which I am now unable to read even with a magnifying glass…"

Noted's Anniversary Edition: Part 3

and China succeeded

and China succeeded

One day in early August in the fourth century AD, something strange happened in Rome. Those who were outside braving the heat, walking on the Esquiline Hill would have glanced at the sky to notice a curious cloud formation - very different certainly from the compact cloud cover typical of snowfall - and would have been astonished to see snowflakes drifting down to earth – in the heat of summer! Some may have fled to escape this manifestation of divine wrath while others may have tentatively stretched out a hand to catch them and see them evaporate like real snowflakes. Someone noted and recorded the event.

Any weapon can be deadly when properly used, so by no means is this list all inclusive. So, what were the worst tangible (or perhaps invisible) weapons enemies would have encountered during the Crusades?

Canst thou overthrow Janus, the operant governing deity of America?

Cunning Snares are in Preparation

Kidnapped victim barely survived and talks. This is the real story, not what mainstream media is writing. GRAPHIC.

Tudor London as you've never seen it before (unless you read Part 1).

Colouring in the John Rocque map one panel at a time.

The fact that Iran’s missiles failed to kill large numbers of Israelis is irrelevant to us...Israel not only has the right to defend itself but the duty. Defending Jews is inherent in our raison d'être.

Ancient antisemitic tropes have now thoroughly, if often unconsciously, entered acceptable daily discourse.

Across much of the world, men and women think alike.

“Heavy bleeding.

Cionci Article

The Crooks of Bethel Part 2

Is Germany allowed to talk about lost territory?

I caused a rather delicious dilemma for myself this week.

An ongoing meme-archive series at Retro that supplies readers with pithy, effective, and engaging memes to use on special occasions.

Sixty is a music album available only at Retro. It is the eleventh album from Hounds.