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ten months pass...
two months pass...
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Minority opinion on here I'm sure but I kinda like French. I think he's wrong about a zillion things of course, but he's super critical of the current evangelical-political movement, and he and his wife have done legit investigative journalism in exposing some religious sexual abusers. I'll take him over Brooks and Douthat, however low that may be setting the bar.
I don't like French but, yeah, he's better than the others; it's just infuriating, though, that the NYT has a ticker-tape parade every time they add yet another conservative to their op-ed section.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 3 January 2023 18:29 (one year ago) link
eight months pass...
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/how-often-do-men-think-about-the-roman-empire/
Apparently, men think about the Roman Empire frequently. This is news to most women, who I’d venture rarely obsess over Marcus Aurelius.
A TikTok video of a woman asking her husband how often he considers the Roman Empire went viral this week. He responded without pause that it was an “everyday thought.” More women are adding to the trend, asking their spouses and boyfriends how much brain space Rome occupies.
So, men: Is this serious? How often do you think about the Roman Empire? There are many reasons to think about Rome — reasons one of my dude-brained colleagues will probably flesh out in the future — but women . . . don’t. Or, at least, we think about it less frequently. Although I’m reminded of Rome often, it doesn’t pop into my head randomly, except in the cases of a few Catholic or architectural queries.
That men and women are different is, it seems for many online, still shocking. To destroy, conquer, and build empires has historically been the stuff of men. While there’s room for sexes to blend their interests, women tend to care more about the social aspects of history and probably identify better with aesthetic traditions (Jane Austen’s romanticism, Renaissance art, qualities of various royal reigns) instead of specific eras.
There’s no cause for social uproar every time we notice another distinction between men and women — isn’t it enough to just admit that we’re different? This week’s viral trend will probably manifest into think pieces over how the Roman Empire came to be a male-exclusive interest, or how more women need history degrees.
The Rome discourse mirrors an office discussion we had the other week, about our favorite films. The men couldn’t narrow down their lists unless they devised categories, and even then, there was painful debate on the merits of each movie’s script, score, and technical quality. Meanwhile, I’ve had the same favorite movie for the past decade, and my girlfriends agree that we choose our favorite films based more on emotional appeal than anything else.
Thousands of years have passed, and hundreds of empires have burned, only for men and women to remain fundamentally different. Some things never change.
― i really like that!! (z_tbd), Wednesday, 13 September 2023 23:59 (seven months ago) link
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one month passes...
Are you familiar with that old joke from the Eric Andre Show, where the host asks a guest, “Why would you say something so controversial yet so brave?” It’s become ironically memetic shorthand for moments when someone expresses an entirely banal or inoffensive opinion. And yet, strangely enough, Fetterman’s position on the Gaza war fits this frame to an almost shockingly perfect degree: It’s both popular among his constituents, and certainly among Americans at large, while also authentically controversial and brave, certainly when compared to where his Democratic peers in the Senate are. I hesitate to speculate about the origins of the seeming change that has come over him, other than guessing that the discipline and strength of character required to recover from a life-altering stroke also suggests a certain willfulness. (To be fair, I do also like my other theory, which is that Chuck Schumer unwittingly leveled him up by stuffing him back into a suit.) Fetterman has clearly demonstrated he is now his own man and also a savvy hand at public relations; I doubt he’s unaware of the political armor his medical situation gives him, and good for him — he’s wearing it straight into battle.
― President Keyes, Friday, 5 April 2024 20:00 (three weeks ago) link