“Christianity’s most dangerous idea (and why it won’t die)” – Drew McCoy | Genetically Modified Skeptic ▶️

If Nietzsche, Proust, Baudelaire, or Rimbaud survive the fluctuations of fashions, they owe it to the disinterestedness of their cruelty, to their demonic surgery, to the generosity of their spleen. What makes a work last, what keeps it from dating, is its ferocity.A gratuitous assertion? Consider the prestige of the Gospels, that aggressive book, a…

The Palestinian family resisting Israeli land grabs in the occupied West Bank | Al Jazeera ▶️

May 13, 2024 | Hafez Hureini, a decades-long activist in Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank, has thwarted Israeli annexation attempts since the '80s through non-violent resistance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTe0i50dtVo&ab_channel=AlJazeeraEnglish Now in his mid 50s, Hafez is passing the reigns over to his sons Sami and Hammoudi who are trying to continue his brand of peaceful…

“What Are the Gnostic Gospels?” – Elaine Pagels | Within Reason ▶️

Elaine Pagels is an American historian of religion. She is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University. Pagels has conducted extensive research into early Christianity and Gnosticism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jExBkcB0RTs TIMESTAMPS 00:00 What is a Gnostic Gospel?04:51 How the Gnostic Gospels Were Discovered10:36 Secret Knowledge & Teachings18:01 Do the Gnostic Gospels Contradict the New…

“Herculaneum scrolls reveal Plato’s burial location” – Luke Ranieri | PolýMATHY ▶️

New research into the Herculaneum Scrolls, a collection of more than 1,800 papyrus scrolls found in the preserved ruins of Herculaneum, near Pompeii, entombed by the volcanic ash of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD, has revealed where Plato the great Athenian philosopher was buried. Where exactly was Plato's Academy, and what is…

“The Blind Spot in Perception: Cognitive Science, Asian Philosophy, and Mystical Insight” – Evan Thompson & John Vervaeke ▶️

Evan Thompson is a philosopher and author, specializing in the integration of cognitive science, philosophy of mind, and Asian philosophical traditions. Based at the University of British Columbia, his work, including his recent book The Blind Spot, examines the intersections of consciousness, experience, and reality through a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FEYm8ehaTE Can cognitive science, philosophy,…

“Far-Right Newspeak and the Future of Liberal Democracy” – Marlene Laruelle, A. James McAdams, Sarah Shurts, Laura Field, Samuel Piccolo | Illiberalism Studies Program ▶️

March 7, 2024 | A presentation of the ways in which contemporary far-right politicians, intellectuals, and pundits use and abuse traditional liberal concepts and ideas to justify positions that threaten democratic institutions and liberal principles. In post-Bolsonaro Brazil, neocon philosopher Luiz Felipe Pondé is a remarkable example of such far-right newspeak. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXurE2lOQKs&ab_channel=IlliberalismStudiesProgram This edited volume,…

An artist of anguish: Otto Dix | Blind Dweller ▶️

Rising from the smokestacks of industrial Germany in the late 19th century, as Europe was beginning to grapple with the harrowing realities of conflict and societal upheaval, one artist dared to confront the raw, unvarnished truth of the human condition through his stark, provocative creations. Otto Dix, a master of Expressionism and the New Objectivity…

“The business of suffering: every solution needs a problem” – Orion Taraban | PsycHacks ▶️

In this second episode of a two-part series, I discuss the economic incentives driving the West's epidemic of mental illness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1Qj8Ad9--I&ab_channel=PsycHacks May 3, 2024 | Given certain regulatory requirements, it is generally easier for drug companies to receive FDA approval if their products treat disorders that do not already have a treatment of demonstrated efficacy.…

“The Myth of Low-Serotonin & Antidepressants” – Dr. Mark Horowitz | After Skool ▶️

Cow urine was the only medicine that monks were allowed to use in early Buddhist communities. If you think about it, it is quite fair and comprehensible. If we pursue peace, we can only achieve it by rejecting everything that is a cause of trouble, that is to say everything that man has added to…

The far right and neo-Nazis: an increasing terrorist threat | DW documentary ▶️

May 1st, 2024 | Here comes a long and harsh winter of 21st century neo-Nazism, which may turn out to be even more vicious, even more criminal than the original phenomenon. Across Europe, the next generation of white supremacists are being radicalized. They fantasize about an ethnically pure Europe and are taking action. The threat…