history

27 Mar 2020

All That Glitters: An Homage to Bay Area Dreamers & Schemers

All That Glitters is an homage to the dreamers and schemers that make the Bay Area unique. San Francisco artist Kaytea Petro uses a homemade hibiscus ink to illustrate historic photos, lovingly depicting a bygone era. More of her work can be seen at kayteapetro.com or on her Instagram. All

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09 Mar 2020

The United States’ Sad History of Soft-Brain Presidential Campaigns

by Xan Holbrook As much as the world loves to pretend it doesn’t give a shit about the US election, it is the one event in world politics which draws the most deserved attention (I say deserved, as people ought to fret at least a little bit about whatever Caligula

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02 Mar 2020

Invading Afghanistan Remains a Historically Bad Idea

by Xan Holbrook It’s approaching cliche among historians and history buffs to say that Afghanistan is unconquerable. However, its reputation as the toughest nut to crack in geo-politics – from the Parthian Empire until now – is not meritless. For most Americans, Afghanistan first permeated the national psyche during the

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03 Feb 2020

The Deep Historical Roots of America’s Opioid Crisis

by Xan Holbrook During the trial of Michael Jackson’s doctor, I happened to be at my mother’s house. We watched a news report that detailed the extent of Jackson’s pharmaceutical drug addiction. My mother, a proud NHS nurse of 40 years, shook her head in incredulity at the drugs Jackson’s

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07 Jan 2020

Absinthe Isn’t Special and You Aren’t Special for Drinking It

by Xan Holbrook I see you there. You’re twirling your Hercule Poirot ‘stache, adjusting your pince-nez specs and drinking espresso from a cup so small you hold it with tweezers. Sitting there, in your Fort Greene café, keeping an eye on the Penny-Farthing you rode here on. Watching the world

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31 Dec 2019

The History Behind New Years Resolutions

Resolutions, like wishes, like dreams, are ostensibly reachable, hopefully, feasible goals that many of us around the globe try desperately to hold ourselves to in the new year. Depending on your perspective of the whole thing, you may not even think about resolutions, maybe concerned solely about where you’re going

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16 Dec 2019

Christopher Columbus was the 15th Century’s Epstein

by Xan Holbrook Little of the phony gravitas of Christopher Columbus remains nowadays. Not the first man to discover the Americas, nor the one who proved the world was round, nor a pious man, not even a man who loved the land he found… Columbus is an empty icon. More

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