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Winter 2019 • Vol. 14, No. 4
From the Editor, Winter 2019
This issue marks the end of TOS’s fourteenth year of publication, and I want to thank you—our customers, subscribers, and donors—for your business and support, which has kept TOS going strong and constantly improving for these many years. My hat is off to all of you. Continue »
Features
Arts & Culture, History
The Life and Poetry of John Keats
Keats’s life was cruelly short and marred by tragedy, unrequited love, and ill health. But his frail body held a formidable soul. That soul lives on through his poetry and inspires us to make the most of our own opportunities for joy.
Arts & Culture
Selections from John Keats
Six beautiful poems to accompany Lisa VanDamme’s essay “The Life and Poetry of John Keats.”
Shorts
Economics, History, Politics & Rights
The Bravery of Hong Kong’s Freedom Fighters
The bravery of today’s Hong Kong protestors is nothing short of incredible. Confronting the massive forces of the world’s largest and most bloodstained dictatorship, they stand for freedom against overwhelming odds. Yet they remain undaunted.
History, Politics & Rights
Charles Sumner’s Principled Attack on Slavery
At a time when Americans are once again debating the history of slavery, we must never forget the legacy of Charles Sumner.
History, Politics & Rights
Bravery That Broke the Berlin Wall
Three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, as polls report the increasing popularity of socialism among young Americans, it’s worth pausing to remember the massive evil it embodied and the bravery that brought it down.
Real Fake News
Bernie Sanders and AOC Release Plan to End Thanksgiving
As Americans stock up on french-fried onions and cranberry sauce, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announce the latest addition to the Green New Deal.
Arts & Culture, Philosophy
‘Awesome without Allah’: Helping Muslims Leave Islam
Ditching Islam is a necessary step toward a truly human life for millions of Muslims all over the world, and Ex-Muslims of North America is helping many to take that step.
Education & Parenting, Politics & Rights, Science & Technology
Greta Thunberg Should Be Angry—and So Should You
Not only are eco-alarmists destroying the lives of children, but they are unashamedly using them as fodder to attack human flourishing and the freedom that makes it possible.
History, Philosophy, Politics & Rights
Obscure Manuscript Further Reveals John Locke’s Intellectual Honesty
Locke’s intellectual honesty was the root of all of his achievements—and it’s on display in his newly uncovered “Reasons for Tolerateing Papists.”
Arts & Culture, History
John Fogerty’s Disciplined Focus
For all its apparent simplicity, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s music resonates because of the precision with which it was written, the discipline with which it was performed, and the bold and joyous spirit it evokes in its fans.
Arts & Culture
Humor and Being Human
If Hurley, Dennett, and Adams are right, they’ve taken a substantial step in explaining why laughter is among the loveliest manifestations of what it means to be human.
Arts & Culture
Enter The Twilight Zone This November
Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling's sense of life was rooted in a belief that humanity could triumph over its challenges. Sixty years after its debut, the show remains one of the most popular ever made and a fixture of American culture.
Arts & Culture
Three Masters of Watercolor
Carolyn Brady, Paul Jackson, and Steve Hanks introduced a new dimension into watercolor, demonstrating that what some think is an art of mere sketches and impressions is capable of the most staggering emotional impact.
Arts & Culture
Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Important Things in Life
Stevie Ray Vaughan left lasting monuments to his musical genius—and a lesson about the importance of focusing on the important things in life.
Arts & Culture
The Great British Baking Show’s Wonderful Sense of Life
If you’ve been searching for a highly entertaining, heartwarming show that demonstrates how it’s possible for people to pursue their greatest passions while having fun and respecting their competitors—even when someone has to “lose”—look no further.
Reviews
History, Philosophy, Reviews
The Plato Cult and Other Philosophical Follies by David Stove
As Ayn Rand wrote, “To laugh at the contemptible, is a virtue.” With the wit of a Mark Twain and the jaundiced eye of a Richard Mitchell, David Stove practiced this virtue diligently and thus did philosophy a tremendous service.
History, Politics & Rights, Reviews
The Rediscovery of America: Essays by Harry V. Jaffa on the New Birth of Politics
For all of his errors, Jaffa's insistence that the truths of the Declaration are not historical artifacts but timeless principles worthy of defending will make his best work last forever.
Reviews
One Girl One Dream by Laura Dekker
When Laura Dekker successfully sailed around the world alone at the age of sixteen, she became the youngest person ever to do so—and a source of inspiration for millions of others with lofty dreams.
Arts & Culture, History, Reviews
The Ascent of Jacob Bronowski: The Life and Ideas of a Popular Science Icon by Timothy Sandefur
Sandefur’s well-trained and wide-ranging mind, brought to bear on a subject of deep personal interest, has delivered prose that is both graceful and direct. What emerges from his biographical portrait is the closest any of us now can get to one of the great humanistic minds of the previous century.
Arts & Culture, Reviews
Doctor Sleep by Mike Flanagan
Doctor Sleep is one of the best horror films of the past thirty years, primarily because of its explicit and accurate identification of the nature of evil—and of the ability of good to overcome it.
Ayn Rand & Objectivism, History, Philosophy, Politics & Rights
The Prometheus Connection, America’s Original Spirit: Rise, Demise, Recovery by Kevin Osborne
In the tradition of Ayn Rand’s essay “For the New Intellectual,” Osborne explains that knowing the history of how we got where we are today can teach us what we need to do to reestablish America’s original spirit—and the freedoms that flow from it.
Arts & Culture, Politics & Rights
Peaceful Death Threats by Bosch Fawstin
Ex-Muslim Bosch Fawstin has received thousands of death threats from Muslims enraged by his drawings of Muhammaed, and he’s collected them in a series that belies the idea that Islam is “a religion of peace.”
Arts & Culture, Reviews
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Let’s hope that future entries in the Star Wars universe follow Fallen Order’s example and once again give us good reasons to fantasize about being Jedi.
