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How to Become a Tyrant in Five Easy Steps — Lessons From Herodotus

Saturday, September 20, 2025 - Filed in: General Interest
Tyrant
Nearly 2,500 years ago, the Greek historian Herodotus chronicled the rise and fall of empires in his monumental work, The Histories. Among his stories are strikingly modern lessons about how strongmen consolidate power. As UCLA’s Kathryn Morgan notes, one of the shocks in reading Herodotus today is how current his warnings feel. The same blueprint for tyranny he described still plays out across the globe.

Here is the tyrant’s playbook in five steps. Read More...

Digital Accomplishment vs. Real-World Contribution: A Growing Concern

Monday, September 15, 2025 - Filed in: General Interest
Baldacci
I’m currently reading “The Fallen,” the fourth book in David Baldacci’s Memory Man series. Baldacci, known for his thrillers, often slips in observations about the world we live in. In this novel, he pauses the action long enough to make a pointed commentary: many young people are spending four to six hours a day on a computer or phone, and the consequences are troubling.

It struck me how unusual—and powerful—it is to see this kind of social critique inside a crime thriller. But it also reflects an anxiety that is becoming mainstream: that an increasing number of young people are finding their sense of achievement primarily in the digital realm, rather than in real-world endeavors. Read More...