Rabelais and the Fight for the Modern Nation State

Early 16th century France was a newly formed nation-state following the exploits of Joan of Arc and unification efforts of Louis XI. The counterattack coming from the oligarchic forces was a most bloody religious warfare and Inquisition throughout Europe, pitting each against all. In the midst of all this raging madness, stood in France a…

Cervantes and His Age: Don Quixote and a Spain in Crisis

For this lecture from the Rising Tide Foundation Symposium “Storytelling, Mythmaking, and the Shaping of Universal History” Adam Sedia will go over the relevance of Cervantes’s “Don Quixote” for today. Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote is commonly considered the first modern novel. It certainly is one of the most beloved — it has more translations…

Clarity vs. Obscurity I: The Essences of Classicism and Modernism Compared

By Adam Sedia Classical and modern poetry are inarguably different. Indeed, modernism’s chief boast is its break with classicism and tradition more broadly. The difference is palpable in even the most cursory reading of a classical poem alongside a modernist one. Yet in what does the difference lie? It might be tempting to follow Justice…

Iran’s Century and a Half Fight for Sovereignty

By Cynthia Chung It all started in 1872, with Nasir al-Din Shah having granted to the British Baron Julius de Reuter, rights to Iran’s entire economic estate. Reuter not only controlled Iran’s industry, farming, and rail transportation, but also held the right to issue currency and to set up a national bank, called the Imperial…

Casting the Good Spell: Is Christianity a Fairy Tale?

Recently Cynthia Chung had a very engaging conversation with the Unreliable Narrators on the subject of C.S. Lewis’s science-fiction trilogy. The podcast can be listened to here: Lewis himself was interested in exploring the idea of a ‘good spell’ vs. a ‘bad spell’ in the third installment to his science-fiction trilogy titled “That Hideous Strength,”…

Who Killed Alfred Herrhausen in 1989- and Why (The Answer Revealed After 32 Years)

This Rising Tide Foundation lecture features investigative journalist, film maker and historian Dirk Pohlmann. Throughout this deep dive into history (premised on research that will be revealed in his upcoming book) Dirk sheds light on the truth of Deutschebank President Alfred Herrhausen’s 1989 murder in startling detail. This presentation takes an audience through a century…

A Song

By Gerald Therrien Is it to herald your regal realm,    proclaims this voice serene and bold? For all who hear it are in your care,    from God that right you do uphold! Is it a message sent far and wide,    an envoy to a love unseen? That seeks a mate of the…