And today, I signed a contract to turn Manuel II’s journey into a book. I’m so excited to share this forgotten piece of history — and to challenge how we think the late medieval world really looked. 2/2

That is very kind of you! Thank you.

Entire generations of dancers, choreographers, and critics were wiped out. And as Fran Lebowitz has pointed out, the art form also lost its most attentive and discerning audience. I don’t think ballet has ever truly recovered, and it may never. What was lost has simply been lost.

Of course, the epidemic ravaged the arts as a whole, but ballet, because it was in such an intensely innovative period, suffered a particularly deep loss.

Υ.Γ. Για την ιστορία, ο Κασσελάκης έχει επίσης αμερικανικό διαβατήριο (όπως μάθαμε με το δράμα «κάποτε οι Ρεπουμπλικάνοι») και είναι λίγο περήφανο για μένα που έχει περισσότερες πιθανότητες να φτάσει στην κορυφή στην Ελλάδα παρά στις ΗΠΑ.

3. Moral panics are bad. Moral panics are bad. Moral panics are bad.

2. Notice how this piece zeroes in on Patriarch Bartholomew. That framing isn’t neutral. It echoes Moscow’s propaganda. The Kremlin has long pushed the myth of a “sexually decadent West” and a compromised Ecumenical Patriarchate. Amplifying that line is doing their bidding.

(For example, and we have definitely seen this in the Catholic example, gay men, disproportionately represented in the clergy and the moral panic around sex abuse has been used as a cover for homophobia; also, see what happened in Wales)

1. Vigilante websites are not justice for anyone. They are especially dangerous for marginalized people,who are “guilty until proven innocent” most of the time.

And I think quite frankly an easier subject. Babbitt was actively committing a crime when she died. Kirk was not.

No future election will change that. It’s over. Plan accordingly—whatever that means for you.

The United States is not a reliable ally. If the Disney controversy is any indication, most Americans, regardless of politics, are simply too fragile. Europe must act on its own and act decisively. Readiness 2030 must become Readiness 2025 (metaphorically). #ReArmEurope