Tocqueville on American distraction, unpacking Dostoevsky's cryptic novella, modern tyranny, and more . . .

The best of intellectual conservative thought, every Thursday
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CATEGORY: CULTURE (7 min)



** How Inattention Is Killing Democracy ([link removed])
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How’s your attention span these days? Short?

You’re not the only one.

While touring the United States between 1831 and 1832, Alexis de Tocqueville observed that most Americans couldn’t maintain attention.

They reinvented themselves constantly. They built houses, then abandoned them to move West.

Politics Is High Maintenance

Being a Frenchman used to ancestral trades and traditions, Tocqueville admired Americans’ innovation.

But he also saw how it warped our politics.

In this week’s Intercollegiate Review article, Casey Chalk gets into Tocqueville’s observations.

Given recent events, this article is revealing—and timely.

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CATEGORY: LITERATURE (31 min)



** Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky ([link removed])
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Bookworms, be warned:

This podcast will have you adding another book to your long reading list.

Dostoevsky’s novella Notes from Underground is an antidote to our hyper-idealistic times . . .

. . . and the National Review Great Books podcast is giving you honors-level SparkNotes.

Dostoevsky Examines the Disappointed Idealist

In this episode of the Great Books podcast, Professor Jessica Hooten Wilson unpacks Dostoevsky’s unusual book, widely considered one of the first existentialist novels.

Listen as she describes:
* (4:24) the significance and symbolism of the “underground”

* (8:00) what defines the “anti-hero,” and why he’s not the same thing as a villain

* (11:35) how Dostoevsky turns YOU into a character in the story

* . . . and much more

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CATEGORY: SOCIOLOGY (4 min)



** A Sociologist Explains How Modern Tyranny Works ([link removed])
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Every institution and business in America is under enormous pressure right now.

Activists are demanding they conform to progressive ideology—and harassing the ones who deviate or say nothing.

In 1953 the sociologist Robert Nisbet argued that these kinds of actions led to totalitarianism.

This brief excerpt from his classic book The Quest for Community reveals how.

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** Jonah Goldberg Reveals Where Conservative Media Are Headed in 2020 and Beyond ([link removed])
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Is it better to have conservatives like Ross Douthat writing for the New York Times? Or should we rely on opposition media like Fox News?

What role should media have within the conservative movement?

Where are the media headed in the post-Trump era?

You’ll hear the answers to these questions and more in this episode of Conservative Conversations with ISI featuring Jonah Goldberg, whom The Atlantic named one of the top 50 American political commentators.

Join Goldberg on Thursday, June 18, at 7 p.m. ET to get unprecedented insight into conservatism and media.

Reserve your spot now.

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