Weekly Perspective

  Archive selection January: the longer view As  Tanguy Lepesant wrote  in 2021, Taiwanese 'fears [about retaining autonomy] are grounded in reality: China is exerting increasing military pressure on its neighbours, particularly Taiwan.' To the US, meanwhile, 'Taiwan has always been a pawn whose relative strategic value is a factor in regional realpolitik calculations. That value has been rising in recent years.' Tensions between the two rivals were high in the lead-up to Taiwan's election this weekend, won by Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive party, who once described himself as a 'pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence'. On the ground, these debates are often overshadowed by other discussions about the country's identity, as  Alice Hérait writes  in this mon th's paper. Last week, South Africa made a case against Israel to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, alleging 'genocidal acts'.  Gilbert Achcar detailed  the Is

 

  ​ 27 Thing's I've Learned From 150 Million Podcasts Downloads ​ In  his letters —the pre-digital medium for distant long-form conversation—Seneca instructs his friend Lucilius to find one thing each day that will fortify him against death, despair, fear, or adversity. Just one thing. One nugget. And that’s what most of Seneca’s letters to his friend are about. They have a quote in them. Or a little prescription. Or a story. But in each case, Seneca is explicit. Here’s your lesson for the day, he says. Here’s your one thing. Obviously that’s the logic behind the daily emails I write ( Daily Stoic  and  Daily Dad ), but it’s also the way I try to live. Every time I listen to a podcast or record one myself, I try to walk away having grabbed at least one little thing. That’s how wisdom is accumulated—piece by piece, day by day, book by book, podcast by podcast. It’s not much, but considering the scale of  The Daily Stoic Podcast , it’s actually added up quite a bit. I’ve intervie

We present the first edition of our "Notations" for 2024 here as we present an analysis of The US Secretary of State's Visit to the Middle East as the War in Gaza rages on--and as we released within the hour a Special Edition of a News Conference held in Doha, Qatar.