Translation: Repressiver Liberalismus

Last year I had translated two works by an anonymous Austrian author, Volle Fahrt ins Nichts (translation: Full Speed Into the Void) concerning right-wing populist parties, and Die große Müdigkeit (translation: The Great Fatigue) on reactionary fantasies. Over a year later a third essay has finally appeared, Repressiver Liberalismus, a somber view on the crumbling … Continue reading “Translation: Repressiver Liberalismus”

The Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire: A Thousand Years of Europe’s History by Peter H. Wilson (Penguin Books 2017, ISBN 978-0-141-04747-8) is an astonishing thousand-page tome of which about 300 pages are devoted to maps, color plates, family trees, chronology, glossary, and an enormous index. I’m not aware of anyone doubting the thoroughness or scholarly quality of … Continue reading “The Holy Roman Empire”

The Rats of Nationalism

Brandon Adamson has recently published a new book, The Rats of Nationalism, concerning the Internet (mostly really Twitter) presence of alternative right movements in America. Everyone who sees the title is bound to be confused. It’s not about calling nationalists “rats” in a derogatory sense, nor really about nationalists ratting out on each other, though … Continue reading “The Rats of Nationalism”

Moskau, Moskau!

Dschinghis Khan is a German (but really multi-national) disco band formed in Munich by prolific producer Ralph Siegel in 1979, competing in that year’s Eurovision song contest with an eponymous song that reached fourth place. So much, so amusing and irrelevant. Except then something else happened. Still in 1979, the band released Moskau. That was … Continue reading “Moskau, Moskau!”

Translation: Die große Müdigkeit

Some weeks ago the anonymous Austrian author who had written the fascinating article Volle Fahrt ins Nichts, which I had translated as Full Speed Into the Void, had published a follow-up essay elaborating on some points from the original article. I have once again translated that new essay, entitled in the original Die große Müdigkeit, … Continue reading “Translation: Die große Müdigkeit”

Translation: Volle Fahrt ins Nichts

Nearly two weeks ago an anonymous author – apparently an Austrian identitarian – published Volle Fahrt ins Nichts, a very interesting analysis of right-wing populist parties in the West, concluding they are unlikely to achieve their goals. This essay was shared by another (not quite anonymous) Austrian identitarian on Twitter who assured me he knows … Continue reading “Translation: Volle Fahrt ins Nichts”

Forgotten Baroque Music

Europe’s era of baroque music (ca. 1600–1750) comprises most of the oldest historical compositions still widely played today, with some notable exceptions such as medieval church chorals and renaissance lutists. Everyone at all interested in the subject knows the baroque grandmasters: Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643), Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672), Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713), Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741), Georg Philipp … Continue reading “Forgotten Baroque Music”

Newspapers Still Keep Shrinking

The recent massive layoffs at the New York Daily News prompted me to revisit the ongoing massacre at American newspapers and other news media. First, here are a couple of articles to quantify the damage. Bureau of Labor Statistics (1990–2016): newspaper employment shrank from 455,000 to 183,200 and books plus periodicals from 232,200 to 155,100, … Continue reading “Newspapers Still Keep Shrinking”

Skytrain to Nowhere

Brandon Adamson’s Skytrain to Nowhere is an 80-page book of what he calls “free-form poetry.” If that term usually causes you to run very fast in the opposite direction, don’t worry. To be sure the writing is carefully crafted in poetry style, but never overwrought or incomprehensible. Indeed most poems would pass as (very) short … Continue reading “Skytrain to Nowhere”

Digital Longevity

Digital storage is extremely compact and offers exact, rapid, and nearly cost-free replication through infinite iterations, whether to another digital storage medium or a playback device for human readers (watchers, listeners). This is obviously quite fantastic and caused a great deal of existing and new content to move to digital storage and onto the Internet. … Continue reading “Digital Longevity”