Remembering the magical and poetic compositions of cinematographer Néstor Almendros, who was born on this day in 1930. A master of natural light who worked with some of the most important directors in cinema history, such as Truffaut, Rohmer and Malick.

Eventually they come for everyone

Dante's Inferno is worth your time.

Join us the Ascend Book Club.

theascent.io/p/you-can-read…

Door of the Milan Cathedral

Can you be a saint in the age of AI?

Jonathan Pageau (@PageauJonathan), liturgical artist and storyteller, highlights the danger of making an idol out of artificial super-intelligence. This event was hosted by the Austin Union (@austin_union), a student debate organization — Preview
00:49 — UATX student Yale Abernathy introduces the Austin Union
03:07 — Introducing Jonathan Pageau
05:31 — The original meaning of "transhuman"
09:02 — Plato and the problem of the prosthetic
13:14 — Will AI make us dumber?
14:14 — Worshipping the works of our hands
17:59 — Bryan Johnson and the horizontal life
19:36 — AI is eating you
21:30 — Student cross-examination begins
24:15 — First steps toward the vertical life
27:43 — Talking to tech moguls
29:26 — Recovering our stories
32:21 — The Orthodox revival in America
35:10 — The real story of Prometheus
42:10 — Theosis vs. transhumanism
44:33 — Can personal change beat AI's incentives?
48:43 — Kierkegaard and the coming darkness
54:05 — When does a tool become an idol?
56:45 — AI as divination
01:04:14 — Defining human nature
01:08:34 — Audience Q&A begins
01:09:05 — Who is the true God?
01:10:28 — The morality of comedy
01:12:27 — Biological or robotic transhumanism?
01:13:33 — Why must transformation be inward?
01:15:56 — Growing vertically and horizontally
01:17:58 — How Pageau uses AI
01:22:01 — AI in early childhood education
01:23:51 — Must we understand how AI works?
01:27:39 — Can AI become an idol?
01:28:48 — AI governance and responsibility

Recorded: October 6, 2026, at UATX.

“Beyond Techno-Feudalism: The Path to Cyber-Ecosocialism”
Cédric Durand

politybooks.com/bookdetail?boo…

this patrick stewart scene is a lifetime of loving shakespeare coming out all at once

German idealism is stalking me. I cannot escape german idealism. My life is suffused with German idealism. I am forced to complete the system of german idealism on pain of heartbreak and possibly death. A curse has been laid on me. Or a blessing. Some sort of prophecy

And Gilgamesh wept bitter tears...

You don't have to be a perennialist. From October's patron Q&A. youtube.com/watch?v=FAdoPf…

This is what the Anglo-Saxon conquest of Britain took from us.

"Danger reawakens the spirit."

— Julius Evola

Even with its flaws, Dune (1984) felt closer to the weird, imaginative world Herbert created. It had its own identity, personality, and memorable moments that Villeneuve's adaptations lack.

This is Jenny Sinclair’s brilliant lecture on Christianity and the Common Good that she gave recently in (the beleaguered) Southwell Minster. It’s in effect the clearest short introduction to postliberalism that one could hope for.

What makes Arthur Schopenhauer’s philosophy uniquely resonant today? In his return to #TheYoungIdealist Series, Dr. Jan Kerkmann (University of Freiburg) joins me to unpack the life and work of philosophy’s great iconoclast.

Stayed Tuned the episode will be airing this week.

"Revolutionary Pessimism: Simone Weil’s Antifascist Politics"
Scott B. Ritner
sup.org/books/politics…

Farewell Patrick Stewart...

In 1978, PBS aired "I, Claudius" and "Fall of Eagles" back-to-back in the United States. Watching Patrick Stewart play Sejanus and Lenin as an 8-year-old made it seem like he was already the biggest star on Earth....which he soon would become.
​A true giant of stage and screen.

A few great non-Picard, non-Professor X Patrick Stewart roles:
1: Sir Leondegrance in Excalibur.
2: Sejanus in I, Claudius.
3: Vladimir Lenin in Fall of Eagles.
4: Darcy the skinhead leader in Green Room.