by Matthew Friedman | Sep 25, 2022 | Commentary, Essays
Malachy Salter was the great mythical ancestor of my mother’s family. We held him up as a kind of buccaneering merchant hero who operated two privateers under Letters of Marque from King George II and King George III, first out of Boston and then, as was the case of...
by Matthew Friedman | Sep 8, 2022 | Commentary
I recall a college history professor once saying that Richard Coeur de Lion is remembered as one of Britain’s greatest monarchs mostly because he spent a little less than six months of his ten-year reign in Britain. His brother John, who ruled as regent as Richard...
by Matthew Friedman | Aug 29, 2022 | Commentary
Artemis 1 sits waiting on the pad at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B, shackled to earth by a persistent issue with the hydrogen cooling system. The great rust-colored booster will now head to space no sooner than next Friday, so it sits, swathed in a veil of...
by Matthew Friedman | Aug 21, 2022 | Commentary, Politics
John Fetterman is a slob. The Democratic Senate candidate for Pennsylvania has been turning up at campaign stops throughout this election season usually clad in a ratty hoodie, sneakers without socks, and basketball shorts. I’m not even convinced that he is wearing...
by Matthew Friedman | Jul 31, 2022 | Essays
“Il ne faut pas toucher aux idoles,” Gustave Flaubert wrote in Madame Bovary, “la dorure en reste aux mains.” We must not touch our idols, lest the gilt comes off on our hands. Flaubert’s warning has been echoing in my mind as I have repeatedly scrolled past Annie...
