Category: Arts & Culture

How Meditation Can Help With All Kinds of Fears

Meditation can help people overcome their fears, small and great. One study found it helped cancer survivors overcome their fear of recurrence. Another looked at how it helps with fear of the dentist. Others have found it effective against the fear of death. It brings an “inner stability” that helps one face life’s uncertainties and…


The Best of the West

Since 1973, the world’s finest Western painters and sculptors have captured cowboy culture for the “Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition & Sale,” preserving Western traditions and way of life far beyond the plains, prairies, and mountains—and hopefully for generations to come. The 51st exhibition and sale is now open at the National Cowboy &…


Epoch Watchlist: What to Watch for June 23–29

This week, we feature a real-life story about the dream of an eccentric motorcyclist and a rousing drama about a boxer making a comeback. New Release ‘Warhorse One’ Navy SEAL Master Chief Richard Mirko (Johnny Strong) is conducting a rescue operation in Afghanistan when his helicopter is shot down by insurgents. Mirko is the only…


Epoch Booklist: Recommended Reading for June 23–29

This week, we feature a meticulous biography of the remarkable President James A. Garfield and a slim gem that illuminates the importance of fiction. Nonfiction ‘The Novel, Who Needs It?’ By Joseph Epstein Packed into this short book are musings on serious novels, their history, and their enormous influence on the human mind and heart,…


The Jungle Holds a New Election: The True Leader Proves Himself by His Qualities

At a great meeting of the Animals, who had gathered to elect a new ruler, the Monkey was asked to dance. This he did so well, with a thousand funny capers and grimaces, that the Animals were carried entirely off their feet with enthusiasm, and then and there, elected him their king. The Fox did…


Book Review: ‘The Covenant of Water’

Author Abraham Verghese’s previous novel, “Cutting for Stone,” occupies a prestigious literary spotlight as it’s spent more than two years on a bestseller list. “The Covenant of Water,” released in May 2023, could well do the same. It’s a tome for sure, spanning slightly more than 700 pages and, for me, was a luscious piece of…


Hua Tuo, the Ancient Chinese Doctor Who Was Centuries Before His Time

Hua Tuo was a Chinese medical doctor regarded as an immortal—for both his youthful appearance despite his old age, and for the magic-like diagnoses and treatments he performed. He is said to have diagnosed a tumor in the brain of the warlord Cao Cao in the 2nd century, long before CT scanners. Hua Tuo said he…


‘The Novel, Who Needs It?’: Joseph Epstein Replies

In Chapter I of “The Novel, Who Needs It?,” Joseph Epstein includes this snippet of dialogue from Bernard Malamud’s novel “The Assistant”: He asked her what books she was reading. “’The Idiot,’ do you know it?” “No. What’s it about?” “It’s a novel.” “I’d rather read the truth,” he said. “It is the truth.” “The…


Aesop’s Fable ‘The Bear and the Bees’: To Bear in Silence

When we fail to restrain our passions or impatience, we cultivate harmful habits that can lead us to act out in detrimental and intractable ways. However, rather than being the slaves of these habits, we can prevent disaster by cultivating the virtues that counter these vices: temperance and patience. In the fable, “The Bear and the…


Nellie Bly Pioneers Investigative Journalism

During her professional career, Elizabeth Cochrane made a name for herself as a reporter writing under the pen name Nellie Bly. Her work would open up the whole new world of investigative reporting. Cochrane started her career as a reporter for the Pittsburgh Dispatch. She got the job after she wrote a letter to the…