Art | Conversatori

Person From History—Hypatia of Alexandria

Hypatia of Alexandria was a brilliant 4th-century philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer who taught Neoplatonic philosophy in a time of religious and political upheaval. Revered for her intellect and virtue, she became a symbol of classical wisdom during the rise of Christianity. Her violent death at the hands of a Christian mob marked a turning point in the decline of ancient intellectual traditions. Today, Hypatia remains an icon of reason, courage, and the enduring struggle for free thought. In the waning days of the Roman Empire, when the old gods were giving way to new religions and philosophy teetered on the edge of theological dogma, a woman named Hypatia stood as a symbol of intellectual resilience. Born in the 4th century CE in the Egyptian city of Alexandria—a city famed for its great library and vibrant confluence of cultures—Hypatia was a mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher. Unusually for her time, she was not only well-educated but revered as a public…

How Metaphors Shape Thought

Metaphors are not just literary flourishes but cognitive tools that structure how we perceive, reason, and decide. Research shows that metaphor activates sensory and motor regions of the brain, linking abstract thought to physical experience. The metaphors we use in politics, therapy, marketing, and self-reflection shape our beliefs and behaviors in powerful, often unconscious ways. Recognizing this can help us use language more mindfully—and reshape how we think. When we say someone “exploded with anger” or “wrestled with an idea,” we’re not being literal. But we’re not just being poetic either. These metaphors, common in everyday speech, do more than decorate our sentences—they mold the way we think. Neuroscience and linguistics increasingly suggest that metaphor is not a flourish of language, but the very scaffolding of cognition.

The Psychology of Collecting: From Stamps to NFTs

Collecting taps into deep psychological needs, offering control, identity, and pleasure. Evolutionary instincts, dopamine rewards, and nostalgia all help explain why people amass objects—from stamps to NFTs. Digital collectibles challenge old definitions but echo timeless desires for meaning and ownership. At its best, collecting is a form of self-expression; at its worst, it risks compulsion—but always reflects something fundamentally human. Sylwia Filipiak, Limited-edition stamp collection with Tomasz Młynarczyk photographs, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Great Books: Why We Still Read Them

The Great Books are a curated collection of influential texts that have shaped Western thought across literature, philosophy, science, and history. Popularized by Adler and Hutchins in the mid-20th century, they represent a “Great Conversation” of ideas spanning centuries. While the canon has been criticized for its lack of diversity, its enduring value lies in the deep, unresolved questions these works pose. More than relics, the Great Books remain tools for reflection, debate, and intellectual growth. rdsmith4, Great Books, CC BY-SA 2.0

What Is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the art of paying attention to the present moment with acceptance and awareness. Rooted in ancient meditation traditions, it has become a scientifically validated tool for mental and emotional well-being. While critics warn of its commercialization, its core practice remains deeply transformative. In a world of distraction, mindfulness offers clarity, calm, and connection. Mindfulness is both ancient and astonishingly modern. At its core, it is the practice of paying purposeful attention to the present moment, non-judgmentally. That sounds simple, even quaint, but it’s a discipline with roots in Buddhist meditation practices dating back over 2,500 years. Today, it’s found everywhere from corporate wellness programs to elementary school classrooms, clinical therapy sessions, and smartphone apps. So why the global obsession with a practice that essentially tells us to “just be”?

A Guide to Pronouns

Gender pronouns are a powerful tool in affirming identity and respecting individuality. From they/them to zir/zir, each pronoun set reflects unique experiences and understandings of gender. Asking and using someone’s correct pronouns is a small act with a big impact. As language continues to evolve, so does our capacity to include and honor the full spectrum of human identity. In a world growing more conscious of gender identity and expression, language is evolving to meet the needs of diverse communities. Pronouns are more than just grammatical placeholders—they reflect how someone wishes to be seen, acknowledged, and respected. While “he” and “she” may be familiar, a host of alternative pronouns have emerged to better represent people across the gender spectrum. Despite your political affliations or personal beliefs regarding alternative pronouns, one's professional and social life may suffer if they lack the ability to be considered polite. This article introduces some…

Artists Who Predicted the Future

Some artists throughout history have astonishingly predicted future technologies, social dynamics, and existential dilemmas. Writers like Jules Verne and Philip K. Dick, musicians like David Bowie, and filmmakers like Fritz Lang tapped into a future no one else had yet imagined. Their work often serves as early warnings, not just of what might happen, but of how it might feel. As we race toward tomorrow, we’d do well to listen not just to scientists—but to the muses who saw it coming. Throughout history, artists have been dismissed as dreamers, their work relegated to metaphor and whimsy. But time has a way of revealing the seers among them. From painters to playwrights, musicians to filmmakers, some artists didn’t just reflect their era—they anticipated what was to come. Whether they predicted technological advances, societal shifts, or uncanny cultural developments, their work seems less like speculation and more like premonition.

Dream Logic: What Surrealism Got Right About the Mind

Surrealism’s embrace of dream logic captured something fundamental about how the human mind works. By honoring the subconscious, irrational, and emotional layers of experience, surrealists anticipated modern psychology’s understanding of dreaming and creativity. Their bizarre imagery wasn’t just art—it was an attempt to access deeper truths. In today’s hyper-rational world, their celebration of the nonsensical remains more relevant than ever. When Salvador Dalí painted melting clocks and René Magritte floated bowler-hatted men across the sky, they weren’t just indulging in artistic whimsy—they were tapping into something deeply familiar yet frustratingly elusive: the logic of dreams. Unlike the cold calculus of waking reason, dreams operate on their own strange internal rules, where time folds, objects morph, and the impossible feels natural. Surrealism, born in the aftermath of World War I, seized this dream logic as its creative compass, aiming not to escape reality,…

Person From History—Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir was a groundbreaking French philosopher and feminist who reshaped modern thought on gender, freedom, and ethics. Best known for The Second Sex, she argued that womanhood is socially constructed, not biologically fixed. Her activism, literature, and existential philosophy made her one of the 20th century’s most influential thinkers. Through bold theory and public action, Beauvoir challenged society to confront its treatment of women, aging, and human responsibility. Simone de Beauvoir never intended to be remembered merely as “Sartre’s companion.” A towering intellect in her own right, she was a writer, philosopher, and feminist icon who reshaped 20th-century thought about gender, freedom, and responsibility. Her work, particularly The Second Sex, didn’t just critique society—it cracked it open. Born in 1908 in Paris to a bourgeois family, she defied her conservative upbringing by pursuing rigorous philosophical training and entering the elite…

Cultural Syncretism and When Traditions Intertwine

Cultural syncretism is the blending of traditions across cultures, often emerging through contact like colonization, migration, or globalization. It reshapes religion, language, cuisine, and identity, as seen in practices like Santería or Creole languages. While it fosters innovation, it also invites critique when traditions are commodified. Ultimately, syncretism shows how cultures evolve through interconnectedness. Cultural syncretism is the process by which different cultures blend aspects of their traditions, beliefs, and practices to form new, hybrid customs or ideologies. Unlike mere cultural borrowing or superficial mimicry, syncretism represents a deeper interweaving of worldviews that can reshape identities, rituals, and even entire societies. From religious rituals to cuisine and language, cultural syncretism is both a survival mechanism and a creative force.

Who Is Kimberlé Crenshaw?

Kimberlé Crenshaw is a legal scholar and civil rights advocate who coined the term “intersectionality” to describe how overlapping identities shape experiences of oppression. Her work has transformed law, activism, and public discourse, especially around issues affecting Black women. Through theory and action, she insists on a justice system that sees people in their full complexity. Crenshaw’s ideas remain a powerful lens for understanding and addressing inequality. The Laura Flanders Show, Kimberlé Crenshaw Laura Flanders 2017, CC BY 3.0

Meet the Philosopher: Aristotle

Aristotle, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great, pioneered a philosophy grounded in observation, logic, and practical wisdom. His work spanned ethics, politics, science, and art, laying the foundation for modern reasoning and categorization. While some of his views are outdated, his methods remain profoundly influential. To understand Aristotle is to understand the intellectual scaffolding of Western civilization. Aristotle, born in 384 BCE in Stagira, a coastal town in northern Greece, was one of the most influential thinkers in Western history. A student of Plato and later the tutor of Alexander the Great, Aristotle forged a legacy that spans virtually every field of knowledge, from biology and ethics to politics and logic. Unlike his teacher Plato, who emphasized ideal forms and metaphysical truths, Aristotle was deeply grounded in empirical observation and rational categorization. His method of inquiry helped shape not only ancient philosophy but also the…

Person From History—Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu, a legendary Chinese strategist, authored The Art of War, a timeless guide to strategy and leadership. His teachings emphasize intelligence, adaptability, and psychological insight over brute force. Rooted in Daoist philosophy, his legacy has influenced military, political, and business thinking across centuries. Even in the modern age, Sun Tzu’s wisdom remains a sharp lens through which to view power and conflict. Sun Tzu, the legendary Chinese military strategist and philosopher, is best known as the author of The Art of War, a timeless treatise on strategy, leadership, and conflict. Thought to have lived during the Eastern Zhou period (approximately 544–496 BCE), his life and identity are the subject of both historical reverence and scholarly debate. Despite the uncertainties surrounding his biography, the influence of his work has echoed through millennia, shaping not only the battlefields of ancient China but also the boardrooms and political arenas of the modern…

Secrets at Disneyland: Behind the Magic

Disneyland holds tightly to its secrets, from hidden passageways and character etiquette to engineered smells and forced perspective. Even the “hug rule,” where characters must return a child’s hug, shows how deep the illusion runs. Behind the magic is a system of carefully controlled details. These secrets make Disneyland not just a theme park, but a theater of dreams. CrispyCream27, Sleeping beauty castle dlr 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Cultural Psychology of Colors

Color isn’t just visual—it’s cultural and psychological. What soothes one culture may stir fear or celebration in another. From red’s conflicting roles across continents to blue’s shifting symbolism, color reveals how society shapes perception. In a world saturated with hue, our reactions are anything but neutral. Photo by CEphoto, Uwe Aranas or alternatively © CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, Dali Yunnan China Red-and-yellow-ribbons-at-Chongsheng-Temple-01, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Aesthetics of Protest

Fashion has long served as a form of protest, turning bodies into statements of resistance. From historical revolts to modern marches, clothing functions as symbolism, strategy, and solidarity. While brands risk co-opting protest aesthetics, the roots of resistance fashion remain in lived, embodied defiance. In the language of dissent, style speaks louder than words. From suffragette sashes to punk leather jackets, fashion has long been stitched into the fabric of protest. It’s more than just what you wear—it’s how you say what you believe without saying a word. When Black Panthers donned black berets and leather coats, they weren’t just dressing cool; they were projecting strength, unity, and defiance. Likewise, contemporary movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter have used clothing—be it all-black outfits, slogan tees, or pink pussy hats—as a visual rallying cry that says, “We’re here, we’re watching, and we’re not going away.”

Know That Felon—Anna Delvey

Anna Delvey, born Anna Sorokin, faked her way into New York high society by posing as a German heiress and nearly launched an elite art foundation. Her scam revealed how easily power and privilege can be mimicked with confidence and appearance. More than a criminal, she became a symbol of social ambition in an age obsessed with image. Her story reflects America’s uneasy marriage of illusion and aspiration. Sarahparn, Anna Sorokin, 2022, CC BY-SA 4.0

Who's Margaret Atwood?

Margaret Atwood is a Canadian author best known for The Handmaid’s Tale, though her writing spans dystopia, satire, poetry, and speculative fiction. She grounds her work in real-world precedent, using chilling plausibility and dark humor to critique power, gender, and ecological collapse. With over fifty books and a formidable public voice, Atwood remains a cultural force who challenges readers to confront discomforting truths. Her writing serves less as escapism and more as a mirror held to society—one that refuses to flatter. Few living authors can claim a literary résumé as intellectually towering and culturally sharp-edged as Margaret Atwood’s. Born in Ottawa in 1939 and raised partly in the wilds of northern Quebec, Atwood has long walked the delicate line between the mythic and the modern, the political and the personal. She is at once a chronicler of ecological collapse, a theorist of totalitarianism, a poet of quiet heartbreak, and a Twitter-wielding feminist with a…

Quite Luxury and Subtle Status Symbols

Quiet luxury is the fashion of understatement—refined, expensive, and designed to whisper instead of shout. It reflects a growing cultural shift away from flashy wealth toward discreet elegance that signals taste rather than status. Though it claims to be anti-trend, its exclusivity often reinforces existing hierarchies. Still, its appeal lies in the dream of living deliberately, luxuriously—and quietly. If the past decade roared with maximalism—logo mania, influencer saturation, and gold-plated everything—then quiet luxury is its whispered rebuttal. This rising aesthetic, sometimes called “stealth wealth,” isn’t about price tags; it’s about restraint, refinement, and the unspoken language of taste. It's the cashmere turtleneck that costs a mortgage payment but doesn’t need a monogram. It’s wealth so confident it no longer needs to shout—it barely even speaks.

Person from History—Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo turned her suffering into revolutionary art, using self-portraiture to explore identity, pain, and Mexican nationalism. Her bold aesthetic defied gender expectations and reshaped the role of the female body in visual culture. Though often mythologized, Kahlo's power lies in her unapologetic self-definition. She remains a complex icon who painted not dreams, but uncompromising reality. Few artists have become as iconic and as intimately studied as Frida Kahlo. Her striking self-portraits, political defiance, and unapologetic exploration of gender, pain, and national identity place her at a crossroads of personal vulnerability and cultural resistance. Born in 1907 in Coyoacán, Mexico, Kahlo lived a life riddled with physical suffering—first from polio as a child, and later from a horrific bus accident at 18 that left her with chronic pain and a lifetime of surgeries. Yet, it was through this suffering that Kahlo carved out her visual language, one that is as raw as it is…

The 411 on Trap Music

Trap music emerged from the Southern U.S. as a raw chronicle of street life and has grown into a global genre. Characterized by heavy bass and rapid hi-hats, its sound carries a powerful mix of survival, ambition, and cultural critique. More than just beats, it’s a coded language of identity, protest, and performance. This article explores trap’s origins, evolution, and complex place in today’s cultural conversation. Trap music has come from the basement to the zeitgeist. If you’ve ever felt your bones rattle from the deep throb of 808s while a hi-hat sizzles like a lit fuse, you’ve already met trap music—whether you knew it or not. Born in the American South during the 1990s, trap began as the soundtrack to environments marked by precarity, hustling, and coded survival. The name itself refers to the “trap house”—a place where drugs were cooked, stored, and sold—so this isn’t exactly light fare. But here’s the twist: from its grittiest origins, trap has…

Why are Things "Coded", and What are They Saying?

Not everything in culture is meant to be taken at face value—fashion, media, and even food are often coded with hidden meanings. From subtle fashion choices to politically charged phrases, culture speaks in signals only the attuned can read. Decoding these layers can reveal everything from class signals to racial subtext to silent social norms. Learn the codes, and you’ll never read (or dress) the same way again. Let’s face it: not everything is said out loud. In fashion, pop culture, politics, and even the polite pauses between sentences, meaning is often slipped into the margins. That’s coding—when something appears innocent on the surface but hums with subtext just beneath. A red hat? Maybe just a hat. Or maybe it’s shorthand for a whole political ideology. A pearl necklace? Classic chic—or a quiet nod to conservative femininity. In a culture saturated with signals, it helps to know what’s actually being said.

Western Classic: Homer's The Odyssey

Homer’s The Odyssey is a timeless epic that explores the complexity of identity, resilience, and homecoming. Through Odysseus’s journey, the story delves into themes of temptation, storytelling, and survival. Its powerful portrayals of women and its layered narrative make it as relevant today as in ancient times. At its core, The Odyssey is a guide for navigating life’s storms and returning to oneself. More than just a dusty epic assigned in high school, Homer’s The Odyssey is a masterwork of storytelling that continues to ripple through time. Written around the 8th century BCE, it follows Odysseus’ long and harrowing journey home after the Trojan War—a trek that spans ten years, countless islands, monsters, temptations, and existential tests. But the power of The Odyssey lies not just in its adventure, but in its psychological depth. It’s not just about returning home—it’s about becoming worthy of homecoming.

Meet the Philosopher: Socrates

Socrates, the famously wordless philosopher, pioneered the Socratic method—asking questions to challenge assumptions and foster critical thinking. He believed the unexamined life wasn't worth living and stayed true to that belief even unto death. Through Plato’s writings, Socrates' influence continues to shape philosophy, law, and education. His legacy reminds us that good conversation isn’t about knowing—it’s about asking. Socrates might be the only philosopher in history who got famous without writing a single word. No books, no scrolls, not even a cryptic tweet. Instead, he strolled around Athens in a threadbare robe, bothering people with questions until they either had an epiphany or walked away fuming. His legacy survives because his student Plato wrote down their conversations—turning Socrates into the original podcast guest who always circles back to, “But what is justice, really?”