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THE SECRET HISTORY OF ART takes you on a series of private guided tours of the world's greatest artworks. Best-selling author and professor of art history Noah Charney presents the history, symbolism, and importance of each work. The Secret History of Art is a series of lessons in miniature on great works of art around the world. By spending just a few minutes per masterpiece, you can learn the mysteries, stories, and secrets of some of civilization’s greatest treasures.
An ongoing series of specially produced histories, bringing to life the stories and secrets that shaped cinema. @moviehistories secrethistoryofhollywood.com www.patreon.com/attaboysecret
Journey into the past, and you'll discover the secret history of the future. From the world's first cyberattack in 1834, to 19th-century virtual reality, The Economist's Tom Standage and Slate's Seth Stevenson examine the historical precedents that can transform our understanding of modern technology, predicting how it might evolve and highlighting pitfalls to avoid. Discovering how people reacted to past innovations can also teach us about ourselves.
Exploring the forgotten and rejected story of Western thought
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
1
Anna van den Kerchove on the Hermetic Way in Antiquity
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We speak with Anna van den Kerchove, a leading voice in the scholarly trend ‘reclaiming’ ancient Hermetism from its long sojourn outside the realms of respectability. We discuss Hermetic texts and the kinds of milieux in which they may have circulated in antiquity.By Earl Fontainelle
To become a Co-Producer of The Secret History of Hollywood CLICK HERE or go to www.patreon.com/attaboysecret Cary: Part 2 Coming Soon! - Previews arrive with Co-Producers first!By The Secret History of Hollywood
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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M. David Litwa on Deification in the Hermetica
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We discuss the important Hermetic idea (or should that be ‘practice’?) of becoming divine with Dr M. David Litwa, who has devoted considerable thought to the matter of deification. A fascinating conversation emerges, and Litwa blows our mind.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
1
Silent Encounters: The Esoteric in the Ancient Hermetica
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We concentrate on the elements of the esoteric in the Hermetica that we have covered in the last few episodes, and discuss C.H. XIII and The Ogdoad Reveals the Ennead, our two most esoteric Hermetica.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Other Hermetic Worlds: The Asclepius and Korê Kosmou
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We discuss two world-building Hermetic texts from antiquity, the Latin Asclepius and the Korê Kosmou. We have seen Hermes as visionary pupil of the divine consciousness; now we see him as ancient esoteric sage, prophet of doom, and cosmic planetary deity.By Earl Fontainelle
Wouter Hanegraaff has been reading the Poimandres with great attention. Come for the visionary encounter with the divine nous, stay for cosmogenesis as love story.By Earl Fontainelle
We discuss the Poimandres, perhaps the most extraordinary Hermetic document surviving from antiquity. It's an apocalyptic vision granting gnôsis of how the world was created, how humanity came to be the way we are, and what we can do about it. Essential reading.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Professor Christian Wildberg on Emending the Corpus Hermeticum
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We discuss the (poor) state of the texts collected in the Corpus Hermeticum with Professor Christian Wildberg, a man who proposes to do something about it.By Earl Fontainelle
We speak with Brian Copenhaver, translator of the Corpus Hermeticum and general man of parts vis á vis all things hermetic, to get some orientation on the ancient Hermetica and what they are all about.By Earl Fontainelle
We introduce the sage of sages, the barbarian philosopher of philosophers, the one and only (unless there were more of him) Thrice-Greatest Hermes. We also introduce his copious literary output, the Hermetica, and discuss these writings in an introductory way.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Total War: Polemical Esotericism in the Contra Celsum.
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We explore the polemics and counter-polemics of Origen's Contra Celsum, with a particular eye toward the use (and abuse) of the esoteric as a strategy of tradition-building, exclusion, and totalising interpretation.By Earl Fontainelle
Please see content warning below Once upon a time, from the midst of normality, an extraordinary story began... In a time when the world was being shaped on the fields of war, a boy named Archie dared to find his own path by looking to the stars. In Part One of Cary, hear the incredible journey of Archie Leach; one that stretched from broken beginn…
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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The True Account: Celsus, Origen, and Ideological Esotericism in Late Antiquity
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An almost-unknown Middle Platonist philosopher named Celsus wrote the first-known anti-Christian polemical pamphlet some time in the later second century. This is The True Account. It is esoteric.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
1
Aron Reppmann Introduces Origen of Alexandria
1:08:12
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Professor Aron Reppmann introduces the life, thought, and esotericism of Origen of Alexandria, one of the greatest church-fathers, Platonist theologian par excellence, and revolutionary scriptural exegete.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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From Word to Silence: The Rise of the Apophatic in Late Antiquity
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As antiquity progressed, certain esoteric religious thinkers and philosophers came increasingly to doubt whether the nature of the highest reality could be expressed in words. They developed a new form of language to deal with the problem of talking about the ineffable: apophasis. We discuss speaking the silence in late antiquity.…
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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The Third Century and (the Long) Late Antiquity
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As the podcast enters the third century, we discuss the parameters of ‘late antiquity’, and what makes something ‘late-antique’. Special bonus material: the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire!By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
1
Becoming Gods: Divinisation and Angelomorphic Transformation in Clement
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We discuss Clement's endgame, where the Gnostic encounters god face-to-face after a lengthy transformative evolution into higher and higher spiritual forms. Things get seriously esoteric.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
1
Henny Fiskå Hägg on Clement’s Apophatic Writing
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We speak with Professor Henny Fiskå Hägg about the apophatic theory and writing-practice of Clement of Alexandria, one of antiquity's finest exponents of the art of writing about that-about-which-nothing-can-be-written.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Lifting the Veil: Esoteric Reading in Clement’s Stromateis
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Clement stays esoteric. We examine the esoteric wisdom-lineages constructed by Clement, how he reads them, in the context of how he hides his reading of them. Plus, there seems to have been some genuine, contemporary esotericism going on in early Christianity.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Mystagogic Patchwork: Esoteric Writing in Clement’s Stromateis
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We explore the esoteric writing methodologies of Clement's Stromateis – the innovative ‘public secrecy’, the reasons for Clement's esotericism, and the evocation of the mysteries and of the ineffable as aspects of esoteric rhetoric.By Earl Fontainelle
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The Secret History of the Future
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Introducing: Thrilling Tales of Modern Capitalism
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Hey Secret History listeners! We'd like to introduce a new show from Slate, Thrilling Tales of Modern Capitalism. Each episode dives into the history of a brand that shapes the way we live and work. This first episode is about The Carnival Corporation, the biggest cruise company in the world. Carnival made headlines at the start of the covid-19 cri…
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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The Orthodox Gnostic: Introducing Clement of Alexandria
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We introduce the life and thought of Orthodox Christianity's favourite in-house Gnostic, the great Clement of Alexandria. Come for the philosophical, esoteric Christianity, stay for the progressive postmortem deification.By Earl Fontainelle
We examine the life, work, and legacy of Vettius Valens, second-century Roman astrologer and author of the Anthologies, the most hard-core practical handbook of astrological practice which survives from antiquity.By Earl Fontainelle
We discuss Claudius Ptolemy (no relation), synthesiser of Hellenistic astronomy/astrology to the mediæval world and beyond, and his two great works, the Almagest and the Tetrabiblos. Come for the naturalistic account of astral causation, stay for the planetary talismans.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Numerical Mysteries: Nichomachus of Gerasa, Arithmology, and Second-Century Neopythagoreanism
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Speculations about the properties of number have been a major constituent of some western esoteric traditions. In this episode we examine the most important source of much of this tradition of arithmological thought, first- and second-century Neopythagoreanism, and the writings of one crucial thinker in particular: Nicomachus of Gerasa.…
In the previous episode we surveyed alchemy from its beginnings to the present day; in this episode we go back to the roots. Matteo Martelli has produced the first critical edition of the fragments of the Pseudo-Democritus, our earliest-known work of alchemy. We discuss the secrets found within its pages.…
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Introducing Alchemy with Lawrence Principe
1:07:52
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Here it finally is: Alchemy! This interview is a superb introduction to the Hermetick Art from Lawrence Principe, a man who knows how to ‘read, read, read’, but also how to practice.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Other Gospels and Alien Gods: Marcion of Sinope
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We look at Marcion of Sinope, the final arch-heretic in our ‘unholy trinity’. Marcion compiled the first Christian textual canon – he wrote the first Bible – but this was not your grandma's Bible. Demiurgy, transcendence, and some interesting questions of textual hermeneutics abound.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Geoffrey Smith on Valentinus and Valentinianism
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Under the expert guidance of Geoffrey Smith, we explore the world-view of Valentinus – an elite intellectual Christian thinker of the second century – and his legacy – a reputation for the blackest heresy and a demiurgical Christian movement known nowadays as Valentinianism.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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I Got Soul, And I’m Super Bad: Basilides of Alexandria
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Basilides of Alexandria, one of the first Christian philosophers and scriptural exegetes, is known as one of the great Gnostic heresiarchs of the second century. But what did he actually teach? It's mind-blowing and it's esoteric.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Warfaring Strangers: Prolegomena to Second-Century Christianity
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We take a deep breath before diving into detailed discussions of early esoteric Christianities to consider a few key terms and their historical development. What was orthodoxy? What was heresy? Who were the heresiologists, and what were they doing?By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Michael Williams on the Trouble with ‘Gnosticism’
1:03:54
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Professor Michael Williams leads us on a tour of ‘Gnosticism’, both as a term (used and misused by ancient heresiologists, Reformation-era polemicists, modern scholars, and even modern ‘Gnostics’) and as a group of late-ancient religious texts which are very, very interesting, but which should probably not be called ‘Gnostic’.…
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Alone with the Alone: Numenius’ Metaphysics
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We explore the philosophy of Numenius, in which we see the stirrings of a new type of apophatic discourse of transcendence which will come to be definitive of late antique metaphysics and theology.By Earl Fontainelle
Hello, Secret History fans! Here's an episode of another show we think you might like: Cautionary Tales from Pushkin Industries. Learning from our mistakes can be hard. Learning from other people’s mistakes...well, that’s a lot more fun. In Cautionary Tales, from Pushkin Industries, economist and journalist Tim Harford retells true stories of unexp…
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Inter philosophos occultorum curiosior: Numenius of Apamea
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We investigate the esoteric practice of one of Middle Platonism's most enigmatic figures, the great Numenius of Apamea.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Korshi Dosoo on the Papyri Græcæ Magicæ and Western Esotericism
1:14:56
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We speak with papyrologist Korshi Dosoo about the history, interpretation, and makeup of the body of documents known nowadays as the Greek Magical Papyri. It all starts in ancient Egypt, but it doesn't stop until Aleister Crowley and the Mormons have made an appearance.By Earl Fontainelle
We have looked at what kind of world the Chaldæan Oracles set forth. We turn now to the ways in which the adept navigates that world – through ritual, epiphanic visions, cognitive disciplines, talismans, and by leaving the body through breathing. This is theurgy, and esoteric religion in antiquity would never be the same again.…
Hey Secret History of the Future fans! We're excited to introduce you to another show we think you'll like. It's called What Next: TBD, and it's a weekly show about tech, power, and the future. Secret History's very own Seth Stevenson guest hosted this episode. Check it out, and then subscribe here: https://slate.com/podcasts/what-next-tbd or where…
We introduce one of the most extraordinary and influential texts of antiquity for the history of western esotericism: the Chaldæan Oracles. We discuss questions of authorship (Julian the Theurge, the Gods, or the Soul of Plato?) and the mythic metaphysics found in the text.By Earl Fontainelle
In this episode we discuss the defense-speech of Apuleius against charges of having used magic to make a wealthy widow fall in love with him. Roman law, sorcery, and philosophy collide in a rhetorical tour-de-force, and we discuss whether fish are magical or not.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Ineffable Initiations and Golden Asses: Apuleius of Madauros and the Metamorphoses
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Apuleius was a great Latin-language Middle Platonist writer, whose works preserve some fascinating esoteric materials which had a major impact on the development of western esotericism in the Latin middle ages and beyond. We introduce the man and his famous occult novel, the Metamorphoses, or Golden Ass.…
Following the success of The Body Snatcher, Val Lewton has become one of RKO's most valuable and lauded producers. As well as the many opportunities now being presented to him, Lewton has also embarked upon his first true "A-Picture", a dark tale of madness and cruelty set within the walls of the most notorious asylum in the world. But as Hollywood…
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Hypochondria and Epiphany: The Strange Case of Ælius Aristides
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We examine one of the strangest records of personal religious experience and divine epiphany from antiquity, the Hieroi Logoi of Ælius Aristides. Come for the incubation, dream-initiations, and miraculous powers, stay for the interminable descriptions of dyspepsia.By Earl Fontainelle
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Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)
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Daniel Harris-McCoy on the Oneirocritica of Artemidorus
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With an expert guide, we enter the labyrinth of second-century divinatory dream-interpretation. Artemidorus' Oneirocritica is the west's earliest surviving manual of dream-interpretation, and it's amazing.By Earl Fontainelle
In antiquity the gods sometimes communicated with mortals through dreams. But sometimes the gods can be fickle; in cases like this, you need to head to the sanctuary and go see the god at home. You need ritualised dreaming, or incubation.By Earl Fontainelle
In this episode we look at three different homemade myths found in Plutarch's writings. All of them deal with the fate of the soul after death, all of them put the land of the dead in the sky, and all of them are exceedingly difficult to interpret. We have seen Plutarch interpret a myth esoterically; now we see him making his own esoteric myths.…
Radio was originally a social medium, as early radio sets (each of which could transmit as well as receive) turned cities into giant chatrooms, populated by Morse Code-tapping enthusiasts. But the excitement of this democratic, digital platform did not last, and radio was tamed by corporate interests in the 1920s. The utopian dream of platforms tha…
We look at Plutarch's tour de force of esoteric hermeneutics, the On Isis and Osiris. Egyptian myth meets Greek esoteric Platonism, and something new is born.By Earl Fontainelle
The first mechanical clocks were made to summon monks to prayer. Ever since, timekeeping technology has often been about control and obligation. But underneath a mountain in Texas, a new kind of clock is being built that’s meant to alter the way we think about time. Can it force us to connect our distant past with our distant future, tick by tick? …
At the dawn of the 20th century, chemists dreamed of extracting nitrogen from the air and turning it into a limitless supply of fertiliser. Sceptics thought they were crazy -- it was possible in theory, but it was unclear if it could be done in practice. What happened next changed the course of 20th-century history, and provides inspiration to inno…
