TOS Weekly - "Epic Theater," a Forgotten Hero of Reason and Liberty, and More
Plus the meaning of secular spirituality, celebrating the atlases of abolition on Juneteenth, and the contribution of the Federalist Essays to the U.S. Constitution.
Welcome to TOS Weekly!
After the publication of the Summer 2026 issue of TOS, the team is once again hard at work on new articles. Among those published with the Summer issue was Anna Shnaidman’s critical analysis of the oft-celebrated “epic theatre” play Mother Courage and Her Children. Alongside that, this week we mark the birthday of the little-known and vastly under-appreciated hero of liberty and reason Auberon Herbert, the similarly overlooked atlases of abolition, and the anniversary of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
I hope you enjoy this week’s articles,
Thomas F. Walker
Managing Editor
What’s New?
Mother Courage: “Epic Theater” vs the Human Soul
Mother Courage and Her Children is widely regarded as a brilliant, clinical dissection of wartime economies and as the pinnacle of epic theater. Yet its precise theme masks a profound dramatic failure.
Vacation with OSI after LevelUp 2026!
Objective Standard Institute invites you to join the team after LevelUp 2026 for a relaxing getaway in Starved Rock, Illinois.
This Week’s Anniversaries
Auberon Herbert: Advocate of Reason, Individual Rights, and Limited Government
Auberon Herbert (born June 18, 1838) was a 19th-century British political philosopher and member of Parliament, who recognized that each individual has inalienable rights to direct his own mind and body, and to keep and use the product of his own effort.
On Juneteenth, Let’s Celebrate the Atlases of Abolition
On Juneteenth, let’s remember the capitalists whose money and moral support made possible the Union victory—and who thereby played a vital role in abolishing slavery in America.
The Federalist Essays Brought the U.S. Constitution to Life
On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the US Constitution, which thereby became the law of the land. This victory could not have been won without Alexander Hamilton and The Federalist Papers.
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