TOS Weekly - William F. Buckley's True Nature

Plus the "real monster" in Frankenstein, William Kingdon' Clifford's "The Ethics of Belief," the life and achievements of Andrew Carnegie, and the importance of commemorating Evacuation Day.

Nov 20, 2025

On Monday, conservatives across the U.S. and beyond will celebrate what would have been William F. Buckley’s 100th birthday. Many will agree with the Heritage Foundation’s appraisal that the National Review founder and provocative TV debater was a man of “clarity, sobriety, and intellectual honesty.” But Craig Biddle profoundly disagrees with this assessment, highlighting Buckley’s deeply dishonest treatment of Ayn Rand.

Newly released this week is first-time TOS writer John Devlin’s deep dive into the moral message of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It has become accepted wisdom to claim that the creator, not the creature, is the “real monster,” but that popular bromide, Devlin argues, amounts to sanctioning the creature’s rampages in a way that would be deeply unjust in real life.

I hope you enjoy this week’s articles!

Thomas Walker-Werth