Volume 19, No. 4: Winter 2024
If you are a paid subscriber, you can access PDF and EPUB versions of this issue here.
In this issue:
From the Editor
Features
‘Make it Something that Enhances Life’: The Architectural Philosophy of John C. Portman
Whatever I do, it’s mine. —John C. Portman Jr.
Ayn Rand and the Future of Freedom
Author’s note: The following is adapted from talks given to participants of the Students For Liberty Prometheus Fellowship.
Shorts
The Obscenity of Banning Books
In my high-school freshman English class, I had some of my first serious discussions on difficult but important topics. I recall, for instance, learning about suicide and racism while diving into Romeo and Juliet and To Kill a Mockingbird, respectively. Thoughtfully reading and discussing good books helps students understand important principles for liv…
Dreaming of America: The Art of Hiroshi Nagai
Palm trees, beautiful beaches, vintage cars, sparkling pools, and skyscrapers reaching for an ultramarine, cloudless twilight sky. These all feature in the works of Japanese artist Hiroshi Nagai, whose evocative paintings were used for the covers of many 1980s Japanese pop albums. The somewhat nostalgic, dreamy realism of Nagai’s work has captivated man…
Mark Knopfler: Sultan of Song
Songwriters today face a massive problem, or so it seems. The vast majority of popular songs are love songs or some variant—a trend that has been building for a thousand years or more, at least since 11th-century troubadours swooning about courtly love were all the rage. And from the
Reviews
Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham
New York: Avid Reader Press, 2024
Star Trek: Prodigy, created by Kevin and Dan Hageman
Starring Brett Gray, Ella Purnell, Rylee Alazraqui, and Kate Mulgrew