Month: December 2025

20 Lessons from the 20th Century

/ Benn Bell / 4 Comments

The 20th Century brought us fascism and communism. Here are 20 lessons we can learn from this era gone by, brought to you by Timothy Snyder, professor of history at Yale University.

  1. Do not obey in advance.
  2. Defend institutions.
  3. Beware the one-party state.
  4. Take responsibility for the face of the world.
  5. Remember professional ethics.
  6. Be wary of professional paramilitaries.
  7. Be reflective if you must be armed.
  8. Stand out.
  9. Be kind to our language.
  10. Believe in truth.
  11. Investigate.
  12. Make eye contact and small talk.
  13. Practice corporeal politics.
  14. Establish a private life.
  15. Contribute to good causes.
  16. Learn from peers in other countries.
  17. Listen for dangerous words.
  18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.
  19. Be a patriot.
  20. Be as courageous as you can.

To learn more, read the book.

BOOKS READ – 2025

/ Benn Bell / 3 Comments

Top Three

I read a lot of good books this year. It was hard to decide which were the top three. But number one was easily the best I read all year.

  1. A Man in Full – Tom Wolfe
  2. The Idiot – Fyodor Dostoevsky
  3. Another Country – James Baldwin

Full List

  1. Jung: The Key Ideas – Ruth Snowden
  2. Timequake – Kurt Vonnegut
  3. Don Quixote – Miguel Cervantes
  4. Determined – Robert M. Sapolsky
  5. A Problem From Hell – Samantha Power
  6. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said – Philip K. Dick
  7. Speed the Plow – David Mamet – Play
  8. The City and Its Uncertain Walls – Haruki Murakami
  9. State of Siege – Albert Camus – Play
  10. Another Country – James Baldwin
  11. The Ghost Writer – Philip Roth
  12. The Stonemason – Cormac McCarthy – Play
  13. Down and Out in Paris and London – George Orwell
  14. A Happy Death – Albert Camus
  15. Much Ado About Nothing – William Shakespeare – Play
  16. Notes from Underground – Fyodor Dostoevsky
  17. The Idiot – Fyodor Dostoevsky
  18. The Dangerous Summer _ Ernest Hemingway
  19. The Book of Five Rings – Miyamoto Musashi
  20. The Counterlife – Philip Roth
  21. Kindness, Clarity, and Insight – The Dalai Lama
  22. Camino Real – Tennessee Williams – Play
  23. Vineland – Thomas Pynchon
  24. Meditations – Marcus Aurelius
  25. The Cherry Orchard – Anton Chekov – Play
  26. The Gardener’s Son – Cormac McCarthy -Screenplay
  27. The Seagull – Anton Chekov – Play
  28. The Art of Living – Epictetus – Interpreted by Sharon Lebell
  29. Uncle Vanya – Anton Chekov – Play
  30. A Man in Full – Tom Wolfe
  31. Cinema Speculation – Quentin Tarantino
  32. Philip Roth – Blake Bailey
  33. Stoicism and the Art of Happiness – Donald Robertson