Nazis In the Family & NDAs
We can't choose our families, but we can influence where our societies are heading. Also, NDAs are getting absurdly common.
Featured Articles
My family and other Nazis
This is an intriguing piece from Martin Pollack, as he reflects on his family's unwavering allegiance to Nazism and the impact it had on his life. He shares his journey of grappling with this legacy, revealing how he distanced himself from the beliefs that shaped his relatives' worldviews, all while confronting the painful truths of his father's role in the Nazi regime. This personal story serves as a warning about the dangers of normalizing violence, hatred, and authoritarianism that continue to threaten democratic societies.
Almost 80 years after the end of the war, how is it possible that such strong echoes of national socialism remain apparently attractive? Why are people, living in peaceful times, in a democracy with all its benefits, planning to undermine and destroy that very system while aiming to revive the ideology and methods of the past?
Hush-Hush Affair
After reading this article, I felt lucky that I only had to sign a handful of NDAs in my life. This article goes on to show that they are now commonly used by companies, celebrities, and even ordinary individuals to conceal a wide range of information, from personal relationships to workplace misconduct. Read on if you would like to learn more about how absurd this has become.
The ubiquity of the NDA has made the act of signing one unremarkable, right up until the moment you are faced with choosing whether to break one, at which point you may begin to wonder exactly how we got here.
Read it on The Cut by New York Magazine
Other Recommended Reading
The Action Scene | Occupational Hazards: The Stunt Performer on Screen
Stunt performers often work behind the scenes, taking on (sometimes extremely) dangerous tasks that bring our favorite action films life. This piece from MUBI explores the evolution of stunt work in cinema, highlighting how cultural perceptions have shaped the profession and the unique challenges these artists face. Did you watch Fall Guy recently, and want to learn more about the profession? Give this article a try.
. . .the creation of the stunt double as a distinct role coincided with the rise of the Hollywood studio system, during which the onscreen star became a precious, insured commodity that had to be preserved and protected. . .
A Cosmopolitan Revelation
Rick Steves is often seen as a friendly face of travel, but there's more to his approach than just guiding tourists through Europe. In this thought-provoking piece, we discover how Steves aims to transform the way we experience travel, encouraging deeper connections and a sense of civic responsibility.
And isn’t that the goal of the civil religionist? To encourage encounters that foster compromise and friendship across ideological boundaries—and to help people find some common ground? Making civil religion real requires one to respect both the particular and the universal at the same time.
Read on at The Hedhehog Review
Trekking Across Switzerland, Guided by Locals’ Hand-Drawn Maps
This is a very unique travel article, if you can even call it that. What if you could explore Switzerland on foot, guided only by hand-drawn maps from locals? Each sketch reveals not only a route but a glimpse into the lives and stories of the people the author meets along the way.
This teaches me something unexpected about maps. I was asking people how to get somewhere. But more often than not, what they illustrate were the things to which they pay attention.
