by Helen Kain | Jan 27, 2026 | Carousel Ideas & Systems, Greece, Recent, The Continental Thread
My working impression of Greece was embodied in the Vatican’s fresco The School of Athens by Raphael. In it, Socrates (left) argues in the crowd, Plato points upward toward higher truths beyond the visible world, and Aristotle, his hand held level, grounds philosophy...
by Helen Kain | Jan 18, 2026 | Carousel Ideas & Systems, Italy, The Continental Thread
Turin was not supposed to be the point. This was a Northern Italy trip with friends — Bill and Maura — the kind of people who have already seen most things, lived in most places, and are not easily impressed. Americans, but only technically so: twenty-three years...
by Helen Kain | Jun 29, 2025 | Carousel Ideas & Systems, Medieval (1066–1485), Themes in History
There’s something thrillingly unassuming about Lincoln’s copy of the Magna Carta. For such an iconic document, it’s not much to look at—just a modest sheet of medieval vellum covered in cramped Latin script. But don’t let its size fool you. This unpretentious...
by Helen Kain | May 30, 2025 | Carousel Ideas & Systems, Georgians (1714–1837), Themes in History
It has become fashionable to speak of the Enlightenment as a failed project. Depending on the argument of the day, it is blamed for everything from inequality to environmental strain to social fragmentation. The language is often sweeping: “broken,” “exhausted,” “no...
