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Sleeps with the Angels
The final days of our mother's life.
Rick Keefner
Jul 11, 202421 min read


Writings About Music
Twenty-five years of writing about music! A selection of 17 essays and reviews of music from all over the world.

Kurt Keefner
Apr 2, 20244 min read


“Self-Esteem” and Narcissism
Is the Objectivist concept of self-esteem partly to blame for the current wave of narcissism?

Kurt Keefner
Mar 16, 20246 min read


Talk => Talk => Talk
We usually know what we're going to say before we say it. It's not so obvious how that works..

Kurt Keefner
Nov 15, 20232 min read


Fun Songs about Bad Men
When does a fun song about a bad man celebrate wickedness? And is this OK in the name of fun?

Kurt Keefner
Nov 20, 202217 min read


Amazing Meme
The story you didn't know of the classic hymn and how it has been a prolific meme in American culture.

Kurt Keefner
Oct 20, 202212 min read


Foundation Songs
Songs about home: what can we say about them and what do they say about us?

Kurt Keefner
Oct 5, 202214 min read


Contra Szasz
Dr. Thomas Szasz was a staunch opponent of involuntary psychiatric treatment, but there is much more to his thinking.

Kurt Keefner
Aug 16, 20226 min read


Madame X: Portrait of a Scandal
John Singer Sargent's Madame X was not only a bold artistic statement but a pivotal point in the invention of the modern woman.

Kurt Keefner
Apr 6, 202212 min read


Walking into John Singer Sargent
Sargent was one of the greatest painters of his time. I underestimated him. Now I am taking a fresh look at him - and my reactions to him.

Kurt Keefner
Jan 21, 20228 min read


To Become Who You Are
This is an essay about being authentic, which is the alternative to living a falsified life. It is full of hope.

Kurt Keefner
Jan 10, 20222 min read


How a River Becomes a River Once Again
“Before I sought enlightenment, the mountains were mountains and the rivers were rivers. While I sought enlightenment, the mountains were...

Kurt Keefner
Dec 30, 20213 min read


The Perfecting of Howard Roark
Howard Roark is no statue. This is the story of his development as a human character.

Kurt Keefner
Jun 30, 202116 min read


The Fate of Atlas
I really enjoyed Greek mythology as a boy, but I was never much interested in Atlas. His brother Prometheus, who created humankind and...

Kurt Keefner
May 20, 20217 min read


Freedom and Chess: Playing The Queen's Gambit
Meet Beth Harmon. She is the Mozart of chess, but can she beat her demons?

Kurt Keefner
Dec 5, 20209 min read


The Defects of His Virtues, The Virtues of His Defects
The paradoxical characters of Oskar Schindler, Howard Roark and Shakespeare's Brutus

Kurt Keefner
Oct 16, 20207 min read


Lessons of The Godfather
These gangsters give you a lesson you can't refuse.

Kurt Keefner
Sep 25, 20209 min read


North and South, An Industrial Synthesis
Strong-willed industrialist meets empathetic idealist in the 1800s. Can they bridge the gap?

Kurt Keefner
Jul 17, 20207 min read


Brave New Us
Despite the differences we are tending in the direction of Huxley's hedonistic dystopia.

Kurt Keefner
Jun 12, 202011 min read


The Bust of Caesar
Some characters are perfectly realized without being merely allegorical.

Kurt Keefner
May 15, 20209 min read
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