Kurt Keefner
Call Me Deacon Blues
Steely Dan's song "Deacon Blues" tells the paradoxical story of how an inauthentic man finds liberation. How much is that everybody's story?
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Kurt Keefner
- Nov 20, 2022
- 17 min
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?
840
Kurt Keefner
- Oct 20, 2022
- 12 min
Amazing Meme
The story you didn't know of the classic hymn and how it has been a prolific meme in American culture.
2240
Kurt Keefner
- Oct 5, 2022
- 14 min
Foundation Songs
Songs about home: what can we say about them and what do they say about us?
1030
Kurt Keefner
- Aug 16, 2022
- 6 min
Contra Szasz
Dr. Thomas Szasz was a staunch opponent of involuntary psychiatric treatment, but there is much more to his thinking.
480
Kurt Keefner
- Apr 6, 2022
- 12 min
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.
9300
Kurt Keefner
- Jan 21, 2022
- 8 min
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.
7300
Kurt Keefner
- Jan 10, 2022
- 2 min
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.
510
Kurt Keefner
- Dec 30, 2021
- 3 min
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...
470
Kurt Keefner
- Nov 20, 2021
- 5 min
"For the Love of Wisdom"
I have decided to write another book, tentatively titled For the Love of Wisdom. It is going to be the sum of all my thinking about...
1780
Kurt Keefner
- Aug 9, 2021
- 7 min
Descending Mount Olympus
Following Ayn Rand too closely stranded me on a mountain peak. Here's how I came down.
2690
Kurt Keefner
- Jun 30, 2021
- 16 min
The Perfecting of Howard Roark
Howard Roark is no statue. This is the story of his development as a human character.
5240
Kurt Keefner
- May 20, 2021
- 7 min
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...
4440
Kurt Keefner
- Apr 11, 2021
- 3 min
To Choose Wonder
Plato and Aristotle agreed that philosophy starts in wonder, but wonder is a much broader feeling than what they meant. There is...
3850
Kurt Keefner
- Feb 18, 2021
- 11 min
Self-Realization and Ecology
How to become who you are naturally rather than by force.
3870
Kurt Keefner
- Dec 5, 2020
- 9 min
Freedom and Chess: Playing The Queen's Gambit
Meet Beth Harmon. She is the Mozart of chess, but can she beat her demons?
2120
Kurt Keefner
- Oct 16, 2020
- 7 min
The Defects of His Virtues, The Virtues of His Defects
The paradoxical characters of Oskar Schindler, Howard Roark and Shakespeare's Brutus
1150
Kurt Keefner
- Oct 9, 2020
- 4 min
Angel with No Name
The name of one of music history's most most difficult sets of sonatas is unknown, but its beauty is evident.
2040
Kurt Keefner
- Sep 25, 2020
- 9 min
Lessons of The Godfather
These gangsters give you a lesson you can't refuse.
810
Kurt Keefner
- Sep 11, 2020
- 11 min
Man and Nature in The Fountainhead
Architecture is the interface between man and nature. An opportunity for a theme!
560
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