Candide's 'Voltaire' satirized blind optimism

Voltaire's writing sent him into exile

In 1717, the writer's satirical poem "La Henriade" landed him in prison for a year. By 1726, the French government's distaste for his work caused him to leave the country for England, though he returned a few years later. That would be short-lived: In 1734, his "Lettres Philosophiques" sent him packing again, moving to Champagne, then Berlin, then Switzerland, before finally returning to Paris in 1778.

Despite his sometimes caustic satire, Dickens was ultimately an optimist

Michael Slater, a professor of Victorian literature at Birkbeck College, notes that Dickens' anger at Parliament and social injustice never got in the way of his optimism. "There is a constant allegiance to the lives of ordinary people and their pleasures," he said in a 2001 interview with "In Our Time."

Kurt Vonnegut's satire embraced dark humor

Books like "Cat’s Cradle" and "Slaughterhouse Five" satirized the international appetite for war, which the 20th-century writer found both horrifying and hilarious. It’s a combination that some called “gallows humor,” a classification Vonnegut himself remembered Sigmund Freud describing. “One of the examples Freud gives is a man about to be hanged,” Vonnegut once recalled, “and the hangman says, ‘Do you have anything to say?’ The condemned man replies, ‘Not at this time.’”

The case for optimism

Author, editor, and thinker Kevin Kelly makes an argument for optimism. Not only as a personal philosophy, but as a moral obligation, focusing on the need for optimism in overcoming challenges. Drawing examples ranging back to the Wright brothers,...

One of the earliest known satires is an ancient Egyptian parody of life advice

“The Satire of the Trades” mocks the then-popular “wisdom literature,” which imparted life advice. In the text, a father, a scribe, explains why his son should work the same job, detailing the miseries of several other lines of work. His ultimate argument is that it’s best to be a manager rather than a worker: “See, there is no office free from supervisors except the scribe's. He is the supervisor!”

Twain read (and lampooned) classic literature

Ever the ironist, Twain claimed to have “ no liking for novels or stories.” Obviously, that was untrue: He read widely, devouring books by Charles Dickens, slave narratives, and texts on astronomy. He also loved John Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” which he called “something everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.”

Albert Camus' 'The Fall' encourages readers to live without illusions

The writer's final complete novel is a series of dramatic monologues from Jean-Baptiste Clamence, who tries to explain to a stranger the sound of laughter that began following him. As the "Philosophize This!" podcast argues, the book is Camus' attempt at wrestling with some of the thornier aspects of existentialism in a form that's more digestible than a dense philosophical tome.

'A Modest Proposal' is one of history's most notorious satires

Jonathan Swift’s 1729 essay suggested that the starving Irish could stave off poverty by selling their children as food. Although it’s funny—albeit rather dark in form—it’s a classic example of Juvenalian satire, as it so pointedly criticizes the indifference of English elites.

The ancient Greek philosopher who lived in a barrel

Out with green puppets living in trash cans, and in with ancient Greek philosophers living in barrels. This article details the life and beliefs of Diogenes the Cynic, a philosopher who reportedly lived in a barrel. According to this peer-reviewed article, it's unclear if Diogenes recorded any of his beliefs in writing. If he did, no texts have been recovered.

Mozart's 'The Marriage of Figaro' satirizes aristocratic privilege

“The Marriage of Figaro” tells a tale about young lovers, deception, and dynamics between the aristocracy and their servants. Critiquing French society just years before the French Revolution began, this rebellious work of art experienced wild success while also being the subject of censorship and bans in the late 1700s.

Sartre and de Beauvoir's literary journal was named after a Charlie Chaplin movie

The couple founded the magazine Les Temps Modernes in 1945 and it quickly became essential reading for French intellectuals. Its name came from "Modern Times," Charlie Chaplin's 1936 movie that satirized the industrial revolution's dehumanizing effects.

Sartre believed those who deny their own freedom are operating in 'bad faith'

In "Existentialism is a Humanism," Sartre argues that humans are "condemned to be free"—they are not confined to a divine fate, which means they must take the responsibility of creating their own destinies. Those who reject this freedom, by his estimation, are living in "bad faith."

George Orwell's '1984' is one of the most famous dystopian works

Orwell's life experiences, from living among the poor to witnessing the rise of authoritarian regimes, deeply shaped his worldview. His iconic works, "Animal Farm" and "1984," offered stark warnings about power, control, and propaganda, making him one of the most enduring voices against totalitarianism.

Enlightenment ideals of reason informed the foundation of the Revolution

From the 17th to 19th centuries, an intellectual movement took place in Europe and its colonies that emphasized reason over authority. Following the Scientific Revolution, thinkers like Descartes, Kant, and Locke sought to explain the world in rational—rather than religious—terms. The movement caused a paradigm shift in how societies are organized and how people perceive themselves.

The Benjamin Franklin letter that anticipated daylight saving time

Benjamin Franklin did not invent daylight saving time. But while living in Paris, he did pen a satirical letter to Parisians suggesting they could save money on lamp oil by changing their sleep schedules. Read it in full here.

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

'Ogilvy on Advertising' is David Ogilvy's career memoir full of his favorite copywriting advice

Ogilvy is one of the most famous and influential advertising executives in history, known for his focus on research-driven advertising. But he also wrote multiple books, including "Ogilvy on Advertising," which the Founders podcast dives into in this episode.

'Don Quixote' is often called the first 'modern novel' because of its aesthetics

Miguel de Cervantes’ “Don Quixote,” published in the early 17th century, isn’t the first long-form prose narrative. Still, many critics consider it the first “modern novel” because of its structure, approach to narration, and commentary on literature itself.

Jules Verne helped popularize the banana

In his 1872 book "Around the World in 80 Days," the sci-fi writer described the banana, then mostly a novelty, as "healthy as bread and as succulent as cream." That mention, along with an appearance at the 1876 World's Fair in Philadelphia, helped transform the fruit into a standard part of a healthy diet.

The author of 'V for Vendetta' explains the Guy Fawkes mask

The "V for Vendetta" mask became famous after the film based on the comic book series was released in 2005. It has since been adopted by global protest movements. This piece, written by the author of the book, explains the logic of the rise of this...

Zurich's Cabaret Voltaire was the epicenter of early performance art

In early 20th-century Zurich, one nightclub was the epicenter of avant-garde art and performance: Cabaret Voltaire. Night after night, crowds of artists, writers, philosophers, and others would gather to watch—or participate in—wild, unrehearsed performances that could include anything from sound poems to traditional folk dance. The atmosphere at Club Voltaire was the ideal breeding ground for outside art movements, and it is thought to be the birthplace of Dada, a precursor to performance art.

Jacques Louis David was a prime foil for the romantics

French painter Jacques Louis David was a defining figure of the neoclassical movement, using historical scenes and a polished sheen to present work that was as close to the real world as humanly possible. That made him an obvious foil for the romantics, who embraced raw feeling over accuracy.

Walt Whitman wrote a temperance novel

Before “Leaves of Grass” there was “Franklin Evans,” a novel about a young man whose drinking ruins his life. Whitman all but disowned the novel for the rest of his life, though critics note that he preached teetotaling throughout his life.

'No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.'

-Author Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' turned the fantasy genre upside down

A lot of 19th-century British fantasy was often stiff; its children’s literature was often overly didactic. Carroll’s novel—about a young girl who falls into an unusual world full—was neither, offering vivid, psychedelic imagery and seemingly nonsensical word games.

Read more about Palantir cofounder Peter Thiel's political beliefs and activity

At Stanford University, Thiel founded "The Stanford Review," a libertarian magazine dedicated to being against "political correctness." Since then, Thiel has railed against American universities as failing institutions, given lectures about the coming of the Antichrist, and donated money to high-profile political campaigns (including those of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance).

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

The first robot in literature may have been a 'mechanical man' in 1907's 'Ozma of Oz,' a book in L Frank Baum's 'Wizard of Oz' series.

How the most famous Ebola book, The Hot Zone, which sold 3.5 million copies and was translated into 30 languages, got aspects of the disease so wrong.

A vending machine run with Anthropic's AI went out of business after it was convinced to give away items for free and sell a video game console.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

The concept of phantom limbs, the perception that amputated limbs are still present, dates back to a French military surgeon in the 16th century.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Venture capital is a form of funding provided to early-stage companies with high growth potential, typically in exchange for an equity (or ownership) stake

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

The Dracula character, now seen as the vampire archetype, was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare its creator experienced.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

In recent years a child anxiety expert has created and tested a novel phobia and anxiety treatment approach for children, focused on changing how parents respond to the fears.

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

While the sun's gravity keeps the planets in orbit, their gravity also pulls on the sun, causing it and everything else in the solar system to orbit around a mutual balance point called the barycenter—the true center of the solar system.

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii, the city buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.