The Ideas Letter
Truth is a casualty of the last century. From the Death of God to the curious disappearance of the human in the Age of AI, truth’s social standing is precarious and weather-beaten. In a remarkably original essay on memory and violence, Mexican writer Tessy Schlosser ventures deeply into the bowels of truth’s fragility.
UK-based author and editor John Merrick follows with no simpler a subject: the miserable mainstreaming of racial and ethnic politics in today’s Britain. Focusing on the writings of Kings College historian David Betz, Merrick grapples with the ways that reactionary ideas have become all too commonplace.
Finally, Imraan Buccus, a South African scholar and journalist, considers the paradoxes in his country’s governance, from its avant garde foreign policy to its rearguard domestic politics. South Africa is mired in contradiction and Buccus helps to explain why.
Our curated section kicks off with a startlingly original essay from Matthew Rochat on how the concept of guanxi can help understand the relational dimensions of global politics. We follow with a closer look at Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, who has been celebrated the world over for her extraordinary work on behalf of the freedom of expression. This essay, published in Media Asia, considers another side of Ressa’s activities, one less cloaked in glamor.
Next, a video that features Regina Rini and her sharp conception for a new public philosophy for the contemporary moment. And we conclude Ideas Letter 52 with a four-part podcast series you may have missed—Overshoot—which asks, soberly yet concerningly, what happens when the world crosses the 1.5-degree-centigrade threshold.
In other exciting news, we have gathered a selection of essays from our first fifty issues into an anthology,
Featured Essays
What is The Ideas Letter
Welcome to The Ideas Letter, a publication that prizes the unconventional. We are not in the business of persuading. We won’t try to convince you of anything—other than that the world is complex and reality ever-shifting. We are not here to advocate. What you will find, and we hope embrace, are contributions from across ideological aisles, from a broad range of disciplines and a true cross-section of thinking. If catholicity is your métier, and you are uneasy with banging the drum but would rather hear its many sounds, this is the place for you.
We really like critique. Not the mean-spirited or spiteful kind, but rather commentary that raises tough questions, unpacks assumptions, sometimes calls people on the carpet, and always provides opportunity for discussion. That is what we are really after—facilitating, augmenting, furthering, and bolstering debate around issues of consequence.
You’ll find here articles, essays, and criticism that will challenge you to think. Let us know your thoughts, and make sure to tell a friend. Or even someone with whom you disagree!
Anthology 2023–2025
Download our Anthology, a selection of essays from our first fifty issues, a smorgasbord of intellectual query.