This week’s article is paywalled, among other things because it’s spicy. I’m lightly touching on the most taboo topic there is today. It is not the only taboo topic I’ve explored, so much so that I’m considering creating a new tier of articles—Unspeakable Territories—to cover all the stuff that would normally get me cancelled by either or both sides....

Budapest is a special city, in that it was formed by the merger of two other cities: Buda and Pest. Why were they separate? Why is it where it is? Why is it the capital? Why was it a global metropolis a century ago? What caused its fall? What is Budapest like today? What does its future hold for it?That’s what we’re going to answer today. And the first...

I need help for the upcoming articles. There are GeoHistory ones on the Coup Belt in Africa (in the Sahel: Senegal, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Sudan, and also Guinea), Belgium, Austria, Mexico, and Munich. I will also write about the algorithms of dating apps (Tinder, Bumble, etc). If you’re knowledgeable about any of these places and what to...

This is the 3rd and last article on the Rites of Passage of the 21st Century, also premium to make up for the one I missed 10 days ago. We will cover marriage and death.MarriageThe rite of passage of marriage sounds pretty polished, and is reasonably similar around the world. The below outlines the Western process:The rite starts with the engagement,...

Previously this week, we explored rites of passage into adulthood of different societies to understand how they work, so we can craft new ones adapted to the 21st century. Today, we’re going to ponder the same about two other rites of passage: birth and hazing. Later this week or early the next one, I’ll publish another premium article covering marriage…...

Life used to be punctuated by rites of passage for all the big changes: from birth to coming-of-age, to marriage, death, and many others in between. But they’re now fading away, whether religious ones, like baptisms and big marriage ceremonies, or secular ones, like hazing.Without these milestones, life becomes a blur. Adults behave like kids, couples...