How to explore Scott Alexander's work and his 1500+ blog posts? This unaffiliated fan website lets you sort and search through the whole codex. Enjoy!

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2 posts found
Aug 04, 2023
acx
73 min 10,166 words 293 comments 176 likes podcast (74 min)
A review of 'The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich' analyzes Hitler's rise to power, identifying key factors to recognize potential authoritarian threats. Longer summary
This review of William L. Shirer's 'The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich' focuses on Hitler's ascent to power in Germany, analyzing the key factors that enabled his success. The reviewer extracts five main characteristics of Hitler's approach: open illiberalism, strategic use of terror, building a 'second state' through organization, thriving in times of crisis, and securing financial backing. The review aims to provide insights for recognizing and preventing similar authoritarian threats in the future. Shorter summary
Jul 28, 2023
acx
52 min 7,203 words 100 comments 220 likes podcast (42 min)
The review analyzes Ernst Jünger's 'On the Marble Cliffs' as a beautifully written allegory of Nazi Germany that offers advice on surviving totalitarianism through appreciation of beauty. Longer summary
This review explores Ernst Jünger's 1939 novella 'On the Marble Cliffs', contextualizing it within the German Catastrophe and Jünger's life, analyzing its poetic style and allegorical content, and arguing that its primary purpose is to offer advice on surviving totalitarian rule through the appreciation of beauty. The reviewer discusses the book's historical context, Jünger's writing style, the challenges of translation, the plot's allegorical nature, and the often-missed central message about the power of beauty as a coping mechanism in the face of horror. Shorter summary