Matt Damon may play a great hero in The Odyssey, but one of the star’s own heroes is also set for his time in the spotlight. In Massachusetts in the 1970s and 80s, Damon grew up close to Howard Zinn, now the subject of The People’s Historian, a biography by Dave Zirin.

“Frankly,” Zirin said, “the fact that he’s Matt Damon and oh by the way is now in the biggest movie perhaps since Titanic, it makes it a nice little bauble for the book that I got to interview him.

The Pentagon reportedly is considering eliminating civilian tenure across the military service academies and senior war colleges. The draft proposal also would direct Defense Department officials to conduct a line-by-line review of courses and decide what material is “non-essential” or “ideologically driven.” Political influence over how officers are prepared to exercise judgment carries consequences far beyond the classroom.

“Those who have greatest cause for guilt and shame
Are quickest to besmirch a neighbor’s name.
[…]
By talking up their neighbour’s indiscretions
They seek to camouflage their own transgressions”

‘Dorine’ in Molière’s “Tartuffe”

Katie Miller, an erstwhile Trump administration official and wife of Stephen Miller, once relied on Dr Anthony Fauci to get through Covid. Now, she’s calling for his imprisonment – a reversal that illuminates the politicization of Fauci and of public health writ large, a trend that could have major repercussions for America’s preparedness for future crises.

C’est une reculade majeure, sans doute la plus importante depuis que le président libertarien occupe la Casa Rosada, le siège de l’exécutif argentin : mercredi 5 août, Javier Milei a supprimé du projet de loi baptisé «inviolabilité de la propriété privée» le chapitre qui levait plusieurs restrictions limitant l’achat de terres rurales par des non-Argentins. Une décision prise dans la panique, à la veille de l’examen du texte par le Sénat, et après l’annonce par plusieurs élus du camp présidentiel qu’ils s’y opposeraient.