My Word with Douglas E. Welch

If any one of us ran our own country, we’d surely drive no small amount of resources toward building an impressive national library. That would be true even if we ran a country the size of the Vatican, the smallest sovereign state in the world — but one that, unsurprisingly, punches well above its weight in terms of the size and historical value of its holdings. “It was in 1451 when Pope Nicholas V, a renowned bibliophile himself, attempted to re-establish Rome as an academic center of global importance,” writes Aleteia’s Daniel Esparza. That formidable task involved first “building a relatively modest library of over 1,200 volumes, including his personal collection of Greek and Roman classics and a series of texts brought from Constantinople.”

This small lake outside Stockholm, Sweden, emits otherworldly sounds as Mårten Ajne skates over its precariously thin, black ice. “Wild ice skating,” or “Nordic skating,” is both an art and a science. A skater seeks out the thinnest, most pristine black ice possible—both for its smoothness, and for its high-pitched, laser-like sounds.

On Thursday April 2 (7pm GMT/2pm EST), London, One Man, Two Guvnors, starring James Cordon, will be livestreamed on the National Theatre’s YouTube channel and will be available to watch for one more week. New productions will follow each week, along with behind the scenes talks and cast interviews. 

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Streets of Milan in Watercolor

A scene near Piazza Duomo in the historic district of Milan, Italy

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It’s a late night in London in 1940, and Austrian exile Robert Lucas is writing at his desk. Bombs are raining down on the city every night, Hitler’s army is winning throughout Europe and the invasion of England has become a genuine prospect. In spite of the air-raid sirens and, as he put it “the hell’s noise of the war machinery” going off all around him, Lucas is focused on the job at hand: to “fight for the souls of the Germans”. He is composing a radio broadcast aimed at citizens of the Third Reich. But this is not a passionate plea for them to come to their senses. This is an attempt to make them laugh.

Holiday Gift Guide 2019 25: Along the canal…Nottingham Totes and More! [For Sale]

Includes throw blankets, duvet covers, pillows, hoodies, tees, and much more!

During our visit to Leeds in 2016 (which we enjoyed immensely) Joseph and I made a special pilgrimage to the Warhammer factory, store, and play area. My only request is that we got to walk back to the train station via the canal that runs through the center of Nottingham. I love the canals of the UK, especially when they go through urban areas. This photo was one of many I took along our walk that day. It illustrates pertly why I love canals so much. Here, in the middle of town, is this tranquil area of water, nature, and people. I wish we had something similar here in California. — Douglas

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Vintage Tram Along Duro River, Porto, Portugal

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