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Octavian

octavian.substack.com

The publication of ideas. Click to read Octavian, a Substack publication.

Society / politics / economyHistory

’21’22’23’24’25’26
Posts
143 from 12 Aug 2021 to 18 Jul 2026
Posting
weekly (43 in the last year)
Kind
personal blog
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https://octavian.substack.com/feed

2026 1

  1. A Classic: Daniel Mendelsohn on the Odyssey

2025 57

  1. Specter of 1917: Anne Applebaum on Putin and Soviet Russia
  2. The Outlook for Geopolitics and Global Security: An Interview with Vice President Dick Cheney
  3. Scapegoats: Deborah Lipstdat on how Anti-Semites go Mainstream
  4. Mastermind: Gary Kasparov on the Global Leadership Vacuum
  5. Macro Thinker: Lawrence Summers on Trump and The Fed
  6. Dreams of Justice: F.W. de Klerk on Nelson Mandela and South Africa
  7. The Storyteller: Mario Vargas Llosa on Art and Democracy
  8. Freedom Fighter: Natan Sharansky on Freedom, Repression, and Modern Politics
  9. North Star: Stephen Harper on Trump, the U.S., and Populism
  10. Slippery Slope: An Interview with Citigroup's Edward Morse
  11. Geopolitics and Global Security: An Interview with Dick Cheney
  12. Chinese Chess: Kevin Rudd on Xi and China
  13. Greatest War: Tom Holland and Graham Allison on Thucydides
  14. Dangerous World: John Bolton on Terrorism, Russia, China, Iraq, and More
  15. Life of the Party: An Interview with Elizabeth Economy
  16. Blood on the Streets: Marci Shore on Ukraine and Revolution in Real Time
  17. State of Israel: Michael Oren on Israel as a World Power
  18. Good Actor: Forest Whitaker talks about his plan to deconflict the world
  19. Getting Europe Right: An Interview with Amb. Stuart Eizenstat
  20. The General: Ehud Barak on Israel, the Palestinians, and the Middle East
  21. Credit where It's Due: An Interview with Boaz Weinstein
  22. Life During Wartime: Elliot Ackerman on Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Anabasis
  23. Risky Business: Ian Bremmer on Political Risk, Russia, North Korea, and Trump
  24. Centrifugal Force: An Interview with Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg
  25. Bug Out: An Interview with Laurie Garrett
  26. Oldest Hatred: An interview with Abe Foxman
  27. Swords to Ploughshares: Jody Williams on Landmines and Killer Robots
  28. The Great Displacement: David Miliband on the Global Refugee Crisis
  29. Shock and Awe: An Interview with Miles Unger
  30. Master Plan: An Interview with John Lewis Gaddis
  31. French Connection: An Interview with Manuel Valls
  32. Nation Building: Bernard-Henri Lévy on Getting Justice for the Kurds
  33. A New Hope? William Kristol on How to Fix American Politics
  34. World on Fire: Elliott Abrams on Crisis in the Middle East
  35. Mediterranean Blues: Giulio Terzi on Italy, the E.U., and Political Extremism
  36. In Russia’s Shadow: Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga Talks Latvia, Putin, the E.U., and Global Democracy
  37. Latin American Future: Why Jorge Quiroga sees pain — and gain — ahead for Latin America
  38. Know Your Enemy: Jeh Johnson on Homegrown Terror, Gun Control, and Climate Change
  39. All Over the Map: Brett McGurk on Trump's Ongoing Diplomatic Disaster
  40. Amending the Second: Bret Stephens on Gun Control after Parkland
  41. Truth is Very Dangerous to Come By: Amanda Vail on Fake News and the Spanish Civil War
  42. The 2025 Octavian Book List!
  43. The State and Art of Storytelling
  44. Wise Man: George P. Shultz on Trump, Russia, and America's Greatest Challenges
  45. My Chat(GPT) with Winston Churchill
  46. The Neo-Ottoman Sultan: Erdogan and the new Turkish adventurism
  47. Our conversation with Mario Vargas Llosa
  48. Why tariffs are the anti-MAGA
  49. Miracle in Burundi: From Subsistence Farmers to Google Engineers
  50. Denzel, Othello and Harold Bloom
  51. The Tariff Disaster of 1930
  52. Beware the Ides of March
  53. The Forgotten Disasters: Sudan and Congo
  54. The Mind of Xi Jinping
  55. For Subscribers: Paperback Launch Event
  56. Orwell Comes to Campus: The Ideology of Settler Colonialism
  57. When DOGE was HUAC: The rise and fall of the Federal Theatre Project

2023 11

  1. The 2023 Octavian Best Book List
  2. Book Event: Tuesday, September 21
  3. Book Event: In the Garden of the Righteous
  4. Paying Attention in Polarized Times: Sarah Watling on the Spanish Civil War
  5. Elliot Ackerman on His New Novel, HALCYON, Where Death is a Thing of the Past
  6. Subscriber Event: 92NY
  7. Britain's Schindler, Nicholas Winton
  8. E Pluribus Unum: Ilan Stavans on American English
  9. Lessons from the Ides of March
  10. The Real Best Films of the Year
  11. In the Garden of the Righteous

2022 54

  1. The 2022 Octavian Best Book List
  2. A Tribute to Nick Bollettieri
  3. The Real Art of the Deal: Rich Cohen on Herbie Cohen, the world's best negotiator
  4. Celebrating King Tut's Tomb: Colleen and John Darnell on Ahkenaten and Nefertiti
  5. Subscriber Event: Screening of "Why Ukraine" by BHL at the United Nations
  6. The World's Most Valuable Photograph: Marc Braude on Man Ray's Le Violon d'Ingres and Kiki de Montparnasse
  7. The Fifth Act: Elliot Ackerman on Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul
  8. Our Man in Riyadh: Norman Roule on Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Middle East
  9. The Slow Motion Genocide: Nury Turkel on the plight of the Uyghurs
  10. The Great Unwind: Dambisa Moyo on inflation, interest rates and global governance
  11. The Unexpected Peacemaker: Steven Cook on Turkey's New Tactics
  12. The Girl in the Castello: Eden Collinsworth on Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine
  13. Playing Hardball: Kenneth Roth on His Three Decades Leading Human Rights Watch
  14. The Art of the Possible: Bob Rae on the UN's Relevance Today
  15. Can Israel’s Government Survive? Aluf Benn on the Unlikely Premiership of Naftali Bennett
  16. Shine a Light: Bernard-Henri Lévy on the reporter-as-activist
  17. The Least Bad Option: Célia Belin and Agneska Bloch on the French Election
  18. Justice for Ukraine: Harold Koh on International Law
  19. The Firms that Fueled Big Tech: Sebastian Mallaby on Venture Capital
  20. Bearing Witness: Tatiana Felgengauer on the Plight of Russia's Independent Media
  21. The Killer in the Kremlin: Samuel Ramani on Putin's Strategy
  22. Closed Door Policy: David Nasaw on America's Approach to Refugees
  23. The End of an Era: Jim Grant on Interest Rates
  24. Indomitable Spirit: Andrew Blauner on Charlie Brown and the Genius of 'Peanuts'
  25. The Bear Breaks Down: Andrei Soldatov on Russia’s Self-Destruction
  26. How Putin Just Revealed Democracy’s Secret Superpower
  27. A Fine Balance: Israel's Role in Ukraine
  28. Why Russia is Losing: Gen. David Petraeus on the War in Ukraine
  29. Bonus Post: Watch Kevin Rudd on China's Role in Ukraine
  30. Shocked: Jason Bordoff on What the Ukraine Crisis Means for Energy Markets
  31. There's still time
  32. Reminder: Join us this afternoon for a Live Discussion with Kevin Rudd
  33. What are your questions on Ukraine/Russia/China?
  34. Join us Friday for a Live Conversation on China and Ukraine with Kevin Rudd
  35. The War that Made the West: Barry Strauss on the Battle of Actium
  36. Putin in His Labyrinth: Alexander Gabuev on the View from Moscow
  37. The End of the Affair? Kevin Rudd on China's Relationship with Russia
  38. How Putin Saved NATO: Adm. James Stavridis on Ukraine's Effect on the West
  39. A Dangerous Mind: Angela Stent on Understanding Putin
  40. Waging War by Other Means: Juan Zarate Explains the New Sanctions on Russia
  41. A Dangerous Dance: Evan Feigenbaum on China's Role in Ukraine
  42. Take it Easy: David Nasaw on the Work Habits of Andrew Carnegie
  43. More on Ukraine
  44. War of the Worlds: Michael McFaul on Russia and Ukraine
  45. Gonzo Painting: Julian Bell on Van Gogh's "Night Café"
  46. How to Win Wars and Influence People: Andrew Roberts on Napoleon Bonaparte
  47. Fiona Hill on What Putin's Plotting—and How to Stop Him
  48. Joe Moshenska on Milton and Paradise Lost
  49. Why the Classics: Laura Marris on Camus's The Plague
  50. What now?
  51. Why the Classics: Roosevelt Montás on Rescuing Socrates
  52. Something Wicked: James Shapiro on Macbeth
  53. Why Washington Needs to Think Greek: Charles Edel on the Lost Sense of the Tragic
  54. To Hell and Back: Alison Cornish on the Divine Comedy

2021 20

  1. Telling Stories in the Face of Death
  2. Podcast: David Wellbery on The Magic Mountain
  3. Marian Schwartz on Anna Karenina
  4. Guy Jennings on Constantin Brâncuși
  5. Annie Jacobsen on the Temple at Cape Sounion
  6. Frederic Raphael on Catullus
  7. Podcast: Caroline Weber on In Search of Lost Time
  8. Nathaniel Philbrick on Moby-Dick
  9. Laura Cumming on Las Meninas
  10. Podcast: Tom Holland on Thucydides
  11. James Shapiro on King Lear
  12. Madeline Miller on the Aeneid
  13. Norman Lebrecht on Verdi's Nabucco
  14. Ilan Stavans on Don Quixote
  15. Glass Half Full: Tony Blair on Covid and the Global Future
  16. Amanda Vaill on Ernest Hemingway
  17. Harold Bloom on Othello
  18. Elliot Ackerman on the Anabasis
  19. Daniel Mendelsohn on the Odyssey
  20. Welcome to Our Substack