how to earn a living writing poetry
Writing poems for drunk husbands trying to appease their angry wives is the best business plan for new poetry start-ups. … Read the post how to earn a living writing poetry
industry structure
communications industry structure, including mass media, advertising, and telephone companies
Le vilain mire parodied Saint Blaise's fishbone cure
The fabliau Le Vilain Mire (The Peasant Doctor), like the life of Saint Blaise, includes curing a young person with a fishbone stuck in the throat. … Read the post Le vilain mire parodied Saint Blaise's fishbone cure
Jesus the good physician amid bad ancient medicine
Jesus the Good Physician healed without cost through a word or a touch. Bad physicians traded on complex, costly, and dangerous treatments & medicines. … Read the post Jesus the good physician amid bad ancient medicine
sea of ink: writing across Eurasia for millennia
A rhetorically complex “sea of ink” writing figure has been conserved in specificity across a wide expanse of Eurasia for at least 2000 years. … Read the post sea of ink: writing across Eurasia for millennia
illustrated books pervasive in 18th-century Japan
The Sackler exhibit, Hand-Held: Gerhard Pulverer’s Japanese Illustrated Books, shows woodblock-printed books (ehon) pervasive in Edo-period Japan. … Read the post illustrated books pervasive in 18th-century Japan
Bar Sauma and Rubruck's experiences of learned religious debate
Bar Sauma, a Christian born in China, debated with cardinals in Rome. Franciscan Friar William of Rubruck debated in the Mongol court in central Eurasia. … Read the post Bar Sauma and Rubruck's experiences of learned religious debate
Bābak and the Khurramī revolt according to Wāqid's account
Wāqid’s account of Bābak and the Khurramī uprising figuratively denigrated Bābak and his fellow Khurramīs’ pre-Islamic, non-Arabic culture. … Read the post Bābak and the Khurramī revolt according to Wāqid's account
al-Nadim's Fihrist provides insights into popular book demand
Al-Nadim brought the insights of a court companion and bookseller to cataloging books in his Fihrist. Social relations, not knowledge, sells books. … Read the post al-Nadim's Fihrist provides insights into popular book demand
Abdullah ibn Abbis, Ka'b al-Ahbar, and the origin of writing
In the first century of Islam, Abdullah ibn Abbas and Ka’b al-Ahbar confronted a wide variety of Jewish and Christian stories about the origin of writing. … Read the post Abdullah ibn Abbis, Ka'b al-Ahbar, and the origin of writing
Aquila and his Islamic doppelganger translate Hebrew scripture
Aquila, a pagan proselyte to Judaism, translated Hebrew scripture into Greek. Al-Nadim’s Fihrist describes a doppelganger translating Hebrew into Arabic. … Read the post Aquila and his Islamic doppelganger translate Hebrew scripture