The best of intellectual conservative thought, every Thursday. Subscribe here to receive the Intercollegiate Review in your inbox every week.

CATEGORY: CLASSIC LITERATURE (10 min)

Dante on the Nature of True Liberty

This year marks the 700th anniversary of the death of one of the greatest authors in the Western canon, Dante Alighieri.

Dante’s Divine Comedy still has a lot to teach us—including about the true nature of liberty.

Is Liberty Without Order Really Liberty?

Writing in Law & Liberty, Scott Nelson takes a close look at the characters Dante places in Hell in the Inferno.

In life, all of the damned souls believed the sins that would make them slaves of Hell were actually making them free.

What does that tell you?

Let Nelson be the Virgil to your Dante. He’ll guide you to discover Dante’s insights on order, the freeing power of virtue, and how individuals and communities can have real liberty.

CATEGORY: BOOK REVIEW (5–20 min)

Traditionalist Radical or BLM Sympathizer? Critics React to Sohrab Ahmari’s New Book

Have you read Sohrab Ahmari’s new book, The Unbroken Thread?

He’s one of the most dynamic thinkers on the right . . .

. . . and also one of the most controversial.

Ahmari’s book lays out his vision for preserving tradition in a liberal age.

It’s drawing a variety of reactions from conservatives. So we’ve rounded up three of the best reviews for you.

“Is Sohrab Ahmari a Satanic Ogre?”

Helen Andrews in City Journal, Daniel Mahoney in Public Discourse, and Daniel McCarthy (editor of ISI’s Modern Age) in The Spectator agree with Ahmari on some key points.

But what they disagree with may be even more interesting.

Check out these reviews to discover:

• how Ahmari makes the case for tradition by drawing on C. S. Lewis, Thomas Aquinas, and . . . a radical feminist?
• why Andrews believes Ahmari goes too far to the right and too far to the left
• what gets lost when you confuse tradition with traditionalism
• why this book might actually soothe liberals who call Ahmari a theocrat

Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Let us know what you think.

Because our student editors and writers are bravely bringing conservative ideas to their campuses, we’re highlighting their efforts here.

Being a Gen Z Conservative in a Blue Family via Lone Conservative

The Inflated Costs of Our Political Class’s Ignorance via the Texas Horn

CATEGORY: PODCASTS (57 min)

Rerooting Yourself in a Rootless World

To succeed in life, do you need to leave your hometown behind?

That’s a question you’ve probably asked yourself. We all have.

And for many of us, the answer is yes, we do need to move on . . .

. . . but why is that?

In this podcast episode, you’ll hear from ISI alumna Gracy Olmstead, who tackles this issue in her acclaimed new book, Uprooted.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• the unintended consequences of encouraging kids to have “big plans”
• the Wendell Berry book that Gracy says was a “punch in the gut”
• how to love a place well without succumbing to nostalgia
• why small-town natives are moving back home
• . . . and more!

Listen to this discussion to learn how to reroot yourself in an increasingly rootless world.

ISI’s Inaugural Homecoming Weekend, June 25–26

We can’t wait to see Gracy at Homecoming Weekend, where she’ll be honored as one of ISI’s Top 20 Alumni Under 30.

Gracy calls ISI an “indispensable resource and support” in her life and career.

A key part of that support is ISI’s vibrant community of students, scholars, and alumni.

And we’re excited to be bringing that community together during Homecoming Weekend.

This is your opportunity to reconnect with ISIers past and present.

Don’t miss out on your chance to experience the “ISI magic” again. The weekend will be filled with incredible speakers, great conversation, and a community like no other.

But hurry—75% of the tickets have already been sold! Our first hotel-room block sold out weeks ago—and now our second is almost gone, too.

“Thus nature has no love for solitude, and always leans, as it were, on some support; and the sweetest support is found in the most intimate friendship.”
―Cicero

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