Dave Sutton

Controversy has erupted over Christopher Nolan’s forthcoming film adaptation of Homer’s poem The Odyssey, which arrives in the wake of a contested 2017 translation by Emily Wilson, a classics professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Critics of Wilson’s translation argue that she has rewritten Odysseus from a hero into a morally suspect figure. Nolan cast a black actress, Lupita Nyong’o, to play the Mediterranean woman Helen of Troy, prompting criticisms of hypocrisy and racism from Elon Musk and others. It is inconceivable that Hollywood would today use a white actor to play a black character, and yet the media applauds when white characters are played by black actors. Isabella Reinhardt, an assistant professor of classics at the University of Austin, and my colleague, disagrees with some of Wilson’s choices. For example, Wilson translates polytropos, which Homer uses to describe Odysseus, as a “complicated man,” where Robert Fagles, in his 1996 translation, renders it as a “man of twists and turns.” The choice is representative of Wilson’s depiction of Odysseus as something other than heroic. Reinhardt, who recorded a podcast with me last week, received her PhD in the same Penn classics department where Wilson teaches. “I do think Odysseus is not a perfect hero,” says Reinhardt, “but he is the hero. Her translation strays into a negative view of Odysseus that’s not entirely warranted....” Please subscribe now to support Public's award-winning journalism, read the full article, and watch the full podcast!

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announces free universal healthcare for 130 million citizens starting next year.

Not many people know about the head of the USSR's secret police under Stalin, Lavrentiy Beria One of the most brutal men in history, he ordered massacres of Poles, torture of dissdents, and millions of murders of Christians Beria was known to drive around Moscow and point at women and young girls on the street. They were then brought to him by his secret police to be raped, no matter their ages. This even included famous actresses. If they refused, they were tortured in his basement After Stalin's death, Beria was arrested by Marshall Zhukov and executed as Khrushchev took power After the fall of the USSR, workers discovered skeletons of young girls in his backyard that had been buried naked, their bodies doused with chemicals. This discovery included the skulls of children

President Trump recited a passage from 2 Chronicles 7 during Sunday’s “Rededicate 250” celebration on the National Mall, including the well-known verse urging people to “humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways.” The verse is often cited by Christians as a call for spiritual renewal.