Q Marks the Spot 201 (February 2026 Treasure Map)

Sacred Treasure

• John Dickson has an apology to make to his students. Perhaps Josephus said more than people assume he said. Very good stuff.
• Love this: Michael Jensen on what he learned from JS Bach, the worship director.
• The style isn’t necessarily everybody’s cup of tea, but I do respect the project and desire of Full of Eyes online media)
• Winston Churchill at his most biblical when communicating with FDR! And while we’re with Futility Closet, here is an English Home Counties Lord’s Prayer.
• Many have picked up on the fascinating theological dimension of the third Knives Out film, Wake Up Dead Man. I didn’t expect to find Helen Lewis engage with that (but perhaps should have done). One of my favourite commentators, a Brit writing for both Private Eye and The Atlantic.
• Victoria Emily Jones on her favourite films of 2025:
  •  part 1 and part 2. Much to whet the appetite here…
  • If you don’t already follow, she also does the most amazing job on her Art & Theology site curating links to artistic wonders every year for each day of Advent and Christmas. This French ivory carving (right) of the Virgin with Child from c1250AD is surprising and wonderful.

Topical Treasure

• Too much to say about the horrors of Russia’s Ukraine invasion. But here’s just one account: The Third Winter of War by Kateryna Kibarova
• Much has been of Canadian PM Mark Carney’s speech at Davos this year. It helps to read it in full here. And after that, it is definitely worth reading Vaclav Havel’s brilliant 1978 essay The Power of the Powerless.
• Such a good idea: 3BOOKS.NET – all the books recommended on the Ezra Klein Show – doesn’t matter if you’re not into the show – you never know what will come up…
• The Culturist offers an  excellent primer for getting into Ancient Greek literature. I’d actually just add one more: Euripides’ The Bacchae.

• Always fascinated by propaganda. Here’s a portfolio of anti-Nazi and anti-western images by the Soviet artist Aleksandr Zhitomirsky
• Nicholas Carr has been a trenchant analyst of technology’s impact for years. Here he assets that big tech have killed literary culture. Truly scary if even half right.

Quirky Treasure

• Love this: a Digital Atlas all the Roads the Romans Ever Made… because it’s needed (obviously)
• Another thing the world needs is The Mr Men meeting Agatha Christie... deep joy.
• My honest opinion is that you can NEVER have TOO MUCH colour… so Emmanuelle Moureaux’s installations are right up my alley…
• Photography round-up:
  • 20 gorgeous images from beneath the waves.
  • Photographs that illustrate how small we really are, all things considered.
  • 2026 Sports Photos of the year. Just wow.