Greymantle's Politics and Culture

Insights into the Long Game

Hollywood Is Still Making Some Good Films, Or My 2026 Oscar Picks

In an era marked by the supposedly unstoppable decline of Hollywood movies, 2025's Oscar nominees stand out as a pointed rebuke to the Doomers and cynics. In this post, Gideon Evans surveys the films nominated, examines their many virtues, and forecasts the winners. His big takeaway: Movie despair is overdone - Hollywood is still making some good films.

Letter to Xi: ‘Don’t Do It’

Following his recent high-level purge of the Chinese military, President Xi Jinping is riding high and apparently in full control of the PRC. But the risks of his obsession with reclaiming Taiwan for China are immense. Contributor and naval analyst Richard Jupa makes one last attempt to dissuade the Chinese leader in this 'Letter to Xi'.

Love and Doom in Westeros

Some readers of last weekend's post complained about its length. To answer those criticisms and better serve our readers, we here revisit the topic of love and doom in Westeros. At just over 1,200 words, it's a 7-minute read. Enjoy!

The Anti-Romantic: George R.R. Martin’s Tragic Vision of Love

Romantic love in Westeros is a dangerous thing — more likely to topple dynasties than to secure happily-ever-after endings. George R.R. Martin, unlike most contemporary authors, seems unusually committed to proving his point. Yet by universalizing the pathological dimensions of eros and marginalizing love’s potential to ennoble, Martin presents a vision that can feel sharply, and often cruelly, limited. Hence the title of this week's post: The Anti-Romantic: George R.R. Martin's Tragic Vision of Love'.

Shaping the Mantle: A Direct Appeal to Greymantle Readers

Over the past 18 months, Greymantle’s Politics and Culture has grown into something more significant than we originally imagined, thanks to your engagement. As we scope out the next 18 months of our editorial calendar, we’ve been looking closely at the data. We want to know if the numbers tell the same story that you would. Today, we'd like to ask for your help in Shaping the Mantle -- so to speak.

Mainstreaming Paranoia: How the Film Industry Feeds the Conspiracism Beast

Why do so many Americans believe their government is controlled by hidden cabals? One possible answer: it's what Hollywood has conditioned them to believe by producing TV shows like Blindspot, Mr. Robot, and The Blacklist. Learn how the unexpected success of The X-Files in the 1990s turbocharged three decades of 'paranoid entertainment'.