In this supplemental episode, I read RC Roberts' essay, 'Mere Opinion: A Review of Inherit the Wind' in which RC explores the films various themes, particularly, the emphasis on the freedom to think.

Here's an excerpt from the essay:

In my more irritable moods, when my misanthropy is at full mirth, I find myself living in a world that is devoid of thought. There are few things that escape this feeling; our politics, our schools, our media--if I went on with this list, I would be putting in more thought into this than the participants of any of those fields do. To paraphrase Schopenhauer, it seems that people would rather believe than think, and thus are inaccessible to reason, for they only respond to authority.

The full essay is available at RC Roberts' Substack, Ferocia Animi which is available here.

It was fun to read this excellent essay and I hope you enjoy!