Intellicurean is an online journal of speculative realism, cultural critique, and narrative inquiry—for readers who believe that ideas deserve beauty, and beauty deserves rigor.

We publish essays that move beyond the news cycle, beyond the algorithm, and beyond the binary. Our work is rooted in philosophical depth, historical resonance, and literary craft. We are not interested in hot takes. We are interested in slow thinking, symbolic clarity, and the poetics of contradiction.

Founded by a retired father of four, who has built blogsites for everything from lacrosse to “cinematic poems”, Intellicurean treats the essay as a vessel for both intellectual and emotional truth. We believe that the best writing is not just informative—it’s transformative. It doesn’t just explain the world; it reimagines it.

Our editorial philosophy is simple:

• We write with precision, but not with certainty.
• We utilize AI for research, writing and editing.
• We honor complexity, but never confuse it with obscurity.
• We welcome paradox, misrecognition, and return as narrative engines.
• We treat architecture, cuisine, and political rhetoric as symbolic systems worthy of literary attention.
• We believe that speculative narrative can illuminate the present more clearly than reportage alone.

Intellicurean is not a magazine of answers. It is a space for questions that refuse easy resolution. Whether we’re exploring the gendered symbolism of Japan’s first female prime minister, the emotional economies of AI, or the ethics of translation in Homeric epic, our goal is to provoke reflection, not reaction.

We invite readers who are intellectually curious, aesthetically attuned, and philosophically restless. If you believe that essays can be both beautiful and brave, you’re in the right place.

Welcome to Intellicurean.

Michael Cummins, Editor