Episodes

Saturday Jan 18, 2020
Saturday Jan 18, 2020
My review of @sapinker's "Enlightenment Now." A mixed bag, as usual with Pinker, lurching wildly from Very Good to Very Bad. (The written version of this review was first published February 16, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Thursday Jan 16, 2020
Thursday Jan 16, 2020
Peerless NeverTrumper Jonah Goldberg instructs us how to view the world. (The written version of this review was first published May 2, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Tuesday Jan 14, 2020
Nemesis: Alcibiades and the Fall of Athens (David Stuttard)
Tuesday Jan 14, 2020
Tuesday Jan 14, 2020
Of Men of Destiny, and of the protean Alcibiades, man of glory and contradiction, and of what his life says to us today. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Friday Jan 10, 2020
Friday Jan 10, 2020
I am skeptical of the art of predicting the future based on the past, but Peter Turchin offers a compelling theory in this 2016 book—including predicting that 2020 will be a very bad year. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Wednesday Jan 08, 2020
Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s (Frederick Lewis Allen)
Wednesday Jan 08, 2020
Wednesday Jan 08, 2020
Thoughts on a misleading and mendacious book that has been used to propagandize generations of schoolchildren. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Monday Jan 06, 2020
Monday Jan 06, 2020
This book explains a great deal this is otherwise opaque, and shows why the propaganda we are fed about value, GDP and the like, is propaganda, that blinds us to the reality of our economy. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Friday Jan 03, 2020
The Power of the Powerless (Václav Havel)
Friday Jan 03, 2020
Friday Jan 03, 2020
Václav Havel's famous essay, born of a specific time and place, resonates decades later in our own proto-totalitarian society. What should be done? Havel tells us. (The written version of this review was first published May 18, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Thursday Dec 26, 2019
Thursday Dec 26, 2019
I thought this book was be good; I was wrong. Free market fundamentalism is bad, to be sure, but what Karl Polanyi offers isn't better, and his analysis is dated. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Friday Dec 20, 2019
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (John Carreyrou)
Friday Dec 20, 2019
Friday Dec 20, 2019
John Carreyrou's Bad Blood is unbelievably good. No recap of the book, though: rather thoughts on every on at Theranos behaving badly, including, especially, the lawyers. And my take on why Elizabeth Holmes was able to do what she did. Also why autonomous cars are BS. (The written version of this review was first published September 25, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Tuesday Dec 17, 2019
Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia (Christina Thompson)
Tuesday Dec 17, 2019
Tuesday Dec 17, 2019
An examination of a fascinating work on the settlement of Polynesia, with a focus on human accomplishment. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)