Readings:
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Ultra-processed Food by Chris van Tulleken
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The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Caroll
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The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson, 3rd book in the 2nd era of Mistborn
Still the same books as last week. I don’t think it was a good idea to start 3 books at once, I am probably going to focus of Bands of Mourning, which has become really interesting. Still have about 1/3rd of the book to go though.
What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?
For details on the c/Books bingo challenge that just restarted for the year, you can checkout the initial Book Bingo, and its Recommendation Post. Links are also present in our community sidebar.
The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity
This is such a great book, I don’t remember a single page being boring or uninteresting. RIP David!
absolutely agree!
as a somewhat casual reader about early human history, I was surprised about how much of “common prehistory lore” is actually history written through a very thick Victorian lens.
The “we’re all animals in a pit” version? :)
The first seed of the realization of the opposite of that came with Kropotkin, but Graeber backing that up scientifically with this was very exciting at the time. Still is, but I sure wish I could read this book for the first time again.
Please enjoy.
Along with Naomi Klein and Ta-Nehisi Coates works, plus John Ralston Saul’s The Unconscious Civilization, Rutger Bregman’s Utopia is for Realists and several Massey Lectures, these have shaped my outlook on the world as it is.
Because this came last, for me, it recast this human experiment of ours and the depth of misdirection that is going on now.
Which Massey lectures would you reccomend?
Ill only recommend ones from those I’ve read. Here are 10. Looking at the list on Wikipedia, I want to read almost all.
I didn’t realize this was a Massey Lecture when I read it. A fascinating insight into the business culture of management. Forecasted the runaway hit book Bullshit Jobs
This is the only one recommended that I havent read I do so on the strength of the other book by Thomas King I read: the Inconvenient Indian (which is a game changer, and I should’ve mentioned in my 1st post).
Vital. A top 3 pick.
This was the first one I read at the time it was released, knowing it as a Massey Lecture and before the lectures were delivered. She wrote it in early 2008. Published in the summer of '08 and the the bottom fell out of the stock market in September. She then toured Canada saying, and I’m paraphrasing here, “Well, shit. I didnt know I was this right.”
Wade Davis is a cultural anthropologist. His perspective is fascinating. For everyone who loves Moana he consulted on that film. One of his lectures is about Polynesians expanding across the Pacific.
This, the 50th anniversary, is the first series of lectures that are fictional. Also, the first ones that I attended in person. I’m still waiting for lecture 1 to actually happen.
I love these ones because they’re accessible science. Top 3.
I guess, because of the Thomas King revelations above, these are the first lectures delivered by a person of First Nations descent.
Blew my absolute mind. Top 3.
I love this one. The first lecture, Cura’s Gift, captured my heart.
Whoa, thanks for the detailed reply, this is awesome! Can’t wait to take a look!
Quality over quantity, friend. I’ve promoted the Massey Lectures for over a decade to anyone who’d listen. Today, you get a detailed response and I get something to refer back to. Non-zero sum gains are the best gains.
Thanks for your original ask. I’m glad you took interest.
You’re a real one, thanks for the great interaction! o7