This week I finished: Born Equal: Remaking America’s Constitution, 1840-1920, by Akhil Reed Amar: I came across Amar almost a year ago, learning about US Founders and Lincoln. By then I had finished biographies on Lincoln, Jefferson, and others, and was moving on to Madison. Here are the first videos I watched of him. My most important message on Amar and this book: The Constitution, Declaration, people who wrote them[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: Ulysses S. Grant—A documentary on the 18th President, part 1: Grant plays a big role in my new book as a role model. He was a broke farmer recovering from malaria. His wife’s family owned slaves, giving him an easy way to recover if he chose it. Meanwhile, his father refused to help him as long as he stayed with slaveholders. He had acquired a slave[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: The Gulag Archipelago, volume 2, by Aleksander Solzhenitsyn: I think this book has changed my view of the world as much as it will, then it changes me more. The end of this volume becomes more reflective and introspective. It describes how it changes and corrupts society outside the archipelago. As horrific as the archipelago is on the inside, and how far beyond what I would[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: Gulag—The Story: A three-part documentary on Gulags made in France and posted on a channel called Free Documentary—History, which looks full of documentaries that look interesting, though I haven’t watched any others. I’m about halfway through the second volume of The Gulag Archipelago. I’m curious other views of the Gulag system, the USSR, Stalin, and the system that I knew existed but hadn’t learned about. Since[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: The Gulag Archipelago: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, volume 1, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: If I weren’t reading these books I wouldn’t believe they could exist. I understand why people consider them among the greatest and most important books of the twentieth century. First, about the book itself: Solzhenitsyn’s writing is simple, clear, and often funny from being sardonic and mocking. He survived the gulag’s so he[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: Many Cine-Files podcast episodes, hosted by Steve Morris and John Rocha: I’ve been appreciating movies more lately. After each movie I like, I follow up with reviews. Following up Remains of the Day, I found this podcast of two guys in the movie industry talking about it with more depth and thoughtfulness than most reviews. It turns out they did a four-part survey of Scarface too,[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: The Abolition of Man: Reflections on education with special reference to the teaching of English in the upper forms of schools, by CS Lewis: I read the Chronicles of Narnia as a kid but don’t remember much of them. Then between Hillsdale College courses and other conservative speakers, I hear about CS Lewis all the time. I thought I’d start with a short book I heard[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: 8 Billion Angels, directed by Terry Spahr: I’ve become friends with Terry since first watching his documentary on overpopulation years ago. He recently released it free on YouTube. I recommend it. Here’s the movie’s page: https://8billionangels.org. From Scientific American: Eight Billion People in the World Is a Crisis, Not an Achievement The major driver of plant and animal loss is habitat destruction caused primarily by the[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: In the Mood for Love, directed by Wong Kar-Wai: It’s hard not to first mention this movie’s style in the qipaos, hair, make-up, ties, and music. Each dress and hairdo must have taken hours to get right each time, looked sewn-in. The word I keep coming back to for the style is: perfect. What a beautiful movie. But the movie covers more than style. Who hasn’t[…] Keep reading →