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 →

This week I finished: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn: I’m sure I read this book before, but long enough ago that this time was almost anew. I’ve been reading about liberty, freedom, equality, and democracy. I’ve read and written about slavery and the Holocaust. Soviet / Stalinist gulags are on par, but different, and equally important to understand what a nation, or dominance hierarchy,[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended on It, by podcast guest Chris Voss: I read this book before recording the podcast with Chris and liked it, but not enough. This time I loved it. I think last time I compared it with Getting to Yes and thought it didn’t add much knowledge. It mostly promoted the value of practice and tactics beyond[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: This America: The Case for the Nation, by Jill Lepore: I’ve seen Jill Lepore’s books at the top of bestseller lists and read pieces she’s written in the New Yorker and probably other places. Her work seems to overlap with authors I’ve found valuable: Akhil Reed Amar and Gordon Wood. Her two big books These Truths and We the People are huge and daunting, though reviews[…] Keep reading →