I read and watched this week: The Sorrow and the Pity, by Marcel Ophuls: I started watching this four-and-a-half hour documentary months ago. I’d been meaning to watch it for years, as I think it’s regarded as one of the great movies of all time. It interviews French, British, and Germans who lived in a French city under Nazi occupation, about 1940 to 1944, or worked with them. It doesn’t[…] Keep reading →

This week I read and watched: The Death of Ivan Ilyich, by Leo Tolstoy: I loved the movie Ikiru, which I watched a month or two ago. It was was inspired by this novella. The friend who recommended Ikiru also recommended this book. It’s one of the best I’ve read. It’s thoughtful, funny with biting satire, and a joy to read or listen to. It’s also in the public domain[…] Keep reading →

I read this week: The Fate Of Empires And Search For Survival, by Sir John Glubb: I started this book expecting irrelevance. The preface describes the author as a British veteran of World War One. The book is twenty-five pages, talking about imperialism. What could he know? I figured, of course he’s viewing the world as an imperialist, likely racist and unsophisticated. Early on, he lists some empires and how[…] Keep reading →

Among what I read and watched this week: The Life You Can Save, by Peter Singer: I confess I hadn’t read the book before recording our podcast episode (not yet edited, but will update when posted), but I wrote about his drowning child analogy recently. This book blew me away. I expected dry philosophy I would argue against, but found it compelling. I will donate more to charity with enthusiasm.[…] Keep reading →

Among what I read and watched this week: John Perkins The Secret History of the American Empire: The Truth About Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and How to Change the World: John was a podcast guest after his most recent book, Touching the Jaguar. Then a mutual friend mentioned his name. I decided to email him and before I did decided to browse The Secret History. I couldn’t stop. I was[…] Keep reading →

I read and watched this week: Atomic Habits by James Clear: I had done my burpee-based calisthenics, blog posting, cold showers, and other habits sometimes for nearly a decade without missing a day when the book came out so took a while to read it. I consider myself skilled at starting and keeping up habits. I found the book engaging. I don’t think I learned much about starting and keeping[…] Keep reading →

I read and watched this week: Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa: A movie-buff friend recommended the movie. It’s almost 2.5 hours long so it took me a few nights to watch it. It’s from 1952. I didn’t know what to expect. At first I didn’t think much of it. Then for the next few nights I kept thinking about it: little details that fit together, things characters said, how it connected[…] Keep reading →

I read and watched this week: King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild, a podcast guest: I’d meant to read Adam’s book since I loved Bury the Chains and learned this book was bigger. Recently reading Heart of Darkness led to me King Leopold’s Ghost. Both books talked about imperialism, colonialism, and slavery in the Congo. Conrad’s book was fiction you[…] Keep reading →

I read and watched this week: Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness: Regular readers know my interest in understanding imperialism, colonialism, and slavery to understand our situation with the environment. Somehow I made it over five decades before reading Heart of Darkness, or listening to it since it’s in the public domain, so I downloaded a free version from Librivox. My first time through, I felt it overly descriptive and wondered[…] Keep reading →