This week I watched and read: Elinor Ostrom videos: Ostrom won the Economics Prize that isn’t really a Nobel Prize, but has the Nobel name attached to it. It’s still prestigious. Her research showed how the situation described as “The Tragedy of the Commons” doesn’t result in the problems people think. It does create some incentives to overgraze and pollute, but it doesn’t stop there. Communities have found ways to[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, by Eric Foner: Another great book by another great writer about Lincoln. This one focuses on his views and actions on slavery, which evolved over his life, especially during the Civil War. Wikipedia wrote “The Fiery Trial won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for History, the Bancroft Prize, and the Lincoln Prize. The New York Times Book Review listed[…] Keep reading →

The BMJ (formerly British Medical Journal) found that wine glasses hold seven times more volume today than 300 years ago. Do we enjoy wine more or just more wine? I see people plow through volumes of food and doof without appreciating it. I contend we can attain as much enjoyment with the smaller amount. Not just wine, the whole Thanksgiving dinner. How? Expect to drink less but to appreciate the[…] Keep reading →

We’re entering Christmas season, when Christians in the U.S. celebrate with a clearly pagan ritual of celebrating a birth in Bethlehem with chopping down fir trees. Presumably this tradition began in northern Europe, unrelated to the middle east. I propose instead of celebrating birth with death and mixing paganism in with Christianity, recognizing that cutting down trees was not likely ever appropriate, but not now. Look at this mess from[…] Keep reading →

I finished this week: Poverty, By America, by Matthew Desmond: I’d been recommended to read this book. It’s recent and the library had a long waiting list so I ended up reading his earlier book Evicted. His view of poverty overlaps a lot with my views of the environment. If you want to help the Amazon, don’t fly there. People there aren’t causing the problem. The problem is in boardrooms[…] Keep reading →

I watched this week: Pimpernel Smith, directed by, produced by, and starring Leslie Howard: Since learning more about Raoul Wallenberg, I wanted to see this movie that inspired him. I watched it twice. The first time it just seemed dated and I didn’t think much of it. The second time I caught more nuance. The closing speech resonated with my view of dominance hierarchies like our polluting, depleting culture and[…] Keep reading →

Why have I not posted about finishing any readings for three weeks? Because the book on Frederick Douglass is 800 pages, or 36 hours by audio. It’s worth it. It’s a masterpiece about a person who would inspire at any time in history, and now more than ever. This week I finished: Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, by David W. Blight: Podcast guest David Blight won the Pulitzer prize for[…] Keep reading →