Monday Links 7/12/21
It’s been a while since you’ve seen one of these, hasn’t it?
Since I last sent a newsletter we have packed up our apartment in Texas, camped across the country to Washington, moved into a new place, settled in, and started exploring both our neighborhood (Ballard) and part of the world (Seattle, the Cascades, Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, etc). Now that we’re officially resettled, I’m refocusing on reading, writing, and sharing interesting ideas.
Let me know if you’re ever in the PNW - or if you’re looking for something new to read. I’ll have a Reading List on its way soon. Here are some things I’ve been reading, watching, listening to, and mulling over in the past two months:
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A shocking China fact courtesy of Adam Tooze’s most recent Chartbook: between the 1930s and 1949, China experienced monetary hyperinflation 100 times worse than Weimar Germany. His recent editions on economic history of WWII and reading Vasily Grossman’s Life and Fate were excellent as well.
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“(An honest broker’s) influence and power is built solely on a reputation for straight talk and trustworthy dealings. ‘They are true brokers, intermediaries between others. They aren’t going to participate in your deal, no matter what it is. They are go-betweens, really. But do not underestimate the power of this kind of brokerage. Whatever you need—a loan, a building permit, political influence, a place to land a private jet, whatever—they will introduce you to the right people and steer you away from the sharks. And they do this for a very simple reason: their prestige is enhanced by making these connections. In many cases, they don’t even want to be paid. Or let me put that differently—you repay them by becoming a trusted contact for them in future dealings. The Honest Broker may help you for free right now, but don’t be surprised to get asked for assistance on something completely different months or even years later. You Yanks have a hard time grasping it, and are always looking for shortcuts. But the Honest Broker plays the long-term game, mate. Find your Honest Broker, and your problems will be solved.’” -Ted Gioia on aspiring to be an Honest Broker
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Global Warming Ate My Homework, and other excuses I can almost hear politicians making for the chasm between our major challenges and political complacency.
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I’d love to listen to a short discussion on almost any politically fraught topic as thoughtful and humane as this episode of The Real Science of Sport on trans athletes in women’s competitions. It is really worth your time, even if that is not an issue you’ve had much cause to think about. H/T Ian Leslie.
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Given that we’ve come to rely on the Internet as a sort of master record for all information, come fret with me about the implications of the accelerating decay of the links that comprise it.
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I loved this piece by historian Ada Palmer on the layers (and layers) of history visible in even a single building in Rome. As an aside, I tore through Palmer’s Terra Ignota series over our busy transition months - they were some of the most intellectual, fun sci-fi I’ve read in ages. As another complement to her piece on the Shape of Rome, check out this interview with Roman historian, Aeneid translator, and sword bestower Shadi Bartsch.
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Another archaeological piece on discoveries at Gobekli Tepe and why civilization is older than previously thought.
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During our drive across the country, highway signs approaching Butte, Montana recalled some half-forgotten podcast about the history of copper mining and environmental issues there. When we stopped for coffee in Bozeman we were able to download some episodes over wifi, and Kirsten and I ended up listening to Richest Hill for the whole way across MT, ID, and part of Washington. It is a remarkable public radio project about the history and challenges of a resource town par excellence, the human experience of environmental destruction swallowing the place you live, and what corporations and governments owe to communities that were literally sacrificed for the benefit of others.
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I enjoyed this example of a writer’s editing process: check out Don DeLillo’s annotations on the first page of White Noise.
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I’ll leave you with one more completely random China fact I found thanks to all the Taiwan/China rhetoric this summer: between WW2 and the second Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1958, the PRC lobbed artillery at the island of Kinmen so often that shell remnants became a source of steel for the local economy. To this day local blacksmiths craft Kinmen knives from the unexploded casings.
Thank you for reading. If you have a friend who you think would enjoy this, please feel free to forward it along.
Alex
Books from my reading lists can be viewed or purchased here.
Check out my other writing here.
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