What's on your reading/listening list?

May 23rd, 2017 at 2:06:24 PM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
On his latest episode of The Heritage Podcast, Will Webb brought up Plato's theory of the tripartite soul (the podcast was about cities). I found the idea so intriguing, that I downloaded a copy of Plato's "Republic."(*)

That's a first for me, as Plato's metaphysics are so abhorrent that they turned me off him since high school. Still, he may have a point here. It remains to be seen whether I'll be able to get through it or not. I'm betting on not. Ancient philosophical dialogues are not exactly easy to process. I had so much trouble with even XVIII Century histories of Rome (Gibbon), that volumes ][ and ]I[ of "The Decline and Fall" still remained unlistened (that, and much is a rehash of things I already know).



(*) Yes, I know the title is "The Republic."
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
May 23rd, 2017 at 2:42:42 PM permalink
terapined
Member since: Aug 6, 2014
Threads: 73
Posts: 11786
House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski
Unusual narrative.
A party drug user finds extensive writings by a recently deceased senior citizen regarding a lost documentary of the Navidson family and their unusual house with a mysterious growing hallway.
Sometimes we live no particular way but our own - Grateful Dead "Eyes of the World"
May 30th, 2017 at 11:00:46 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Mike Duncan's "The Storm Before the Storm," about the events prior(*) to Caesar (if memory serves) in ancient Rome, is taking pre-orders on Amazon.

I'll hold out for the audiobook.



(*) Stuff like the Grachii brothers, I assume, the decline of tribunate authority, the rise of Marius and Sulla, the Novus Homo thing, etc.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
May 31st, 2017 at 3:46:21 PM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
I'm listening to a Great courses lecture series on Food.

It's interesting to note who ate what, when and why. For instance, did you know pigs as livestock are a late development? It makes sense. They eat things people could eat (unlike cows, horses, sheep and goats, that eat grass), nor are they of any use except for meat (unlike sheep, goats, cows, horses or chickens, which can be used for work, transportation, milk, wool, etc.). So while many ancient cultures ate pork, it was mostly wild boar hunted on occasion.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
June 2nd, 2017 at 9:58:08 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
It turns out listening to lectures about food is not the smartest thing to do when you're hungry and stuck in traffic.

On the other hand it contains gems such as "Why the people of India went from eating cows to worshipping them, is one of the most hotly debated issues in food history."
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
June 8th, 2017 at 9:17:09 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History podcast's second season launches next weekend.

I don't know. The man is very skillful at narrative, and he bring sup many very interesting points and explanations. But I thiknk in his eagerness to find the One Overarching Idea (or in hiws words, The Big Idea), he may, at least from time to time, oversimplify and/or ignore inconvenient facts. He's very persuasive, too.

I will listen to his second season, but with a healthy dose of skepticism and critical thought as well.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
June 15th, 2017 at 9:00:55 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Gladwell's Revisionist History Season 2 is out.

He hates golf courses.

But I'm only about halfway through the season inaugural. I'll get the rest on the drive home today.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
June 15th, 2017 at 10:03:29 AM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
A list I just came across:

The Death and Life of Great American Cities*, The Works: The Anatomy of a City*, and Richard Scarry’s Busy, Busy Town*.

Geoff Manaugh’s A Burgler’s Guide to the City* and Building Stories* by Chris Ware.

Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas by Rebecca Solnit, A.J. Liebling’s Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris.

The Devil in the White City* by Erik Larson and The Levittowners: Ways of Life and Politics in a New Suburban Community by Herbert Gans.

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)* by Tom Vanderbilt and Annalee Newitz’s Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction.

Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone by Eric Klinenberg, Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns*, and Working by Studs Terkel.
The Power Broker* and Robert Putman’s Bowling Alone.
June 26th, 2017 at 7:28:56 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
I scored a free e-book of "On War" by Clausewitz.

That's one of my list of dangerous books. meaning it's dangerous for me to read it, because if it is half as insightful as it's claimed, and it has been a classic for decades, then I'll likely want to write about it. So I'm putting it off until at least after I'm done with one of the many stories in my pipeline.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
June 28th, 2017 at 9:53:46 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Quote: Nareed
I still cannot claim listening to an audiobook or podcast constitutes reading. One can learn lot, but it's not reading.


"Good news, everyone!"

According to neuroscience, cognitively there's no difference between reading a book and listening to an audio-book.

Though podcasts are still more like lectures than books, and so are all the dozens of Great courses lecture series I've listened to.

On other things, cars ought to come with native podcast and Audible apps.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER