Hey ho!
I haven’t written for a while. Believe me, I’ve got plenty to say, but the gig I started back in April precludes me from writing about anything remotely political, since I now represent the interests of an organization – the Government of the United Kingdom – that is much bigger than myself. Truthfully, most of what I’ve been thinking about these past seven months has been political, so I haven’t been writing. If you’re interested in more, please come to Chicago and buy me a coffee. Then I can tell you about anything your heart desires.
But as I do, I’ve been hoovering up all kinds of non-political information, in the form of books, newspapers, internet stuff, and newsletters. There’s so much out there that’s good! So, here, for your edification, is a compilation of all the non-political things I liked this past year.
Bluesky
Twitter/X has become a wasteland of anger, abuse, and bots. So I’ve moved on. Mastodon is a one horse town of geekery and tech. Threads is too smooth-brained and unchallenging. So Bluesky is where you’ll find me at. It’s still small compared to Xitter and Threads, but the discussion feels like 2007-era Twitter. Perky, strange, and full of smart people before the celebrities caught wind of it. Starting out? Check out this directory of Starter Packs (lists of people to follow).
Books
The Warmth of Other Suns – Isabel Wilkerson took ten years to write this oral history of The Great Migration of Black Americans from the South to the North, and won a Pulitzer. It is beautiful, emotional, and reveals a core element of being American.
An Immense World – It’s hard to read more than ten pages of this book at a time because it’s packed with so much information about the natural world. Ed Yong delves into the lived sensory experience of bugs, bats, fish, and ultimately how humans can learn from them.
The Food Lab – Kenji López-Alt did not write a cookbook as much as a cooking textbook. He will change your game – in simple but powerful ways.
A Contract With God – The original graphic novel, Will Eisner’s stories from his Bronx neighborhood of the 1930’s are real and powerful.
The Real and Unreal – I’ve always been an Ursula K. Le Guin fan, but never appreciated the breadth of her observations until I read this compilation of short stories. I tore through the 752 pages, but there’s enough parable-like stories for you to read, stop and think for a few days, and then want to go back for more.
Death Comes For the Archbishop – Willa Cather wrote this masterpiece in 1922 about two priests settling in New Mexico in the 1850’s, and then how their world changes over the next 50 years. A stunning examination of morality, love, and the coming of modernity.
The War That Killed Achilles – A historical and archaeological examination of the events of the epic poem, The Illiad. For instance: Illios was the name Bronze Age Greeks had for Troy. Thus, “Illiad” is the story of things about Illios. Now you know why the poem has that strange name.
YouTube
Daily Dose of Internet – A daily, silly compilation of brief G rated clips.
CinemaStix – Monthly, deep dive into a particular cinema masterpiece. Like going to a cool film class.
Nerdwriter – Sometimes movies, sometimes pop culture, but like CinemaStix, a dive into what makes it great.
Marques Brownlee – Probably the best tech reviewer right now. Also very good electric car reviews.
Phil Edwards – Vox writer who launched his own explainer channel. Explores something interesting every week.
There I Ruined It – A master at taking classic songs, mashing them up into something horrible, yet catchy.
Yummyboy – Languid, no dialogue examinations of various Asian street foods. I’ve learned enough to make a few of these myself at home.
Newsletters
I’m obsessed with email newsletters, and read a TON of them. Here’s the ones I like the most.
Building Stuff
Construction Physics – How does infrastructure get built? Why doesn’t it? Here’s that discussion.
Orbital Index – An update on everything in the space industry. Rockets, satellites, launches. Cool stuff.
Scope of Work – How do we make things? What’s your personal process for making?
Politics
A City That Works – The most interesting Chicago-oriented newsletter today. A dive into how decision making actually works in city government.
Punchbowl News – Hyperfocus on the U.S. Congress and the politics of the day.
Philips O’Brien – Brit professor of strategic studies with a crystal clear weekly analysis of the Ukraine war.
Media
Digital Media Products, Strategy, and Innovation – My pal Kevin Anderson’s semi-weekly review of what’s happening to the news business. Kevin has worked in both US and UK news and consulted around the world, so his perspective is unique.
Reliable Sources – Invaluable weekday news industry gossip. This is what everyone in news is thinking about today.
Garbage Day – The latest bizarre internet trend. How I manage to seem “withit” to my teenage son.
Business
Matt Levine/Money Stuff – Wall Street insider talk that is simultaneously hilarious and breaking news.
Benedict Evans – A weekly review of what’s important and talked about in tech.
Stratechery – Dive into the strategy of tech, media, and finance. Best when he breaks out his shaky, hand drawn graphs.
Pure Fun
Laura Olin – Social media consultant who manages to find the most beautiful art on the internet.
Flow State – A daily recommendation of no-vocal music that’s great for working to.
Curious About Everything – Sometimes weekly, huge lists of everything interesting that’s been on the internet recently.
Popbitch – Vicious (in a very British way) weekly review of UK pop culture. Often names you just don’t know unless you’re steeped in British culture. A bizarro world for Americans.
Numlock News – Every weekday, five brief news stories, each built around an interesting fact.
Climate
The Gigaton – Looking for a green tech job? Here’s where you get started. A weekly review of where the biz is going.
Climate Diplomacy – A monthly, invaluable run down of where the world’s climate negotiations and various national commitments on climate are going.
Decarbonization – A former climate journalist turned for-hire analyst, publishes a new analysis on a climate topic every month.
U.S. Energy News – From my pals at Energy News Network, the best weekday round up of US climate news.
Carbon Briefing – A British-based climate news and analysis group, here’s their daily newsletter rounding up world climate news, including Indian and translations of Chinese news.
Have a happy holiday season and a great new year! If we haven’t chatted in a while, drop me a note! I’d love to hear from you.