The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Nature gives gifts, and we can (should be) be more appreciative of those gifts. Something is lost when we reduce nature to its natural resources (commodification). Presence and Appreciation are the gifts we can offer to other humans, and nature itself.
How Fascism Works by Jason Stanley
A concise overview of how fascism can come to grip a nation; it goes over concepts like purposefully delegitimizing words, and always having an outgroup for the demagogue's base to point at as a distraction. I was particularly enlightened by the chapter about Sexual Anxiety, in which telling the males of your base that the outgroup is coming to conquer/steal your women appeals to primal instincts that are very difficult to 'logic' your way out of.
Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Appelbaum
This book shows how autocratic states help each other survive; they trade with each other (even when most other countries have sanctions against them) and supoprt each other with propaganda as well. A significant amount of time is spent on Russia's propaganda machine, and mentions of this are what led me to this next book...
Nothing is True and Everything is Possible by Peter Pomeransev
A memoir (of sorts) written by a Western Journalist who happened to spend significant time in Russia's media ecosystem (and Russia itself). It is less a scathing indictment of Russia than an explanation of how the populace there comes to believe certain things, and act a certain way. There is a chapter devoted to a Russian floor-cleaning chemical supplier has her main product (diethylamine) designated a narcotic overnight, and then finds herself in jail for having sold it.
The Siren's Call by Chris Hayes
A good overview of Attention in 2025, written by an MSNBC anchor who makes moment-by-moment decisions about how to keep peoples' attention while also trying to keep them informed.
The Anxious Generation by John Haidt
A book that, sicentifically (and with sources), posits that the increase in anxiety that young people experienced from 2010 onward is caused by the use of smartphones during their childhood years (up to age 16).
How to Know a Person by ???
A fun read, but it really just emphasized something that I already knew (but do not practice): FULL PRESENCE (ala Power of Now) with the humans you are with.
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
This book is the source material for my favorite podcast (Deep Questions with Cal Newport). The book posits that the medium through which most people get their information influences the WAY that people's brains work. Postmas argues that a lexigraphical society (like Colonial America in Ben Franklin's time) was well-equipped for democracy to take root; long-winded public debates about policy and position were commonplace. Postman contrasts that with his own modern time, when television was the dominant mode of informing the populace. Postman asserts that the proliferation of television meant everything (including politics) had to become show business in order to compete for the common man's attention. It is easy to make the leap that today's smartphone-dominated society needs ever more bite-sized headlines and clickbait-style news in order to garner peoples' attention. The final thought is that modern democracy probably won't survive when the populace is ill-informed - hence we are "Amusing Ourselves to Death [of Democracy]"
Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Moral Ambition by Rutger Bregman
Nobody Wants Your Sh*t by Messie Condo
I borrow the audiobook of this because I had always been a fan of The Minimalists, two bloggers from the mid-2000s. However, I found this book try-hard and there was too much gratutious profanity. What did I learn from the book? Basically nothing that I hadn't already encountered from the Minimalists and a Canadian book about end-of-life planning called You Can't Take It With You
Grit by Angela Duckworth
There were lots of interesting stories and one-liners in this book, but now that I'm done it's tough to recall any particular ones. The essential idea is: Effort has an outsized effect on achievement. That is to say, you can often make up for lack of talent with effort, and effort applied with the skills you build can push you towards 'achieving' goals. She presents these formulas: Talent x Effort = Skill, Skill x Effort = Achievement, which combine to make Talent x Skill2sup> = Achievement. Effort has a SQUARE effect on Achievement. Double the effort = 4 times the reward, Triple the effort = 9 times the reward, etc.
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
Less but better is the idea of paring down the things you agree to do to only the most important. One story stood out to me in the first hour: A eye doctor who holds his head in his hands, repeating, "I can't do it all" over and over... then standing up, and declaring, "I have to do it all." That reminds me vividly of how I felt in 2019, and again in 2021. Life is better when I do fewer things, and give them more attention and space to breathe. It reminds of a classic Zen Habits blog post, called Life's Missing White Space.
Here are other takeaways I took from the book:
Super Immunity by Joel Fuhrman
Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries and Seeds are the food groups that are proven to decrease overall disease risk.
How Countries Go Broke by Ray Dalio
Study: Look at many cases, like a doctor, to find the cause-effect, WRITE IT UP, and have smart people read and challenge it. Then build systems to place bets on what you learn. Do that over and over.
Page created July 3, 2025 by Nathan