Journey to Earthland: The Great Transition to Planetary Civilization by Paul Raskin Paul Raskin is the founding president of the Tellus Institute, a Boston “think tank” that began an initiative called The Great Transition in 2002. That initiative is a vision of how an ecologically threatened world could transition to a sustainable economy. This book […]
No Good Alternative: Volume Two of Carbon Ideologies, by William T. Vollmann William T. Vollmann (Bill) is a prize-winning professional writer, noted for being adventurous researching his books. For his first, he embedded with the Mujadin fighting the Soviets invading Afghanistan. He follows a story wherever curiosity takes him. This book is no different. It […]
The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect by Judea Pearl and Dana MacKenzie Judea Pearl is professor of computer science at UCLA with a long, distinguished career in software and artificial intelligence. This book is his third in a series on causality. Dana MacKenzie is a professional writer. The point of […]
Why Economic Theories Are Screwing Us Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: or, How Capitalism Works – and How It Fails, by Yanis Varoufakis and Jacob Moe Yanis Varoufakis will be heard from again. He attracted global attention as the Finance Minister of Greece who tried – and failed – to negotiate Greek debt […]
The Whole Economy is Full of It Bullshit Jobs: A Theory, by David Graeber Although an American and by training an anthropologist, David Graeber is a professor at the London School of Economics. He’s not a stereotypical economist. He’s a rebel in the growing gang of “economists” at Evonomics, seeking a new economic system. Readers […]
The Efficiency Paradox: What Big Data Can’t Do by Edward Tenner Edward Tenner, researcher of history and critic of technology, writes regularly for The Atlantic. Noted for a prior book, Why Things Bite Back, Tenner popularized the idea of unintended consequences. Examples from today’s leading edge to ancient times illustrate The Efficiency Paradox. In it, […]
Are We All Avatars in a Big Simulation? Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard, translated by Jean Glaser and Sheila Faria Baudrillard Jean Baudrillard was a French philosopher, a contributor to post-structuralism, along with the better-known Jacques Derrida. This bores anyone not deep into philosophy, so why dig into it? Because Simulacra and Simulation is […]
Kill All Normies: Online Culture Wars From 4Chan And Tumblr To Trump And The Alt-Right by Angela Nagle Angela Nagel is an Irish social critic specializing in the subcultures of the on-line interactive world, something that this reviewer and probably most readers don’t do. Tracking the logic warping feedback loops of troll wars is time-consuming […]
Reinventing Capitalism in the Age of Big Data Hardcover by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Thomas Ramge Schönberger is a professor at Oxford and Ramge is a technology writer who has by-lines in The Economist. This book is not their first dance with Big Data. Their objective was to unveil its possibilities to those of us not […]
Neurotheology: How Science Can Enlighten Us About Spirituality by Andrew Newberg Andrew Newberg is an MD and Professor of Emergency Medicine and Radiology, and Director of Research, Marcus Institute of Integrative Health, Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital in Philadelphia (how does he cover all this?). Neurotheology, just out, is his newest book. The book attracted […]
More Than a Structural Economic Problem Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick J. Deneen Patrick Deneen is Professor of Political Science at Notre Dame with a record of public service before academic life. His writing references ancient religion and classical studies, roundly debated by other liberal arts academics. Politically, Deneen is an all-around offender, excoriating both […]
Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?, by Mark Fisher The initial promise of this book was a unique critique of economics. It is that. It is not a structural, fix-the-problems proposal, but an artful expression of anguish from a guy descending into depression because of “the system.” In 2017 at age 48 he took his […]
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