search | recent | authors | map

Recently Mentioned Books

← Back to search

Showing 25 of 6801 mentions, ordered by most recent.

Stubborn Attachments: A Vision for a Society of Free, Prosperous, and Responsible Individuals
Tyler Cowen
The trajectories of science and AI (2026-03-10)

Murphy : People don’t like change, but also people are bad at long term planning. Yeah. You’ve spoken before about how faith is a key requirement in terms of being able to plan over the long term. How do you bring that idea to policymakers?

Vladimir Jurowski Conducts Mahler Symphony
Recent recordings of “big symphonies” (2026-03-09)

Vladimir Jurowski has recorded Maher 1, 2, 4, 8, and with 9 on the way and I read somewhere he will be doing the entire cycle.  I expect these will end up as my set of choice.

Complete Symphonies Orchestre Suisse Romande
Recent recordings of “big symphonies” (2026-03-09)

The Marek Janowski box of Bruckner symphonies I find to be the best Bruckner overall.  And yes I do know many other versions, even Hermann Abendroth, though I cannot hold a candle to one MR reader I met recently who may know seventy or more versions of Bruckner’s 8th.

Obscene Bird Night unabridged centennial ebook
What I’ve been reading (2026-03-09)

José Donoso, The Boom in Spanish American Literature: A Personal History is a good lshort overview, noting that Donoso’s own The Obscene Bird of Night is one of the great underrated works of 20th century literature.

The boom in Spanish American literature
José Donoso
What I’ve been reading (2026-03-09)

José Donoso, The Boom in Spanish American Literature: A Personal History is a good lshort overview, noting that Donoso’s own The Obscene Bird of Night is one of the great underrated works of 20th century literature.

Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better
David Epstein
What I’ve been reading (2026-03-09)

Davd Epstein, Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better .  A good popular look at what the subtitle promises.

On Natural Capital: The Value of the World Around Us
What I’ve been reading (2026-03-09)

Partha Dasgupta, On Natural Capital: The Value of the World Around Us , is a popular summary of some of his thinking on valuing the environment and natural resources.

Driver's Seat
Muriel Spark
What I’ve been reading (2026-03-09)

Muriel Spark, The Driver’s Seat .  If you like her at all, you will be entranced by this one.  With a radical ending, as you might expect.

After the Flood
Robert Polito
What I’ve been reading (2026-03-09)

Robert Polito, After the Flood: Inside Bob Dylan’s Memory Palace .  An informationally dense, rambling, and frequently insightful and obsessive book about the “late” career period of Bob Dylan.  When does his “late” period start?  1990 perhaps?  I remember thinking in 1990 that we were well into Dylan’s late career phase.  But that was thirty-six years ago!

New Byzantines
Sean Mathews
What I’ve been reading (2026-03-09)

Sean Mathews, The New Byzantines: The Rise of Greece and Return of the Near East .  Anexcellent and original book, somewhere between a history and travel book.  Views Greece as part of “the Middle East.”  I found every page interesting.

Villa and Zapata
Frank McLynn
What I’ve been reading (2026-03-09)

Frank McLynn, Villa and Zapata: A History of the Mexican Revolution .  The best book on its topic, and one of the best books on Mexican history flat out.  Everything is explained with remarkable clarity.  By the way, the central government never really has controlled the entire country, or not for very long anyway.

Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence
*The Infinity Machine* (2026-03-04)

The author is Sebastian Mallaby and the subtitle is Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence .  A very good and enjoyable book.

Iran : a modern history
Abbas Amanat
Sunday assorted links (2026-03-01)

3. Abbas Amanat, Iran: A Modern History is for me (by far) the best general history of the country.  I like the cover too.

Blood and Iron
Katja Hoyer
What should I ask Katja Hoyer? (2026-03-01)

Yes I will be doing a Conversation with her.  She is the author of a forthcoming book on Weimar, namely Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe .  Note that much of the book considers the city of Weimar, mostly in Nazi times, and not just the Weimar era.  She also has published Beyond the Wall: A History of East Germany , and Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire 1871-1918 .  She is active in journalism, podcasting, and is a visiting research fellow at King’s College London.  Sh...

Beyond the Wall
Katja Hoyer
What should I ask Katja Hoyer? (2026-03-01)

Yes I will be doing a Conversation with her.  She is the author of a forthcoming book on Weimar, namely Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe .  Note that much of the book considers the city of Weimar, mostly in Nazi times, and not just the Weimar era.  She also has published Beyond the Wall: A History of East Germany , and Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire 1871-1918 .  She is active in journalism, podcasting, and is a visiting research fellow at King’s College London.  Sh...

Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe
What should I ask Katja Hoyer? (2026-03-01)

Yes I will be doing a Conversation with her.  She is the author of a forthcoming book on Weimar, namely Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe .  Note that much of the book considers the city of Weimar, mostly in Nazi times, and not just the Weimar era.  She also has published Beyond the Wall: A History of East Germany , and Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire 1871-1918 .  She is active in journalism, podcasting, and is a visiting research fellow at King’s College London.  Sh...

Heidegger's Being and Time
SHEEHAN
Friday assorted links (2026-02-27)

1. A paraphrase of Heidegger?

this volume
*Being and Time: An Annotated Translation* (2026-02-24)

People, this volume is the best chance you are going to get.

How Africa Works: Success and Failure on the World’s Last Developmental Frontier
Oliver Kim reviews *How Africa Works* (2026-02-13)

That is the new book by Joe Studwell , my podcast with him should be coming out pretty soon.  Here is Oliver’s new review .  Excerpt:

500 Years of the World’s Most Powerful Money
*The Almighty Dollar* (2026-02-11)

The author is Brendan Greeley , and the subtitle is 500 Years of the World’s Most Powerful Money .  A very well-timed book, excellent on the history of the dollar as it spans the centuries, I was happy to write a blurb for it.

School of Night
Karl Ove Knausgård, Martin Aitken
*The School of Night* (2026-02-08)

That is the new Knausgaard book, excellent and moving.  Better than any Knausgaard work other than the first two volumes of My Struggle .  The ending is especially good and meaningful, revising much of what came before.  You can buy it here .

Mexico: A 500-Year History
What should I ask Paul Gillingham? (2026-02-03)

Yes, I will be doing a Conversation with him.  He is a Professor of History at Northwestern , specializing in Mexico and to some extent the Caribbean.  He has translated a Mexican book on Edgar Allan Poe .  I am learning a good deal from his new 700 pp. book Mexico: A 500-Year History , and I very much like his earlier work on Mexico and violence.  Here is an NYT review of the new book .

Poe
Óscar Xavier Altamirano, Paul Gillingham
What should I ask Paul Gillingham? (2026-02-03)

Yes, I will be doing a Conversation with him.  He is a Professor of History at Northwestern , specializing in Mexico and to some extent the Caribbean.  He has translated a Mexican book on Edgar Allan Poe .  I am learning a good deal from his new 700 pp. book Mexico: A 500-Year History , and I very much like his earlier work on Mexico and violence.  Here is an NYT review of the new book .

Two Paths to Prosperity
Avner Greif, Joel Mokyr, Guido Tabellini
What should I ask Joel Mokyr? (2026-02-01)

He has a recent book Two Paths to Prosperity: Culture and Institutions in Europe and China, 1000-2000 , co-authored with Avner Greif and Guido Tabellini.

pre-order it here
*Paul Celan: A Life*, by Anna Arno (2026-02-01)

I do not think it is crazy to regard Celan as standing in the very top tier of poets, noting the poems must be read in the German language.  Who has more important topics at a comparable level of quality?  This is an excellent biography of him, from the origins in Romania to his affair with Ingeborg Bachmann to his eventual madness and suicide.  Recommended, pre-order it here .  Definitely slated for the best non-fiction books of the year list.

← Prev 1 ... 3 4 5 6 7 ... 273 Next →
Powered by Datasette