Reading, Listening, and Watching

When I'm not working on my class...

Finally finished reading:

The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 (The Revolution Trilogy, Book 1)

Watched and enjoyed on Amazon Prime:

Bad Times at The El Royale

Drive Away Dolls

The American Society of Magical Negroes

Coogan's Bluff

The Lake at the Bottom of the World

Can't say I much cared for:

Arcadian

Hell Hole

Listened to Audible books:

Freedom's Forge by Arthur Herman

The Smoke Ring by Larry Niven

Infinity's Shore by David Brin

The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft

A Nail-Biting Documentary About A Potential Event?

Meant to post this a while ago...

"A real-life political thriller set on January 6, 2025, War Game imagines a nation-wide insurrection in which members of the US military defect to support the losing Presidential candidate, while the winning candidate and his advisors—played by an all-star roster of senior officials from the last five administrations—war games the crisis in the White House situation room. They have 6 hours to save democracy as the country teeters on the brink of civil war." 

https://wargamefilm.com/

Vets Voice Foundation https://vvfnd.org/

It has solid reviews and ratings from Rotten Tomatoes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/war_game_2024 

War Game was showing at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre as part of the Sedona Film Festival Last month. Vicky and I made an overnight trip to see it.

Before the show we dined at Creekside American Bistro https://creeksidesedona.com/

For breakfast we visited the Coffee Pot https://coffeepotsedona.com/

Buh Bye, Zuck!

As of 5:25 pm, Thursday, August 15, 2024 I have deleted my Facebook account. I may post items of interest here from time to time, or I may not... 

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-delete-your-facebook-account

The Death of Expertise, and other problems...

The Death of Expertise explains a lot about our current social and political climate. Tom Nichols wrote this sobering book in 2017. Recent political discussions reminded me I'd always meant to read it. Wish I'd done so six years ago. It contains valuable lessons for the common person young and old, teachers and administrators in higher education, social media producers and consumers, journalist and their publishers, and of course experts who are not above mistake. An updated 2nd edition is due out in April 2024; I've pre-ordered my copy from our local bookseller. This copy is on the way to one of my favorite relatives...

Another Important Read

I recently purchased and read a copy of "Strongmen: From Mussolini to the Present" by scholar Ruth Ben-Ghiat  I've heard several interviews with her lately and believe she's on to something to which we all must pay careful attention. While many are drawing parallels between our current political climate and 1930s Germany, Ben-Ghiat makes a compelling case that 1920s Italy may be more instructive. 

PS I bought my copy from Peregrine Book Company. If we want local we must buy local.