Book Review: Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? by Thomas Frank Documents how some people who consider themselves to be Liberals are not living up to their proclaimed values. Points to how prosperity can be extended to those left behind. —
Author Archives: marwalk
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
Book Review: White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo This book is a worthy and indispensable read. It is about and for white people, and how to eliminate our unconscious and ubiquitous racism. Robin DiAngelo addresses white progressives in particular about the pervasive racism we all …
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If We Can Keep It: How the Republic Collapsed and How it Might Be Saved
Book Review: If We Can Keep It: How the Republic Collapsed and How it Might Be Saved by Michael Tomasky For any hope of rectifying today’s dysfunctional polarization, this book is a must read. The title says it all, and the author delivers as it promises. Michael Tomasky takes the famous quote of Benjamin Franklin …
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The Bankers’ New Clothes: Whats Wrong with Banking and What to Do about It
Book Review: The Bankers’ New Clothes: Whats Wrong with Banking and What to Do about It by Anat Admati, Martin Hellwig This is a must read, especially if finance is not your forte. Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig take a topic that is as equally unbearably boring as it is essential for the well-being of …
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The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels
Book Review: The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels by Jon Meacham Chock full of actual history, all of it framed in meaningful context for our own time. Illustrates why it’s essential that all of good will must be active in politics, especially when demagogy is prominent; and that not to be …
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Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle
Book Review: Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle by Chris Hedges This book is an unpleasant but necessary read. Even if one is not absorbed in any of the spectacles Chris Hedges presents, the significantly large percentage of the population that is in the grip of at least one …
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The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power
Book Review: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power by Shoshana Zuboff This book will boil your blood. Supported by extensive empirical research, Professor Shoshana Zuboff exposes the effective digital implementation of the late B. F. Skinner’s Beyond Freedom and Dignity. It centers around three …
Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea
Book Review: Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea by Mark Blyth Professor Blyth uses empirical data to effectively skewer austerity as a demonstrably counterproductive strategy. This book from 2013 is still current and will remain so with its long-view historical perspective applied to contemporary presuppositions and economic policies. From David Hume to current champions …
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The Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties
Book Review: The Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties by Paul Collier A Must-Read for Everyone Well researched and full of real life examples. Skillfully puts ideologues in their place, both right and left, and insists on an effective pragmatism regardless as to whether the government or society provides it. Ranging far beyond mere …
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The Inner Life of Cats: The Science and Secrets of Our Mysterious Feline Companions
Book Review: The Inner Life of Cats: The Science and Secrets of Our Mysterious Feline Companions by Thomas McNamee As Applicable to Humans as to Cats I had already bonded with my cat, but after The Inner Life of Cats I have an even deeper human/animal relationship with this fellow sentient being. This book is …