Podcasts and books - political or politically adjacent (1 Viewer)

[KarmaPolice]

I searched and found a thread about podcasts, but it was short and that was about 3 years ago.  Thought maybe a running list of podcasts/episodes and books as we go might be interesting.  Been listening to more non-fiction books lately so looking for suggestions

Recently I got through The Divide by Matt Taibbi.     Can't recommend that one enough.   Before that, it was Woke Racism - again a book I recommend, and I posted in a thread what his 3 suggestions were to help the black community.   Interesting to have counters to other books on the topic that are more popular like White Fragility that I  know many around here don't like. 

Currently listening to Ghettoside, but only a few chapters in.  

One of the better podcasts I have heard in awhile was one in a series from Freakonomics.  They are doing a series about why and how the US is so different, and how policies are effected by that.   Episode 470 was titled The Pros and Cons of America's (Extreme) Individualism.    It introduced Geert Hofstede who has something called the 6D Model of National Culture and grades countries from 1-100 on things like individualism, masculine/femine, power distance, etc..    Also following podcasts about poor kids, the media, and other things using that concept as a backdrop.  

 

[dkp993]

I started a thread on them last year but Krystal and Saagar are awesome.  
 

https://forums.footballguys.com/topic/798221-krystal-and-saagar/#comment-23477345

 

[KarmaPolice]

I started a thread on them last year but Krystal and Saagar are awesome.  
 

https://forums.footballguys.com/topic/798221-krystal-and-saagar/#comment-23477345

Good one.  It's turned into one of my go-tos each week as well.  

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

Before that, it was Woke Racism - again a book I recommend, and I posted in a thread what his 3 suggestions were to help the black community.   Interesting to have counters to other books on the topic that are more popular like White Fragility that I  know many around here don't like. 

I'm about 3/4 of the way through Maverick, a biography of Thomas Sowell. It's no substitute for reading Sowell himself, but like Sowell's work, it is extremely readable and engaging. It's motivating me to pick up Basic Economics next, or Knowledge and Decisions, or maybe A Conflict of Visions. I haven't decided yet. But it is definitely reaffirming that I need some more Thomas Sowell in my life.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

I'd actually been thinking recently of starting something like a PSF book club.

I think people on the far-right and center-left would both benefit from reading a good center-right book. And people on the far-left or center-right would benefit from reading a good center-left book.

I was thinking that A Conflict of Visions would be perfect as a center-right book.

I haven't yet been able to think of an ideal center-left book.

 

[tommyGunZ]

I'm about 3/4 of the way through Maverick, a biography of Thomas Sowell. It's no substitute for reading Sowell himself, but like Sowell's work, it is extremely readable and engaging. It's motivating me to pick up Basic Economics next, or Knowledge and Decisions, or maybe A Conflict of Visions. I haven't decided yet. But it is definitely reaffirming that I need some more Thomas Sowell in my life.

I used to read Sowell’s columns regularly in an effort to balance my own views, but his endorsement and defense of Trump the past few years makes it difficult to take him seriously and has tarnished my view of him and his work.  

 

[tommyGunZ]

On topic, the Bulwark is probably the podcast I listen to the most.  

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

I used to read Sowell’s columns regularly in an effort to balance my own views, but his endorsement and defense of Trump the past few years makes it difficult to take him seriously and has tarnished my view of him and his work.  

Yes, if he'd endorsed Trump, that would change my view of his current cognitive state. But I've never seen him affirmatively endorse Trump. He called Trump an "unmitigated disaster." He voted for Trump over Hillary because he disliked both and thought that Trump would be the easier of the two to impeach and remove.

Unfortunately, he retired from political commentary around the time that Trump was elected, so I can't find any statement one way or the other about whether he followed through and supported the impeachments.

 

[tommyGunZ]

Yes, if he'd endorsed Trump, that would change my view of his current cognitive state. But I've never seen him affirmatively endorse Trump. He called Trump an "unmitigated disaster." He voted for Trump over Hillary because he disliked both and thought that Trump would be the easier of the two to impeach and remove.

Unfortunately, he retired from political commentary around the time that Trump was elected, so I can't find any statement one way or the other about whether he followed through and supported the impeachments.

He wrote a column a week before the election encouraging voters to vote for Trump.  Not an endorsement?  As you mention, he stated in the column that Trump would be easier to impeach, but he still told voters to choose Trump, literally.

In the summer 2020 on the Mark Levin show he said electing Biden could be the “point of no return for the country”.  https://twitter.com/thomassowell/status/1323292022296424448?s=21&t=YvcifhGBjGqofQdBO5qhZg

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

In the summer 2020 on the Mark Levin show he said electing Biden could be the “point of no return for the country”.  https://twitter.com/thomassowell/status/1323292022296424448?s=21&t=YvcifhGBjGqofQdBO5qhZg

I hope he's wrong about that. In any case, if he's become more of a rank ideologue in his nineties, I don't think it detracts from the excellent work he did a few decades ago. He wrote with unusual clarity as an original thinker with heterodox views, always rooted strongly in empiricism. Those are all qualities I aspire to emulate.