Some Good Reads

These "what I've been reading" posts continue to be sporadic, but I do enjoy sharing them when I get the chance....

1. Trump's TV Obsession Is a First - from The Atlantic, discussing President Trump's, along with past presidents, and their TV viewing habits. The article notes some astonishing statistics concerning how much television people watch, particularly those in older generations. Granted, some of this may be unfair, as younger generations may be simply replacing television screen time with other screen time. But regardless of the article's bent or subject, it seems worthy to think about how what we view on screens (be it TV or otherwise) shapes our view of the world and others.

2. How To Live More Wisely Around Our Phones - on a similar themes, this discusses the traps and pitfalls of our use of technology, and in particular, our smart phones. Provocative read for anyone who has concerns over what the usage of smart phones (and all their wondrous capabilities) may mean for us.

3. George W. Bush Is Smarter Than You - I actually read this several years ago, and came across it again a few weeks ago. If nothing else, I believe it shows the danger of narrative- whether that narrative is established by certain media outlets or by certain politicians. There was a persistent narrative throughout W's presidency, cultivated in part by him, along with members of the media, on both the right and the left. I always remembered the piece, because its a reminder that intelligent people can have very varied views on topics. Regardless of what one thinks about President Bush (and, later, President Obama and President Trump), its important to try to avoid letting narratives dictate our conclusions, especially without considering who is shilling the narrative, and for what purpose they might be doing so.

4. The Silk-Silver Axis - piece from The Economist a week or so back, on the history of the trade relationship between the U.S. and China, and issues/problems/solutions moving forward. I continue to think that subscribing to The Economist was one of the best investments I've made, as it is impossible to read it each week without learning something, and often learning a lot. This article is a great example.

5. The Desperate Journey of a Trafficked Girl - similarly to my comment on The Economist, my weekly reading of The New Yorker is always worthwhile. This piece, so common to the magazine, gives you long form journalism at its best - putting you in another's shoes to bring you understanding of something happening a world away. An important read, I think.

My book reading has really slowed down - trips, work, these magazines - to the point I am very much off my pace to reach my goal of 60 books this year. Part of the slow down is the book I am currently reading, City on Fire by Garth Hallberg is a tome (900+ pages); but it is excellent, and a reminder not to get too caught up in reading "quantity" goals at the cost of not choosing to read certain books.