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Around the World with Joe Boyd
Every night, for the past two months, I have gone to bed with Joe Boyd. He wrote a book that’s more than 900 pages long — far too cumbersome to be read anyplace except on my pillow. Here’s a photo of...
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We Have Some of the Answers
There’s a new book called Another World Is Possible: Lessons for America from Around the Globe, but I think the subtitle under-sells the book. The subtitle should probably be Lessons for Every Country...
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Dogmen & Dynasty
The castle and the surrounding landscape are magnificent, so I thought I would begin with a big picture. Martyn Rady is a historian and a very good storyteller. He is a Professor Emeritus of Central...
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LAND, from the prolific Simon Winchester
Simon Winchester has taught me a great deal. Including: in any given used bookshop, there will always be at least one nonfiction book by Simon Winchester that I have not read before. Past encounters,...
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Indonesian Food!
Now is not the very best time to try new restaurants, but it is a very good time to try new cookbooks, and perhaps, new cuisines as well. Let’s begin with Eleanor Ford’s Fire Islands: Recipes from...
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Magical World: Nom Wah!
If you happen to wander through Chinatown, in New York City or in Philadelphia, the name Nom Wah may mean something to you. Sure, it’s a Chinese restaurant, but not many Chinese restaurants date back...
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CDs, LPs and the Future of a Record Label
The problem is, we’re easily convinced to do foolish things. We started with a few very good ideas, but then, we followed the crowd.The first of the good ideas goes back to Edison in the late 1880s:...
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We Were Not Alone
Seems like science fiction, but for a long time, Homo sapiens were not the only human beings on earth. And there were a lot of them. And they lived in a very large area that included most of Europe,...
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Just Beyond Penzance
Penzance is the big place, the one with the proper harbor, and renown of Humphry Davy, the renowned chemist who invented the miner’s headlamp and, with Michael Faraday, figured out diamonds were pure...
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Seeing 10 Years into the Future
Somehow, even in the shadow of the virus, we can see 2030 with surprising clarity. We know a lot, and we can make good guesses about much of what we don’t know. In fact, I’ve been doing this for...
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Number Five
Finally! A good biography of the fifth U.S. president, James Monroe!! When I started reading presidential biographies, in order, I figured there might be some patches where no decent and recent...
View ArticleThe RSA: Climate Change Requires Immediate Attention
I’m always impressed with The RSA’s animations. This one was just released. It tells an important and urgent story about climate change. Acknowledging the nastiness of dealing with two catastrophes at...
View ArticleJeffrey Sachs Talks about the U.S. and the World
Sachs sees the world very clearly. After watching these 11 minutes, I know more about the world than I did before. For a more comprehensive explanation of multilateralism, I refer to this Brookings...
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An Absolute Joy
‘Tis the season for annual performances of Handel’s Messiah, a magnificent oratorio notable for catchy melodies, high drama, and extreme reverence. It feels great to sit in a concert hall and listen to...
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Bring on the Immigrants!
“These days, a great many people in the rich countries complain loudly about migration from the poor ones. But as the immigrants see it, the game was rigged: First, the rich countries colonized us and...
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The Thinking Side of Climate Change Requires an Emotional Partner
When the formidable Greta Thunberg barked about climate change, she didn’t do it to become famous. She did it so that adults would take the time to learn about the science. I decided to take her up on...
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A World of Music in Salisbury
If you haven’t tried the Lemon Chess Pie at Ugly Pie on Main Street in Salisbury, Maryland, it’s probably time that you do so. For me, it was a tough decision: the Peanut Butter & Jelly Chess Pie...
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Why Don’t We Know More about Africa?
Simple question. Simple answer, too. Most students in most parts of the world don’t spend much time learning about Africa. There are pyramids, lions, and drums, and for more advanced students,...
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Oh Idiot! What should I want more Children for?
One of the less well-lit areas of human history is the history of children. Today, there are television channels, endless videos and photographs, schools of every description, as well as the occasional...
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The Success of Smaller Cities
Traveling the world, I find myself drawn not the megapolis, but to the smaller cities where life seems so much more reasonable. The year 2018 included travel to Bulgaria, where I enjoyed Stara Zagora,...
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