February Wrap Up
Some quick notes on what I've been reading, listening to, and watching in February 2024
February was a short month with more time with family outside on skis and less time inside alone, here’s what I was reading, watching, and listening to in February 2024
Books
Finished three books this month. That’s a pace that’s gonna be a problem as the year goes on, but not terrible. As for what I read, it’s more of a mixed bag this month.
The first was the excellent Before the Dawn by Nicholas Wade. Wade uses the latest in genetic science to trace the evolution of the human race and its subsequent colonization of the world. Absolutely fascinating throughout. The migrations out of Africa were so much smaller than I knew and took such a circuitous root, for example. So much of human history is largely unknowable to us, but this book does a wonderful job of giving us some insight into how our distant ancestors moved, lived and evolved. Recommended.
I absolutely loved David McCloskey’s Damascus Station – total dad lit. After I read it I wrote here that “I’d read a whole book about Proctor, the unhinged head of Damascus Station.” Well, I got my wish in this McCloskey’s pseudo sequel Moscow X where Proctor is running an espionage team determined to undermine Putin and the FSB. Lots of intrigue and spies on spies. Maybe not as taut as Damascus Station, but still great fun. Recommended for the enthusiast.
I also finished Civilization Before Greece and Rome by H.F.W. Saggs, an overview of the histories of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and (to a lesser degree Israel, Canaan, the Indus valley and other places). A good overview as far as it goes, but Saggs can really only skim the surface here and it shows. Wet my appetite for more, but left me unsatisfied. Not recommended.
I also continue to plough my way through the thoroughly enjoyable Lazarus series of graphic novels about a dystopian future of scarce resources controlled by powerful families. If you’ve got more graphic novel suggestions, let me know!
Films
One of my goals for 2024 was to watch more movies. So far, I’ve seen one. May December directed by Todd Haynes and starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore. Creepy, odd, outstanding. Unresolved and uncomfortable in that very Todd Haynes way that I always appreciate. I’m no cinephile, but he’s one of my favorite directors.
Podcasts and Such
Dwarkesh Patel has emerged as probably the best podcast interviewer out there right now. His interview with Tyler Cowen about the Greatest Economist of All Time was obviously self recommending. His chat with the brilliant Alexy Guzey was also just great fun to watch. Two young dudes in a San Francisco apartment shooting the shit is something I myself did a million years ago, but I was never as smart, or as interesting, as these two.
Still obsessively working my way through the complete library of the Rest is History and driving my wife crazy in the process. Seven hour drive to Vermont equals eight episodes! Somehow she wasn’t as into it as I was. Her loss for checking out during the second part of the series on the battle of Thermopylae.
What about you? What have you been up to?
*Are you noticing a pattern here? I’m alternating between fiction and a truly unhinged project to read the history of the western world