Here’s the first Friday round up where I share what I’ve been reading, listening to, etc.
Books
Recently finished the absolutely engrossing Rise and Kill First by Ronen Bergman about Israel’s targeted assassination program. It’s an exhaustive, and clear eyed, look at Israel’s assassination campaigns since the founding of the state. The moral challenges presented are… myriad to say the least. Bergman handles the often tortured ethical arguments behind the killings with true thoughtfulness, something we don’t often see in modern journalism. Full review is likely forthcoming but this one is definitely recommended.
As I said early this week, I’m also deep in a reading project focused on Gershom Scholem and his magnum opus Sabbatai Sevi: the Mystical Messiah. For this I’m pairing Scholem’s Sevi with Biale’s biography of him and Moshe Idel’s book on Messianism. Sabbatai Sevi is heavy sledding, but very rewarding. Wish I was more conversant in Lurianic Kabbalah, but we are who we are. I manage 10-20 pages a night before switching to the Biale, which is breezy and readable. At this pace, Sabbatai is going to take some time, but that’s fine. I’ve got a lifetime. I’m unlikely to finish Idel’s book (at least not any time soon) but it’s good to dip in and out of.
On the side I’m also listening to Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, and Epic Journey, a Lost Age by Reid Mitenbuler about the arctic adventurer Peter Freuchen. Fun, total dad lit.
Finally, when I can’t take Scholem and his world any longer I dip into the palate cleansing sixth book in the Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey, Babylon’s Ashes. Loving this series. Space opera that is really about class and identity. Worthy of its reputation as among the best in contemporary science fiction.
Articles
I’m a total Cal Newport fanboy and it was great to see the write up on him in the FT. Newport is a bit of an inspiration for starting this substack. Less time scrolling, more time writing!
Matthew Desmond’s op-ed on poverty in NYT was illuminating. This is apparently from a new forthcoming book, which I’ll definitely read. His book Evicted was heart wrenching and essential.
Jimmy Dolan is one of the great villains in New York City and this article tells you why. Seize the Knicks, move the Garden, and return Penn Station to its former glory.
The Rachel Aviv piece on Agnes Callard in the New Yorker left me deeply frustrated. Aviv wrote the excellent Strangers to Ourselves but I found the article to be nothing more than gossip. Just because Callard name drops Aristotle does not make her leaving her husband for her student anything more than a cliche.
Other
Dwarkesh Patel’s Lunar Society has become a must listen for me, perhaps especially because so much of the content is outside my areas of expertise. His latest interview with the former head of FTX US is excellent. Patel is a recent graduate of UT Austin who in a very short period of time has built one of the best podcast in the tech / culture space. A true example of the importance of just getting started!
Naama Kates podcast Incel is frankly too dark for me to listen to regularly but it’s worth dipping into to see the sadness and pathos of this community. Kates treats those she talks to with real respect and dignity, making the whole thing even sadder and more bleak.
Finally, I’ve been spending a lot of time on the treadmill lately (more on that later) and watching the police procedural Bosch when I do so. Dad tv, but starring many Wire alums. Good fun.
What about you? What are you into these days?