The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World

Ian McGilchrest

April 21. This book was recommended by one of my friends who said it reminded him of some things I used to say when we worked together at Autodesk. I was intrigued. The foundation of the book is a neuroscience exploration into the two hemispheres of the human brain, left - which operates and an abstract, deductive, and analytical fashion, and right - which operates in a more holistic and integrated fashion. McGilchrast asserts that the left brain is where language resides and deals with the world by looking at the various parts. In contrast, the right brain looks at wholes and relationships. The left brain is very literal and the right brain can deal with ambiguity. He also asserts that the two parts of the brain need each other - they are complimentary and communicate with each other. The title of the book has to do with which half of the brain is "in charge", in other words, which half is the master (controlling) and which half is the emissary (executing) He assertst that modern western society has gotten the relationship backwards - letting the left brain dominate, and thus seeing and acting upon the world in a reductive analytical fashion rather than a holistic systems fashion. He posits that the more correct and effective model is one in which the right brain is the master and the left brain is the emissary. This book was very reminiscent of my favorite book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and has a similar message of bringing the classic analytical view of the world and the romantic, holistic view of the world into balance. It is a very long book and arduous to read. McGilchrest tries to dig deeply into philosophy, art, music and literature to justify his points. The tries to justify his views in excruiating detail. I have to give him credit for that, but the book might have been more effective, accessible, and impactful if he made his point more crisply and succinctly so the reader does not have to tortuoulsy dig out the meaning from the justification.

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2054: A Novel

Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavaridis USN

April 3. 2054 is a dsystopian novel set 30 years into the future and 20 years after a catastrophic war between the US and China depicted in 2034. 2054 tries to tie together a political story with science fiction, and the future of warfare. I'm not sure it does any very well. None of the three is clearly explained, just hinted at. The gene editing is used to assassinate a US president and it is unclear who did it or why it was done. There is a lot of vague reference to the Singularity - even a hunt for Ray Kurzweill - who is found dead but it is unclear whether he has been uploaded to the cloud. I looked forward to reading this book, but it was a disappointment. The rhetorical device of hopping around between multiple threads in the story did not help. A more focused story and disciplined writing style would have made this a much better book.

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Making It In America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in America (and how it got that way)

Rachel Slade

March 29. Slade chronicles the lives and work of Ben and Whitney Waxman, who start up, grow, and operate a fashion company called American Roots - that makes hoodies with American textiles and labor. Their primary market is labor unions, since Ben started his career as a union organizer. Ben and Whitney employ a very diverse (and largely immigrant) workforce and try to pay well and offer good benefits. They are diligent about being good employers and good to their employees. The book describes their trials and tribulations in building the company and surviving times such as the pandemic. The author uses their story to weave in histories of the labor movement, globalism, and free-market capitalism. Her message (and that of Ben adn Whitney) is that manufactuing in the US is difficult but possible. I saw three problems with the book:

1. I'm not sure how the lessons of small-scale garment manufacturing are relevant and appicable to large-scale manufacturing
2. One of Slade's prescriptions was to go back and strengthen the labor movement. There is some validity to this perspective but, in some ways, it seems like a backward-looking strategy. Labor unions had their role but also became corrupt and moribund. I somehow feel that going to a world dominated by labor unions is kind of an alternative "Make America Great Again" trope - sounding good on the surface but hollow inside.
3. Their hoodies sold to a specialized market for over 5x what the competition was selling for. Adopting the approach taht Ben and Whitney employ would increase the price of goods (and thus inflation). Given how sensitve people are to inflation, I doubt their approach would fly at scale. America became addicted to cheap goods which were cheap because of overseas manaufactuing. Unwinding that addiction will be complex and chaotic.

The book is provocative and clearly has a point of view - that globalism and free-market capitalism (as exemplified by a sole focus on shareholder value) has become pathological and there is a need for a better, more equitable solution. I'm not sure the solution proposed is viable. It is telling that, near the end of the book, Ben and Whitney hire a consulant from the fashion industry who espouses Taylorism-like efficiency moves. Granted that he does so in a humane way - but it still shows the chokehold that efficiency and shareholder value has on our economy and our society.

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Every Day Freedom: Designing The Framework for a Flourishing Society

Philip K. Howard

March 27. This was a very provocative little book and I quite liked its message. Howard's fundamental thesis is that, starting in the 1960s, our legal system started getting encrusted with rules and procedures that try to enshrine individual rights at the expense of society. He asserts that we did away with agency for managers and leaders and tried to create equity by prescribing how things should be done - thus hamstringing initative and progress. Examples are bad employees who cannot be fired because their managers fear repercussions, schools that cannot be improved because of rules and policies, and an inability to build because of regulations and the veto power of citizens. His assertion aligns with Jen Palka, who describes government contracting for IT services which focus on preventing mistakes vs. doing the right thing and Ezra Klein's view that we create "everything bagel" policies by larding up things like infrastructure bills with well-meaning but stultifiying requirements. Howard urges us to go back to both responsibility and accountability for managers and leaders. I like his message and agree with most of it. I'm unclear in our current political environment whether it can be accomplished. I also am a bit skeptical when I see some of his conservative supporters (in reviews of the book) who exemplify, not leadership but rather capitulation to a corrupt and incompetent political regime. I see a lot of people espousing similar beliefs who are of dubious character. It wold be easier to accept such beliefs of those espousing them were competent and of exemplary character. His ideas are thought-provoking and I am glad I read the book, If only our leaders actually followed his ideas and principles rather than blowing in the political winds.

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How To Know A Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen

David Brooks

March 25. David Brooks is one of my favorite NY Times columnists and commentators on PBS. I read and watch him regularly and have read all of his books. His books are not as good as his columns but this is one of his better books. Brooks talks about how to become an "illuminator" by asking questions about the other person. He has lots of advice about subverting your own ego to better understand others. The book is partially based on his experience in losing a close friend to depression. We saw Brooks speak at Dominican University of California last November about the book. the book is an easy read and relatively insightful. It builds on themes that Brooks has been developing over the years. It does have a lot of relevance in getting past stereotypes (and partisan divides) and seeing people for who they truly are.

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White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy

Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman

March 20. This book is about the 15% of US voters who are white, rural, and poor. The authors contend that they have taken American politics hostage. They have real grievances - largely associated with their economies based on agriculture, resource extraction, and small manufacturing being left behind by globalization and technology. The authors assert that anti-majoritarian political forces in the US --the structure and filibuser rules of the Senate, the electoral college, and partisan gerrymandering - have given this relatively smallvoting group outsised influence over American politics. Further, the media and political pundits give them outsized attention when trying to figure out what led to Trumpian populism. This voting group is way more conservative around issues like race, immigration, gender, religion, and guns than the American mainstream and the authors suggest that the Republican party has pandered to them by emphasizing culture wars over policy. In fact, this group is not attuned to policy and regularly votes against policies that might help them. The authors have some prescriptions to address this but I'm not sure they will overcome the appeal to this group of voters of cultural warfare. The authors do appeal to progressives to focus less on trying to appease this group - while still enacting policies to help them - and more on the mainstream. One interesting tidbit was that the authors assert that partisan gerrymandering leads to non-competitive congressional districts. Thus, politicians from these districts don't have to compete on serving their constituents and get away with bashing government and engaging in culture wars - neither of which actually improve the lives of constitutents but rather reinforce political division. This was a thought-provoking book, well worth reading. It was a breath of fresh air in a climate that tries to appease this group at all costs.

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Antarctica: A Novel

Kim Stanley Robinson

March 14. Kim Stanely Robinson went to Antarctica in 1995 as part of the U.S. Antarctic Program's Artist and Writer's Program. This novel is a science and social fiction novel based in Antarctia in the near future. Having just been to Antarctica, I could relate to a lot of the places and characters. The book is about seveal characters working in Antarctica - one, named X, for ASL, the group that runs McMurdo station and another, named Val, who is an adventure travel guide. There are several other characters, including Wade, who is an assistant to a US Congressman and a group of "ferel" Antarcticans who are living off the grid (with a signture Kim Stanley Robinson mode of transportation - dirigibles. The story is about life in the Antarctica including some illegal oild and gas exploration and drama around the whole experience of living in an extreme climate. Having just been there, the book was very real and tangible for me. Robinson can sometimes be a bit ponderous and preachy in his writing. and this was no exception, but the book was entertaining, nevertheless.

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The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism

Martin Wolf

March 10. Wolf sees democracy and capitalism deeply intertwined and interdependent - each depends up the other for success. Further, he sees both as under assault, democracy from an assault by autocracy and plutocracy and capitalism from an assault on free market capitalism. He sees democracy as the best (or at least least worst) way for people to govern themselves and capitalism as the best (or at least least-worst) way to generate prosperity. Both have pathologies which lead to their demise and Wolf describes these pathologies and some prescriptions to address them. He does not propose wholesale revolution but, rather incremental change. Unlike a lot of critiques of politics and economics, he actually offers prescriptions to address the ills he sees. Most are pretty sensible and straightforward. The only fear I have is that in our polarized time, even they may be difficult to enact.

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The Deadline: Essays

Jill Lepore

March 1. Jill Lepore, author of These Truths, is probably my favorite historian. She is a Harvard history professor and staff write for the New Yorker. The Deadline is a collection of her essays for The New Yorker covering a wide variety of topics from Benjamin Franklin's sister to the January 6 Insurrection. Lepore has great insights and each essay is imbied with historical context. She often starts out with a little historical vignette and uses it to introduce a topic - such loneliness, impeachment, the presidential records act. Many of her essay are very timely and all are well-written. Reasing them was a pleasure and left me wanting to read more of her work.

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Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine

General David Patraeus and Andrew Roberts

February 20. This book is a linear history of warfare from 1945 to the present. It does not attempt to be comprehensive, but, rather to highlight conflicts that have evolved the state of warfare. He covers conflicts that many have forgotten about - the Chinese revolution after WWII, Malay insurgencies, Russia in Afghanistan, Grenada, Panama, Balkan wars. It is illuminating so see how much conflict there has been during that time. Patraeus describes how warfare has evolved and four key elements necessary for military leaders to master for success:

1. Comprehensively grasp the overal strategic situation and craft an appropriate strategic approach
2. Communicate the strategy to the organization and stakeholders
3. Oversee the implementation
4. Determine how to refine and adapt the strategy.

He and Roberts evaluate each conflict on these four elements. One thing that struck me is that while the methods and technology of warfare have evolved, creating ever more lethality and systemaic methods for battlefield success, the world seems to continue to get into wars without a clear purpose and while winning the battle (think Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan for the US), don't have a clear objective or plans to win the peace. It was also strking that while militaries can fight wars, other tools of foreign policy - such as diplomacy - are necessary to secure lasting peace. I hope those who advocate war will take away the larger lessons from this book - particulary understanding why we go to war in the first place and how to achieve peace rather than just endless warfare.

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The Edge: 6:20 Man Book 2

David Baldacci

February 4. This is the second in the 6:20 Man series. It is a murder mystery that takes place in a small town in Maine where a CIA agent who is the daughter of a prominent family is found murdered. Travis Devine, ex Army Ranger is dispatched to find out what happened. This is a classic candy page-turner – suitable for the beach (which is where I read it). Lots of characters and plot twists and turns. The military/spy aspect is almost gratuitous, and frankly, a little unbelievable. The author might have done better to leave that part out and just make it a murder mystery. Nevertheless, it was entertaining beach reading.

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Reykjavik: A Crime Story

Ragnar Jónasson and Katrín Jakobsdóttir

February 1. This is a crime story set in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1956 (when a murder occurred) and 1986 (when it was solved). In 1956, a 15 year-old girl, Lara, disappeared from the small island of Viday, just off the coast of Reyjakavik. The murder goes unsolved for 30 years until a reporter, Valur Robertsson, takes up the case. The story provides a good window into Reykjavik (where I recently visited) and Icelandic culture. Like a lot of Nordic books, the names are a bit difficult, but the story is a good one, well told. It is a classic murder mystery with Icelandic twists. Worth reading although somewhat candy.

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Invention and Innovation. A Brief History of Hype and Failure

Vaclev Smil

January 26. This is a short little book that describes a number of innovations, how they came to be, inintended consequences, and the hype that surrounded the innovations. Smil is a realist and – like his other books – describes things in a fact-based way that tends to dampen unbridled tech enthusiasm. He talked about innovations with unintended consequences – leaded gasoline, DDT, and chloroflourocarbins; innovations that were hyped but never lived up to the hype – airships, nuclear fission, and supersonic flight – inventions we keep waiting for – vacuum travel (i.e. hyperloop), nitrogen fixing cereals, controlled nuclear fusion. Overall he paints a sober view of invention and innovation as a guided trial and error process. He very much supports the view that invention and innovation move the world forward but punctures that balloon of unbridled tech optimism and unrealistic expectations.

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The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism

Tim Alberta

January 16. Tim Alberta is an evangelical himself who chronicles from the inside what has happened to the U.S evangelical movement as it has turned from a religious movement to a political movement. He interviews a number of evangelical members and leaders. He asserts that the evangelical political movement does not follow the teachings of Jesus that evangelical Chrristians espouse. In fact much of the attitude and rhetoric of the evangelical political movement is downright un-Christian. I liked the book, Alberta does a good job of explaining what happened to the American evangelical movement and exposes its hypocrisy. What I was a little disappointed with is that, while he describes what happened, he does not really describe why a movement rooted in Christian teachings about loving one’s neighbor turned into such a hateful and divisive political movement.

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Resurrection Walk: A Lincoln Lawyer Novel

Michael Connelly

January 10. This was a classic Connelley novel. Harry Bosch is working with his half-brother Mickey Haller on finding cases where there was an unjust conviction. This was mostly a courtroom novel with most of the action happening in the courtroom. Having read both Bosch and Haller books, it was a bit confusing who was doing the narrating (Haller was in the first person). The book was, as usual, well written and a pretty good story about a woman wrongfully (as it turns out) accused of killing her husband. Maggie McFierce makes a brief appearance. Now that Lincoln Lawyer is a Netflix TV series, it is easier to envision Haller. Worth reading for those who are fans of Bosch and Haller.

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