I generally avoid reading news and prefer to read books about things that have happened a few years after they've happened.
Any recs?
Oh...tons, I have a bunch of them recommended in my journal, but it's like 50 pages long. I read about absolutely everything, but a few key recommendations off the top of my head are:
Invisible Women:
-One of the most critically informative books I've ever read, if you read one book on this list, make it this one. It's about a MAJOR universal flaw in data analysis.)
Taleb's Incerto series (for obvious reasons)
Blowout:
-A frequently hilarious overview of the last several decades of geopolitical happenings in the oil and gas world. You will grasp the news better if you read this.
Blood and Oil:
-The rise of Mohammed Bin Salman and how this relates to the tech unicorns of the west.
The Contrarian:
-Peter Thiel biography, helps even better understand what's happening in the tech world, how it relates to politics, etc.
Bad Blood and Billion Dollar Loser:
-Two books about "tech" unicorns that weren't actually tech companies: Theranos and We Work. How easily they amassed billions in funding for literally nothing, Bad Blood is the much better book. Million Dollar Loser is informative, but not nearly as good a read.
Everybody Lies:
-The rise of Big Data and how it conflicts with previously established "facts" found in academic research.
Mindfuck:
-Cambridge Analytica story told from the inside.
Empire of Pain:
-The genesis of the opioid epidemic.
Bottle Of Lies:
-Corruption in the generic drug industry in India.
The Meritocracy Trap:
-The background ideology behind how business is practiced today.
The Tragedy of Heterosexuality:
-The history of modern romantic marriage and what that has to do with Nazis.
Salt Sugar Fat and Hooked, both by Michael Moss:
-The history of the food industry.
Unsavoury Truth:
-How nutrition science is basically just really expensive marketing copy and why none of it makes any sense.
McMindfulness:
-How mindfulness is being abused in the corporate context.
The Nordic Theory of Everything:
-Why are Americans so bloody anxious?
Looks Can Kill:
-The massive epidemic of abuse of illegal appearance enhancing drugs like steroids and thyroid meds that the medical world doesn't know is happening, especially among youth. IMO all parents should read this.
Hype:
-The rise of the influencer, but as a very broad concept, centers in the Fyre Festival as the key example.
The Undoing Project:
-An exploration of human bias and the two quirky scientist best friends who were pioneers in this space, which changed, well, everything.
David and Goliath:
-A reframing of a lot of misinterpretations of power throughout history.
Braiding Sweetgrass:
-The connection between science and Indigenous ways of knowing. This is a growing field of interest and the Canadian government is actively seeking to capitalize on Indigenous scientific knowledge, especially as it relates to the arctic where big shit is currently happening. I'm having a hard time finding literature on it, for obvious reasons.
Weapons of Math Destruction:
-Data and AI and the dangers of interpretation)
Of course I highly recommend general history and world religions. No god but God by Resa Aslan is an amazing overview of the history is Islam, and the geopolitical state of the world today just cannot be understood without a firm grasp of the history of Islam, IMO.
I don't have recommendations for books for other religions because I took courses on them in university. I also don't have recommendations for books on racism or indigenous history because I also took full courses on those as well.
If a topic is really complex and you're looking for foundational knowledge, often an online course is a better way to go rather than trying to read one book from a single writer.
