Re-upping.

Book #42. Digging these.

Despite leading the match, I maintain that Norway is between Iraq and a hard place.

Thirty-one years of Toy Story movies. Jesus.

Boom #41. Fascinating and lively examination of the life and times of the first King of England. Woodman makes the case that victory in 924 should be considered the founding of England and not defeat in 1065.

@dameshek.bsky.social I think Taken is a brilliant critique of America post-9/11. French director. Our hero is some special ops-adjacent. Knows how to do one thing only. Well two. Break things and kill people. Daughter gets kidnapped by Albanians. Muslims but not *those* Muslims. Dad to the…

Book #40. Clearly taking off from Slotkin’s “Myth of the American Frontier” trilogy but without the film/literary references and with much more anger. Really, really good stuff.

It’s fucked up to learn the Nazis took all our good ideas.

Book #39. Not as tight as “Everybody Knows,” but still damn good. The nastiness a little too baroque and ripped-from-today’s-headlines.

Book #38. Interesting and lively life and times of Offa, King of the Mercians (757-796).

Book #37 Brilliant. Traces the very long careers of five Labour lefties. Three of whom who were (nearly) undone because of England’s bizarre Third Man-like hunt for anti-Semite’s everywhere. Worth adding that Corbyn’s runs brought millions more Labour votes than Blair or Starmer.

I could 100% do this job. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/27/u...

Book #36* This sycophantic, hagiographic “history” of the CIA during the Cold War was 100% written with the complete guidance and support of said agency. This one paragraph is basically the tenor of the entire book. Brutal. *Full disclosure: I finally bailed on pg 665 of 893.

There’s been some *outstanding* reporting over the weekend.

The CW is that the R’s are going to take a beating at the mid-terms. Is there 1) any actual evidence of this, and 2) so what if they do? Like what the fuck is going to change?

Book #35 Walking the path of Princip in 1914. Interwoven with the author’s memories and experiences of covering the war in Bosnianin the 90s. Very good.

Hmmm…. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/15/n...

Book #34. I love me some Khalili in the LRB but this was a total dud albeit mercifully short. Slapdash, disorganized, disjointed, and superficial.

Bigger bust: Liz Truss or Keir Starmer? While Starmer far outdistanced Truss’s loser, lettuce term, no one actually expected anything from her, right? Starmer has been a straight up, no doubt about it empty suit. Just an absolute nonentity.

New York Times airlessly reports on Israeli report on reported sexual violence committed by Hamas, which reports that it was “widespread” according to the reporters of said report. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/w...

Book #33. Sunken German subs off the coast of New Orleans. Neo-Nazi/white supremecists running around trying to locate said sub. Robicheaux somewhat tediously toeing the line. ≈200pgs longer than others in the series and you feel it.

I wrote about Bifo Berardi’s heinous new book "Thinking Gaza" for @defector.com Had to restrain myself from throwing this one across the room multiple times while reading. Not only deeply unserious as a work of theory, but also politically abhorrent. defector.com/franco-berar...

Book #32. So densely packed it often left me intellectually floundering. Easily one of the best, most illuminating books I’ve read.

@martindbbrown.bsky.social Fascinating book.

Book #31. An odd book. Always interesting and informative but often disjointed and borderline incoherent.

The Marshall Plan, I suppose, an exception.

I’m starting to think launching an unprovoked war of aggression on Iran was a bad idea.

Book #30. My first Hillerman. Good stuff.

Book #29. Far from the best of the “Parker” books but hardly a disappointment.

Book #28. Nothing but a chore.

Book #27. It’s often hard to think of things America got right. Anywhere. Ever.

I turned 40 today. In three weeks, I'll be going to Paris for the second time. To celebrate both, here are my 40 favorite French films. Chronological order. One per director, lest it become the Alain Resnais Show. As with anything, what is "French" can be ambiguous, but I kept it fairly strict.

I guess guy-hiding-behind-a-tree-with-a-gun is considered an “assassination attempt” now.

Those “Iranian” assassins are at it again, it seems

I’d not seen this grotesque, fawning profile from Amy Chozick until my son sent it to me. Yet another stain on the New York Times. Just an utter embarrassment. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/11/b...

Book #26. Probably not Radden Keefe’s main intended takeaway but for me it was: whatever faith one may have in authority or the system, lose it.

@glennkenny.bsky.social www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Book #25. Fun, has a reasonably authentic feel, and best of all, under 300pgs.

New post! (paid subscribers only, this time). The Ellisons, Paramount, Warner Brothers, movies, Big Business concentration, Democracy, and how a crusader once took fought for the future. by.brianralexander.com/the-paramoun...

Me tonight after I drink from 4 to 17 beers. media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2l...

Tangential to this but it seems to me conventional wisdom that the R’s will perform poorly in the mid-terms. Then there will be some restraints imposed on the admin. I have to admit that I don’t get why would that be the case? giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Every once in a while, the little guys check a break.

@kevinrothrock.me You probably saw this already. Reminds me of the Snyder v Evans battles in the NYRB from several years ago. www.nybooks.com/articles/202...