VIOLETTE JEAN has an ebook sale
at BOOKSHOP.ORG
Don't miss it.

Super Price $1.99
From JUNE 1 to JUNE 8
#bookshop.org
# readitclub
#books
#bookstodon
#violettejeanbooks.com
#booksky
#lrb.uk
#nybooks.com

ENJOY!

David Runciman · Trivial Pursuits: Gamification

Any scoring system can be abused once it gets captured. But the fact remains that a scoring system can also be the most...

London Review of Books
Eben ein Album der Little River Band von 1978 gehört. Was für eine Zeitreise! Fand deren Musik damals so gut, dass ich den Ort Little River auf der Landkarte gesucht und gefunden habe. Etwas mehr als 10 Jahre später bin ich sogar dort hingefahren. Der Ort selbst war semi, viel schöner der einige Kilometer entfernte Ort Akaroa.
Während dieser Zeitreise wurde mir bewusst, dass grob nächstes Jahr der Punkt gekommen sein wird, an dem „meine“ Studierenden noch gar nicht geboren waren, als ich meine jetzige Tätigkeit aufnahm. Puh! Wir vergehen in der Zeit.
Die Musik ist immer noch klasse. #lrb
@carlton and Inow I wait for the feckless Niall Ferguson to spout faux outrage at calling his overlords pieces of shits. The #LRB review is a stinging rebuke and a good one.
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n02/iza-ding/studying-is-harmful
Iza Ding · Studying is harmful: China sits the Gaokao

In a country plagued by corruption, China’s national college entrance exam, the gaokao, is remarkably clean. ‘Open...

London Review of Books
A little wisdom from the #LRB

James Butler's article on #GortonAndDenton in #LRB is astute, especially about the strategic folly of the so-called "#LabourParty". A fine read: https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/february/just-voting / https://archive.is/xgwDa

But I was very struck by Butler's comments on the divide in #ReformUK. I assume that the billionaire media which fuels Reform will drive the #cultureWar as far as it can go without splitting Reform until Reform has had power to do phase 1 damage. Then they back the ultras.

Any other thoughts?

#ukpol

Lovely piece found in my #lrb backlog about handwriting, the brain and the “line that is not stupid”

Anne Carson · Beware the man whose handwriting sways like a reed in the wind https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v47/n04/anne-carson/beware-the-man-whose-handwriting-sways-like-a-reed-in-the-wind

#psychology #amreading

Anne Carson · Beware the man whose handwriting sways like a reed in the wind

This​ is an essay about hands and handwriting. I think of handwriting as a way to organise thought into shapes. I like...

London Review of Books

I very much enjoyed this piece from Adam Shatz on America in the new LRB

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n02/adam-shatz/another-country #lrb

Adam Shatz · Another Country: Visions of America

Is America a dream or a nightmare, a democratic paradise or a bastion of white supremacy and religious intolerance? Is...

London Review of Books

@cstross Reminds me of this article of Richard Rorty’s from 2004.

> In a worst-case scenario, historians will someday have to explain why the golden age of Western democracy […] lasted only about two hundred years.

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v26/n07/richard-rorty/post-democracy #LRB

Richard Rorty · Post-Democracy: anti-terrorism and the national security state

London Review of Books

The #LRB pod talks with historian #GregGrandin about the US attack on #Venezuela -- "what the intervention reveals about #Trump’s intentions in the region and his wider foreign policy, and why, as in the past, such adventures will ultimately expose the limits of US power."

https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/the-lrb-podcast/on-politics-venezuela-and-the-trump-doctrine
#Maduro #USpol #USpolitics #USforeignPolicy #LatinAmerica #imperialBullying

Podcast: Greg Grandin and James Butler · On Politics: Venezuela and the Trump Doctrine

London Review of Books