My reading in 2025 not much different than past years. I continued to learn history, including Iran, Africa, Chinese Americans, Native Americans, Abolition, Reconstruction, Civil Rights, and the rise of the new right and our current polarizaiton. I also read a few books that made many best of lists and especially liked the Brian Goldstone’s Pulitzer Prize winning There is…
Read more >I often go in cycles with my reading. I delved into the Beatles and Bob Dylan during the first part of the year also reading about Chuck Berry, Robyn Hitchcock, and Joni Mitchell. I couldn’t help but read German filmmaker Werner Herzog’s memoir with a title like “Every Man For Himself and God Against All.” I thought Monsters was an…
Read more >This year’s reading list involved learning more about Mexican civil rights, transgender history and theory, Native American history and present, tyranny, the FBI, poverty, the economics of slavery, abolition, women’s rights in Iceland, demographic analysis of voter attitudes during the last election, Palestine and Israel, and biographies of Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King. On the music end,…
Read more >I joined the Freewheeling’ Rob Kelly on his podcast that goes song by song through the Bob Dylan catalogue to discuss the humorous “Motorpsycho Nitemare” from 1964. I talk about my journey to becoming a fan and provide some personal experience and analysis related to the song.
Read more >My 2022 Reading List began studying Liberia, exploring Native American history, a study of broken systems in child welfare and homelessness through the eyes of a child, then a journey through Abolition, Reconstruction, Ida B Wells, WEB DuBois, and William Lloyd Garrison. This year also included a look at racist violence, union challenges, a pandemic, and widening wealth gaps a…
Read more >This year, I studied and read books about policing and criminal justice, early American history, Latino history, Native American history in the South, reckoning with our history, Juneteenth, the filibuster, democracy, the darkness of the Trump years and a hopeful read of history that could restore us. I also wrestled with conservative philosophy. On music, I dug into my two…
Read more >In 2020, my reading journey included a deep dive into the four decade rise of the modern conservative movement, a deep dive into Reconstruction through the coup in Wilmington, a study of the Trail of Tears, the Great Migration, and the Troubles in Northern Ireland. I also explored Caste, James Baldwin’s ideas, the legal structures of systemic racism, the polarization…
Read more >I am not a critic but love movies and with my travel and my wife’s shared interest, we see a lot. Here is my take on Oscars and the films I really enjoyed this year. My TV and Streaming list is here. My Oscar Picks I think the best film of 2019 was Parasite. Surprising and relevant film about class…
Read more >I spent 122 nights on the road last year, and between flights, hotel rooms, eliptical machines, and dining alone I get to read and watch a lot. I am not a cultural critic, I just watch a lot. Here is my TV and Streaming List (I’ll separately post my movie list). There was so much great TV this year. Best of…
Read more >This year I caught 41 new releases and this list won’t be complete until I see some of the other films that I missed in theaters and am waiting to see online or haven’t dropped in Milwaukee or online yet (e.g., Cold War, If Beale Street Could Talk, Burning, Ollie and Stan). So this list will be updated in another…
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