The Monday Mix (18/07/2022)
Hey friends,
I write this as I’m sweltering in the worst heatwave I’ve ever experienced in the UK. When I lived in Australia and Spain, this kind of heat was normal in the summer there, but I’ve never experienced it here. While it’s only going to last two days, today and tomorrow, it’s a stark reminder of what our future potentially holds. If temperatures can reach 40 degrees on this grey, windy and wet island I call home, then I dread to think what they can reach elsewhere!
Here’s what I want to share with you this week.
The Populism of Yuval Noah Harari
Yuval Noah Harari is one of the most popular public historians at the moment. His books Sapiens and Homo Deus have sold millions. But are the words he writes worth paying attention to? I got caught up in the hype surrounding him a few years ago, but recently I’ve come across a lot of people who don’t like him. After reading the above article I can see why. His books are broad strokes and generalize a lot of topics, while there’s a lack of substance to his ideas too. By all means, read Harari’s books if you haven’t but look at them with a critical eye as I failed to do.
Railways Explained
After travelling around Italy on high-speed rail, I’ve become somewhat obsessed with finding out more about it and all the various projects that are underway. Coming from a construction background in my family and having worked in the industry for a while myself, I’ve always been fascinated by how things are built and the scale of projects. This is a great YouTube channel that goes into detail about various rail projects, many of them high-speed, around the globe. With temperatures through the roof here this week, building more high-speed rail is a necessity if we want to decarbonise our economy. This channel is a goldmine and well worth binging!
When You Find Out What Others Think of You
A really interesting essay on what it feels like to be exposed to an email about yourself you weren’t supposed to see and the wider implications. It was written in 2003, so the extension of electronic communication has only increased. This is good in many ways, as it makes it easier to stay in touch with one another, but it also means a lot of conversations that would have been lost in the ether in the past are now recorded in history. Available to reread whenever we want. Whether this is good or bad is debatable.
Book I’m reading - All In It Together by Alwyn Turner
I’m enjoying this book on the social history of Britain in the 21st century. It’s a bit strange reading a history book on a period you lived through yourself, but I’m learning a lot despite that. The title refers to a phrase David Cameron used during the 2010 election. An ironic slogan as we most definitely were not all in it together during his six years in power.
Quote I’m pondering: “The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the disenchantment of the world.” – Max Weber
That’s all for this week.
Until next time,
Tom