Books are Good, Actually

For April, we read Up in Arms by John Temple. We discuss the timeline of the Bundy saga, how the FBI went wrong, the Patriot movement and militas and also Ammon Bundy's current status. May: The Black Jacobins by C. L. R. JamesJune: How to Sell a Genocide by Adam H. JohnsonJuly: Blood in the Machine by Brian Merchant

For March, we capped off our 14th Century French tour with Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman! We discuss how much we enjoyed the story, characters and moments. Also Angela missing a major plot point and how it is essentially Dark Souls in book form!April - Up In Arms: How The Bundy Family Hijacked Federal Lands, Outfoxed the Federal Government, and Ignited America's Patriot Militia Movement by John Temple

We finish up A Distant Mirror and the end of Enguerrand de Coucy's bizarre adventure. We discuss France's missteps, the potential if they weren't so bullheaded about their tactics and also if the distant mirror is so distant!March - Between Two Fires by Christopher BuehlmanApril - Up In Arms: How The Bundy Family Hijacked Federal Lands, Outfoxed the Federal Government, and Ignited America's Patriot Militia Movement by John Temple

New year, new two parter! We start off with A Distant Mirror by Barbara W. Tuchman. We discuss our history of 14th century (spoilers: we don't have much), Angela mispronouncing the Enguerrand and surprising facts!February - A Distant Mirror Part Two by Barbara W. TuchmanMarch - Between Two Fires by Christopher BuehlmanApril - Up In Arms: How The Bundy Family Hijacked Federal Lands, Outfoxed the Federal Government, and Ignited America's Patriot Militia Movement by John Temple

To close out the year, we read the Spanish Civil War by Helen Graham. We discuss the conflict, the differences between women in Republican and Franco society, the international brigades, and how the international community royally screwed up everything! Video game mentioned - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1909100/Only_Lead_Can_Stop_Them/ For two months, we are doing a two parter because we now know better!January - A Distant Mirror Part One by Barbara W. TuchmanFebruary - A Distant Mirror Part Two by Barbara W. TuchmanMarch - Between Two Fires by Christopher BuehlmanApril - Up In Arms: How The Bundy Family Hijacked Federal Lands, Outfoxed the Federal Government, and Ignited America's Patriot Militia Movement by John Temple

We are finally back with The Fort Bragg Cartel by Seth Harp! We discussed a very meandering way of our experiences with special forces through different media, Iraq War, the murder of Lavigne and Dumas, and loads more! December: The Spanish Civil War by Helen Graham

For September, we read If We Burn by Vincent Bevins! We discussed our knowledge of these various protests, vanguardism vs horizontalism, social media influence on protests, and tactics! For October, we are taking a break but we'll be back in November! November: The Fort Bragg Cartel by Seth HarpDecember: The Spanish Civil War by Helen Graham

We maybe late but we did read the book All the Shah's Men by Stephen Kinzer! We discussed our knowledge of Iran, the British empire being a bunch of bastards, and why it's important to read books. September - If We Burn by Vincent Bevins

For July's book we read Conspiracy by Ryan Holiday! We go over our histories with Hulk Hogan, discuss Hulk Hogan's lies, Gawker's horrible lawyers and Peter Thiel being an idiot! Also Jimmy's cat conspired against him and tried to bite him. A thrilling episode! August: All the Shah's Men by Stephen KinzerSeptember: If we burn by Vincent Bevins

For the month of June we read Log Off by Katherine Cross! We discussed our relationship with social media, social media and the revolution, using platforms for organizing and why fandom is not politics. July: Conspiracy by Ryan HolidayAugust: All the Shah's Men by Stephen KinzerSeptember: If We Burn by Vincent Bevins

A little late but we completed We Will Shoot Back by Akinyele Umoja! We discussed lesson's learned with organizing and self-defense, Jimmy apparently discovered that he did read about Mississippi civil rights history, and our lack of knowledge of Nation of Islam. June - Log Off Why Posting and Politics (Almost) Never Mix by Katherine Cross

For April, we read the first four chapters of We Will Shoot Back by Akinyele Umoja. We discussed our knowledge of civil rights movement, non violence vs self defense, surprising new things we learned and also who we would be in the foxhole with! May - Finish up We Will Shoot BackJune - Log Off Why Posting and Politics (Almost) Never Mix by Katherine Cross

For March, we read On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder. We did...not like this book and why it didn't work for us, the shallow communist history examples, we had an anime corner, and if this book really is for anyone. April - We Will Shoot Back by Akinyele Omowale UmojaMay - Log Off Why Posting and Politics (Almost) Never Mix by Katherine Cross

For the month of February, we read In Case You Get Hit by a Bus: How to Organize Your Life Now for When You're Not Around Later by Abby Schneiderman, Adam Seifer, Gene Newman! We discussed what levels we have accomplished, how we may engage our family about their wills and other important items, what we think the minimum amount should be, password managers, and a homelab way of storing things. March - On Tyranny by Timothy SnyderApril - We Will Shoot Back by Akinyele Omowale UmojaMay - Log Off Why Posting and Politics (Almost) Never Mix by Katherine Cross

For the start of the new year, we read Red Star by Alexander Bogdanov! We discussed if we enjoyed Red Star or Engineer Menni, Bogdanov's view of women, if the book is effective socialist education, and if we would go to a Martian utopia! February - In Case You Get Hit by a Bus: How to Organize Your Life Now for When You're Not Around Later by Abby Schneiderman

For December, we ready Babel by R.F. Kuang! We discussed favorite characters, unexpected climaxes, Harry Potter comparison and our favorite ship! January - Red Star by Alexander Bogdanov February - In Case You Get Hit by a Bus: How to Organize Your Life Now for When You're Not Around Later by Abby Schneiderman

For November, we read Play Nice by Jason Schrier! We discussed our history with Blizzard, surprising facts and uncovering misconceptions, the difference between iD and Blizzard and brainstorming how we could solve Blizzard's problem forever! December - Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang January - Red Star by Alexander Bogdanov February - In Case You Get Hit by a Bus: How to Organize Your Life Now for When You're Not Around Later by Abby Schneiderman

For October, we read The Witch by Ronald Hutton. We discussed our knowledge of witches and witchcraft, how this books differs from The Calaban and the Witch, shamanism and how the Catholic church turned out to be reasonable! November - Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future Of Blizzard Entertainment by Jason Schreier

For September, we read Technopoly by Neil Postman and boy howdy...we had some thoughts and feels about this book. We discussed some Postman's war against social science, US a technopoly hellscape?, industries that have surrendered to technology and some Warhammer 40k! October - The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present by Ronald Hutton November - Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future Of Blizzard Entertainment by Jason Schreier

For August, we watched Don't Look Up directed by Adam McKay. We discussed our favorite characters and moments, what worked and didn't work, we answered the question about was this really an allegory to climate change and so much more! Articles referenced: https://www.technicianonline.com/culture/critics-are-right-about-don-t-look-up-it-sucks/article_528e4384-7224-11ec-acb0-7740f9a22af1.html https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2021/12/critics-of-dont-look-up-are-missing-the-entire-point https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2022/01/dont-look-up-satire/621256/ https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-crude-demagogy-of-dont-look-up Back to reading for the rest of the year! Maybe...? September - Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology by Neil Postman October - The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present by Ronald Hutton November - Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future Of Blizzard Entertainment by Jason Schreier

For July, we read The Murderbot Diaries: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells! We discuss our favorite characters and moments, revelations made or not made in the book, and if we are AI if we took questions from Reddit. For August, we are going to watch "Don't Look Up!" available on Netflix. Reddit questions: https://www.reddit.com/r/bookclub/comments/199kj1a/discussion_bonus_book_artificial_condition_by/

For the month of June, we read Slow Down by Kohei Saito! We discussed the life long pursuit of studying and reinterpreting Marx, Saito's four outcomes and futures, disaster capitalism, another rant on vegetarianism by Angela, and a very bad attempt to end on a more hopeful note. July:⁠⁠ Artificial Condition: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

For May, we read Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham! We discussed the little town around the little nuclear plant, the big explosion, who's at fault, and if we would even visit. June: ⁠Slow Down by Kohei Saito⁠ July:⁠ Artificial Condition: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

For April, we read Socialist States and the Environment Lessons for Eco-Socialist Futures by Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro! We discussed things we have learned from the examples of socialist states, what was missing from the book, comparison to Half-Earth Socialism, and degrowth policies. https://monthlyreview.org/2022/09/01/a-new-environmental-history-of-socialist-states/ May: Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham June: Slow Down by Kohei Saito July: Artificial Condition: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

For March, we read King Richard by Michael Dobbs! We discussed our knowledge about Watergate, interesting tidbits gleamed from the book, what critical mistakes were made and the structure of the book. Upcoming: April - ⁠⁠Socialist States and the Environment Lessons for Eco-Socialist Futures by Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro

For February, we read Neuromancer by William Gibson! We discussed our favorite characters and scenes, vocabulary/language, comparing Neuromancer with its contemporaries, Gibson's vision of the future and would we live in that world! Angela wrongly misidentified the comic Transmetropolitian as Cosmopolitian. Sorry for that mix up. Upcoming Books: March - ⁠King Richard by Michael Dobbs⁠ April - ⁠Socialist States and the Environment Lessons for Eco-Socialist Futures by Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro

New year, new book! For January, we read How to Read Lacan and we sort of understand it now. We discuss the regrettable choice of reading Less than Nothing first, looking at horror movies through Lacian lens, how dating can also be looked at in a Lacian lens and even Kingdom Hearts! Upcoming books: February - Neuromancer by William Gibson March - King Richard by Michael Dobbs April - Socialist States and the Environment Lessons for Eco-Socialist Futures by Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro

Our last book of the year, we read Half-Earth Socialism! We discussed that this is actually our third eco-socialist book, interrogated the solutions provided, veganism (again...Angela's fault), and the critique's! https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2022/05/30/book-review-half-earth-socialism-a-plan-to-save-the-future-from-extinction-climate-change-and-pandemics-by-drew-pendergrass-and-troy-vettese/ https://cosmonautmag.com/2022/10/who-holds-up-half-the-earth-a-review-of-half-earth-socialism/ January -⁠⁠⁠ How to Read Lacan by Zizkek⁠

For November, we discuss Ten Myths about Israel by Ilan Pappe! We discuss our own misconceptions and myths we have about Israel and Palestine, socialism and Zionism, an interesting discussion about Hamas, one state solution and how we can support the Pro-Palestinian side. December -⁠⁠ Half-Earth Socialism by Drew Pendergrass and Troy Vettese ⁠⁠ January -⁠⁠ How to Read Lacan by Zizkek

Another late one but we managed, for our October book we read Men,Women and Chainsaws! We discussed the surprising analysis of possession films, could we apply the same analysis to contagion movies, grouping of horror movies, horror movies and race, and a side chat about Resident Evil movies and The Human Centipede! Due to the Gaza Genocide we moved books down by one month: November -⁠Ten Myths about Israel by Ilan Pappe December -⁠ Half-Earth Socialism by Drew Pendergrass and Troy Vettese ⁠ January -⁠ How to Read Lacan by Zizkek

For September, we read Hegemony and Socialist Strategy by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe! Although we were late we did finish the book, we discussed the definitions, post-marxism, direct democracy, and starting compounds in minecraft. Youtube summary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEnjZZzcJ4Y October - Men, Women, and Chainsaws by Carol J. Clover November - Half-Earth Socialism by Drew Pendergrass and Troy Vettese December - How to Read Lacan by Zizkek

For August, we read Weird Scenes inside the Canyon and it was a doozy. We discussed the author's thesis, the evidence presented, debunked a misconception about Jim Morrison, the CIA, and most importantly Charles Manson! September - ⁠⁠Hegemony and Socialist Strategy

For July, instead of reading a book we watched a movie - How to Blowup a Pipeline! We discussed our favorite characters, how those character's motivations worked for us, opsec corner, FBI's portrayal, the trolley problem and much more. Next month, we are back to reading! Upcoming: August - ⁠Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon⁠ September - ⁠Hegemony and Socialist Strategy

For June, we read Blood in my Eye by George Jackson! We discussed Jackson's historical view and definition of fascism, Frankenstein's monster as capitalism, dogmatism in revolutionary theory and tactics, our favorite passages, and revolutionary violence. Question sources: https://www.liberationschool.org/blood-in-my-eye-study-guide/ https://www.liberationschool.org/george-jackson-blood-in-my-eye/ Upcoming: July - How to Blow up a Pipeline the movie 50th episode bonanza August - Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon September - Hegemony and Socialist Strategy

For May, we read Jesus and John Wayne by Kristen Kobes du Mez! We discuss muscular christianity, the tenets of evangelicalism, the myth of the cowboy and John Wayne, evangelicals obsession with sex and being very angry! Questions from: https://kristindumez.com/jesus-and-john-wayne-book-club-guide/ June - Blood in My Eye by George Jackson

For April, we read Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky! We discussed some of our misgivings with the tactics Alinksy described, the two people who recommended this book (surprising but at the same time...unsurprising), the categorization of haves and have-nots, means to an end, big tent organizations, and being on a CIA list. May - Jesus and John Wayne by Kristen Kobes Du Mez June - Blood in my Eye by George Jackson

For March, we read State and Revolution by Vladimir Lenin! We discussed our history with him, Kautsky, opportunists and what their goals are, how we can/cannot wither away the state, the problem with the dictatorship step and Sonic the hedgehog! Liberation School Questions - https://www.liberationschool.org/study-guide-the-state-and-revolution/ April - Rules for Radicals by Saul D. Alinsky May - Jesus and John Wayne by Kristen Kobes Du Mez June - Blood in my Eye by George Jackson

For the month of February, we finished up (well in the case for Jimmy...) The Dawn of Everything! In this episode we discussed why Angela didn't finish and the elusive chapter 11.5, how we felt the book defined states and other aspects of political power, bird chirping, cheesecake making, and discussion of critiques that were levied at the book. We also got sidetracked by communist sonic fan art.  https://mronline.org/2021/12/20/the-dawn-of-everything-gets-human-history-wrong/ March - State and Revolution by Vladimir Lenin 

For the month of January we started The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow! We discussed our history with pre-history and anthropology, failing of high school history, trying to define freedom, misconceptions of "tribal" life and a side bar about Guns,Germs and Steel.  February - Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow Chapters 7 - 12 March - State and Revolution by Vladimir Lenin 

New year, late start but we read in December Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P. Newton! We discussed our very tepid background on the author, Black Panther Party, the concept of revolutionary suicide and reactionary suicide, solitary confinement, cults, and the legacy of Black Panther Party itself. It gets a little spicy at the end ;)  Articles referenced: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mood-swings/201008/revolutionary-suicide  https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=34268  January - Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow Chapters 1 - 6 February - Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow Chapters 7 - 12 March - State and Revolution by Vladimir Lenin 

For November, we read Reform or Revolution by Rosa Luxemburg! We discussed Bernstein's and Luxemburg's position, just shitting on Bernstein, had a lot of side bars about vanguard parties and revolutions in history, pre-mature revolutions and changing our outro!  Resources: https://www.socialistrevolution.org/reform-or-revolution-a-reading-guide/ December - Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P. Newton

For spooky October, we read Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill. We discussed changing narratives, our previous knowledge of the time period of the book, what we think is the connection between the CIA and Manson, and remind everyone to not do speed! November - Reform or Revolution and Other Writings by Rosa Luxemburg  December - Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P. Newton

For September we read Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Kimmerer. We discussed our initial thoughts and impressions, how the book approached science and spirituality, reciprocity and gift economy, vibing with verbs, and potentially smoking peyote.  Discussion questions from:  https://medium.com/fwslibrary/braiding-sweetgrass-discussion-questions-eb7d3e0dc9ff https://inspiredepicurean.com/braiding-sweetgrass-book-club-questions/ Upcoming Books: October - Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill November - Reform or Revolution and Other Writings by Rosa Luxemburg  December - Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P. Newton

For August, we read Abolish Silicon Valley by Wendy Liu! We discussed our parallels with the author's journey, the naivety of the Cathedral and the Bazaar, we review her steps and how we think they didn't go far enough, and if we would join a start up and more!  Wendy Liu on Trash Future - https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-trashfuture-31139233/episode/abolish-silicon-valley-feat-wendy-liu-36102326/  Upcoming Books September - Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer October - Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill November - Reform or Revolution and Other Writings by Rosa Luxemburg  December - Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P. Newton

For July, we read and discuss Settlers by J. Sakai. We go over our impressions of the book, how this compares to People's History, failure of leftist organizations, J. Sakai's thesis, criticism and how to try to scam our way to a history master's program. We had a guest commentary from Angela's partner!  Sites mentioned: https://thecharnelhouse.org/2017/05/15/dont-bother-reading-settlers-by-j-sakai/ https://skeptomai.substack.com/p/j-sakai-mim-and-anarchism https://old.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/lyt97l/information_about_j_sakai/ https://libcom.org/article/when-race-burns-class-settlers-revisited-interview-j-sakai August - Abolish Silicon Valley by Wendy Liu

For June, we read Goddess of Anarchy by Jacqueline Jones, we discuss our previous knowledge of Chicago and Texas history and labor movements, some critical Amazon reviews, the Haymarket trial, Lucy's and Albert's tactics and their effectiveness, amongst other things including if Lucy would be a podcaster or a debate bro.  Support abortion funds! https://abortionfunds.org/ July - Settlers by J. Sakai August - Abolish Silicon Valley by Wendy Liu

For May, we read All Systems Red by Martha Wells! We discussed our impressions, our favorite characters and moments, the gender of Murderbot, what we hope to see in the future books and we didn't talk about Elden Ring even once!  Jimmy sounds like he's in a fishbowl due to some unavoidable sound issues, I tried my best.  Tor Article: https://www.tor.com/2018/03/21/life-lessons-from-a-murderbot-reading-all-systems-red-as-a-trans-woman/ Additional Discussion Question: https://wpl-podcast.winnipeg.ca/july-discussion-all-systems-red-by-martha-wells/ June - Goddess of Anarchy by Jacqueline Jones July - Settlers by J. Sakai August - Abolish Silicon Valley by Wendy Liu

We finally finish up our fourt parter of Less than Nothing! We discuss the last part and the conclusion, our feelings about it, we try to answer the question of does Zizek accomplish what he was after, do we still need Zizek, Chomsky vs Zizek, then we go on various tangents and a bird appears!  Articles mentioned:  https://www.currentaffairs.org/2022/04/noam-chomsky-on-how-to-prevent-world-war-iii  May - Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red by Martha Wells June - Goddess of Anarchy by Jacqueline Jones July - Settlers by J. Sakai August - Abolish Silicon Valley by Wendy Liu

We continue reading Less than Nothing for March and part 3 was a very difficult section to get through, we talked about Terminator and the letter, how Zizek presents Lacan and our lack of knowing Lacan, Elden Ring, being able to skip Hofstadter, and Zizek's articles on the Ukraine and Russian war.  Next month we will wrap up Less than Nothing and will provide a book list for the next few months! Related Articles: https://theoryreader.org/2022/02/25/was-russias-rape-of-ukraine-inevitable-by-slavoj-zizek/ https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/europe-unequal-treatment-of-refugees-exposed-by-ukraine-by-slavoj-zizek-2022-03 https://kurtayacademics.com/2022/03/04/ukraine-and-the-third-world-prof-slavoj-zizek/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/lacan/ https://www.textetc.com/theory/lacan.html

In February, we are continuing to read to the end of Part 2 of Slavoj Zizek's Less than Nothing! We attempt to connect F.D. Signifier's video on Drake and the Death of Hip Hop with dialectics, we veer into Dark Souls and Elden Ring association with dialectics, we talk about our favorite passages, Zizek's problem with marriage, and we once again answer do we need Hegel in our current time.  F.D. Signifier - Drake and the Death of Hip Hop Less than Nothing March - Part 3 April - Part 4 (Summing up and re-examiniation )