Books are Good, Actually

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: T...

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 -...

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 Sta...

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-an...

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 a...

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 Pende...

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-...

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...

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 - J...

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.&...

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 Revolut...

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/blo...

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...

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 - Rev...

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/brai...

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-36...

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...

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 -  Settler...

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-...

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-wor...