The Worthy House (Charles Haywood)
Charles Haywood
I am here to give you back your future. Human flourishing in the coming post-liberal West. The hour is late, and Moloch is within the gates. Foundationalism. Reality-focused writings, often on history and politics.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 21, 2020 • 25min
Why Liberalism Failed (Patrick J. Deneen)
Thoughts, from two years ago now, on Patrick Deneen's seminal work, the first major work of post-liberalism in the modern era. (The written version of this review was first published December 19, 2017. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)
Jan 18, 2020 • 40min
Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress (Steven Pinker)
My review of @sapinker's "Enlightenment Now." A mixed bag, as usual with Pinker, lurching wildly from Very Good to Very Bad. (The written version of this review was first published February 16, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)
Jan 16, 2020 • 26min
Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy (Jonah Goldberg)
Peerless NeverTrumper Jonah Goldberg instructs us how to view the world. (The written version of this review was first published May 2, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)
Jan 14, 2020 • 26min
Nemesis: Alcibiades and the Fall of Athens (David Stuttard)
Of Men of Destiny, and of the protean Alcibiades, man of glory and contradiction, and of what his life says to us today. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)
Jan 10, 2020 • 26min
Ages of Discord: A Structural-Demographic Analysis of American History (Peter Turchin)
I am skeptical of the art of predicting the future based on the past, but Peter Turchin offers a compelling theory in this 2016 book—including predicting that 2020 will be a very bad year. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)
Jan 8, 2020 • 16min
Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s (Frederick Lewis Allen)
Thoughts on a misleading and mendacious book that has been used to propagandize generations of schoolchildren. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)
Jan 6, 2020 • 27min
The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy (Mariana Mazzucato)
This book explains a great deal this is otherwise opaque, and shows why the propaganda we are fed about value, GDP and the like, is propaganda, that blinds us to the reality of our economy. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)
Jan 3, 2020 • 37min
The Power of the Powerless (Václav Havel)
Václav Havel's famous essay, born of a specific time and place, resonates decades later in our own proto-totalitarian society. What should be done? Havel tells us. (The written version of this review was first published May 18, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)
Dec 26, 2019 • 25min
The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Karl Polanyi)
I thought this book was be good; I was wrong. Free market fundamentalism is bad, to be sure, but what Karl Polanyi offers isn't better, and his analysis is dated. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)
Dec 20, 2019 • 20min
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (John Carreyrou)
John Carreyrou's Bad Blood is unbelievably good. No recap of the book, though: rather thoughts on every on at Theranos behaving badly, including, especially, the lawyers. And my take on why Elizabeth Holmes was able to do what she did. Also why autonomous cars are BS. (The written version of this review was first published September 25, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)
