American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

Episode 12: Karl Jacoby, Crimes Against Nature

As we prepare for our deep dive into James C. Scott's work, we finish up with a related text, Karl Jacoby's Crimes Against Nature. This is one of the more fascinating looks at the history of conservation and helps us ask the question, for just who were the conservationists conserving, and did they do a better job that the people who made their living in spaced deemed "wilderness".

Episode 11: Catherine McNeur, "Taming Manhattan" (2/2)

The conclusion to my review of TAMING MANHATTAN by Catherine McNeur. What can we learn from this book about making more environmentally sustainable cities? Will the drive to improve urban environments always lead to the class wars and conflicts discussed in this book?

Episode 10: Catherine McNeur, Taming Manhattan (1/2)

Catherine McNeur writes a wonderful account of environmental conflicts and how they became class conflicts and fights over the boundaries between rural and urban in antebellum Manhattan. TAMING MANHATTAN is a great starting place for reading engaging and relevant environmental history,

Episode 9: Mark Fiege: Republic of Nature (4/4)

The completion of my review of the lengthy but excellent book "The Republic of Nature" by Mark Fiege. Strongly recommended. What did you think?

Episode 8: Mark Fiege: Republic of Nature (3/4)

Part three of my review of Mark Fiege's Republic of Nature covers a wide swap of American history in just a couple of chapters. One explores the environmental history of the transcontinental railroad and the other looks at Los Alamos and the scientists who developed the atomic bomb. While I may have wanted a bit more on industrial America, it is hard to fault a book this solid in its interpretive lens. 

Episode 7: Mark Fiege: Republic of Nature (2/4)

Part two of my review of Mark Fiege's excellent book The Republic of Nature. In this chapter we focus on the mid-nineteenth century with a chapter on the ecology of the cotton economy, the ecology of Lincoln's worldview, and the ecology of Gettysburg. What aspects of history do you think could we use to explore themes of environmental history?

Episode 6: Mark Fiege, The Republic of Nature: An Environmental History of the United States (Part1/4)

The first part of my four episode review of Mark Fiege's excellent The Republic of Nature: An Environmental History of the United States. In the first two chapters we explore the environmental context of witch trials, religious dissent, the American Revolution, Monticello, and the Puritan encounter with indigenous people. 

Episode 5: Turner and Isenberg, Republican Reversal: Conservatives and the Environment from Nixon to Trump (2/2)

Part two of my review of Republican Reversal, a book exploring the fate of the Republican commitment to federal conservation laws. I found it pretty bleak, but maybe there is some hope. I do think the book needs an update to consider the last 8 years. 

Episode 4: Turner and Isenberg, Republican Reversal: Conservatives and the Environment from Nixon to Trump (1/2)

The first part of my review of The Republican Reversal: Conservatives and the Environment from Nixon to Trump. While this book is quite short, it is essential reading to understand the conservatives turn away from conservation. Some of the "whys" are obvious but quite a few are surprising. 

Episode 3: Mark Smith: Smell of Battle, the Taste of Siege

In this episode I look at a sensory history of the American Civil War. It is a fascinating way to look at the past, but like so many sensory experiences, this one left me wanting more. What do you think of looking at the past through the realm of the senses?

Episode 2: Jeremy Zallen: American Lucifers (Part 2/2)

The second part of my review of the excellent history book American Lucifers: The Dark History of Artificial Light. Who are today's Lucifers and is their story still dark?

Episode 1: Jeremy Zallen: American Lucifers, The Dark History of Artificial Light (Part 1/2)

To start this new phase of this podcast, I am reviewing one of the best history books I read in the past year, Jeremy Zallen's American Lucifers, a book about capitalism, labor, violence, and the environment and how they all interrelate. Let me know what you think of the ideas of the book and if you read the book, let me know what you think I got wrong. 

Soft Reboot Episode

The episode in which I explain where this podcast will go from here, so as not to overwhelm me and my capacities. 

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 103: No Time For Love (Part 1)

This is the first episode of my review of Robert Heinlein's longest work, NO TIME FOR LOVE. We are reintroduced to an old friend, Lazarus Long, as he reflects on his life (but maybe not enough reflection for this reader).

Episode 663: James Baldwin: The Devil Finds Work (1976)

THE DEVIL FINDS WORK was James Baldwin's final major essay and a fascinating exploration of how he has seen and experienced American (and some non-American) films over the course of his life, finding the problem at the heart of America's major cultural export.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 102: I Will Fear no Evil (Part 4)

The finale of my review of I WILL FEAR NO EVIL by Robert A. Heinlein. Next up, NO TIME FOR LOVE.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 101: I Will Fear No Evil (Part 3)

Part three of my thoughts on I WILL FEAR NO EVIL by Robert A. Heinlein.

Episode 662: James Baldwin: No Name in the Street

My quick review of James Baldwin's excellent essay NO NAME IN THE STREET. The last 20 pages of this essay are particularly hard hitting and remain meaningful.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 100: I Will Fear No Evil (Part 2)

Boy does this book drag on. Lots of good stuff, but Robert A. Heinlein seems to take his precious time getting there. Is I WILL FEAR NO EVIL a sign of what will come later in his works?

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 99: I Will Fear No Evil (Part 1)

Part 1 of 4 of my review of I WILL FEAR NO EVIL by Robert A. Heinlein. I wonder how other recent readers of this book look back on it. Obviously the novel deals with gender in sexuality in transgressive ways, but it also seems very old fashioned in its approach. 

Episode 661: James Baldwin: The Fire Next Time (1963)

Brief thoughts on James Baldwin's 1963 essay THE FIRE NEXT TIME and its place in American history. 

Episode 660: James Baldwin: Nobody Knows My Name, More Notes of a Native Son

In this episode I review James Baldwin's collection of essays NOBODY KNOWS MY NAME: MORE NOTES OF A NATIVE SON. These essays bridge his time in Paris to his engagement in the discourse on civil rights in America. 

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 98: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Part 3)

The conclusion to my review of THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS. In the next episode we will being a four part dive into I WILL FEAR NO EVIL. 

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 97: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Part 2)

Part two of my review of THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS by Robert A. Heinlein. In this episode, I cover the revolt on the Moon and some of the political theory at the heart of the novel, both the spoken and unspoken parts. 

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 96: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Part 1)

Part 1 of 3 of my review of THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS, one of Heinlein's most famous and well-regarded books. Often billed a libertarian novel, is it better to look at it as anti-colonial? Can it be both? 

Episode 659: James Baldwin: Notes of a Native Son

We begin our look at James Baldwin's essays with his 1955 collection NOTES OF A NATIVE SON. Some of the topics explored in this collection are black representation in culture, expat life in Paris, and political life in Harlem. 

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 95: Farnham's Freehold (Second Half)

The second part of my review of FARNHAM'S FREEHOLD by Robert A. Heinlein. I really struggled with this book, but think it reveals the fundamental problem with Heinlein's relationship with the American past. 

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 94: Farnham's Freedhold (First Half)

I talk a bit about GLORY ROAD to finish up my thoughts on that novel, but I have decided to move onto Heinlein's FARNHAM'S FREEDHOLD. Is it his worst novel? Maybe not, but it is sure is trying hard. We will see what the second half gives us. 

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 93: Glory Road (First Half)

I had hoped to talk about the first half of GLORY ROAD by Robert A. Heinlein, but I ended up talking about most of the events of the book. It is definitely one that needs to be unpacked for some of the larger discussions we are having about Heinlein. 

Episode 658: James Baldwin: Going to Meet the Man (2)

In this episode I review the final four stories of GOING TO MEET THE MAN by James Baldwin. This episode includes my look at the titular story, which remains one of the most well-known and widely read of Baldwin's works. 

Episode 657: James Baldwin: Going to Meet the Man (1)

In this episode I talk about the first four stories of the great collection by James Baldwin GOING TO MEET THE MAN. 

Episode 656: James Baldwin: Another Country (4)

The final episode of my review of ANOTHER COUNTRY by James Baldwin. This novel deserves to be remembered as one of the best of the later 20th century. 

Episode 655: James Baldwin: Another Country (Part 3)

Part three of my review of the wonderful novel ANOTHER COUNTRY by James Baldwin. In this section, Eric returns to New York and crisis deepens in the relationships of our main characters Ida, Vivaldo, Cass, and Richard. 

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 92: Podkayne of Mars

In this episode I take a quick look at the excellent short novel by Robert A. Heinlein PODKAYNE OF MARS. It is one of my favorite Heinlein novels I have read and it really seems Heinlein can write young characters well, just not young men. 

Episode 654: James Baldwin: Another Country (2)

Part two of my review of ANOTHER COUNTRY by James Baldwin. For a novel that is just exploring transgressive romantic relationships (and some square relationships too), it is an enthralling journey.

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 91: Searchlight

This teeny tiny short story by Robert A. Heinlein also seems to be the last short story we will look at in this series. From here on out it will be wild novels. But this is a nice story to end with.

Episode 653: James Baldwin: Another Country (1)

This episode is part one of my four part review of ANOTHER COUNTRY by James Baldwin, a novel about race, sex, and art set in Greenwich Village. It is excellent. 

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 90: Stranger in a Strange Land (Part 3)

Sorry for the delay in uploads. ANOTHER COUNTRY and work has been keeping me busier than I thought.

But here is the conclusion to my review of STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND by Robert A. Heinlein. One thing I never really talked much about in the review is cannibalism, but that is just a symptom of how much this book has to talk about. 

Robert A. Heinlein Book Club: Episode 89: Stranger in a Strange Land (Part 2)

In this episode I look at the middle third of Robert A. Heinlein's STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. We take a closer look at the word "grok" and its in-world meaning.

Robert A. Heinlein: Episode 88: Stranger in a Strange Land (Part 1)

In this episode I begin my look at Robert A. Heinlein's STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. We will have a lot to talk about over these three episodes as this is a thematically rich book. The first third of the book is doing a lot of set up and drags at times, but nevertheless this one is worth attempting.