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A set of short stories that wind a narrative that hits a bit harder than you'd think, interrogating youth and the process of aging in a way that had me worried about the way I'm living.

I'd recommend this for anyone trying to get a big picture of the way weapons manufacturing and finance shapes our country's war machine, something that should be scandalous to any American. The only knock on this book is the last couple chapters relating to the 2008 finance crisis, which seems disjointed from the rest of the book. The cut from military funding to speculative banking just feels a bit breakneck and not in line with the overall narrative.

The blend of non-fiction and fiction can be a lil' uncomfortable at times but it expertly uses the medium to succinctly explain the departure from entirely understanding the world to having to accept that we simply cannot. It's a special book where you'll likely learn a lil' something while also embracing the chaos of it all.

One of the greatest sins of tech workers is to imagine that technology can solve everything, that there's some sort of algorithm that can just handle all the work in the world while we actively imbue our biases into them to create what the author here calls a "digital poorhouse". The concept is sharp, the examples are detailed, authoritative and include the human side, something that academics often shy away from. This book challenges your expectations of tech by showing examples that are brazenly attempting to limit welfare recipients through bureaucracy rather than improving their lives or treating the homeless as some form of over-surveilled livestock that isn't granted the same rights as housed people. It's a powerful walk through some of the most unfortunate things we've tried to push despite accusations of immorality, whether the underlying cause is cruelty, lack of resources, or simply apathy towards the poor.

A better take on the Bundy standoff in Oregon than Shadowlands. I don't know what it is about these books that makes the author have to do some deep introspection but I guess there is something special about the outdoors that we take for granted as we gravitate towards a city.

A better take on the Bundy standoff in Oregon than Shadowlands. I don't know what it is about these books that makes the author have to do some deep introspection but I guess there is something special about the outdoors that we take for granted as we gravitate towards a city.

The blend of non-fiction and fiction can be a lil' uncomfortable at times but it expertly uses the medium to succinctly explain the departure from entirely understanding the world to having to accept that we simply cannot. It's a special book where you'll likely learn a lil' something while also embracing the chaos of it all.

One of the greatest sins of tech workers is to imagine that technology can solve everything, that there's some sort of algorithm that can just handle all the work in the world while we actively imbue our biases into them to create what the author here calls a "digital poorhouse". The concept is sharp, the examples are detailed, authoritative and include the human side, something that academics often shy away from. This book challenges your expectations of tech by showing examples that are brazenly attempting to limit welfare recipients through bureaucracy rather than improving their lives or treating the homeless as some form of over-surveilled livestock that isn't granted the same rights as housed people. It's a powerful walk through some of the most unfortunate things we've tried to push despite accusations of immorality, whether the underlying cause is cruelty, lack of resources, or simply apathy towards the poor.