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Richard Stengel is the former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and former managing editor of Time. He joins David to talk about his collaboration with Nelson Mandela on Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom; his tenure at the helm of Time, during which he interviewed Vladimir Putin, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mohamed Morsi, and Julian Assange; and his efforts in the Obama administration to combat disinformation. His new book, Information Wars: How We Lost the Global Battle Against Disinformation and What We Can Do About It chronicles the global spread of disinformation and offers prescriptions on how to combat this ever-growing threat to democracy.
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When Lin-Manuel Miranda first picked up Ron Chernow's autobiography of Alexander Hamilton, he didn't know much about the former Treasury Secretary. He didn't yet know he was an immigrant, and he hadn't yet read a sentence penned by Hamilton in which he wished for a war—the line that would inspire the creation of a revolutionary hip hop musical and Disney feature film. Lin joined David in October 2016 and spoke about what Alexander Hamilton would think of our politics today. He also discusses the value of growing up in a school where the arts were emphasized as much as math and science, and what came next when he thought to himself, "What happens if I bring all of me to something?"
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A few weeks ago we drove to Pittsburgh and took in a Pirates day game against the Colorado Rockies and then visited the Andy Warhol museum the next day. We also visited the Southern Tier brewpub in this same area.I took a good number of photos at both locations. PNC Park is very nice and the outside area is particularly striking, with statues of Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, Willie Stargell, and Honus Wagner encircling the facility. When we got back from our travels, I read the recent Clemente bio by David Maraniss, which I highly recommend.They also have oversize baseball markers commemorating all the Hall of Famers who played in Pittsburgh, including a good number of Negro League players. Earlier this year I read Satchell Paige's  autobiography -- it was quite entertaining.The Warhol Museum is near PNC Park and I really enjoyed seeing the exhibits. We were one day early and thus missed a special exhibit featuring Warhol and the Velvet Underground. Warhol is sometimes credited with discovering the VU and was said to be their manager, though promoter might have been a more accurate term.Most of one floor was devoted to Warhol's portraits, which was an especially interesting commentary on the 1970s. As for his pop art, I've seen more famous of his works in other museums in the US, Europe, or Canada.  But these were some good exemplars:
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Another UniversalismSeyla Benhabib and the Future of Critical TheoryEd. by Stefan Eich, Anna Jurkevics, Nishin Nathwani & Nica Siegel(Columbia University Press, 2024)446 pagesFrom the introduction:"For Benhabib, any universalism today must emerge from the concrete struggles of individuals navigating the fractured lifeworlds of our global society. Embracing that idea, the essays in this volume cover a broad terrain of debates that are the forefront of critical theory today: the relationship between democracy and cosmopolitanism, the role of law in emancipatory struggles, the task of deprovincializing the European approach to critical theory, man's domination of nature, and the ever-elusive relationship between Hannah Arendt and the Frankfurt School. It is a testament to the range of Benhabib's oevre that all of these themes should emerge from engagements with her work." (Anna Jurkevics)ContentsPrefaceIntroduction: In Search of Another Universalism - Anna JurkevicsPart I: Critique, Norm, and Utopia1. Benhabib and Habermas on Discourse and Development - Thomas McCarthy2. Normativity and Reality: Toward a Critical and Realistic Theory of Politics - Rainer Forst3. Loss of World, Not Certainty - Carmen Lea Dege4. Nature as a Concrete Other - Umur Basdas5. "To Burst Open the Possibilities of the Present" [paper] - Bernard E. HarcourtPart II: Thinking With and Against Arendt6. "Thinking With and Against" as Feminist Political Theory - Patchen Markell7. Arendt and Truth - Gaye İlhan Demiryol8. Understanding Eichmann and Anwar - Sonali ChakravartiPart III: Democratic Iterations and Cosmopolitanism9. Democracy Without Shortcuts - Cristina Lafont10. Another Republicanism: Dissent, Institutions, and Renewal - Christian Volk11. Three Models of Communicative Cosmopolitanism - Peter J. Verovšek12. At the Borders of the Self - Paul Linden-RetekPart IV: Jurisgenerativity13. Back to the Future? Critical Theory and the Law - William E. Scheuerman14. The Unfinished Revolution - Eduardo Mendieta15. Genocide and Jurisgenesis - Max Pensky16. Jurisgenerativity in the Age of Big Data - Matthew LongoPart V: Deprovincializing Critical Theory17. Pachamama's Rights, Climate Crisis, and the Decolonial Cosmos - Angélica María Bernal18. What Is the Other in Seyla Benhabib's Another Cosmopolitanism? - Drucilla Cornell19. Border Deaths as Forced Disappearances [paper] - Ayten Gündoğdu20. Gender Trouble - Shatema Threadcraft & Brandon M. TerryPart VI: Philosophy and Friendship21. Fragments of an Intellectual Autobiography - Seyla Benhabib22. Swimming - Carolin Emcke

This is my annual post listing books I read in the most recent year. It seems kind of hard to believe, but I have produced such a post since 2005. This is a link to the 2022 list if blog readers want to work backwards.Also, I posted short reviews of most of these books at Goodreads. Non-FictionAmitav Ghosh, The Great Derangement; Climate Change and the UnthinkableSamara Klar and Yanna Krupnikov, Independent Politics: How American Disdain for Parties Leads to Political InactionDavid Maraniss, Clemente; The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last HeroSatchell Paige, Maybe I'll Pitch ForeverBill James, Bill James Handbook, Walk-Off EditionSean Forman, The Negro Leagues are Major LeaguesAnne Jewell, Baseball In LouisvilleJeff Silverman, The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the DiamondBuzz Bissinger, Three Nights in August; Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy Inside the Mind of a ManagerRobert D. Kaplan, The Tragic Mind; Fear, Fate, and the Burden of PowerI read several books about climate change this year, but Ghosh's book is the only one that is not fiction. Ghosh writes a great deal about the need for artists to create content about climate change and he emphasizes the importance of imagining some of the catastrophic potential outcomes.  The Klar and Krupnikov book I got via ILL and read it for a project I'm working on with a colleague. The Maraniss and Paige bio and autobiography are definitely worth your time. I was inspired to read about Clemente after attending a Pirates game in Pittsburgh. I've purchased just about every book Bill James has written about baseball, including the annual Handbook (he is a contributor), but this book was disappointing. I realize the publisher is ending the run of this book because the stats are virtually all available on the internet, but I like to have them all together in one book that I can read at my leisure in my living room without a computer or device. This book does not include very many of the stats long associated with the book. The essays are fine, but the product is below the standard set by the prior editions.The Silverman edited volume has some great pieces, but I'd previously read most of the best ones. Some of the entries are not that great. I wrote a long review of Bissinger on this blog. Literature and Genre FictionLarry McMurtry, Terms of EndearmentAnne Tyler, Dinner at the Homesick RestaurantNick Hornby, Just Like YouJohn Updike, Bech is BackJenny Offill, WeatherYevgeny Zamyatin, WeI don't know why I've only recently read Terms of Endearment. I read the prior book in the Houston series decades ago. And I saw the movie with Shirley MacLaine and Jack Nicholson soon after it appeared. Oh well.Anne Tyler and Nick Hornby are always worth reading and I enjoyed both these books a great deal. The Bech book is really a set of short stories. It's OK, but uneven for this reason.  The Offill book didn't really click with me, though it occasionally mentions climate change. Zamyatin's We is a classic, but it seemed to fall short of my expectations for dystopian fiction. Genre fiction:James Kestrel, Five DecembersKurt Anderson, True Believers Colson Whitehead, Crook ManifestoWalter Mosley, Bad Boy Brawly BrownMichael Connelly, Trunk MusicJason Matthews, Palace of TreasonDerek Raymond, He Died With His Eyes OpenI'd say these books were the cream of the crop. Kestrel's book is excellent and I urge everyone to read it. Kestrel, Anderson, and Matthews have all written books featuring spies and espionage so it was another good year for reading that sort of fiction.Whitehead, Mosley, Connelly, and Raymond work in the crime genre and these are captivating examples. Ward Just, Exiles in the GardenM is for Malice, Sue GraftonJoe Gores, HammettR.D. Rosen, Dead BallRichard McGuire, HereIan Fleming, On Her Majesty's Secret ServiceDonald Westlake, Brothers KeepersDonald Hamilton, Death of a CitizenRichard Stark (Donald Westlake), SlaygroundDavid Goodis, The Wounded and the SlainCharles Willeford, The Burnt Orange HeresyRobert B. Parker, Taming a Sea HorseLoren Estleman, Angel EyesRoss McDonald, Sleeping BeautyDonald Westlake, The HookClaudia Davila, Luz Sees the LightCarl Hiaasen, Star IslandChristopher Buckley, Make Russia Great AgainJack Handey, The Stench of HonoluluMany, actually most, of the other authors are familiar from past iterations of this summary report. You'll find books here from the Kinsey Milhone, Easy Rawlins, Spencer, and Lew Archer detective series, which I'm generally reading in order. There are a couple of graphic novels about climate change on this list. Here is an interesting concept as the artist has drawn the changes over time to a single plot of land. The Luz book is for children, which means it is a quick read. Many of these books were OK, but most were so-so and had some serious flaws. I'm not going to be detailing all of those here, but you can probably find out on my Goodreads account. Buckley and Handey prove that it can be difficult to be funny. 
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This is my annual post listing books I read in the most recent year. I have produced such a list since 2005 -- here's a link to the 2020 list if readers want to work backwards.Also, I posted short reviews of most of these books at Goodreads. Non-FictionRobert Vitalis, White World Order, Black Power PoliticsRobert C. Rowland, The Rhetoric of Donald Trump Paul Harris, Pathologies of Climate Governance Rikka Kuusisto,  International Relations Narratives Michael Lewis, The Fifth Risk Fareed Zakaria, Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World Hank Aaron with Lonnie Wheeler, I Had a Hammer Joe Cox, The Immaculate Inning: Unassisted Triple Plays,
40/40 Seasons, and the Stories Behind Baseball's Rarest Feats Harvey Frommer, Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball Jess Lebow, The Beer Devotional: A Daily Celebration of the
World's Most Inspiring Beers     The Vitalis book is not perfect, but it is an eye-opening must-read. I recommend it to anyone interested in international relations. Vitalis produces an amazing array of evidence revealing that the IR discipline was built by scholars and institutions that were fundamentally racist and imperial. He also discusses an array of black scholars who were building "the Howard School" of IR that pondered genuinely rival ideas, but that are mostly neglected, if not forgotten.Disclosure: I've been friends with Robin Rowland for over 40 years -- read his book on Trump's rhetoric anyway. It's not an insiders account of misdeeds. Arguably, in fact, it is a far more frightening account of Trump's appeal based on his public rhetoric.The Harris book is an update of a similar older book that I read some years ago. I adopted it as a textbook for my class on Global Environmental Politics this past fall. Both Lewis and Zakaria have penned better books. These had their moments, but also had some serious flaws. Both actually seemed a bit rushed and thus unfinished.   I don't know why I waited so long to read Hank Aaron's autobiography. It's a great story. Joe Cox's book is full of interesting tales of baseball rarities. Literature and Genre FictionPatrick Modiano, So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood Graham Greene, Power and the Glory Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart I didn't read that many books this year that would count as "literature." I'm listing these three and could put them in almost any order. Modiano has won a Nobel Prize for Literature, though I found this book somewhat frustrating. That may have been the point. Greene was a master, but this book is kind of slow and perhaps repetitive. Achebe's tale is well-known, so I'm late to it. It's more enjoyable if you like magical realism. Charlie Fletcher, A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World Stephen King, Billy Summers Philip K. Dick, VALIS I think these three works were my favorite fiction books of the year. I was sometimes frustrated by Fletcher's story, but it easily held my interest and it is well worth your time. King's recent non-horror book is terrific (though flawed, ultimately) and Dick's work was bizarre at times, but compelling. Shawna Seed, Not in Time 

Eric Ambler, Cause for Alarm 

Donald E. Westlake, The Black Ice Score as Richard
Stark



Donald E. Westlake,  Dancing Aztecs 



Michael Connelly, The Last Coyote Ross Macdonald, The Underground Man 

John MacDonald, The Lonely Silver Rain Donald E. Westlake, Drowned Hopes Helen MacInnes, Ride a Pale HorseThis set of works is rated a bit higher than the books below. I read three books by Westlake and he rarely fails to entertain. As you can see, I completed the Travis McGee series this year. Indeed, as usual, this list includes a lot of crime fiction. Disclosure: I've known Shawna Seed for decades as we were undergrads together at Kansas. I liked her first book a great deal, but this one also made for an interesting read. Personally, I would have preferred that she not include the paranormal elements. Paul Auster, Music of Chance Carl Hiassen, Bad Monkey James Lee Burke, In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead Duane Swierczynski, Expiration DatePD James, A Mind to Murder Sue Grafton, K is for Killer Stephen King, Later Ian Fleming, The Spy Who Loved Me David Goodis, Shoot the Piano Player Jean-Patrick Manchette, No Room at the Morgue Jim Thompson, Savage Night Robert Parker, Catskill Eagle I was really disappointed in the Spencer book by Parker. To me, the character jumped the shark, committing far too many acts of violence and lawlessness. I'm not sure when I might jump back into that series, which I had been reading in order.The books just above that Spencer story were a bit dated in one way or another. I found King's storytelling to be first-rate, of course, but the story itself was not all that interesting in the end. PD James, Sue Grafton, and James Lee Burke all told new stories about familiar characters -- but I didn't enjoy these books as much as others I have read by the authors. The Auster story was very strange (absurd even), which made it difficult to embrace. It has stuck with me, however, so that's a strong point in its favor. I had not read a Hiassen book in some years, but this one was kind of funny (as intended). 
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