The New Testament in Its World - A Brief, Thousand-Page Intro
Release Date: 12/27/2025
Last Branch Standing - Honey Badger References and Case Analysis
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Four Short Classics for the Lazy Pseudo-Intellectual
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Against the Machine - Steelmanning Modern Luddism
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Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity By: Paul Kingsnorth Published: 2025 368 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? Before Kingsnorth can tell you how to be against the Machine, he first sets out to define it. The Machine is multi-faceted, but Kingsnorth distills it down into four S’s: Science, The Self, Sex, and the Screen. To take a position “against the Machine” he urges a return to the four P’s: People, Place, Prayer, and the Past. But before you grasp this simple heuristic too firmly, it turns out that not all P’s are good, and not all S’s are bad. He is opposed...
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A Day in the Life of Abed Salama - More Palestinian Sadness
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A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy By: Nathan Thrall Published: 2023 272 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? The book operates on three levels: First, the book spends quite a bit of time giving you Abed’s history: his youth, his participation in the Palestinian resistance, his marriages, the associated family dynamics, etc. Second, there’s the actual “day” from the title. Abed’s desperate search for his son after he was involved in a horrific bus accident, and the various difficulties presented by Israeli control (checkpoints, different passes,...
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Plagues upon the Earth - You're Not Sufficiently Horrified
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Plagues Upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History By: Kyle Harper Published: 2021 704 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? A comprehensive historical overview of the never-ending war between humanity and disease. From its earliest days all the way down to the COVID-19 pandemic. With a specific focus on what he calls the “paradox of progress”: every new advance creates new opportunities for diseases. But it’s not just us driving diseases, they’re driving us as well. Efforts to mitigate the negative effects of these pathogens are scattered throughout our history, our...
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Phenomena - Why Must It Always Be a Spoon?
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Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis By: Annie Jacobsen Published: 2017 544 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? An exhaustive history of the government’s attempts to systematize and weaponize paranormal abilities. It also covers the broader paranormal research landscape, with lots of discussion of Uri Geller. What authorial biases should I be aware of? Jacobsen claims to be approaching the subject as a neutral observer, but I got a strong “I want to believe” vibe from the book. Her approach...
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Four Books of Speculative Fiction About Christian Damnation
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Unshrunk - Medication, Red in Tooth and Claw
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Delano is very much an example of something being wrong with psychiatry, the question is how emblematic is her experience? Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance By: Laura Delano Published: 2025 352 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? An autobiographical tale of Delano’s experience with the mental health industry starting at the age of thirteen. Among other things, it covers her bipolar diagnosis, eating disorders, cutting, and one, nearly successful, suicide attempt. On the treatment side of the ledger she took at least a dozen drugs, engaged in constant therapy, and was...
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Three Books About Roman Stoicism or Lack Thereof
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![Grand Strategy In Life [Essay] (w: review of 33 Strategies of War) show art](https://assets.libsyn.com/content/199465725?height=50&width=50)
Grand Strategy In Life [Essay] (w: review of 33 Strategies of War)
We Are Not Saved
There’s a concept within statecraft known as grand strategy. The “grand” strategy means paying attention to every avenue of conflict, not just the military sphere, but also the diplomatic, the logistical, and the domestic, and everywhere else advantage might be gained or lost. It encompasses soft power, irregular actions, public opinion, etc. But at the same time, it also encompasses prioritization and focus, because, while it’s important to consider every avenue, resources are always limited and need to be spent wisely. A great example of grand strategy done right is the US in...
info_outlineEverything you wanted to know about 1st Century Palestine, but were afraid to ask…
The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians
By: N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird
Published: 2019
992 Pages
Briefly, what is this book about?
An deep dive on the New Testament covering (as the subtitle suggests) the history: Second Temple Judaism against a Greco-Roman background; the literature: the New Testament’s genesis, structure, authors and audience; and theology: the religious claims of the book, the doctrine, miracles, and contentions.
What's the author's angle?
Despite me saying that this is a deep dive, it is also something of a sampler for Wright’s other, even more expansive books. Also it’s important to note that Wright is very much a believing Christian and while the book is exceptionally scholarly, it’s also backgrounded by the idea that Jesus Christ is the Messiah who died for the sins of the world and was gloriously resurrected.
Who should read this book?
This is a long book, and I ended up deciding to read it, rather than listen to it. As such, it honestly took me several months to get through, so you should certainly take that into account. This should not be construed as saying the book is difficult. It’s very accessible, and reads easily. I will say that I learned a lot, but I’m not sure that will be true for everyone. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) don’t generally focus on straight down the line Bible scholarship. To the extent that we do deep scholarship in this area it’s in search of parallels between early Christianity and LDS Christianity. (For example in 1 Corinthians 15:29 when Paul mentions baptisms for the dead. Something no major denomination does, other than us.) This is all to say that I think LDS individuals might find this book particularly enjoyable, as being somewhat outside of our normal wheelhouse.
Specific thoughts: It’s both shocking how much New Testament we have and how little we have of everything else