Why Are Sequels Disappointing: Some Thoughts

I recently saw Across the Spider-Verse, the sequel to Into the Spider-Verse, which was one of my favorite movies — and certainly my favorite animated movie — of at least the last decade. I really enjoyed Across — I highly recommend it — but I left the theater feeling that,

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Trump Against Humanity: a Great New Board Game!

My good friend Seth is a wonderful writer…who also happens to share my views of His (Soon to be Former Thank Ghu) Majesty :). This is a new board game he developed for his holiday newsletter. You can print it out and play it anywhere!

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Southern Honor Culture

I’ve been reading, and enjoying immensely, Transcendence, by Gaia Vince. I tell people that I hope everything she cites is documented and supported1 because she weaves such a wonderful tapestry about what it means to be human. Definitely worth a read. The most recent chapter I’ve read includes a fascinating

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Read This Book! (Transcendence)

About once a decade I come across a book conveying so many fascinating insights that it stands out in my memory, forever, as a “boy I’m glad I found this before I died” experience. Two of those are The River that Flows Uphill by William Calvin and Guns, Germs and

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Through Darkest Europe

I just finished a new alternative history novel written by Harry Turtledove. I definitely recommend it…even though there’s no dramatic conclusion to it. Plenty of drama, lots of action, good character development…but no major wrap-up of an overriding theme. Alternative histories are tales that explore what-might-have-beens had some critical event

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RIP, Jerry Pournelle

I just read that Jerry Pournelle, one of my favorite sci-fi authors, passed away. Unlike many of his compatriots, he wasn’t an engineer or scientist. Instead, his background was in political science and psychology, coupled to a deep knowledge of history. If his libertarianism got the better of him in

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A Great Book About Nothing

I just finished reading A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing, by Lawrence Krauss. It’s a grand tour de force that attempts to explain why there’s a universe with a bunch of stuff in it rather than nothing. Interestingly, it turns out our latest understanding of

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Benedict Arnold and the American Revolution

Another great book for your reading pleasure and edification… 🙂 This one’s about how Benedict Arnold transitioned from being a hero of the Revolution to its almost-successful betrayer, and thereby earned the dubious distinction of having his name become a synonym for traitor in American English. That story is worth

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East Meets West

I just finished reading a pair of wonderful books, 1491 and 1493, both by Charles Mann. The first, 1491, is an in-depth survey of the history and civilizations of the Western Hemisphere prior to the arrival of the Europeans, and what happened to the folks who had been living here after

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Std Dev X * Std Dev P >= h / 2

Today, in Gregory Benford’s book The Berlin Project, I came across the first quantum mechanical dirty joke I’ve ever seen (it’s no doubt an oldie, but, hey, I never actually studied quantum mechanics). It’s attributed to Enrico Fermi: Poor Werner Heisenberg! When he finds the right position, he loses his

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