What are you reading? Paper or Audio…

[ElJavi76]

I don’t know if we have this type of thread going but why not. I searched and didn’t find one. If there’s one I’m sure the mods will mod. 
 

I listen to JRE podcast a lot on my walks… he had Siddharth Kara on a few weeks back. I use my local library card and the Libby app to read books and listen to audio books. I searched for Cobalt Red and it wasn’t available yet but it came around and so I began “reading” it. Audio book. Just wow! For everyone that chirps about EVs and lowering our carbon footprint by lowering emissions might not be aware of everything that goes into making these vehicles. Batteries and their need for cobalt for stability is only one angle. How we’re getting all the cobalt for EVs and every single battery powered electronic in our lives is the ugly little secret. This book is fascinating as was Sid’s appearance on Rogan’s podcast. 

I’m always ready to learn something new and love self help titles especially things that delve into the human psyche. Books I’ve read in the recent months include The Alchemist, a couple of books by Paul Selig, Dr. Jordan Peterson, and a personal fave The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer. What are you reading/listening to? Why?

[bates40]

In no particular order: 

Songs of Surrender (Bono, audio book): Sensational, but loooong. 

How the Ramirez Sisters Lost Their Accent: Could have been shortened to a magazine article. 

The Hidden Messages in Water: Trying to understand what I/the book am doing. 

 

[Fuzz]

1 hour ago, ElJavi76 said:

I don’t know if we have this type of thread going but why not. I searched and didn’t find one. If there’s one I’m sure the mods will mod. 
 

I listen to JRE podcast a lot on my walks… he had Siddharth Kara on a few weeks back. I use my local library card and the Libby app to read books and listen to audio books. I searched for Cobalt Red and it wasn’t available yet but it came around and so I began “reading” it. Audio book. Just wow! For everyone that chirps about EVs and lowering our carbon footprint by lowering emissions might not be aware of everything that goes into making these vehicles. Batteries and their need for cobalt for stability is only one angle. How we’re getting all the cobalt for EVs and every single battery powered electronic in our lives is the ugly little secret.

 

We now have cobalt free lithium iron phosphate batteries, so that is improving.... but do keep worrying about lithium and also nickel mining.

[Bri Fi]

I routinely listen to “The Shawn Ryan Show” podcast. Between new episodes I’ve revisited The Count of Montecristo for the third time. Its the audiobook and it takes a long time to get through it but I drive about 15 hours a week for work. 

[dominattorney]

I read.....alot. All paper books, hardcover if I can get them at a reasonable price. History, science, and nonfiction primarily, with about 15 percent fiction. I just finished this book by my old law professor which was wonderful if you're interested in the history of the American labor movement. Professor White is erudite and clever, and treats a difficult subject in depth without resorting to cheap moralizing, which is refreshing.

 

I cannot recommend Nassim Nicholas Taleb enough either. My favorite of his is Antifragile. Love him or hate him, his treatment of a relatively novel concept will stir your curiosity. 

I just got Rovellis new (to print, I think it was his first ever book before he became popular) on Anaximander and look forward to reading that. 

I just made my way through Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon again, as the book just turned 50. It's still hilarious and raunchy, and frighteningly prescient as it ever was. 

I also like reading about communism. I read one of Marx's books once a year, and just got my hands on a transcript of the late Mark Fishers final lectures to his students titled Postcapitalist Desire. I skimmed a bit and thought it seemed interesting. 

Another winner for me this year was Alenka Zupancic's book on Antigone entitled Let Them Rot. Interesting take. A nice compliment to Zizek's treatment of the play that came out about 5 years ago. 

[garnett]

project HAIL MARY  by Andy Weir 

[ElJavi76]

2 hours ago, Fuzz said:

We now have cobalt free lithium iron phosphate batteries, so that is improving.... but do keep worrying about lithium and also nickel mining.

Fuzz, while listening to Sid Kara on the podcast he mentioned that Tesla is moving away from Cobalt. Something like 50% of their new vehicles contain cobalt free batteries. The artisanal mining that the big tech companies swear they’re not exploiting is really sad. Women with children strapped to their back digging in mines. And I realize the corruption at the government levels are what cause this. If you ever watch the show Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller… they had an episode on stolen crude oil. Women carry these bags full of fuel. It’s just insane what people need to do to survive. We live such insulated lives. Kara’s point regarding the cobalt mining is that we are mostly obvious to it, but so many live in misery to provide us with the latest greatest gadget. 

[Ken Gargett]

leave you lot alone for a few weeks and it all goes to hell.

how is listening reading? it is listening. 

reading requires a book. or at the very least those kindle type things.

nothing against listening but it is not reading. 

by the way, that book on the congo (please note i said book and not sound) is high on my list for the next amazing order. been wanting to read it for a bit. read it. not listen to it. 

 

[dominattorney]

13 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

leave you lot alone for a few weeks and it all goes to hell.

how is listening reading? it is listening. 

reading requires a book. or at the very least those kindle type things.

nothing against listening but it is not reading. 

by the way, that book on the congo (please note i said book and not sound) is high on my list for the next amazing order. been wanting to read it for a bit. read it. not listen to it. 

 

Couldn't agree more but to each their own. 

[Fuzz]

23 minutes ago, ElJavi76 said:

Fuzz, while listening to Sid Kara on the podcast he mentioned that Tesla is moving away from Cobalt. Something like 50% of their new vehicles contain cobalt free batteries. The artisanal mining that the big tech companies swear they’re not exploiting is really sad. Women with children strapped to their back digging in mines. And I realize the corruption at the government levels are what cause this. If you ever watch the show Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller… they had an episode on stolen crude oil. Women carry these bags full of fuel. It’s just insane what people need to do to survive. We live such insulated lives. Kara’s point regarding the cobalt mining is that we are mostly obvious to it, but so many live in misery to provide us with the latest greatest gadget. 

There are many stories like this across the world; sulfur mining in Indonesia, e-waste "recycling" in Africa and South America, cobalt/copper/coltan/tin mining in Congo, etc. As long as the free world gets their shiny new toy, and more importantly none of this is done in their backyard, they will turn a blind eye.

But we are digressing from the point of your topic.

I much prefer a paper book over reading on a tablet, and I can't do audio books. I've recently been re-reading the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series of books by Tad Williams. Next up will be the No Plan B by Lee Childs.

 

[ayedfy]

I stick exclusively to religious books throughout lent.
An interesting takeaway from this book today is how St Teresa called her nuns to be “so manly that men themselves will be amazed at you.” I think most Catholics have probably met a nun who matched that description!

[JohnS]

6 hours ago, ayedfy said:

I stick exclusively to religious books throughout lent.
An interesting takeaway from this book today is how St Teresa called her nuns to be “so manly that men themselves will be amazed at you.” I think most Catholics have probably met a nun who matched that description!

Interesting. I would imagine the following two books would be popular reads during Lent also?

Anyway, right now I'm listening exclusively to the podcast series, 'InnerFrench' by Hugo Cotton on the drive to and from work. He has a variety of subjects he discusses, which are up-to-date, relevant and quite interesting and all in French.

[ElJavi76]

10 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

leave you lot alone for a few weeks and it all goes to hell.

how is listening reading? it is listening. 

reading requires a book. or at the very least those kindle type things.

nothing against listening but it is not reading. 

by the way, that book on the congo (please note i said book and not sound) is high on my list for the next amazing order. been wanting to read it for a bit. read it. not listen to it. 

 

Point taken, but you guys must’ve skipped the part where I put “reading” in quotes. Somebody is reading it TO me, but regardless I’m taking in the content which is the important stuff. I concur that it’s not the same thing but they are called audiobooks. A book is a book whether you read it or someone reads it to you. I think the idea of reading a physical book, a digital book, or a digital book read to you by some fellow… is to expand our knowledge. To see beyond our very small POV of the world. That’s part of why I enjoy self help titles and those that deal with the human condition. We’re all headed for the same place… but what do we experience on the way there, that’s the difference between existing and being alive. I want to be alive! 

[alloy]

Galactic Shield from JN Chaney on my Kindle. Used to buy books from Amazon, and since I live in an apartment, the paperbacks were stacking up. Switched to a Kindle. No musss, no fuss. And no wait a week or two to receive. Instantly downloaded.

[ElJavi76]

1 hour ago, alloy said:

Galactic Shield from JN Chaney on my Kindle. Used to buy books from Amazon, and since I live in an apartment, the paperbacks were stacking up. Switched to a Kindle. No musss, no fuss. And no wait a week or two to receive. Instantly downloaded.

My wife has all these chick books she reads with my daughter too. They stack up after awhile. I said what are you gonna do with those… sell them, donate them? Less clutter.

I get it, there’s something about a new book in particular. That new paper smell. However, I can skip the nostalgia and keep the knowledge. 

[Namisgr11]

Now that I'm retired from a lifetime of reading science journal original articles, reviews, and books at least six days a week, I mostly read biographies and escapist fiction.  Right now, it's another hilarious crime caper set in Florida from Carl Hiaasen, Basket Case.  With fiction, I tend to latch onto a favorite writer and read just about all of their works.  Running out of Hiaasen material, and already having gone through the likes of Elmore Leonard, John LeCarre, Walter Mosley, Dick Francis, Tony Hillerman, and Philip K. Dick, I'm on the lookout for a new focus.

[LizardGizmo]

18 hours ago, ElJavi76 said:

I listen to JRE podcast a lot on my walks… he had Siddharth Kara on a few weeks back. I use my local library card and the Libby app to read books and listen to audio books. I searched for Cobalt Red and it wasn’t available yet but it came around and so I began “reading” it. Audio book. Just wow! For everyone that chirps about EVs and lowering our carbon footprint by lowering emissions might not be aware of everything that goes into making these vehicles. Batteries and their need for cobalt for stability is only one angle. How we’re getting all the cobalt for EVs and every single battery powered electronic in our lives is the ugly little secret. This book is fascinating as was Sid’s appearance on Rogan’s podcast.

I also found this conversation to be really powerful - thanks for the reminder that his book is out! Just purchased it. Terribly ongoing tragedy what our tech companies (and we) are allowing to occur in the Congo.

[ElJavi76]

2 hours ago, lizardgizmo said:

I also found this conversation to be really powerful - thanks for the reminder that his book is out! Just purchased it. Terribly ongoing tragedy what our tech companies (and we) are allowing to occur in the Congo.

As you learn in the book… this isn’t new to the Congo. At the end of the 19th century, and with the automotive revolution kicking off, the pneumatic tire came to exist. Fellas like Dunlop had production kick into overdrive. At the time, who had more rubber trees than the DRC? Nobody apparently. At the time the country was under Belgian rule and the hands of King Leopold II. The Congolese were maimed and had their relatives noses, ears, or arms cut off if quotas were not met. The names have changed over the years but the structures haven’t. Few elites at the top with a lot of pain and suffering at the first links of the (insert natural resource here) supply chain. What a place! It seems like they’ve been at the epicenter of mining for the natural resource dejour. 

[bates40]

18 hours ago, ElJavi76 said:

Fuzz, while listening to Sid Kara on the podcast he mentioned that Tesla is moving away from Cobalt. Something like 50% of their new vehicles contain cobalt free batteries. The artisanal mining that the big tech companies swear they’re not exploiting is really sad. Women with children strapped to their back digging in mines. And I realize the corruption at the government levels are what cause this. If you ever watch the show Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller… they had an episode on stolen crude oil. Women carry these bags full of fuel. It’s just insane what people need to do to survive. We live such insulated lives. Kara’s point regarding the cobalt mining is that we are mostly obvious to it, but so many live in misery to provide us with the latest greatest gadget. 

Maria Van Zeller is a straight up bad a##

[HoyoFan]

This has been probably the best book I've read in the last 2 years.

[Hypersomniac]

I have a couple exhilarating reads. First up is Learning Evidence.

I'm also reading about administrative law.

[dominattorney]

9 hours ago, Hypersomniac said:

I have a couple exhilarating reads. First up is Learning Evidence.

I'm also reading about administrative law.

Oh boy, if we're talking professional books, try this one on for size. Best law book I've ever read bar none. Wish they taught this in school. Got it to prepare to take on civil rights clients. 

[Ken Gargett]

8 hours ago, Namisgr11 said:

Now that I'm retired from a lifetime of reading science journal original articles, reviews, and books at least six days a week, I mostly read biographies and escapist fiction.  Right now, it's another hilarious crime caper set in Florida from Carl Hiaasen, Basket Case.  With fiction, I tend to latch onto a favorite writer and read just about all of their works.  Running out of Hiaasen material, and already having gone through the likes of Elmore Leonard, John LeCarre, Walter Mosley, Dick Francis, Tony Hillerman, and Philip K. Dick, I'm on the lookout for a new focus.

read all of Hiaasen. absolutely love him. dave barry is probably the closest and love him as well. Tim Dorsey similar. Robert Rankin (the hollow chocolate bunnies of the apocalypse is probably my fave of his). 

if you like le carre, but in a more irreverent and much funnier way, the slough house series by mick herron. 

[benfica_77]

9 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

read all of Hiaasen. absolutely love him. dave barry is probably the closest and love him as well. Tim Dorsey similar. Robert Rankin (the hollow chocolate bunnies of the apocalypse is probably my fave of his). 

if you like le carre, but in a more irreverent and much funnier way, the slough house series by mick herron. 

Glad to have you back @Ken Gargett hope all that VPN business is sorted out!

[Chris P. Bacon]

Currently reading:

This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race by Nicole Perlroth