Book Recommendations: For Nicholas
- "All The Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid" - Matt Bai
On the 1987 origins of the 24-hr news cycle - "Blood Will Out: The True Story Of A Murder, A Mystery, And A Masquerade" - Walter Kirn (Real-life crime thriller; NPR Review)
- "The Divide: American Injustice In The Age Of The Wealth Gap" - Matt Taibbi (Non-fiction; NPR Review)
- "The Map Thief: The Gripping Story Of An Esteemed Rare-Map Dealer Who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps" - Michael Blanding (Biography; Review)
"All The Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid" - Matt Bai
Twenty-four-hour cable; infinite news sources online; tweets and YouTube. It's hard to remember a time when the political cycle was slower and more deliberate, and when the voter wasn't exposed to every single twitch of the candidate. When did it all change? According to Matt Bai, it changed with Gary Hart in 1987. You think you know it all: Donna Rice, Monkey Business, Hart taunting the press. You don't. The combustible mix of new technology and politics was birthed in this presidential campaign, and there was no turning back.
"Blood Will Out: The True Story Of A Murder, A Mystery..." - Walter Kirn
When journalist Walter Kirn discovers that his friend of 15 years, a man he knew as Clark Rockefeller (wealthy, powerfully connected and, yes, one of the Rockefellers), is really a fraud, a sociopath and a murderer, he can't fathom how he could have been duped so easily. Kirn's dogged investigation into Rockefeller's trail of deceit is the stuff of true crime thrillers, but Blood Will Out's blunt force impact comes when Kirn reflects on his own moral failings and bravely reveals what might have caused him to get it all so wrong.
"The Divide: American Injustice In The Age Of The Wealth Gap" By Matt Taibbi
We are becoming three nations - one for the wealthy, one for the poor, one for those caught in between - and Matt Taibbi provides a compelling, depressing road map. He methodically explores how wealthy business people are often allowed to break laws with little personal consequence (including more than $26 billion in mortgage fraud), while poor people are relentlessly policed and punished. It's the tale of how mindless bureaucracy grinds down one class and exalts another, enabled by the politics of the moment and Americans' near-instinctual worship of society's winners.
Michael Blanding tells the story of E. Forbes Smiley III, a dealer of rare, antique maps who, when he got in over his head, started stealing - and selling - maps from prominent libraries. Using wonderful reproductions, Blanding teaches the reader about the political, economic and practical uses of mapmaking since the 15th century. It makes the maps seem ever more precious, and Smiley's crimes more monstrous.
"The People's Platform: Taking Back Power And Culture In The Digital Age" - Astra Taylor
Debates about culture and technology are often couched in terms of either/or: Is streaming good or bad for musicians? Are social media good or bad for activism? Does online journalism leave us more or less informed? The People's Platform takes on a weightier question: At the end of the day, whose interests is our wired world best equipped to serve? With devastating real-world examples and a sober sense of humor, Astra Taylor illustrates how the tool that promised access and influence to a generation of regular folks has left many of the old hierarchies intact - and asks how we can do better.