Recommendations you can check.
Non-fiction writer, podcaster and TV host; author of The Ghost Map, Where Good Ideas Come From and Extra Life, and of the Adjacent Possible newsletter.
8 things
Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest StatesBook James C. Scott
reading some of the early reviews suggested to me that it has a lot of overlap with this astonishing book by James Scott
Holiday gift-guide post listing the books he spent the most time thinking about in 2021.
2021-11-23·adjacentpossible.substack.com ↗
The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human ValuesBook Brian Christian
I just finished this book a few weeks ago and it is still reverberating in my mind
Holiday gift-guide post listing the books he spent the most time thinking about in 2021.
2021-11-23·adjacentpossible.substack.com ↗
Trust ExerciseBook Susan Choi
But what really makes it brilliant is a kind of meta-fictional twist that happens in the middle of the book
Holiday gift-guide post listing the books he spent the most time thinking about in 2021.
2021-11-23·adjacentpossible.substack.com ↗
Life's Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be AliveBook Carl Zimmer
That led me to pick up this new book from one of the great science writers of our time, Carl Zimmer, and it did not disappoint.
Holiday gift-guide post listing the books he spent the most time thinking about in 2021.
2021-11-23·adjacentpossible.substack.com ↗
The Bomber MafiaBook Malcolm Gladwell
It’s one of the first truly audio-first books that I’ve encountered, both in the prose style which has clearly been written from the ground up to be heard, not read
Holiday gift-guide post listing the books he spent the most time thinking about in 2021.
2021-11-23·adjacentpossible.substack.com ↗
Extra Life: A Short History of Living LongerBook Steven Johnson
If you’re looking for gifts to buy your history-minded friend or family member, I’d recommend my last two books. First, there’s Extra Life , which tells the heroic story of how we doubled life expectancy over the past hundred years.
Holiday gift-guide post listing the books he spent the most time thinking about in 2021. He flags this as self-promotion of his own book.
2021-11-23·adjacentpossible.substack.com ↗
Enemy Of All MankindBook Steven Johnson
The other book of mine that makes a thoughtful gift for the history buff in your extended clan is my 2020 book, Enemy of All Mankind
Holiday gift-guide post listing the books he spent the most time thinking about in 2021. His own book, as the quote states.
2021-11-23·adjacentpossible.substack.com ↗
The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of HumanityBook Toby Ord
I wouldn’t say that this is the most compelling book I’ve ever read in terms of the prose style or storytelling, but it does provide a very helpful, almost quantitative overview of all the potential threats looming out there
Holiday gift-guide post listing the books he spent the most time thinking about in 2021.
2021-11-23·adjacentpossible.substack.com ↗
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