Curated Nerd Stuff (June 10, 2024)
I’ve been in the rhythm of dropping these curated-nerd posts on weekends, but there’s an event coming up that I wanted to share in case you’re able to join the stream.
Intermittently sharing what I find digging through the crates of life. Here’s the best and most interesting of what I came across the past couple weeks. ✌️
Online Event! China in Global Capitalism
Kevin Lin, Eli Friedman, and Ashley Smith will discuss their new book, China in Global Capitalism: Building International Solidarity Against Imperial Rivalry.
When: Wed Jun 12, 2024 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM EDT
Where: Online, YouTube
Register here.
The New Era of The Un-Diplomatic Podcast
The Un-Diplomatic Podcast is back with my new co-hosts, Julia Gledhill and Matt Duss. We had a blast recording our first drop, just out. Going forward, the pod will be a mix of these variety episodes with the three of us and intermittent interview episodes like I’ve been doing the past couple years.
Available wherever you get your podcasts!
Debating Equality
A brilliant discussion keying off of Branko Milanovic’s new book, Visions of Inequality (haven’t read it yet), including some of the biggest minds about economic inequality in our age: Thomas Piketty, Quinn Slobodian, Ulysse Lojkine, and Branko.
Korean Ethnonationalism
Fun watch about ethnonationalism in Korea.
Non-Sequitur
Anyone who denies that China is doing settler-colonial capitalism in its periphery has a lot of facts to answer for.
Reading Politics & Policy
Michael Brenes and William Hartung, “A.I. Won’t Transform War. It’ll Only Make Venture Capitalists Richer,” The New Republic.
Jeff Shurhke, “The Problem of the Unionized War Machine,” Jewish Currents.
Yangyang Cheng, “Grieving Tiananmen as US Cops Crush Campus Protests,” The Nation.
Entertainment
Rewatched The Beach last week and it holds up! It’s aged reasonably well, and is a time capsule of young-adult life just before 9/11. The escapism with an inevitable dark side is so well done.
Vince Staples just dropped a new album—solid but very different from his previous work. Best track is “Little Homies”—giving something to the next generation, but optimistic.