Book Suggestions

[sullen bear]

Use this post to suggest books for future months.

[copper wigeon]

Previous book suggestions https://discordapp.com/channels/709752884257882135/1060033935897264239

[runic void]

OK....I'm going in with a suggestion as it was mentioned a few times in the OG discussions:

Investigative Aesthetics - Conflicts and Commons in the Politics of Truth - Fuller and Weizman

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/57847186

[sullen bear]

It's good but it's suuuuper heavy

Tons of references to philosophers, including some less known ones

[runic void]

Yeah agree..... can be a bit of a slog.
I'd actually prefer 'Violence on the Threshold of Detectability' from that crew as there would be some interesting technical discussion.
Not to say that there isn't a time for chin-stroking and pondering the deeper stuff..... yeah, I know.... no memes....set a good example TH!

[knotty moat]

I have Violence.... but I keep putting it off because it looks extremely technical and I am extremely technical from 9-5.

[sullen bear]

Ya I'm not putting it down, just in case folks though that it was like "We are Bellingcat" but for Forensic Architecture

[runic void]

It's not too techy .... it's a really good read.

[knotty moat]

I'd commit to it now....but what if I have to read it again for book club?

[vague nimbus]

Lol someone’s found a new excuse!

[burnt comet]

Hi, I went to a public event a few months back which was launching this book: https://www.routledge.com/Social-Media-and-Hate/Banaji-Bhat/p/book/9780367537272 It’s open access (just google the title). It is an investigation of the misinformation and social media hate in contemporary societies. It also delves into the historical and colonial roots of this type of hatred. I have read a few things by the author and she is thoughtful, concise and hugely empathetic. She is a professor at my alma mater, and is at the forefront of research of this kind.

[sullen bear]

Nice! Extra points for being open access

[pine imp]

Michael Bazzell's OSINT Techniques: Resources for Uncovering Online Information (no plans for future editions).
Cons: 48, 22 Euro. purely pragmatical.
Pros: a track through the jungle. 🐆 purely pragmatical

https://inteltechniques.com/book1.html

[real talon]

Hi all, I have 2 suggestions

[runic void]

I'm going to throw-down the Psychology of Intelligence Analysis by Richards J. Heuer Jr.

It was actually the book that planted the book club seed and we never actually got around to tackling it.

It's widely available and a classic.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/113714.Psychology_of_Intelligence_Analysis

[viscid yacht]

Snowwhite Grimm

[pine imp]

Thanks so much for recommending my memoir 😊.

[elder ember]

Pegasus: How a Spy in Your Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity, and Democracy by Laurent Richard, Sandrine Rigaud

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59808055-pegasus

[knotty moat]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_(Bilott_book)

[vale lake]

I don't know how much it needs to relate to OSINT, but Vaclav Smil's How the World Really Works puts actual hard data and numbers behind the decisions behind international relations by baseing them on pure resource attrition. It puts a scientist's eye at the transfer of oil into power, and does not attempt to remedy any problems or give answers to complex problems, but simply lay them out in their complete entirety, giving every single piece of the puzzle for scientists to study.

It has reshaped the way I view international relations and energy dependance, and made me reevaluate what natural resources governments prioritize.

I cannot recommend this book enough, I suggested reading it for a book club, and it was a great success then.

https://www.harvard.com/book/how_the_world_really_works/

anti-spam filter ate up my post, so my explanation of recommendation got deleted 😂

But here are assorted screenshots from the appendix + introduction explaining the need for such a book

[runic void]

I love Vaclav Smil's work.... I've read "Energy", "Energy and Civilisation, "Numbers don't lie" and "Oil" .... always learn so much every time I read anything from him.

[pine imp]

A humble suggestion:

Mikhail Zygar, "The Empire Must Die"

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Empire-Must-Die-Revolutionary-1900-1917/dp/1610398319

and uhhh I'm quite sure Mr. Zygar doesn't object pdf-sharing of his book

[runic void]

The History of Burma - Thant Myint-U

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44075878-the-hidden-history-of-burma

Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution - Zunes, Mundy & McGovern

Generally considered to be THE definitive tome on this conflict.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7241027-western-sahara

[pine imp]

👍

[viscid yacht]

https://amzn.eu/d/04qqINd

[pine imp]

Timothy Snyder, “Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning”

The book centers on what author describes as a the Bloodlands, the epicenter of WWII. Profound and essential read for understanding the invasion of Ukraine. Also, an example of fact-based storytelling helpful for anyone investigating atrocities.

The paperback is quite affordable.

Book extract: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/16/hitlers-world-may-not-be-so-far-away

[tribal frigate]

Hitler's American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law - James Q. Whitman https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691172422/hitlers-american-model

Plus there's a series of books coming out from Goldsmith's Centre for Research Architecture that might be of interest to any Forensic Architecture obsessives out these:

https://research-architecture.org/Book-Series

[knotty moat]

Check this out! https://a.co/d/0zY1n7P

[vale lake]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Alone

[knotty moat]

thanks for putting this here, I've been trying to organize all of the recommendations that came out of today's chat!

[vale lake]

Lots of great ones, I'm going through them myself

feel like a ton of them can have their own group focused discussion, like the one Tehuringa posted about ethics problems in OSINT and what parameters the student would take into account when going through them

[vale lake]

also related to Bowling Alone

https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-gen-z-blame-loneliness-on-housing-affordability-crisis-2023-4?amp

[pine imp]

The Moscow Rules by Joanna and Tony mendez. Lots of great stories and perspectives

[whole lotus]

Spin Dictators by Sergei Guriev and Daniel Treisman

[whole lotus]

And before I forget, The Moralist International: Russia in the Global Culture Wars by Kristina Stoeckl and Dmitri Uzlaner

[pine imp]

Sexy but Psycho. Uncovering the Psychiatric Labelling of Women and Girls, by Jessica Taylor

Authored by forensic psychologist Dr. Jessica Taylor, who also trains media professionals and the police on sexual and gender-based violence. Although prioritizing women and girls, she also discusses the classist and racist history of psychiatry. Example: The alleged mental illness of drapetomania, as conceived by 19th century American physician Samuel A. Cartwright, that made Afro-Americans wanting to escape slavery. It provides important knowledge that might enable OSINT analysts to communicate such crimes in ways that don't harm the people subjected to them. It would make for an interesting discussion with the author:

https://www.amazon.com/Sexy-But-Psycho/dp/1472135512/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1683642466&sr=8-1

[pine imp]

Times radio did an factual and useful interview with the author. There's a lot of interesting stuff going on in the UK right now in regard to trauma-informed practice and communication. It would be interesting to tap into that knowledge as psychiatric labelling, a form of othering, might very well interact with what Hannah writes about, the need to dissociate while investigating atrocious crimes, in harmful ways. We might be so used to pathologising human beings subjected to sexualized violence, that we're not even aware of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdsLcyu7gOg

[copper wigeon]

That's a very interesting suggestion. I'm sure it will cover the blanket term of "female hysteria" as a pathologisation of pretty much any behaviour a woman would do and the way it was treated (for anyone unaware it was, ehm, stimulating certain parts) and how it persisted until fairly recently and it's still a huge stereotype and still part of many people's views.

Also I hope it has at least a chapter dedicated to psychoanalysis because that was very messed up and the thought it still quite persists today is unsettling.

And besides women, who still are pathologised in many ways, I think it can be used as an example of how also other groups, minorities and anything not socially normative often gets pathologised

[viscid yacht]

I link that here for late summer
https://www.netgalley.com/book/285885/review/164471

[pine imp]

Absolutely, although the. book centers on violence against women and girls, including the misogynist history of psychiatry, it also discusses its racism and classism. I think it could be a useful read as it helps us to develop a sensitive language. Voila, book extract from Reader's: https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/inspire/life/the-shocking-history-of-female-asylums

[pine imp]

Wanted to throw a potential future suggestion out there:

Escape from Pretoria - Tim Jenkins
Covers the real life story of an ANC underground operative who was arrested in apartheid era South Africa and sentenced to 12 years in a maximum security prison. While there he and a number of other underground members begin a very methodical escape plan. It's a fairly practical and details oriented read on what a jail break looks like in practice along side a really interesting look at their larger plans as a revolutionary group which eventually culminated in the election of Nelson Mandella in 1994. While not specifically covered in the book Tim also wrote a really great lessons learned document(https://web.archive.org/web/20180722014538/http://www.anc.org.za/content/talking-vula/) about how they went about establishing a transnational covert communications network in a pre-internet era after escaping that I think a lot of people here might find interesting.

The book was eventually turned into a film with Daniel Radclife but I haven't seen it and can't really speak to it. You can hear Tim tell the story himself here from a talk he gave at LockCon 2017 which to be fair is targeted at a very specific kind of audience unlike the book https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YWhfQLWNqQ

One other upside worth considering is that the book is freely available online (legitimately) here https://www.sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/archive-files/escape_from_pretoria.pdf

[worldly stream]

#5 - James Olsen, To Catch a Spy

[viscid yacht]

I bring this back to remind you of it. The book gets negative reporting by random Ukrainians since he wrote about UK Neonazis.

[copper wigeon]

Maria Ressa - How to Stand Up to a Dictator

[pine imp]

Have to admit, this is interesting.

[pine imp]

I'm four minutes into this video and I'm hooked!

[brisk nova]

Has anyone suggested Tracers in the Dark or Gray Day?

[viscid yacht]

https://twitter.com/brainpicker/status/1667909806546354177?t=JCYIsNS5iHd2Q6nADOU3Zw&s=19

Maria Popova (@brainpicker)

150 years before ChatGPT, a Victorian visionary wrote brilliantly about our civilizational future with artificial intelligence https://t.co/AVMG0qe0ud

Twitter · Jun 11, 2023, 3:01 PM

[copper wigeon]

Christophe Jaffrelot - Modi's India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy

[pine imp]

Like a fine bottle of wine, this sounds like it would pair nicely with next month's read on Burma.

[tribal frigate]

These could be of interest to future book club discussions:

Michael Blastland – The Tiger that Isn’t
Daniel Kahneman – Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow
Daniel Levitin – A Field Guide to Lies and Statistics
David Spiegelhalter – The Art of Statistics

They were recommended as part of a course I did a while back.

[copper wigeon]

There's going to be a lot of vouching for Kahneman's book now in the event 😉

[tribal frigate]

Ah-ha! Yes I'll add an upvote for that.

[hazy belfry]

The RSS: And the Making of the Deep Nation Book by Dinesh Narayan, in case folks are interested in Indian far right

[pine imp]

I have a few suggestions to blend in some more of the Middle East in this book club and if one of them gets voted in, I will also join a session to discuss them:

Syria:

• Assad or We Burn the Country by Sam Dagher. (This one is huge, +500 pages, so included a second option which might be easier to consume)

• We crossed a bridge and it Trembled: Voices from Syria by Wendy Pearlman

Palestine:

• Palestinian Walks by Raja Shehadeh

Iraq:

• The Corpse Washer by Sinan Antoon

[pine imp]

Palestine:

Palestinian Walks by Raja Shehadeh💯

[vale lake]

If we're adding in books from the middle east, I highly suggest Letters to my Palestinian Neighbour by Yossi Klein Halevi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_to_My_Palestinian_Neighbor

[knotty moat]

Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa by Jason K. Stearns https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10046142-dancing-in-the-glory-of-monsters

[pine imp]

The Third Reich of Dreams by Charlotte Beradt. Freely available on achive.org:

https://www.newyorker.com/books/second-read/how-dreams-change-under-authoritarianism

[pine imp]

What Doesn’t Kill Us: The New Psychology of Post-traumatic Growth by Stephen Joseph, a trauma expert from Nottingham University. There are several recent journal articles and blog posts available from the author, i.e. in relation to the Rwandan genocide

https://www.amazon.com/What-Doesnt-Kill-Psychology-Posttraumatic/dp/B00SLWCDYU

[haughty gust]

Interesting books here! 📚 These might also be of interest to read together,

Fiction,

📕 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
📘 Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

Non-fiction,

📙 How to Lose a Country: The 7 Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship by Ece Temelkuran
📗 The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism by Clara E. Mattei
📘 Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities by Rebecca Solnit

[knotty moat]

Thanks for the suggestions, I've not heard of some of these before!

[pine imp]

Ajit Maan: Narrative Warfare

https://www.amazon.com/Narrative-Warfare-Ajit-Maan-Ph-D/dp/198669495X

[pine imp]

David de Jong: Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany's Wealthiest Dynasties

https://www.amazon.com/Nazi-Billionaires-Germanys-Wealthiest-Dynasties/dp/1328497887

[pine imp]

Good book.

[runic void]

Breakup - A Reporter’s Marriage amid a Central African War by Anjan Sundaram

TIME Magazine Best Book of the Month (April 2023) & The Washington Post’s ‘What to Read in 2023’

https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/breakup/

[pine imp]

It cuts through the fog with meticulous research:

“What struck me was this is a country that’s so cognisant of its history in many ways but seemingly the most economically powerful actors do not engage with that,” says author David de Jong, a 35-year-old Dutchman.
[…]
I hope people will become more aware on a consumer level that the money they spend on these products might end up as dividends for these families and might go towards the maintaining of foundations, corporate headquarters and media properties in the name of Nazi war criminals.”

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/may/18/nazi-billionaires-book-hitler-bmw-porsche

[haughty gust]

The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict Between the US and Xi Jinping's China by Kevin Rudd

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57432319-the-avoidable-war

[pine imp]

Amy E. Herman, Visual Intelligence: Sharpen Your Perception, Change Your Life

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/amy-e-herman/visual-intelligence-sharpen/

[pine imp]

I recently listened to a Q and A with scientist and author, Peter Turchin, discussing his recent book, "End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration" (June 13, 2023).

It's a fascinating discussion on social/societal collapse, with a great deal of empirical reference and may interest our book club in the future.

Here is the Q and A for anyone who's interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGhBTKzrJEY

Here is Peter's website:

https://peterturchin.com/

[full summit]

I've looked at Turchin's work in cliometrics. It's glorified astrology.

He didn't predict BLM or the tumult of 2020. He made a vague prediction of "societal unrest" around 2020 or so and the media retroactively proclaimed him a prophet.

His work has no rigor and is basically eyeballing charts of dubious value, picking out even more dubious cycles, and seeing where these cycles "coincide".

It's vague and hand wavy to the point of basically being societal cold reading

And I don't buy his argument about overproduction of elites. It sounds vaguely right wing as well.

See also https://www.newstatesman.com/the-weekend-essay/2023/06/peter-turchins-empty-prophecies

[sullen bear]

Sounds like plenty of debate for a book club meeting! Haha

[pine imp]

Yes indeed. I personally never heard of the guy until the video came to my attention. I listened attentively and there were some definite take aways worth considering. Now that there's some skepticism on his legitimacy, I'm intrigued to look into him and what he's truly about.

[pine imp]

Thanks for the heads up. I'm definitely going to dig around and see what I learn about Turchin.

[pine imp]

Or like the perfect moment to advertise my book recommendation hahaha

📣 📢 Visual Intelligence:
Sharpen your perception , change your life
👇
Bellingcat Geoguessr will never be the same:
“The ability to see, to pay attention to what is often readily available right in front of us,” write author Amy Herman, “is not only a means to avert disaster but also the precursor and prerequisite to great discovery.”

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/amy-e-herman/visual-intelligence-sharpen/

[pine imp]

Shameless plug. I like it!

To add insult to injury, Visual Intelligence: Sharpen your perception , change your life is even used to train medical students to avoid bias. Add that to The Psychology of Intelligence and imagine how smart we all will be after reading this awesome book

🎁 : https://www.amsa.org/learn/visual-intelligence/

LOLOL. What a sell!

Guess what, this awesome book is even used to train navy seals and the CIA! Who would have known? Imagine the book talk we’re going to have with the author. Amy will certainly love to discuss her ideas with an intelligence agency for the people: 👁️ 🚀

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/what-to-see/meet-art-expert-trains-doctors-navy-seals-cia/

[pine imp]

https://paullashmar.com/books/

[steel venture]

Here’s a Dutch book suggestion.

Karremann, J. (2017). In het diepste geheim: spionage-operaties van Nederlandse onderzeeboten van 1968 tot 1991.

https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/f/in-het-diepste-geheim/9200000077571388/

Karremann, J. (2018). In Deepest Secrecy: Dutch Submarine Espionage Operations from 1968 to 1991.

https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/p/in-deepest-secrecy/9200000095744938/

Other international stockists (Amazon, etc) are available, including as an e-book.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deepest-Secrecy-Submarine-Espionage-Operations-ebook/dp/B0BRVGTM7C

He’s a very approachable and knowledgeable guy, runs Marineschepen.nl naval news website, so I’m sure he’d come on to speak about his book/stuff he knows about.

(For clarification, it’s available in a Dutch and English version, not suggesting a book we can only read in Dutch )

[strange sun]

This looks interesting to me.

[pine imp]

It is.

Also interesting how the descendants of them with companies such as Allianz and Dr. Oetker do still enjoy of the fortune made by their Nazi ancestors but have difficulties confronting the past.

[viscid yacht]

Launching tomorrow
Already seen
in London

[tall flame]

This is my suggestion

[runic void]

Heya folks.... regarding Chris Miller's new book "The War Came To Us".....please check out the following message over at #1094689638981062757 message

[pine imp]

Pherson & Pherson, Critical thinking for strategic intelligence (3rd Edition)

Pricey, but telling libraries that they need to buy “this classic no library can do without” works well in my experience.

https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Thinking-Strategic-Intelligence-Katherine-ebook/dp/B08H5NFP1C

[pine imp]

This book recommendation is inspired by the previous one and Heuer’s Psychology of Intelligence, i.e. questioning the mental frameworks that shape our analyses. For example, reframing human suffering as “mental health”-problem tends to be viewed as common wisdom in the Global North. Yet, a study led by the University of Liverpool, among others, found that “psychiatric diagnosis” is a “scientifically meaningless” idea and encourages us to “think beyond diagnoses”. That’s particularly important for researching e.g. SGBV or anti-child exploitation.

James Davis, teaching in the Departments of Life Sciences and Psychology at the University of Roehampton, provides a solid foundation for such critical thinking. His book

Sedated, How Modern Capitalism Created our Mental Health Crisis

is a compelling read as indicated by this book extract: ⬇️

He’s quite articulate on Twitter and would be certainly happy to discuss his ideas with us. That not only would be helpful for enhancing intelligence but also Bellingcat’s collaborations with the Global South: Researchers such as China Mills have criticized the mental health-movement for years, as a means of “Pathologising the Global South” and colonization.

(Edited because of vandermarish typing errors.)

https://iai.tv/articles/the-new-opium-of-the-people-auid-1817

[pine imp]

@copper wigeon: Davies has doctorate in social and medical anthropology and a book event with both of you will be most interesting. I will therefore make a true vandermarish sacrifice and limit myself to two book recommendations this month.

🙂

[copper wigeon]

You flatter me

[tired remnant]

+1 to @viscid yacht’s suggestion about Christopher Miller’s book The War Came to Us. I’m currently reading it, and it’s really good.

Another suggestion that I would like to make is Mick West’s book Escaping the Rabbit Hole: https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/9781510776333/escaping-the-rabbit-hole/

It’s about an important topic given the amount of conspiracy theories that are going around. I think Mick would be glad to talk about his book too.

[knotty moat]

https://discord.com/channels/709752884257882135/1135316444435992646

[tired remnant]

Thanks! I noticed that it was already chosen for September shortly after I wrote that.

[craggy wedge]

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/rewriting-russian-history-on-the-media interesting listen...

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/War-and-Punishment/Mikhail-Zygar/9781668013724 is the publisher (in the United States) - War and Punishment
Putin, Zelensky, and the Path to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine by Mikhail Zygar. I enjoyed The Empire Must Die (2017) of his as well. This new one looks like a good read.

[pine imp]

Thanks for sharing! Sounds like hell of a book: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mikhail-zygar/war-and-punishment-putin/

[pine imp]

Well, it’s difficult to have a factual discussion about mental health, or that psychiatric diagnoses lack scientific validity, or their social impact.

When we come across Sexual and Gender Based Violence and don’t question our assumptions, we might violate the Murad-code and worsen “the societal attitude and stigma which further harm survivors.”

[copper wigeon]

I mean, that's all valid but questioning assumptions should be applied in all fields, simply in order to attain better knowledge. Of course one consequence of not questioning assumptions is indeed harming and/or further stigmatising groups that have a history of stigma and discrimination, like trauma survivors are

[pine imp]

Let’s stick to the book as this is the book channel.

James Davies argues that “the role of the mental health sector is now to sedate, to distract from distress and to prevent political action” and that it now plays a similar role as formerly religion, as “Opium of the people”. Psychiatry has always been used to pathologize dissent, for example by labelling African American civil rights activists as mentally ill (“protest psychosis”). We need to have a discussion about this in OSINT.

[craggy wedge]

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691211411/spin-dictators Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century
By authors Sergei Guriev and Daniel Treisman

[lilac vector]

• Putin's People (https://www.amazon.com/Putins-People-Took-Back-Russia/dp/0374238715): best book I've read about Russia in the 90s, the KGB's role in the USSR's privatization, and the rise of Putin.
• The Anatomy of Fascism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anatomy_of_Fascism): IMO the definitive book on fascist history and politics

[strange sun]

+1 for The Anatomy of Fascism

[lilac vector]

I recommended this yesterday in the book club meeting, but I'll do it again here.
Reign of Terror by Spencer Ackerman, in-depth history of the war on terror and its consequences
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/622555/reign-of-terror-by-spencer-ackerman/

[tribal frigate]

Not sure if this is covered elsewhere with more rigour https://dogsection.bigcartel.com/product/post-internet-far-right ?

[strong mantle]

That's a cool site. I'll be buying a couple of books from them soon

[pine imp]

One of the best books exploring the discontent driving the “populist backlash” from Hungary to the US:

Michael Sandel, The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?

In-depth review:
“Populism has proven particularly challenging in this respect. Not only are its causes a source of lively debate (Hawkins et al. 2017), but the literature in this area affords little guidance for how we might respond to the phenomenon. How, then, should we understand the recent surge of populist movements within Western democracies? And what can be done in aid of repair?

Michael Sandel affords a novel and sobering analysis of these questions in his latest book, The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good? Steering away from the parsimonious temptation to construe populism as mere economic protest or an expression of deep-seated prejudice, he instead suggests that the ‘populist complaint is about the tyranny of merit’ (p. 25).

It is a response to the elite’s self-aggrandizing belief that the successful are entitled to their success (as it represents their talent and effort), and that those sitting on the lower rungs of society are likewise deserving of their fate. It gives voice and direction to the resentment fostered by this meritocratic belief, serving as a vehicle for resisting the hubris of the meritocratic elite and, ultimately, meritocracy itself.”

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11158-022-09549-0

[whole lotus]

The Great Firewall of China: How to Build and Control an Alternative Version of the Internet by James Griffiths
https://www.jamestgriffiths.com/book

[lilac vector]

Vincent Bevins has a new book: https://twitter.com/Vinncent/status/1700230844281970908

Vincent Bevins (@Vinncent)

The Jakarta Method came out in 2020, so I missed the chance to meet people and talk about the work. This time, I want to do it right, and might be over-compensating a little. We have put together a real book tour. I can't wait to come to North America 💘

Likes

313

Twitter · Sep 8, 2023, 7:33 PM

[strange sun]

https://www.akpress.org/representing-radicals.html

[viscid yacht]

I was thinking to link a cookbook for December to do an interactive month but yall want to read heavy cost so it's time for a women's rights book, cause that's a forgotten world issue
Half the Sky - Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn - Google Books https://g.co/kgs/B66whc

[pine imp]

Hank Prunckun - Counterintelligence Theory and Practice https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15872498-counterintelligence

[whole lotus]

East Asia at the Center by Warren Cohen
https://www.amazon.com/East-Asia-Center-Warren-Cohen/dp/0231101090

[tribal frigate]

https://naomiklein.org/doppelganger/

[strange sun]

https://vxtwitter.com/DetritusBooks/status/1724839584314634440

[strong mantle]

Ooooo I'm keen on this

[craggy wedge]

Best book I've read on the logistics challenges of WW2. Certainly applicable to today's challenges in making shells for Ukraine. Engineers of Victory By Paul Kennedy https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/91616/engineers-of-victory-by-paul-kennedy/

[olive loom]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_After_Gandhi indian poll-workers cross the most remote areas so that every single person can vote - many people have a blind spot on the true history and identity of the biggest democracy in human history - india is a rising superpower, not only influencing its region but also globally, it is a highly valued partner on the international stage, in the future even more so

Ramachandra Guha is an Indian historian and environmentalist, recognized by the American Historical Association for the expertise

the book is written very eloquently and is well-researched, the author has a way with words that makes history make the most exciting fiction sound boring in comparison :)

[knotty moat]

thanks, I'll put it on the poll!

[olive loom]

dope

germen ideas always beat the competition in the polls

[vague nimbus]

Let's put it on two polls...

[olive loom]

I have the 2007 one

so the old one/first edition

[knotty moat]

912 pages!!

if it wins, you lead book club

[knotty moat]

this book looked cool so I almost added it to the January poll, but I'm only seeing it with academic pricing (like $50 a copy) - if anyone can find a more affordable source, tell me about it, and I'll add it to the February poll!

[vague nimbus]

We make it a two-hour meeting and do an hour each.

[olive loom]

It's pretty exciting and immersing

[knotty moat]

it better be!

[olive loom]

Ah, in my blood,,,

[shadow owl]

@knotty moat my Amsterdam hackathon books...

#1

#2

#3

and last but not least, #4 by the brave Julia Ebner

[knotty moat]

we were just talking about the social lives of extremists!

[shadow owl]

about the book or about the social lives?

did I miss that book?

[knotty moat]

we are currently reading Women of the Far Right, and we were talking about the social lives of those women

[shadow owl]

noooo that would've been my favorite

aaaah OK

[knotty moat]

this is our forum where you can see past, current, and vote on upcoming books #1082266004366827571

[shadow owl]

I know I already voted for next week

🙂

The hardcover version of The Women of the Far Right is 102,80EUR

[knotty moat]

I got my electronic copy for $12 on Amazon

might have had a few $ in credits tho

[shadow owl]

would it be extremely unethical to go to the library and borrow it?

it's on libgen

[strange sun]

The MacNish and Ebner books are especially interesting to me!

[shadow owl]

yeah +1 on both

[knotty moat]

I use the library as much as I can

oh wait is this some kind of download where the author doesn't get paid?

[shadow owl]

Yes, totally stolen

[knotty moat]

because any sort of ripping is against Discord TOS, we can't have it posted here

[shadow owl]

yeah I took the epub down and replaced it with the search link, just for educational purposes

[knotty moat]

you can also go to a physical library and borrow their copy/electronic copy, so authors get paid

[shadow owl]

so it's not ripping, and I'm not responsible for what you do on libgen

[knotty moat]

I'm going to take the link down for now until I discuss with other mods

[shadow owl]

wait, wait///

PLR payments.

In some countries, there's a system known as Public Lending Right (PLR). PLR gives authors a small payment each time their books are borrowed from public libraries. This system recognizes that authors should receive some income from the free public access to their works in libraries. The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and several European countries have PLR systems in place.

In the United States, however, there is no PLR system. Authors typically earn income from libraries through the initial purchase of their books by the library. Libraries buy books just like any other customer, so authors earn royalties from these sales. But in the U.S., they don't receive additional payments for subsequent borrowings.

@knotty moat I took the opportunity and registered at my local library online for 10Eur/year... unfortunately, it's not available digitally and at the moment I can't order the book either

I mean I already have the book and I'm sure Eviane Leidig wouldn't mind. According to wikipedia, the PLR system in Germany pays 2-3ct per loan. The money goes to the Verwertungsgesellschaft Wort (VG WORT, Collection Management Organisation VG WORT), a Munich-based German copyright collective that administers copyright-related royalties. However, if I read their website correctly, as a foreign author you must register as a Wahrnehmungberechtigte*r and fill out a Inkassoauftrag in the framework of the Gegenseitigkeitsverträgen mit ausländischen Verwertungsgesellschaften zur treuhänderischen Verwaltung

I got the email address of her publicist, I'm just gonna ask for permission.

[knotty moat]

if you want to email her publicist, that's all you, but please do not involve bellingcat/the discord

[shadow owl]

never

[knotty moat]

as a writer myself, my position is that writers should be paid for their work, and I've also invited Eviane Leidig to give a talk here

[shadow owl]

I will refer to you however, as my '(online) book club' if that's OK

[knotty moat]

Please don't, thanks

[shadow owl]

not even in completely anonymized? OK well I mean considering the circumstances it's maybe a bit touchy. Either way I wouldn't want to act against your expressed wish, so...

[knotty moat]

Thanks!

[shadow owl]

I'll just delete the draft and leave it be

if Eviane Leidig gives a talk I can still decide whether I want to ask for her forgiveness that I pirated her book.

To be fair, I did pay 10EUR to try to get it legally from the library!

[azure dune]

Urban exploration allowed? ISBN of 0973778709 “Access All Areas” by author Ninjalicous might be worth a read to understand the phycology and mental state of people who explore abandoned locations

[viscid yacht]

How to Fight a War | Hurst Publishers https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/how-to-fight-a-war/

[brisk wren]

To catch a dictator: The Pursuit and trial of Hissène Habré. Fascinating book written by human rights lawyer Reed Brody. To learn a bit more on how to investigate, track and bring to justice an ex dictator. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60746546-to-catch-a-dictator

[tribal frigate]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/111975.Golden_Gulag

[gilded fiber]

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/61089467

[viscid yacht]

Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates | Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48635408-men-who-hate-women

[knotty moat]

I actually have this book! I like it

[modest flame]

I don’t think this has been suggested yet: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/58999198

It’s very good and more about Mexico than the US if we’re looking for something less centered around the US. History, but it lays the groundwork for why immigration is such an issue for the US and Mexico

[undone hawk]

Was How Infrastructure Works by Deb Chachra suggested before? https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/612711/how-infrastructure-works-by-deb-chachra/

[vague nimbus]

This sounds interesting.

[undone hawk]

Not read it yet but heard great things

[frosty lion]

Spy Alone
https://youtu.be/jQTpxmbrdeM?feature=shared

Personally, I would recommend Golden Age Shtetle by Yohanan Petrovsky Shtern - there is a wave of antiJewish racism pummelling otherwise rather pleasant European climbs. Maybe this will give people insight into what it means to say pre-war Polish & Jewish Poland.

https://youtu.be/jQTpxmbrdeM?feature=shared

Red Notice / Browder

https://www.waterstones.com/book/red-notice/bill-browder/9780552170321

[undone hawk]

Again, not read it yet but apparently there's a bunch of stuff on global extreme-right financing in here (might be a bit too repetitive if people have dug into people like Bannon and Traditionalism though ) https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745341897/right-across-the-world/

[knotty moat]

https://www.ibramxkendi.com/how-to-be-an-antiracist

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/43708708

[lilac vector]

This one looks decent
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33606119-why-i-m-no-longer-talking-to-white-people-about-race

[knotty moat]

Oh cool

[undone hawk]

"By cleverly inserting Hindutva into popular culture, H-Pop normalizes Islamophobia, demonizes minorities and vilifies its critics each day, without ever making headlines." https://harpercollins.co.in/blog/announcements/harpercollins-presents-h-pop-the-secretive-world-of-hindutva-pop-stars-by-kunal-purohit/

[undone hawk]

https://www.penguin.com.au/books/sparks-9780241524947

[viscid yacht]

https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/bib238491

[shadow owl]

I'm preparing a course about quantitative research for master students in business psychology. It's required to produce a quantitative study as a result. I've done similar courses in the past and I always loved teachinf it, but I want to avoid the usual 'please fill out this questionnaire for my study' kind of study. So, I decided heavily steer the students in the direction of open source research. Since people usually start an empirical study from the position of at least some knowledge of their field, I decided that the first thing my students will have to do is to read "The misinformation age" by Cailin O'Connor and James Owen Weatherall. It just arrived in the mail.

Taking part in a Bellingcat book club discussion would be a great way to make open source research even more tangible for them, because research never happens in a vacuum.

It's only going to be a small handful of students, probably even in the single digits. Is that gonna be something you'd want to support/take part in?

Also Cailin O'Connor's work came highly recommended by my hackathon teammate @supple hearth

[craggy wedge]

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/how-migration-really-works-a-factful-guide-to-the-most-divisive-issue-in-politics-hein-de-haas/7415611?ean=9780241632208

[strong mantle]

Just finished this. Really interesting stuff

[strange sun]

Looks interesting but quite spendy: https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526173874/

[craggy wedge]

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/13037156 and https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/originalism-as-faith/24BD81CE5C34480BEDB02E3C004137DE# and https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/stephen-vladeck/the-shadow-docket/9781541602632/?lens=basic-books and https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/305175/packing-the-court-by-james-macgregor-burns/ all available via local libraries and in the Libby app

[lilac vector]

I've been meaning to read Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke and just ordered a physical copy. I'll be aggressively lobbying for this in the upcoming vote
https://nyupress.org/9780814731550/black-sun/

The original cover goes way harder tho

[strong mantle]

Looks super interesting. I'd be keen to hear your thoughts on it

[knotty moat]

I just had a look at this and Goodreads says expected publication is next month, so we will revisit

[undone hawk]

Hm. might be my next read. Just getting to the end of the H-pop book 🙂

[real stream]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/174156150-the-achilles-trap?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=Eci6Rtn1HN&rank=11
I heard really great things about this book 🙂

It reads like a novel and is accessible enough for someone who doesn't know a ton about the Iraq war

[craggy wedge]

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/R/bo15220099.html Restricted Data (2024) by Alex Wellerstein. The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States

[knotty moat]

Subtle and I are both reading this, so might as well throw it up for discussion
https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674291072

[cloud walrus]

Some of my book recommendations:

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators
by Ronan Farrow
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51022071-catch-and-kill

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37976541-bad-blood

The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It ... Every Time by Maria Konnikova
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25387895-the-confidence-game

The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag by Kang Chol-Hwan
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69951.The_Aquariums_of_Pyongyang

[tribal frigate]

A little academic but: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9780429452734/routledge-handbook-conspiracy-theories-peter-knight-michael-butter?refId=837839ca-055a-4001-9b22-be99230ca36f&context=ubx

[copper wigeon]

I have a copy of that one, definitely not for a Book club read but a very good resource - just skip the psychoanalysis chapter tho 😉

[tribal frigate]

Thanks @copper wigeon! Thought it might be a bit too much for book club. Looks interesting though.

[copper wigeon]

If someone wants to peek through it, I, ehm, can help you with that 😉

[tribal frigate]

Oh! so long as no one is watching I could be keen 🙊

[harsh crest]

"Tor: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy" by Ben Collier https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262548182/tor/ https://twitter.com/JohnnyHistone/status/1780322920817951146

Ben Collier (@JohnnyHistone) on X

Book out now (lots of first day discounts) https://t.co/0GE8vL5VNv @torproject + the future of privacy online. Spies + journalists, underwater robots + satellites, and the role of a lot of people in Tor's history, from @xychelsea + @isislovecruft to @Snowden + (oddly) @vindiesel

Twitter · Apr 16, 2024, 7:50 PM

[knotty moat]

ughghgh I'm brokenhearted when I go over these suggestions and some are $40+. they all look so cool!

[craggy wedge]

If any of you are in the correct age category BooksUnbanned will set up any teen, young adult or student in the United States with a library card and access to multiple Library Systems(Boston, LA, BKLN, SD, SeaTac) Digital collections. You don’t have to be a resident of that systems geographic area. Then download libby to access the ebooks and audiobooks. https://www.bklynlibrary.org/books-unbanned.

*readingrainbow.gif 📖

[cloud walrus]

second hand market, and the usual sources which shall not be named

[knotty moat]

I use the library but I have been told that the EU readers don't have as robust of a system. Since it needs to be available to the whole bellingcat community I need to factor that in

Since I'm a working writer who collects a paycheck for writing, I have a moral objection to not-named sources

[cloud walrus]

if I want a book I generally just buy it (as e-book, without DRM) provided the price is OK. But not everyone is wealthy enough. The question then becomes do you want someone to read the book yes or no? Cause either way, they can't afford it

[craggy wedge]

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/joseph-cox/dark-wire/9781541702691/#preorder Joseph Cox new book about ANOM.

[rugged sable]

https://archive.org/details/doublespeakfromr00will/mode/2up

[vague nimbus]

Who does that money go to?

[rugged sable]

What money?

If you make an account on archive.org then you can borrow the book for an hour at a time (for free)!

[lean vessel]

I liked reading this one recently. Not too heavy, not a book that will last but still a good read 🙂 https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/60833953

[signal zealot]

A suggestion after listening to a recent 'Behind the Bastards' podcast episode about forensic science: https://mitpressbookstore.mit.edu/book/9781636141350

[cloud walrus]

what is interesting about this book? would be interested in a podcast around the subject

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_PayPal_Wars 'The PayPal Wars is an insider's perspective on the people and events that helped create the company, and its acquisition by eBay in 2002. The book recounts PayPal's clashes with lawyers, regulators, and the Mafia.[1] Many of PayPal's founding employees went on to start other companies like LinkedIn, Tesla Motors, YouTube, and Yelp, Inc.;[2] they would become known as the PayPal Mafia.' contains some anecdotes on Musk

[bold ether]

Would love to read these two:
'We discover the shocking impacts of noise pollution on both animals and plants. We learn how artificial intelligence can decode nonhuman sounds, and meet the researchers building dictionaries in East African Elephant and Sperm Whalish. At the frontiers of innovation, we explore digitally mediated dialogues with bats and honeybees. Technology often distracts us from nature, but what if it could reconnect us instead?'

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60410945-the-sounds-of-life

🌺

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9998216-the-psychology-of-intelligence-analysis
'This volume pulls together and republishes, with some editing, updating, and additions, articles written during 1978-86 for internal use within the CIA Directorate of Intelligence. The information is relatively timeless and still relevant to the never-ending quest for better analysis. The articles are based on reviewing cognitive psychology literature concerning how people process information to make judgments on incomplete and ambiguous information. '

[copper wigeon]

We did Psychology of Intelligence Analysis last year (: https://discord.com/channels/709752884257882135/1102489873916633098

[cloud walrus]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41181600-the-mastermind not even sure I read this or only https://magazine.atavist.com/he-always-had-a-dark-side/ that series either way it is by the same author

[undone hawk]

Did anyone suggest "Post-Digital Cultures of the Far Right
Online Actions and Offline Consequences in Europe and the US" before? https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839446706

[lilac vector]

We've done so much on the Western far-right, let's mix things up a bit
https://www.penguin.co.in/book/the-rss/

[knotty moat]

i wanna read this
https://www.juancole.com/2024/06/pegasus-threat-democracy.html

[knotty moat]

https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674268784

[signal zealot]

https://fixupx.com/shashj/status/1802047812927893692
https://fixupx.com/shashj/status/1802044865078820932

https://fixupx.com/TathamSteve/status/1802205192684711995

[thin kestrel]

https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/memory-makers-9781350280762/

[undone hawk]

I did a search and apparently no one put The Rise of Ecofascism here yet ?! https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Rise+of+Ecofascism%3A+Climate+Change+and+the+Far+Right-p-9781509545377

(even though there was an episode of bellingcat monitoring on it)

[strong mantle]

Looks interesting. It will go on the must read list for me

[lilac vector]

Definitely going to read this, from one of my favorite writers on the contemporary American right
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374605445/whentheclockbroke

[copper wigeon]

New Serhii Plokhy book on the way: https://fixvx.com/SPlokhy/status/1806322597774176692

[tepid bronze]

Going back to 1990's - Intelligence Agencies have always been very interesting, even though I dont understand terms very well. Its captivating to hear about how people are trained and different people think about things in general + how they are taught to perceive things. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/101332.By_Way_of_Deception

[knotty moat]

thanks for all of the good book suggestions! if a book just came out I like to wait a few months to see if the price drops/it's more widely available at the library without waiting. can't have book club bankrupting people.

With that said I also wanted to give a heads up that I don't necessarily create the monthly polls with books in the order listed here - I like to have one selection per subject 🙂

Check out the August poll and vote! https://discord.com/channels/709752884257882135/1256070653627469854

[lilac vector]

I don't remember him going into detail about it

[copper wigeon]

Yep, I just checked myself and indeed mentions a bit on Hinduvta, Modi, the BJP and the RSS

[signal zealot]

https://bsky.app/profile/jbouie.bsky.social/post/3kw5rcutnm72t

https://www.amazon.com/Bomb-Power-Presidency-National-Security/dp/1594202400

[lilac vector]

Yes! I really liked this one. The Know Your Enemy podcast has an episode on it
https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/know-your-enemy-bomb-power-with-erik-baker/

[knotty moat]

Thanks for the suggestions 🙂
I have considered myself more of a facilitator versus someone directing what we do, so the books we read are strictly pulled from this channel - every once in a while I suggest one but I don't like to do that too often as it's not my book club
I agree that open source/archived books are wonderful in their accessibility - we read The Failure of Nonviolence not too long ago, which was available as a PDF
I do take basic steps when adding books to the poll to make sure they're available at a certain price point and through national US distributors. Europe is a little harder to do but I'd welcome suggestions on EU and UK wide distributors to check for availability
So, in short, if people suggest open source reading it's much easier for me to approve because price and availability isn't a consideration, but it's just not often suggested

[vague nimbus]

Great idea! Looking forwrd to your suggestions.

[lilac vector]

Also I've heard that many books can be found on certain websites for free. It would be a shame if anyone used such dastardly sites.

[undone hawk]

Libraries also exist (jussayin, they need our support!)

Mostly if you want to read something that they don't have they will order it for you via inter library loan

[signal zealot]

public libraries are great - try them first before uh...taking matters into your own hands

[knotty moat]

What Subtle said - put in a suggestion and I'll put it on a poll 🙂

[azure dune]

And please be polite to the staff there too

[lilac vector]

Also BTW your local library probably has Overdrive, which let's you check out digital items (ebooks and audiobooks). It's really convenient.

[knotty moat]

I would say 90% of my book club books I've been able to get at the library

[rugged sigil]

On Operations: Operational Art and Military disciplines

[rugged sigil]

I will one day buy the books if they are not junk

[undone hawk]

I buy books if I can read them on my ereader with a .epub app. I am not installing kindle store

[knotty moat]

Yes I have heard that libraries are less supplied in other parts of the world. Ours in the US can be under utilized and it's important to get the word out about the available services

[sullen bear]

Hi! I deleted this message since we think it goes against the Discord ToS

I'm not familiar with that site but I see that they have a copyright policy and claim to honour DMCA claims so I think it's fine to share here

[signal zealot]

some public libraries in the US also provide access to https://www.hoopladigital.com/

[signal zealot]

https://www.joannaschwartz.net/shielded-how-the-police-became-untouchable

[signal zealot]

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/renee-diresta/invisible-rulers/9781541703377/?lens=publicaffairs

[signal zealot]

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/T/bo27509064.html

[lilac vector]

highly recommend

[sullen bear]

Oh ya that one's a great one

[signal zealot]

This passage particularly notable for me:

" ....But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That’s the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked—if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in ’43 had come immediately after the ‘German Firm’ stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in ’33. But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.

And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you...."

[wispy rose]

I am in love with Anime Architecture
https://anime-architecture.org

A coffee table book that contains concept art, paintings, digital art, and sketches focusing on the architecture and environmental design for 8 classic anime films.

They are Akira, Patlabor, Patlabor2, Ghost in the Shell, Metroplis, Ghostin the Shell 2: Innocence, Tekkonkinkreet, and Rebuild of Evangelion

[rugged sigil]

A cultural study will be interesting

(one can say that it's first based on the American vision of urbanized future in the 1920s-1950s)

Japan never had the amount of suburbia boom

[wispy rose]

Isn't it tho?

Like most of the architecture featured in the Ghost in the Shell films were based off of Hong Kong

suggesting a future full of both technological and cultural shifts

[rugged sigil]

Yeah, that would also be a thing

But Hong Kong is very architecturally diverse

You have the Chinese styled urban environment, with commercial and residential areas merging

(Chinese residential buildings often have shops on the first floor)

Newer buildings meanwhile are more westernized

[wispy rose]

Indeed which is highlighted many times throughout the films
I think Hong Kong is the perfect place for a sci-fi film to take place in

[rugged sigil]

The art gives out a more "western futuristic"

[rugged sigil]

Exactly, everything about Hong Kong gave birth to early Cyberpunk

Huge cities

Technology

Money

[wispy rose]

Totally!

[rugged sigil]

Crime

Income inequality

Extreme povery

Political tension

That's what makes it great background

In fact

When travelling in Japan (that's why I refrain from shouting ultrarevanchist slogans these days)

I noticed a huge architectural similarity between Shanghai buildings and that of Japan

Especially the modernized parts of Shanghai

I'd actually call it "east asian urbanism"

[wispy rose]

I think I know what you mean. Since, chances are, I might have seen something similar in certain cities in Korea

A desire to retain and integrate old architectural styles with new modern towers?

[rugged sigil]

Nope

The form of "golden age" western architecture

Modern concrete buildings like the one shown

Usually saying the old buildings are Shikumen which are getting gentrified to hell (well, two decades ago these things don't even have plumbing at times)

[wispy rose]

I see

so it's like, at a certain point, there was an economic boom and that boom was reflected in the experimentation with a new form of architecture

but that economic prosperity age passed and now it's mostly gentrified buildings

[rugged sigil]

Well, it's actually more less complicated

So since the 2000s China has experienced a lot of economic growth

And we have an inferiority complex at that time

(we still do arguably)

So we basically want to adopt everything the westerners do

Including the buildings

(Back when in Japan I have a feeling some of the city architecture might be inspired by Japanese city architecture, very westernized facade)

So in 2010s Chinese economy was at the finest

You know

The gentrification thing is just the natural result of a city shifting, and often it's still part of economic growth

(I'm actually pro-gentrification, urban areas either evolve or die.

In the case of America, when the wealthy fled the city centers it's called white flight, which is bad, and when they come back it's called gentrification, which is also bad

I often have a feeling that despite being some of the most important factor, finance and economy are often the least regarded by the populace

[wispy rose]

fascinating
either way, architecture as reflection of the evolution of cities has always captivated me bc these are like macro-pointers, landmarks civilians can see to mark points in time as a city changes and grows

[rugged sigil]

Yeah

My believe is that all advanced East Asian states underwent such architectural shift

[wispy rose]

when you're surrounded by buildings throughout a majority of your life, it's very easy for them to bleed into the landscape

[rugged sigil]

Hence the "east asian look"

It's similar to westenr cities but is also different

We usually have much less "old towns"

So it's unlike european

But also less car-centric

[wispy rose]

like how Shanghai has a blend of Art Deco landmarks, ultramodern skyscrapers, ancient pagodas, and many other architectural styles in between

but I really like to point out the Art Deco styles in Shanghai

[rugged sigil]

Yeah

[wispy rose]

bc i like art deco

[rugged sigil]

Know that

[wispy rose]

similar to Korea

[rugged sigil]

So there's the tons of foreign buildings

The "Bund"

Back in the days that's where all the foreigners hang out

[rugged sigil]

I'm actually talking about the dominant urban architecture

Of course there are differences

[wispy rose]

Ah! I see

[rugged sigil]

For example Chinese prefer apartments all over with little to no individual houses

So our urban accommodation rely on parks

[wispy rose]

need that balance between the towers and the open spaces

[rugged sigil]

Yes

[wispy rose]

like any good urban civil engineering design

[rugged sigil]

Generally saying Shanghai is notoriously westernized

[wispy rose]

it's all about balance

[rugged sigil]

So the skyline and general architecture are western

[wispy rose]

many of my academic colleagues from Shanghai would agree

[rugged sigil]

we are the traitor of the Chinese race

[wispy rose]

hoo boy howdy

which would explain why so many of them tried to stay in America after graduating from college.

[rugged sigil]

Everyone want to do that

Aside from a dozen rich or dumb kid

There's a running gag about how many dude made a living for anti-American rant but have kids abroad

[wispy rose]

Shanghai seems like one big giant melting pot but not in the same way as an American city like San Diego or New York is

[rugged sigil]

Yeah

There's the Huji in China

[wispy rose]

haha boy have I heard that so many times from Chinese friends

[rugged sigil]

(I'd either call it Serfdom or Apartheid)

So if you are from somewhere you have the Huji in that place

If you live in a city but have no Huji

Then you are a legal subhuman

[wispy rose]

https://tenor.com/view/simpsons-homer-simpson-gif-13518564799186478937

[rugged sigil]

In Shanghai there's always a lot of people from other provinces

In the 2000s there was severe problems with the workers from rural areas

Usually there's the work/residence permit for them

There was the problem of the "stay" kids

So they are children in rural areas

Their parents work in cities but they can't follow them to cities because they have no Huji

[wispy rose]

I see

[rugged sigil]

This is always a theme in China (OK, that's for every recently developed state)

The country is in tiers

I initially invented that to describe infrastructure quality

The highest is the state infrastructure, they are the megaprojects like Three Gorge, they are practically best pieces of engineering humanity can offer

Then there's the coastal infrastructures, the infrastructure in wealthy coastal provinces

These are usually decent, you don't want a building in Shanghai or Guangzhou to collapse overnight

Then there's the infrastructures in backwater provinces

A lot of them are built in 2008 (it's the pride of nation since 2019)

However, their construction arguably involves a lot of corruption

Read "China's Gilded Age" by prof. Yuen Yuen Ang if you want to know more

And right now with our economy going downhill

It is crumbling

Back in the days I read a bit of Bernie and mocked American infrastructure for being outdated (built in 1950s) and is crumbling

But ours can crumble in two decades

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/20/world/asia/china-highway-collapse.html

[wispy rose]

The Three Gorges Dam is right up there with the Panama Canal of engineering phenomenas

[rugged sigil]

Yeah

[vague nimbus]

Hello! I get the very strong impression you don’t realise you are clogging up #1082271057156780123 and are not in fact chatting away in #books

[wispy rose]

I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the reccc

[rugged sigil]

Sorry

[wispy rose]

Sorry!

[rugged sigil]

OK, today's book suggestion time

https://www.amazon.com/Marie-von-Clausewitz-Behind-Making/dp/0190225432
Marie Von Clausewitz

[ruby plinth]

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/husovec_even-if-you-read-only-one-book-this-summer-activity-7221384498196684801-awG6?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

[knotty moat]

We mentioned Surveillance Capitalism during book club as something we would like to read

[vague nimbus]

Copied Tristan's link: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/shoshana-zuboff/the-age-of-surveillance-capitalism/9781610395694/

[copper wigeon]

Saw this being retweeted by and it looks very interesting: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666904031/Conspiracy-Beliefs-as-Coping-Behavior-Life-Stressors-Powerlessness-and-Extreme-Beliefs

A little peek: https://fixv.com/travis_view/status/1826721501707714618

[strong mantle]

This is going near the top of my list. Thanks

[leaden ibex]

https://oe.tradoc.army.mil/

Not sure if it's been posted before, and if so let me know and I'll remove the clutter. I read the Russian Way of War back in 2020. Totally changed my perspective. Its technical, but free!

[cloud echo]

Great book that looks at how tech impacts society

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28363808-the-cyber-effect

[quaint shard]

I'd like to hear others reviews of this one because I couldn't make it past 80 pages, the writing style was really hard for me to make sense of what the author was trying to say. Felt a bit dumb reading it

[dusk adder]

Oooh, this is going on my list. I'm currently reading his book, The Gates of Europe, and really enjoying his writing style and the breadth and depth of his explanations of historical events and processes of social change.

[sturdy plume]

'Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency' by Andy Greenberg.
It's a bone-chilling history of major chases. A detailed, daunting, even haunting reminder of all the invisible that lies just beyond the veil that far too often never gets lifted. However, it's also more than that. It offers schematic explanations of the logic behind systems and techniques involved that could be reapplied in the same or any similar fashion or from which new methods could be derived - on both sides of the aisle.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60462182-tracers-in-the-dark?ref=rae_3

[copper wigeon]

Oof, me love some Vygotsky, but I'm not sure if his work would be recommended beyond a historical study on our knowledge on learning and cognition

[undone hawk]

The rise of ecofascism was less good than I hoped it would be, I had been really looking forward to reading it.

(imo of course)

[lilac vector]

Can you expand on that?

[undone hawk]

I felt it was lacking in detail and also missed some things I'd be actively interested in knowing more about, plus a lot of the book relies on a style of prose that I find really annoying, among which an overwhelming amount of "As this person said", "as this other person said", "when yet another person said". You don't need to do that 10x in a single page, just cite people. It took me a looong time to read for a teeny 138 page book because I was actively avoiding it. I was super sad, I love their podcast and was really looking forward to it.

Mind you, I might just not be the target audience.

[lilac vector]

Thanks! I also listen to their pocast and was thinking of picking up the book

I read Bomb Power last year, really enjoyed it.

The Know Your Enemy guys did a podcast on it
https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/know-your-enemy-bomb-power-with-erik-baker/

[copper wigeon]

I would say that you'd then be applying an outdated framework. Vygotsky was a genius of his time and his work helped to construct our current knowledge, like Galileo in physics or Skinner in ethology and also psychology, but his framework is outdated.

Therefore you'd be reaching inaccurate or even wrong hypotheses despite the existence of newer models that have empirical validation

[copper wigeon]

I'll get back to you through DMs when I have time for it, we're clogging this channel too much 😉

[lilac vector]

Get LOOMERED like never before as you follow the fast-paced Bond-style spy thriller featuring Laura as she teams up with FBI Agent Maria Quintana, in a tale of intrigue that never lets you take a breath until the final ending you never saw coming.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48821987-the-switch

[signal zealot]

Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA - Melvin A. Goodman
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2438771.Failure_of_Intelligence

[undone hawk]

Hm, I know a fair few people who have huge issues with his work. I think (not read it all) there's a bit of an overview here: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2022/07/the-dangerous-populist-science-of-yuval-noah-harari

[undone hawk]

The article I posted already talks about how the things in the one you replied with are wrong (such as the 'latest findings in DNA' amounting to what is in essence biologically erroneous genetic essentialism).

[signal zealot]

With the release of a new season of SNAFU about Hoover's FBI https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-snafu-with-ed-helms-102539700/episode/surveillance-now-then-with-loch-209947235/

Figured this would be a good candidate for a month:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/224642/the-burglary-by-betty-medsger/

[cedar fractal]

Getting ready to order this one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1541702697/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.YhNnYOkjrhg3T96JtFyDN8fPh84vuhcALXXFvaChRGxn3uVEci9BymdL7H8B4hi4SXlFT9K3Elwuw5v_Drgf3BH1Ke6M61HuyoNUNoVKbBg.bzxHAMxND2ZdjiV4q82stf_CfJycY1EdYNt3ZnMVYLs&qid=1729342169&sr=8-1

[dim sierra]

I understand that this book was already discussed, but I’d be curious if anyone would be interested in revisiting it.

I know I’ve been an argumentative guy (it’s my nature, as seems to, appreciably, be the case for others here), but Belew makes - to me - extremely strong points that I’d love to explore with anyone interested. I’m skeptical but she’s been seemingly incredibly influential.

In particular, Belew has extrapolated points from a book discussed recently (will grab link and paste in next comment) - the turner diaries - as indicative of how the right is making decisions now.

For example, at 8:45 in the below interview, Belew claims that Jan 6 was equivalent to the books US Capitol assault in that it was intended as a radicalizing action

https://youtu.be/dcDvn6ROhkM

https://discord.com/channels/709752884257882135/1122437334860828692

[dim sierra]

#far-right-monitoring message

[knotty moat]

If you want to do this can you use the post for the book, vs the book suggestions channel https://discord.com/channels/709752884257882135/1122437334860828692

[runic void]

This could be interesting

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-change-is-raising-the-temperature-on-global-conflict/

[solar spire]

I keep thinking something like this one --

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33874545-shattered

-- might perhaps be worth the time. Certainly, I'd participate if we decided to make this happen. 🙂

[knotty moat]

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/721285/the-palestine-laboratory-by-antony-loewenstein/

[knotty moat]

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/706321/means-of-control-by-byron-tau/

[lilac vector]

This is probably the best book for understanding the current information ecosystem https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/138505710-doppelganger

[knotty moat]

I have this on my "to read" list

[strong mantle]

Iv heard a lot of good things about it

[cloud walrus]

pop science, I raise you https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humankind%3A_A_Hopeful_History

or this one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs 🙂

[dim sierra]

Has anyone read this? I don't know what he actually says. There are some descriptions of "great replacement" which just refer to demographic change, and the conspiracy element I've seen described is that there's a some organization or active effort by "elites" to cause immigration, and to cause it for the conscious, deliberate ends of demographic change

But there's obviously a lot of room for different forms of definition there - I guess I'm wondering if the form of "great replacement" most often described ("elites, or specifically jewish elites, are making mass migration occur so that white people are a minority in America and/or europe") is from this book, or, if its maybe coined that way but the definition I gave originated elsewhere/online

[dim sierra]

Then there's another claim that's even more specific, at least in America but applicable to democracies (that that stimulated migration is for the purpose of getting sympathetic/aligned voters) and I wonder if that started here too (electioneering and gerrymandering by gathering populations to vote is old but i don't know if the theory of this + immigration is from this book)

[knotty moat]

Maybe you can talk about this in the #books channel as this particular channel is suggestions for book club

[dim sierra]

Thank you! My mistake, I hadn't seen this channel

[boreal narwhal]

A suggestion that was inspired by the latest QAA podcast episode >> Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America by Talia Lavin

[undone hawk]

At the risk of it not being OSINT but being a recent and thorough deep dive into the topic of antisemitism that is well referenced and well written (imo of course) I'd like to recommend https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/741043/safety-through-solidarity-by-shane-burley/

[winter oxide]

I am now finishing the first chapter. So far, it is about "what is the foundation of intelligence" (spoiler: it is society). There is some discussion about what is secret and mystery. For a start, it is very promising.

When I finish, I can suggest more about it. But for now, it is very interesting. https://www.amazon.com/Constructing-Cassandra-Reframing-Intelligence-1947-2001/dp/0804785805

[signal zealot]

https://bsky.app/profile/resnikoff.bsky.social/post/3lcqeax5pmc2y

https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526147073/

Ned Resnikoff (@resnikoff.bsky.social)

Given the number of reactionary white South Africans in Trump's inner circle now — Sacks, Thiel, and of course Musk — I feel like @quinnslobodian.com's work on the importance of apartheid South Africa to right-wing thought will sadly get only more relevant.

Likes

129

Bluesky · Dec 7, 2024, 6:46 PM

[winter oxide]

Very complex and interesting history from WWII to current times. https://anniejacobsen.com/surprise-kill-vanish/

More -> https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/studies-in-intelligence/volume-63-no-3/surprise-kill-vanish-the-secret-history-of-cia-paramilitary-armies-operators-and-assassins/

[azure dune]

joke question that i expect a "no" from: Do fanfictions count?

[azure dune]

Ok cool, thats a firm "no" then (judging from the emoji reaction)

[lilac vector]

Finally read The Silent Brotherhood by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt (now being republished as The Order). I liked it more than Kathleen Belew's Bring the War Home: more detailed and paints a broader and more captivating picture. I know I've said before that we've been too many far-right books, but this could be a good chance to do a Bellingcat Discord Server movie night (when The Order movie with Nicholas Hoult comes out)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/325360.The_Silent_Brotherhood

[crimson flare]

Annie Jacobsen is a good author, I have read her books on Area 51 and she also has one about the pentagon papers

[next summit]

Border and rule! https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1553-border-and-rule

[strong mantle]

Oooo this looks interesting. Have you read it yet?

[quasi bison]

I've just started reading Doppelganger. Thanks for the recommendation! Not sure what happened to Noami Wolf...yikes.

[signal zealot]

From the host of "The Dream" podcast that documents MLMs and the people in them

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Selling-the-Dream/Jane-Marie/9781982155773

[knotty moat]

tell me your best non-US centered books! we need more diversity in poll selections 🙂

[jolly scroll]

Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbina (Knopf, 2019) is a look at what I can only call maritime crimes against humanity and the environment. According to the Wikipedia page, it has led to ongoing projects to continue exploring the issues.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43345615-the-outlaw-ocean

[jolly scroll]

Red Famine by Anne Applebaum (2017). A deep dive into the Holodomor, Stalin's attempt to destroy the Ukrainian people.

A little old in comparison to many of the suggestions, but I'm getting ready to reread it in light of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. (On a more personal note, this book helped me understand the source of extremely anti-Russian "racist" attitudes held by my older Ukrainian relatives.)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33864676-red-famine

[dim sierra]

I thought this could be interesting:

Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number by Jacobo Timerman

1981 memoir by the left-wing Argentine journalist and publisher Jacobo Timerman, who was imprisoned without due-process during the Dirty War in Argentina in April 1977

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner_Without_a_Name,_Cell_Without_a_Number

[undone hawk]

Thanks for sharing. +1 from me for that one. The associated podcast was extremely good: https://www.theoutlawocean.com/the-outlaw-ocean-podcast/

[knotty moat]

I'm excited about all of these. Keep them coming!

I'm rereading this book and it's so good so I'll just put it here too https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/10046142-dancing-in-the-glory-of-monsters

[undone hawk]

I have on my list (not read yet) some works on Dalit responses to Hindutva including https://harpercollins.co.in/product/maya-modi-azad/ & https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54132700-hindutva-and-dalits

[undone hawk]

Thanks for this rec

[jolly scroll]

That sounds interesting! On the African front, there is also China's Second Continent by Howard French:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18373202-china-s-second-continent?ref=nav_sb_ss_3_10

[jolly scroll]

And while I'm in a "colonialist" mood, Children of the Broken Treaty, on our (Canada's) relationship to the Indigenous peoples of the region by long-time NDP MP (and punk rocker!) Charlie Angus.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25694379-children-of-the-broken-treaty

(Not specifically recommending them for book club, but for those interested in more detailed history of how things got started, search for "Metis and the Medicine Line" by Michael Hogue and "Clearing the Plains" by James Daschuk.)

[knotty moat]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/125151907-graphic back and forth about this, can any EU folks speak to availability and price?

Same for this one https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48615946-digital-witness

[vague nimbus]

Yes they are available. The first is € 25 in paperback (I think 20, digital?).

The second one is quite pricey new, about 40 euros. But I found an as-new second-hand one for 29.

[knotty moat]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41104077-invisible-women

[signal zealot]

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/741645/defectors-by-paola-ramos/

[knotty moat]

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691194080/the-war-that-doesnt-say-its-name?srsltid=AfmBOor-tq_-Kg_q6x86ePiNnfxUzy-HjbFkMNhjMpIpXxfAVCsvsEJ8

[spice geode]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199793672-book-and-dagger

[lilac vector]

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/7759817-the-unspoken-alliance

[knotty moat]

I'm interested in books about genocide studies (both academic and memoir-style, such as https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/215758.Shake_Hands_with_the_Devil ). some of these might be more about why international peacekeeping bodies (or international organizations writ large) can/have been ineffective. is that something you all are interested in? if so, i'll start listing ideas in this channel. but I'm also mindful that the topic is very heavy, and I can't assess things like SGBV descriptions ahead of time.

the talk with Alexa Koenig where she mentioned Gen Dallaire reminded me I wanted to bring this up to the crowd

[formal solstice]

Just started this one, can't offer an opinion yet, but I am excited to share it and see if there is anyone else who's read it/what they think! The Mechanic and the Luddite: A Ruthless Criticism of Technology and Capitalism: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/78a8446a-4b59-427d-a14e-a6edc97ae106

[jolly scroll]

I think my favourite part of this server is all the book recommendations. I joined right around the time when I was feeling like finding new books to read was becoming impossible. Now I have a backlog again!

[knotty moat]

I think next month's book club poll will be a selection of second place finishers - it's been a minute since we did that - so you'll get a chance to join us for any you missed!

[jolly scroll]

I loved the discussion on part 1 of "The Palestine Laboratory", but can't attend future ones unless I get internet sorted out. We gave up Starlink, so a "maybe" cell signal and a restricted hours library 20 km away are all that's left.

But I will continue to read every suggested book that I haven't already read!

[knotty moat]

We'll miss you and please let us know if you have any ideas about how to make things more accessible!

[jolly scroll]

Thanks. I've given this a lot of thought since the move away from dial-up. As far as I can tell, the accessibility problem is not one you can deal with. It's in the hands of governments and the activists who drive them.

[lilac vector]

This looks really interesting. I enjoyed Brian Merchant's history of the Luddite uprising
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/brian-merchant/blood-in-the-machine/9780316487740/

[strange sun]

This looks interesting!

[stuck iris]

Been dying to read this book. I belive it will expand anyone's understanding of the shipping & logistics industry at the global level. Its especially interesting to me because I believe it will sharpen my mentel model of the world around me. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/316767.The_Box?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=vVTEfGWB05&rank=1

I also recommend this book. I believe it's especially important for OSINT investigatitors/analysts to read. It will save them the time of diving deep into systemic issues that simply arise because of the geographic location, not neccessarly the people and their ideologies.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25135194-prisoners-of-geography?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_23

[undone hawk]

Another book on women and the far right https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.25394243

12 rules for what have their latest episode with the author : https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/103-taking-the-pink-pill-w-lois-shearing/id1453687129?i=1000700564062

[little wraith]

Book suggestion for sometime later: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199798813-black-pill

[vague nimbus]

We get the most cheerful books in book club! 🤣

[slender pelican]

Hi! any good books in spanish about the falklands war?

not only history books, but stories and memoirs are nice too

[pine imp]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Other-Pandemic-QAnon-Contaminated-World/dp/1526642557

Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist James Ball takes us into the depths of the internet to trace the origins and rapid ascent of QAnon, the movement that mutated from a niche online conspiracy theory into the world's first digital pandemic.

[signal zealot]

https://wiredwar.pwsinger.com/

[limpid geode]

https://www.amazon.com/Determined-Spy-Turbulent-Pioneer-Wisner-ebook/dp/B0D93D9BFV

This covers a bit more of a historical period but I offer it for its more unique edge focus - it gives a lot of insight and attention to Wisners BPD and how it impacted his work (both positively and negatively). Fantastic at offering that truly holistic human side of the folks that work in these careers, especially to the extent Wisner was.

[pine imp]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214490408-house-of-huawei

that was very interesting^

[tepid bronze]

this was very good book.

[signal zealot]

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/460044/the-ideological-brain-by-zmigrod-leor/9780241741214

Interview with the author. Timestamp: 51m21s
https://youtube.com/watch?v=BqvD6Ym_p4w&t=3087

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/science/ideology-neuroscience-politics-zmigord.html

[indigo comet]

Leah Sottile has a new book examining Love Has Won and the greater phenomenon of New Age influence on American culture. I started it today, and it's really good.

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/leah-sottile/blazing-eye-sees-all/9781538742600/

[signal zealot]

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/715421/little-bosses-everywhere-by-bridget-read/

[signal zealot]

If IP law is of interest https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jorge-l-contreras/the-genome-defense/9781649040763/

[limpid geode]

Definitely second jedikvs recco

[lime snow]

https://www.routledge.com/Climate-Change-Conflict-and-InSecurity-Hot-War/Clack-Meral-Selisny/p/book/9781032455792?srsltid=AfmBOopNFswcqx8vX3Ns6W_kUoajcV12pBgHolq9DGNXEquyYHWbuWsK

Just finished reading this one

[earnest scaffold]

I know this comment is from two years ago... Just wondering what the title of the book was? If you or anyone remembers?

[earnest scaffold]

I didn't see this mentioned but maybe I missed it. Rae Baker's Deep Dive: Exploring the Real World Value of Open Source Intelligence https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Dive-Exploring-Real-world-Intelligence/dp/1119933242

[strange sun]

Related: #far-right-monitoring message

[main root]

In Losing Reality Lifton makes clear that the apocalyptic impulse—that of destroying the world in order to remake it in purified form—is not limited to religious groups but is prominent in extremist political movements such as Nazism and Chinese Communism, and also in groups surrounding Donald Trump, showing how this destructive desire ultimately reached its apotheosis in the January 6 Capitol insurrection. Lifton applies his concept of “malignant normality” to Trump’s efforts to render his destructive falsehoods a routine part of American life. But Lifton nevertheless sees the human species as capable of “regaining reality” through our “protean” psychological capacities and our ability to serve as “witnessing professionals.”
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1620979535/ref=ewc_pr_img_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Also I think it would be, dare I say cruel, to not have or try to have Lifton as a guest speaker. He is 100 I believe but still actively makes appearances. (He wrote the book Totalism and the Psychology of Thought Reform I don't shut up about)

[earnest scaffold]

Conspirituality
How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Public Health Threat
Authors: Julian Walker, Matthew Remski and Derek Beres
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/713402/conspirituality-by-derek-beres-matthew-remski-and-julian-walker/9781039005532

[undone hawk]

Is it any good? I've gone up and down with my estimation of the podcast

[earnest scaffold]

I’ve yet to read it. Charlie Angus mentioned it (a politician in Canada with 20 years experience, who has recently been mobilizing Canadians outside of government), and it seemed like it would provide more info than fluff, or at the very least a good place to start discussions for a book club.

[signal zealot]

They also have a podcast that runs alongside it

[undone hawk]

Which was good for a while but I had to stop listening to because of some really bad takes

[hot wharf]

What happened to August's book?
I thought Tor was getting the votes.
Im 4 chapters in, and its very insightful

[hot wharf]

Love this. Its become a reference book for me. The chapters are well organised like that, and her orientation to ethics is unambiguous. Wonderful text
Like a OSINT learner's dictionary, too.

[signal zealot]

Both academic and empathetic approach to the topic of social media and youth

https://www.behindtheirscreens.com/

[signal zealot]

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/715421/little-bosses-everywhere-by-bridget-read/

Interview with author

https://youtu.be/YcLQh3yDQuo

[hot wharf]

Just saw this
"Living under hybrid war."
Ashfaque Khan and Farah Naz

[dense dew]

Is there a September book?

[vague nimbus]

Hi! You are the second person in four months to ask about Book Club. (Sorry, @hot wharf ! I should have replied sooner, but part of me was also curious if anyone else would notice.)

This is in line with the amount of enthusiasm that there has been for the book club. There have been instances when we were still doing the voice meetings when it was entirely staff and moderators; the norm was maybe one or two members.

When both Sarah and Tristan stepped down I thought I could keep it going in threads, but the response there was minimal too.

[jolly scroll]

I noticed, but that doesn't really mean anything. I made it to one discussion before we gave up our reliable internet and we'll probably be in that position for a couple more years.

[dense dew]

Thanks for the response! I haven’t been able to join as much as I’d like to but I genuinely love book club and have gotten so much from it. Hopefully it returns!

[halcyon socket]

Hey guys, I'm looking for book suggestions over relevant history about China and the pacific as a whole. Academic works are good too! I just want something that is as objective as possible.

[hot wharf]

Kevin Rudd is a good source about China
Particularly Xi

Try
On Xi Jinping: How Xi's Marxist Nationalism Is Shaping China and the World

[quaint shard]

I thought this was good. Only relevant to China post Mao though.
China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60070311-china-after-mao

[gray trench]

A book I really enjoyed, a novel a bit "brave new world" style, but at the digital era

[torn lintel]

Hi folks. I'd like to propose a book for January, Chasing Shadows by Ronald Deibert of Citizen Lab. I'm about halfway through it. I definitely would also participate in / co-host a discussion in, say, late January. Any takers? Also, are there any rules for book club? 🙂 Like, 'the first rule of book club is that you have to make book club exist'.

[torn lintel]

Here's the bibliographic info from Worldcat - https://search.worldcat.org/title/1423294758

[ornate cradle]

I’m really enjoying this one. Sands does a good job of making international law compelling, while also allowing the reader to draw their own contemporary conclusions.

[oblique pawn]

Danielle Lee Tomlinson, Kate Starbird and other folks from The University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public have come out with “Being Sensemakers: A Framework for University-Based Rapid Research of Elections, Crisis Events, and Beyond”, detailing the Election Rumor Research Project. The book is online! https://uw.pressbooks.pub/rapidresearchframework/