Week 2: Catch of the Week
Thanks for reading or stopping by to see what I’ve gathered for you this week.
All aboard.
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism – Amanda Montell
There’s more to a cult than a charismatic figure capable of extreme levels of persuasion or a crate of matching tracksuits and Nike Decades; it’s much more inconspicuous than that. To start a cult, or convince anyone to do anything, you have to first begin with a technology whose power we often overlook: language.
There’s something deeply captivating about cults, evidenced by the millions of people devouring hours of documentaries, dramatized series, and podcasts on Scientology, Nxivm, and the Branch Davidians. I haven’t started down that rabbit hole (yet), but Cultish added a dimension that spoke to my own interests: words, their use, and influence.
Montell weaves her own history and experiences with cults into the different sections of the book, sharing just how easy it can be to conform when the promised results of a better body, a happier existence, or the potential to do something important coincide with the individual’s underlying desires.
We – Yevgeny Zamyatin
Written in 1921, Zamyatin’s We is considered one of the earliest examples of the dystopian genre, one that, evidenced by this list of recommendations, spawned countless flavors and sub-genres. We is also said to have been one of the inspirations of Orwell’s 1984 and appeared nearly a decade before Huxley’s Brave New World, classic works of dystopian fiction.
In We, a totalitarian state called OneState, led by the enigmatic Benefactor, dictates and orders nearly every moment and aspect of life for its citizens. When D-503, a model citizen of OneState and the main architect of a spaceship designed to bring OneState and its system of rule to other planets, meets a revolutionary, we soon devolves into us and them.
The Zap Gun – Philip K. Dick
I’m not embarrassed to admit I’m a Philip K. Dick-head. His sci-fi and speculative fiction, like all good sci-fi and speculative fiction, uses a simple premise or device to both hold a mirror up to the reader and focus a microscope on the petri-dish of society and culture.
Working through the corpus, I came across The Zap Gun, a critique of war and the arms races that perpetuate the military-industrial complex. The Zap Gun is certainly one of Dick’s pulpier books, one he claimed contained some of his worst writing.1 He is even quoted saying that the first half of the book was unreadable. Maybe I’m biased, or I've fully succumbed to a toxic trait of completionism that compels me to finish sub-par books by an author I love, but I flew through The Zap Gun.
When alien invaders begin aligning satelites around the earth, two global superpowers locked in a perpetual cold war fueled by an ever intensifying arms race should be able to protect themselves. The only problem is the arms race was all a ruse to collect taxpayer money, and no weapons, despite hours of government propaganda depicting the weapons in action, ever made it to production. What must humanity rely on to win the real war?
Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
You’ve probably heard about this book. One thing I’ve found out from making these lists of recommendations is that I’m slow to stuff. But I think that’s okay.
Station Eleven is an eerily prescient novel about a worldwide pandemic that killed off 98% of the population and affected every aspect of life. Some of the details, down to the hoarding of Charmin, were laughable until life began to imitate art. If I had tried reading this book in the thick of the pandemic I don’t know if it would have been a been better or worse experience.
The layered narrative and the interconnected stories were rich and every new chapter was an exciting next step deeper into the Undersea.
Fifty Inventions that Shaped the Modern Economy – Tim Harford
Tim Harford is an economics journalist whose book provides a list of inventions that changed the world as we know it. Some are obvious, like light bulbs and fire, but others, like the postage stamp and the bar code, I would have never thought about. Harford strings together a list that exists nowhere else.
FWIW: Check out the audiobook from your local library. One of the benefits of the audiobook is Harford’s narration.
Hard Fork – Can ChatGPT Make this Podcast?
If you haven’t yet looked into the new AI technology that is causing the world to both celebrate and panic about the potential, this is a good start. I messed around with ChatGPT shortly after this episode came out and was pretty amazed. If you look closely, you may see some of the AI’s fingerprints in this very newsletter…
By virtue of my affiliation, I did not grow up with the Book of Common Prayer as a resource at my disposal. I’m sure if I did, it wouldn’t have the same impact it has now. This daily reading has been a balm whenever I’m disciplined enough to press play.
River Tiber – Dreaming Eyes
I’ve listened to this album like six times trying to figure out what I like about it but after each listen, I come away with a different song being the one I enjoyed most for a different reason. It’s got S. Carey falsetto space vibes over droning bass lines, shredding solos, sad piano ballads, and driving drum beats with layered instrumentals.
Ab-Soul – HERBERT
A few years back I had tickets to watch the Top Dawg crew live but let my minor-agoraphobe ruin the weekend. I heard from some friends who went that Ab-Soul was on one and gave a great show. That this was their takeaway despite major billing going to K-Dot, was noteworthy.
Ab-Soul’s flow on HERBERT is wild; references, callbacks, and wordplay all on point. HOLLANDAISE was a highlight for me with a mid-song beat change that gives Keem’s family-ties
a run for its money. Looking forward to going through his other releases.
Tilar – Over the Moon
Tilar is a good blend of high energy dance pop, and pleasantly sweet crooning over funky horn lines and hand claps. Joyful and groovy, reminiscent of Earth, Wind, and Fire with a healthy splash of Hiatus Kaiyote.
Kiri No Mikito – Fever Dreams of a Floating Woman
This is a bit of a strange one but I dug the chaotic blend of frenetic programming and haunted vocals. The opening track is the exemplar of what I mean, but Highway Angel (Dream III) and She Was a Dancer are also captivating in their composition.
Hustle: noun – the competitive struggle to improve one’s financial situation through, at times, disreputable methods.
Only a few episodes into this show, but really enjoying the plots hatched by the two leads and the dialogue between the minor characters. There’s also an entire episode about a new Jordan drop where I felt seen.
Not that one. A Taxi Driver features Song Kang-ho (the dad of the impoverished family in Parasite) in a harrowing journey to deliver a German journalist from Seoul to the front lines of a student protest that became the Gwangju Uprising of 1980.
The film beautifully captures the hope that arises from desperation and the significance one person’s life, and how they respond to injustice, can have in the face of unchecked power.
An Experience and Invitation: Every day, write down three things you’re grateful for. This is a life-changing and life-giving experience.
If I put you on to something in this list, or you like what I’m sharing, tell me about it!
See you next week for another catch.
https://philipdick.com/mirror/websites/pkdweb/THE%20ZAP%20GUN.htm