TLP Week in Review, 3/2-3/9
Your weekly summary of what we've been up to here at The Liberal Patriot.
What We’re Reading (and Watching and Listening To…)
“Joe Biden’s Last Campaign”: New Yorker reporter Evan Osnos interviews President Biden on the state of the 2024 presidential campaign (such as it is). “If you thought you were best positioned to beat someone who, if they won, would change the nature of America,” Biden asks, “what would you do?”
“Israel Must Not Let Netanyahu Reject the Biden Peace Plan”: Nimrod Novik of the Israel Policy Forum argues that Israel should support President Biden’s “emerging regional strategy [that] offers Israel a unique opportunity for turning the trauma of Hamas brutality of October 7, 2023 and the ensuing war into a three-way win: an exit from Gaza; progress in the broader Israeli-Palestinian arena; and integration into a potent regional coalition.” While embracing Biden’s plan “seems a no-brainer,” Prime Minister Netanyahu has instead rejected it.
“The Mounting Damage of Flawed Elections and Armed Conflict”: Freedom House’s annual ranking of freedom in the world finds global freedom in decline for the eighteenth straight year: “The scope and scale of deterioration were extensive, affecting one-fifth of the world’s population. Almost everywhere, the downturn in rights was driven by attacks on pluralism—the peaceful coexistence of people with different political ideas, religions, or ethnic identities—that harmed elections and sowed violence.”
A Nasty Little War: Western Intervention into the Russian Civil War: Former Economist Kyiv correspondent Anna Reid brings the barely-remembered Allied intervention in Russia’s post-revolutionary civil war to light in this engaging account. It’s not hard to see the parallels with later military interventions in this ill-fated expedition—in particular the Allied reliance on undependable local partners with narrow to non-existent domestic political bases.
Juice: Power, Politics, & The Grid: This docuseries by Robert Bryce and Tyson Culver takes viewers from Texas to Tokyo to expose the perils facing our electric grid. It shows how we can improve the reliability of our most important energy network and address climate change by embracing nuclear energy. Bryce is a man climate activists love to hate, but he actually has a lot of compelling points to make. Watch it—you may find his view of energy issues a useful corrective to the current conventional wisdom.
Cosmic Scholar: The Life and Times of Harry Smith: Who was Harry Smith? As John Szwed details in this biography, true American original. He was an anthropologist, filmmaker, painter, folklorist, mystic, and walking encyclopedia. He taught Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe about the occult, swapped drugs with Timothy Leary, had a front-row seat to a young Thelonious Monk, lived with (and tortured) Allen Ginsberg, was admired by Susan Sontag, and was one of the first artists funded by Guggenheim Foundation. He was always broke, generally intoxicated, compulsively irascible, and unimpeachably authentic. Harry Smith was, in the words of Robert Frank, “the only person I met in my life that transcended everything.” Oh, and ever hear of the Anthology of American Folk Music? That was him too.
“Emergence”: Today is ex-Fugazi and current Messthetics drummer Brendan Canty's 58th birthday. The trio recently joined with saxophonist James Brandon Lewis on some ace new jazz recordings including this single plus a rolicking track called, "That Thang." The foursome will be on tour this spring including stops at the Black Cat and Solar Myth later this month. Check 'em out!
Curb Your Enthusiasm: The final season of the long-running HBO comedy series sees show creator and protagonist Larry David lauded for breaking a Georgia law against providing water to voters waiting in line, standing accused of being Disgruntled at his country club, and having rivals immortalize his faux pas in commemorative bricks at his synagogue. Cue the theme music:
What We’ve Posted
“Economically Distressed Places: How Big is the Problem?” by TLP contributor Tim Bartik.
“The Nonwhite Working Class Bails Out on the Democrats” by TLP politics editor Ruy Teixeira.
“A Low, Dishonorable Tradition” by TLP senior managing editor Peter Juul.
“The Delusions of the Uncommitted Bloc” by TLP executive editor John Halpin and TLP editor at large Brian Katulis.
“When Science Journals Become Activists” by the Breakthrough Institute’s Patrick T. Brown.
Ruy’s Science-Fiction Pulp Cover of the Week
Just one more thing…
What did the Romans ever do for us? Made surprisingly modern wine, according to new research: “not only was Roman winemaking far more advanced than previous studies have found, but also that Roman wine had complex flavors and colors, with many similarities to modern wine—as well as some notable differences.”
