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all-time influential
cover for Empire of Pain

Empire of Pain

Patrick Radden Keefe

READ 2025

Another 'please let me tell you about this' book, more about the shocking historical context of opioids and medical advertising in general. This book has made me think seriously about philanthropy, and especially about the potential lasting and far-reaching consequences of any work in the biotech industry– an it's made me wonder what the Oxycontin of the modern day will be, 20 years from now.

philanthropy public-health
cover for Wild Dark Shore

Wild Dark Shore

Charlotte McConaghy

READ 2025

Third novel by a favorite author, and this one continued to impress! Such a haunting combination of darkness and light in characters, setting, and theme… dark and wild are apt descriptors. The narration too was captivating and so fitting to each character. The overall tempo so dynamic, in that it ebbed and flowed with suspense and tension, and everyday and geologic timescales; and it touched so many concepts close to my heart: the ocean, whales, the romance! Not often do I read something that makes me so sympathetic (maybe even heartbroken) towards the human characters while also conveying the wonder and tragedy of our relationship with the rest of the natural world.

Novo Nordisk (Ozempic)

 Ben Gilbert, David Rosenthal

READ 2024

Fascinating and unlikely history of Novo Nordisk

cover for The Dawn of Everything

The Dawn of Everything

David Graeber, David Wengrow

READ 2021

Making me rethink everything I learned in history, and making ponder more deeply what exactly it means to be human in relation to others.

history politics sociology
cover for Can't Even

Can't Even

Anne Helen Petersen

READ 2021

This book is everything I never knew I needed to put words to. Petersen analyzes and contextualizes the forces that dominated my high school and college years, whether personally or by observation: the compulsion to work, guilt over rest, constant push to become a 'walking college resume,' the need to have a cool job you were so passionate about, the idea that college was the answer to security... It's fascinating to learn about the political and economic measures that fostered these themes that feel so individual.

capitalism-consumerism psychology/relatable sociology
cover for Migrations

Migrations

Charlotte McConaghy

READ 2021

An all-time favorite novel and author

environment
cover for After Geoengineering

After Geoengineering

Holly Jean Buck

READ 2021

This is the climate book I’ve been searching for without knowing it existed: Dr. Buck calls out the spectrum of climate interventions between exploitative technology and nature-cures-all, diving deep into the technical and philosophical weeds of it all. My interest in this topic made the book a slow, dense, and incredibly rewarding read, and short hypothetical “sketches” of future worlds interspersed between the policy talk made it all the more worthwhile (and complemented the wild choose-your-own-adventure/disaster introduction, which you should read even if it’s the only section you do!).

climate environment
cover for Women & Power

Women & Power

Mary Beard

READ 2021

A powerful, direct, and digestible explanation of women and power. I don't think I'll forget what this 30 minute read taught me any time soon. Go read it!

feminism history sociology
cover for Coffeeland

Coffeeland

Augustine Sedgewick

READ 2021

Epic, in the truest sense of the word. The history of America, and its relationship with Latin America in particular, and the development of our productivity-obsessed culture, through the story of coffee.

food-and-drink economics history
cover for Kochland

Kochland

Christopher Leonard

READ 2020

A sprawling, thorough, and fascinating portrait of Charles Koch’s life work. Learning the human aspect behind a worldview I disagree so profoundly with is complicated, but I think ultimately lays the ground for more constructive conversation.

capitalism-consumerism petro
cover for Winners Take All

Winners Take All

Anand Giridharadas

READ 2020

This made me think hard about my life and my dreams to 'change the world.' Gave me the language and framework to more carefully consider, analyze, and interpret society in a more complete way.

capitalism-consumerism philanthropy
fantastic
cover for The MANIAC

The MANIAC

Benjamín Labatut

cover for Fire Weather

Fire Weather

John Vaillant

cover for Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights

H. G. Bissinger

cover for No Friend But the Mountains

No Friend But the Mountains

Behrouz Boochani, transl. from Farsi by Omid Tofighian

Costco

 Ben Gilbert, David Rosenthal

cover for The Best Minds

The Best Minds

Jonathan Rosen

cover for The End of Drum-Time

The End of Drum-Time

Hanna Pylväinen

cover for Cobalt Red

Cobalt Red

Siddharth Kara

cover for Dark Emu

Dark Emu

Bruce Pascoe

cover for Orwell's Roses

Orwell's Roses

Rebecca Solnit

cover for This Is Your Mind on Plants

This Is Your Mind on Plants

Michael Pollan

cover for Wonderworks

Wonderworks

Angus Fletcher

cover for The Bird Way

The Bird Way

Jennifer Ackerman

cover for Nose Dive

Nose Dive

Harold McGee

cover for To Be Honest

To Be Honest

Michael Leviton

cover for The Biggest Bluff

The Biggest Bluff

Maria Konnikova

Thriving Together: Salmon, Berries, and People

Jess Housty

cover for Billionaire Wilderness

Billionaire Wilderness

Justin Farrell

cover for The Code Breaker

The Code Breaker

Walter Isaacson

cover for Of Wolves and Men

Of Wolves and Men

Barry Lopez

cover for Good Reasons for Bad Feelings

Good Reasons for Bad Feelings

Randolph M. Nesse

Against “Feel Free To Take Some Time If You Need It"

Anne Helen Petersen

cover for Animal, Vegetable, Junk

Animal, Vegetable, Junk

Mark Bittman

cover for The Book Collectors

The Book Collectors

Delphine Minoui, transl. from French by Lara Vergnaud

cover for David Attenborough

David Attenborough

David Attenborough

cover for Chatter

Chatter

Ethan Kross

cover for Under a White Sky

Under a White Sky

Elizabeth Kolbert

cover for The Undocumented Americans

The Undocumented Americans

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

cover for Land

Land

Simon Winchester

George Saunders on Kindness, Capitalism & the Human Condition

Ezra Klein, George Saunders

cover for A Terrible Thing to Waste

A Terrible Thing to Waste

Harriet A. Washington

cover for Why Fish Don't Exist

Why Fish Don't Exist

Lulu Miller

cover for Why We Swim

Why We Swim

Bonnie Tsui

cover for Undersea

Undersea

Rachel Carson

cover for A Promised Land

A Promised Land

Barack Obama

cover for Fire in Paradise

Fire in Paradise

Alastair Gee, Dani Anguiano

cover for The Reason for Flowers

The Reason for Flowers

Stephen L. Buchmann

cover for Inconspicuous Consumption

Inconspicuous Consumption

Tatiana Schlossberg

cover for Horizon

Horizon

Barry Lopez

good
The Map and the Territory Michel Houellebecq, transl. from French by Gavin Bowd Deep Water James Bradley Stella Maris Cormac McCarthy The World-Ending Fire Wendell Berry, selected by Paul Kingsnorth Atlas of AI Kate Crawford Let My People Go Surfing Yvon Chouinard Between Two Kingdoms Suleika Jaouad The Hospital Brian Alexander Funny Weather Olivia Laing Four Lost Cities Annalee Newitz Breath James Nestor Living in Data Jer Thorp The Hundred Years' War on Palestine Rashid Khalidi High Conflict Amanda Ripley Sand Talk Tyson Yunkaporta Subtract Leidy Klotz The Greatest Climate-Protecting Technology Ever Devised Brooke Jarvis Beloved Beasts Michelle Nijhuis Mission Economy Mariana Mazzucato The Spell of the Sensuous David Abram The Age of Wood Roland Ennos Strange Harvests Edward Posnett Turn Towards the Dark: Fear, Courage, and Surrender Hala Alyan Life’s Edge Carl Zimmer Return the National Parks to the Tribes David Treuer Think Again Adam Grant Drug Use for Grown-Ups Carl T. Hart Conditional Citizens Laila Lalami How Do We Look Mary Beard In Love with the World Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche The Anthropology of Turquoise Ellen Meloy The Night of the Gun David Carr The Folly of 'Purity Politics' Julie Beck, Alexis Shotwell How renewable energy jobs can uplift fossil fuel communities and remake climate politics Adie Tomer, Joseph W. Kane, Caroline George The Terrifying Warning Lurking in the Earth’s Ancient Rock Record Peter Brannen Life in Code Ellen Ullman Recollections of My Nonexistence Rebecca Solnit How To Be an Artist Jerry Saltz Weird Olga Khazan The Man With the Plan to Beat the Pandemic Ezra Klein, Vivek Murthy Leave the World Behind Rumaan Alam What Are You Going Through Sigrid Nunez Teaching a Stone to Talk Annie Dillard The Last Two Northern White Rhinos On Earth Sam Anderson Proof Adam Rogers How to Be Bored Shayla Love What Can a Body Do? Sara Hendren Farming Our Way Out of the Climate Crisis Project Drawdown How Science Beat the Virus Ed Yong What If You Could Do It All Over? Joshua Rothman Our Dogs, Ourselves Alexandra Horowitz The Life You Can Save Peter Singer The Body Bill Bryson Endure Alex Hutchinson
okay
not so good