Much has been said recently about the US pulling out of the Paris Agreement and the vast majority of it has been highly politicized by people who have never even read the agreement. Opinions are quite polarized, ranging from “It was a perfect agreement and, now that we have pulled out, the sky is falling,”Continue reading “The Paris Agreement”
Author Archives: Bryan Guido Hassin
Wonder Woman: Better Than Most DC Movies, But…
Katie and I saw Wonder Woman today and, while it was fine to see once, I was disappointed relative to all the hype that it has been receiving as a “best ever” / “game changer” comic book movie. Following are some more detailed thoughts, but WARNING: THERE BE SPOILERS BELOW! THE GOOD THE BAD THEContinue reading “Wonder Woman: Better Than Most DC Movies, But…”
Review: Capitalism: As If the World Matters
“Capitalism: As If the World Matters” by Jonathon Porritt My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book has a good premise – that capitalism can be the SOLUTION to – not just the source of – our sustainability challenges. It has some good ideas as well: environmentalism needs more effective messages than doom and gloomContinue reading “Review: Capitalism: As If the World Matters”
Review: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
“Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really enjoyed this book. It is “pop history” not “history” to be sure, but it offers some keen insights, asks some provocative questions, and is engagingly well written. Harari captured my attention from the get-go as he definedContinue reading “Review: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind”
Alien: Covenant – Interesting But Deeply Flawed
Katie and I watched Alien: Covenant this evening and, despite trying to temper our expectations, still left with very mixed feelings. All comments below are spoiler-free except where indicated. THE GOOD Michael Fassbender puts on an acting master class. The movie is worth seeing just for him. The movie explores a genuinely interesting idea forContinue reading “Alien: Covenant – Interesting But Deeply Flawed”
Review: The Neverending Story
“The Neverending Story” by Michael Ende My rating: 5 of 5 stars WOW! Just wow! This book completely took me by surprise! I was impressed by the movie version of “The Neverending Story” as a child, but it didn’t move me enough to warrant repeated viewings or motivate me to seek out the source material.Continue reading “Review: The Neverending Story”
Review: The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves
“The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves” by Matt Ridley My rating: 2 of 5 stars THE GOOD: Ridley’s first and most consistent argument is that specialization (the ability of one person or organization to do one thing while another does another thing) and exchange (the ability to trade the products of those two things) setContinue reading “Review: The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves”
More on the Beatles
As a follow up to yesterday’s post about the Final [Fab] Four and in celebration of the UNC Tarheels basketball championship last night, here are some more thoughts on the Beatles that came from discussions in the group. First thought: even if you go back pre-Beatlemania to their time as a cover band, their potentialContinue reading “More on the Beatles”
The Final [Fab] Four
While Chapel Hill is going crazy with Final Four fever, I have been focusing my March Madness attention on a different Final Four – the Final Fab Four. A friend of mine from university drew up a bracket of 128 Beatles songs and we spent the month of March in a Facebook group devoted to theContinue reading “The Final [Fab] Four”
Uncomfortable Podcast
Stop what you’re doing and subscribe to this podcast right now. My intelligent, worldly high school classmate at ABC News has launched a series of uncomfortable conversations. There has only been one episode so far, but it is riveting. In the first episode she hosts an intelligent, articulate (the most dangerous kind) white supremacist whoContinue reading “Uncomfortable Podcast”