A C. T U. A L. L Y

Michael Wolff , the author of two previous books about Donald Trump, had an insightful guest essay in the New York Times last week called Down the Rabbit Hole Into Donald Trump’s Brain .   In the essay Wolff asks the question on many people's mind:   Does Mr. Trump mean what he says and what does what he says mean?   The answer to these epistemological questions may determine the outcome of the numerous prosecutions pending against the former president, especially the most recent indictment based on the events leading up to January 6, 2021.   Wolff characterizes Trump’s way of speaking as an:  …unmediated fire hose of verbiage, an unstoppable sequence of passing digressions, gambits and whims, more attuned to the rhythms of his voice than to any obligation to logic or, often, to any actual point or meaning at all and hardly worth taking notice of. That about sums it up.   Wolff speculates about Trump’s curious reaction to the January 6 indi...

I just finished reading Peter Frankopan’s The Earth Transformed, an Untold Story .   Frankopan is a professor of global history at Oxford.   The book is a sweeping history of the planet from its formation 4.6 billion years ago through today, and the flora and fauna inhabiting it, observed through the lens of climate dynamics shaped by solar radiation, seismic and volcanic events, oceanic and atmospheric currents, glaciation and deglaciation, agriculture, urbanization, and the exploitation of natural resources.   It’s an ambitious, fascinating story, one which makes you wonder why someone hasn’t looked at history through this lens before.   To give you an idea of the scope of the work and Frankopan’s reason for writing this book (at 658 pages, it's a lethal weapon), here is an extract of The Earth Transformed from its publisher Bloomsbury and here are some reviews of the book on Frankopan's website: https://www.peterfrankopan.com/ .   For more on the man h...