William Diggins

Good info & advice

Revisado: 05-01-25

Already in 2025 this information seems commonsense. But it's still important to be aware of. Definitely, legit scientists and scholars must also be pre-bunkers and learn to communicate their knowledge plainly for the masses.

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Encouraging introduction to the narcoleptic experience

Revisado: 12-06-24

As someone who also attended law school while unknowingly struggling with narcolepsy, I found it helpful to read about the author’s unfolding discovery she had a rare illness and how she found ways to cope with the limitations it imposed on her. I kept thinking, though, how much harder her difficulties would have been if she had not had a supportive family and if she lived in a right-to-work state where she could be fired for struggling with narcolepsy and her job didn’t provide health insurance or sufficient sick days, or if she hadn’t been a student with access to a campus health service. I could relate to her berating herself for not being able to keep up with the energy levels and accomplishments of classmates. The interview with the potential employer who looked at her grades and asked coldly, “So what happened?” Wow. I got exactly that same question, felt the same embarrassment and, unfortunately, I did not know I was struggling academically because I had undiagnosed narcolepsy and sleep apnea. I was as intelligent as my classmates but was just exhausted most of the time with grogginess and the creepy, mysterious visitor who I could feel sit down on the edge of my bed in the middle of the night, etc.

Lawyers typically do a lot of sitting and reading, and like the author, I ultimately decided law wasn’t a good career for me because I didn’t want to be struggling against falling asleep every day for the rest of my professional life. It’s embarrassing and I suspected people just assumed I was not committed, not enthusiastic, was probably secretly a drinker, or just plain lazy.so I found it very confirming to see all the parallels between Julie’s experiences and my own. I’m really glad she wrote this book.

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Unflinching and Revealing

Revisado: 09-20-24

I’ve been a fan of Elle Reeve’s since I saw her Charlottesville coverage in 2017. Her ability to stay focused and think on her feet is remarkable and rare. I always wondered about her own story, and how she came to cover the dangerous fringe beat that has defined her career. In Black Pill she reveals what has been happening on social media in the US, who was acting and why (including the possible psychology behind their stated motives), with toughness, nuance, honesty and enormous emotional intelligence. At the end Reeve and some of her inside sources examine how Q-Anon has become a more mainstream and accepted conspiracy universe than even the neo-Nazi and white nationalist/alt-right online groups. She shows the solid link between racism and misogyny, something we are seeing in the manosphere’s connection to earlier incel culture. Democratic values will only survive if everyone who believes in them cultivates and defends them. Reeve doesn’t focus on our emerging vulnerability to online foreign psyops because that’s not what she spent time reporting on. The lessons of Black Pill are applicable going forward: keep our eyes on the ball of democracy, believe in it, support it, demand it and live it every day.

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Clues to our present

Revisado: 09-15-24

Ganz deftly sketches portraits of the politicians who shaped (and continue to inhabit in many instances) out current political landscape. Their personalities, agendas and motives are revealed through their own words and actions, and the reactions of first-hand observers. As a mid-20th century baby I appreciate his gathering of these perspectives of what was going on behind the curtains. I lived through it, but this book deepened my understanding of what I remember. I plan to listen again to the audio book, it was that rich in detail and enjoyable in its storytelling style.

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Responsible adult citizenship

Revisado: 07-13-24

If Americans want to vote responsibly they should know about American history. This is fascinating and covers a lot of topics. Don’t assume you know enough about them. Eye opening and engaging! Should be assigned reading for every history teacher and should be part of public school reading lists in upper grades. (Sections might “hurt the feelings” of certain private schoolers, maybe, but that’s no excuse to be excused from learning the fullness of American history.)

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Informative & Entertaining

Revisado: 05-27-24

I never watched McCurdy’s sitcoms but I wanted to read her book because I wanted to hear what another daughter of a narcissistic mother went through. It’s like being in a cult of one. It’s reassuring to hear her experience because it confirms my own. I’ve never been anorexic or bulimic, though, so her story helped me understand that phenomenon better. I appreciate McCurdy’s openness and dark sense of humor.

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Necessary & urgent information for protecting our democracy

Revisado: 05-18-24

Excellent, URGENT book that has been on my list since it came out. I was worried it might be dated, but aside from the now (2024) outdated references to the titles and positions of Trump administration officials and others, which have been replaced in the Biden era, the information and history is accurate and unchanged. This is an important book!! I was raised in this Christian nationalist, evangelical culture and left in the 1980s out of disgust with the so-called Moral Majority. If you’re not familiar with the subculture you should read this to learn about who is working to derail pluralistic democracies around the world and here in the USA. If you are familiar with the subculture this book will still be an eye-opener.
I gave this version two stars for performance, just to alert the publisher that this narrator did not research correct pronunciations before recording some words and a few proper nouns she is apparently unfamiliar with (I wondered if it was an AI narrator throughout, because of that). But the qualities of her voice, pacing and enunciation are otherwise clear and pleasant.

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The Missing Link

Revisado: 05-03-24

I was in elementary school circa 1969, when a classmate, the son of a corporate CEO mocked me for not knowing about the John Birch Society. Obviously he learned about it at home, as we were merely 7 years old. That stuck in my mind, so I had to read this book. Well, it turns out there’s a big throughline from the JBS to all the other right wing extremists up to the Tea Party and Q-Anon. The parallels are too obvious to ignore. Toss in the rise of specialized right wing media and social media’s facilitation of connecting like-minded individuals and their obsession with conspiracies and rumors and you get our current political climate. And there’s no William F. Buckley to gatekeep or rein in or tamp it down. Read this book for a thorough history of how we got here. Oh my heavens. It is timely.

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Love Michael Harriot!

Revisado: 04-07-24

It’s wonderful to hear this book read by the author himself. His entertaining storytelling sweetens the bitter truths he reviews but also highlights the impressive accomplishments of Black movers and shakers, scientists, thinkers, and other notable, remarkable Black Americans you may not have even heard of and will want to learn more about. His tongue-in-cheek quizzes and exercises offer strong points while making me chuckle, giggle and shake my head. I wish this book had been around when I was in high school, so now that it’s out don’t delay, share it with your teens or friends, parents or significant others. Listen together on a road trip!

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Eyewitness to the 2nd half of the 20th Century and the beginning of the 21st Century

Revisado: 03-29-24

Amends and reparations must be humbly sought by our governmemts to the extent of their ability. Policies were inadequately thought out decade after decade, by many Americans who failed to appreciate the effects of their lifestyle choices. But the same elders who threw fuel on the fires ailing our society can still band together across cultures and generations to clamor for attitude and policy changes. A really thoughtful analysis of why we (particularly Americans) find ourselves in a destabilized world. I learned some things I hadn’t known before.

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