So you want to align your 2021 reading goals 🤓 with MTTR’s mission, eh? These books, recommended by various members of the team, should get you in the mood for the Big Work — and Big Fun! — ahead.
If you’ve got a suggestion for Part 2 of this roundup, send it on over to mia@mttr.is. Merci beaucoup.
1) “The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure” by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt: This book recommended by Yaël emerged from a 2015 essay in The Atlantic about the fragility of college students who “increasingly demand protection from words and ideas they don’t like.” It’s also the inaugural pick for the first-ever MTTR Book Club (date TBD).
“The authors, both of whom are liberal academics — almost a tautology on today’s campuses — do a great job of showing how ‘safetyism’ is cramping young minds. Students are treated like candles, which can be extinguished by a puff of wind. The goal of a Socratic education should be to turn them into fires, which thrive on the wind. Instead, they are sheltered from anything that could cause offence. . . Their advice is sound. Their book is excellent. Liberal parents, in particular, should read it.”— Edward Luce (FT)
2) “Tribes: On Homecoming and Belonging” by Sebastian Junger: This short book recommended by Anik examines tribal societies in order to better understand loyalty, belonging, and the quest for meaning. By looking at how war and disasters can be remembered more fondly than weddings or vacations, “Tribes” reminds us how much we need each other and offers a roadmap for coming together, even in today’s polarized world.
“An electrifying tapestry of history, anthropology, psychology and memoir that punctures the stereotype of the veteran as a war-damaged victim in need of salvation. Rather than asking how we can save our returning servicemen and women, Junger challenges us to take a hard look in the mirror and ask whether we can save ourselves."— Matthew Green (The Guardian)
3) “Hate Inc.: Why Today’s Media Makes Us Despise One Another” by Matt Taibbi: This book is Mediasick™ in a nutshell. The Rolling Stone reporter delves into the commodification of news and critiques how partisan media pits us against each other like rabid fans rooting for opposing teams. “Hate Inc” also serves as a scathing update to 1988’s landmark “Manufacturing Consent” by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky. (Taibbi even interviews Chomsky at the end.)
“This is a fantastic introduction for anyone just diving into the MTTR world, to understand how we got here and to wake up to the ways news media is made to be as addictive as cigarettes (with equally harmful effects). I’ve referenced this book several times since starting at the company.” — Mia Quagliarello (MTTR)
4) “Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation” by Andrew Marantz: A New Yorker staff writer speaks directly with far right figures who dominate the online conspiracy theory world. Recommended by Yaël.
“Like an old Hunter S. Thompson report from the campaign trail (without the horse tranquilizers)…” — James Sullivan (SF Chronicle)
5) “The Filter Bubble: How the New Personalized Web Is Changing What We Read and How We Think” by Eli Pariser: Sure, the term “filter bubble” is part of our everyday vernacular now, but Yaël says it’s *still* worth reading this 2011 book.
“Eli saw earlier than most the potential danger for how these social media business models could drive us towards further polarization through the personalization process.” — Yaël Eisenstat (MTTR)
6) “Conflict Is Not Abuse: Overstating Harm, Community Responsibility, and the Duty of Repair” by Sarah Schulman: In a society obsessed with scapegoating and victimization, how can we separate moments of conflict from abuse? Queer activist and scholar Sarah Schulman offers an alternative: just...communicate. Face to face, if possible. Schulman touches on both intimate relationships and global issues, where the conflation of conflict (normal, manageable) with abuse (less common, more difficult) leads to reductionist narratives of victim and perpetrator. Most of the time, Schulman notes, we are just muddling our way through complicated situations — it's part of being human, and it doesn't automatically mean we are abusive towards each other.
“I didn't love all of this book — her chapter on mothers and sons seemed incredibly dismissive of parent-child love — but her thesis felt like one long exhale. It's helped me be less sensitive and reactionary in my own personal life.” — Sarah Souli (MTTR)
7) “What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism” by Dan Rather: In this collection of essays, the veteran journalist riffs on everything from voting rights to immigration to the importance of empathy. Rather supports his pieces with historical facts, personal stories, and perspectives different from his own. (Sound familiar?)
“This is a book that is so carefully worded that you could give it to your red (or blue) relative for Christmas. Rather calls all Americans to our higher values, and uses his own history growing up in Texas to connect with readers, both red and blue. I grew up red, am now blue, my dad is still red and I will give him this book for Christmas, because it will not offend him, but will call him to look at some of the current issues in light of how we have always thought of ourselves as Americans.” — mongox3 (Amazon comment)
8) “This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom” by Martin Hägglund: Recommended by Eric, this book challenges accepted norms around faith and freedom. Hägglund argues that the faith we need to cultivate is (and this is from the book’s description) “not a religious faith in eternity but a secular faith devoted to our finite life together. He shows that all spiritual questions of freedom are inseparable from economic and material conditions. What ultimately matters is how we treat one another in this life, and what we do with our time together.”
“Arriving at a moment of widespread intellectual and political disorientation, ‘This Life’ is a timely, profoundly ambitious attempt to fashion a new foundation for personal and collective existence. Hägglund argues that a return to Marx’s radical materialism does not have to signal a loss of spirituality or contempt for democracy, but something like the opposite: a truly secular faith in a redemptive realm of freedom.” — Stephen Greenblatt (Author)
9) “Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think” by Hans Rosling: Live from Anik’s nightstand comes this exploration of ten instincts that distort the way we see the world — from “a tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse).” Let this book stoke the hope! Its position is that things are not as bad as we think.
“One of the most important books I’ve ever read—an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.” — Bill Gates
P.S. Bill knows books.
10) “Sapiens: A Graphic History: The Birth of Humankind” (Vol 1) by Yuval Noah Harari: The groundbreaking “Sapiens” reframed human history by telling the story of homo sapiens through historical and biological lenses. It’s mind-blowing and you’ve probably read it already. (1+ for the audiobook version—Mia.) The newer graphic edition makes the material more accessible to readers of all ages. With 256 pages of full-color illustrations, the novel reimagines human evolution as a tacky reality TV show. However, reviewers caution against buying the Kindle version, which they say is “unreadable.” Doh.
Hope you’re enjoying the weekend!
With love from San Francisco,
Mia