Author Archives: Harry Katz
Exit West
Wow! What a marvelous magical book to close out this tumultuous year! Nadia and Saeed live in an unnamed city in an unnamed country, perhaps in the Middle East, or maybe Afghanistan or Pakistan, or possibly anywhere, that is being … Continue reading
The Myth of the Strong Leader
We all admire strong leaders, leaders with a commanding presence, leaders who aren’t afraid to make tough decisions, who “tell it like it is” and press forward undaunted in the face of critics and nay-sayers. But are these strong leaders … Continue reading
On Dumping Stuff
Last weekend we took a load of stuff to the dump. Technically it’s called a municipal waste transfer station. You pull up, back up actually, to the sloping edge of a long deep rectangular trench. The trench is really an … Continue reading
Machine, Platform, Crowd
Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital FutureBy Andrew McAfee and Erik BrynjolfssonW. W. Norton & Co., New York, 2017 Machine, Platform, Crowd is an update to Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson’s fabulous 2014 book, The Second Machine Age. (My review … Continue reading
Mr. O’Byrne
I’ve been remembering my high school calculus teacher, Mr. O’Byrne, over the last few days. It started while I was reading a lengthy article about neural networks and how they’re trained using backpropagation and analytic gradients. There’s not that much … Continue reading
Thank You for Being Late
Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of AccelerationsBy Thomas L. FriedmanFarrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2016 It’s a good thing Tom Friedman is an optimist. Reading his latest book, Thank You for … Continue reading
Beethoven’s 9th
I can’t remember when, or even if, I’ve ever listened to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 from start to finish. I’ve certainly never heard it performed live. Until last night. We attended a performance of the Ninth by the Seattle Symphony … Continue reading
How Will You Measure Your Life?
How Will You Measure Your Life? By Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth & Karen Dillon HarperCollins, New York, 2012 Clayton Christensen is best known for his groundbreaking book The Innovator’s Dilemma, probably one of the most important business books ever … Continue reading
Post-Election Reading
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in CrisisBy J. D. VanceHarperCollins, New York, 2016 The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott WalkerBy Katherine J. CramerUniversity of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2016 Before … Continue reading
The Grid: The Fraying Wires between Americans and Our Energy Future
A PhD in cultural anthropology might seem like an odd background for someone writing a book about our national electricity grid. But Gretchen Bakke sees the grid as more than just generating plants, transmission wires, substations, poles, meters, outlets and … Continue reading
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