We’ve hit a new milestone! 1 5 0 members in our @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social podcast host group over on LinkedIn! A big welcome to everyone who's recently joined. It's amazing to see a space for #podcast enthusiasts to support each other. Excited to learn from all of you and see where we go next!
@calebzakarin.bsky.social, editor of the @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social, interviewed me for a podcast about my John McPhee book. It's a wide-ranging conversation, including talking about what makes McPhee so extraordinary and the many discoveries in the book.
bit.ly/3SyEvXT
Great to see my new book "Coming Clean" (@mitpress) highlighted by @calebzakarin.bsky.social, Editor of the @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social. We discussed the future of progressive #politics.
newbooksnetwork.com/coming-clean
Thanks to @princetonupress.bsky.social and to @calebzakarin.bsky.social, a terrific interviewer.
What Substacks should I subscribe to?
This will be a boon for elite, non-American institutions. Classes are better when the student body is internationally diverse. We make education in America more parochial at our own peril.
www.insidehighered.com/news/global/...
Middle class families are often squeezed the hardest by higher ed tuitions. I imagine the high fees, without a clear return on investment especially for parents, are a major source of the backlash against elite institutions.
news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...
"Ultimately, the transition beyond single title purchase models for ebooks seems to be picking up, suggesting a sort of second digital transformation for the monograph..."
@rschon.bsky.social
scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/03/19/s...
Europe courts US scientists after cuts
on.ft.com/41xIOqy Europe courts US scientists fleeing Donald Trump crackdown
TEA TIME!
Read the latest edition of our newsletter every Thursday.
newbooksnetwork.substack.com/p/tea-time
I’ll be at odd lots trivia tonight
The electric red pill acid test
I completely believed this
This is such a great book! Glad you’re giving Fritz coverage.
Fuego
I wrote up what happened to the CFPB this weekend, made possible by a years long lobbying campaign by Wall St and a recent push by Silicon Valley. Plus, a bunch of under the radar recent actions the Bureau took that enraged the business world
Balaji strikes me as third-rate Yarvin, which is really, really depressing.
@lukewgoldstein.bsky.social
Social media Guernica
Just wrapped our weekly roundup show with @lukewgoldstein.bsky.social, where we broke the news: this is the final day of his 2-year fellowship with @theprospect.bsky.social. It was a great run and we look forward to seeing his career continue. Congratulations!
TBF, he said he deleted it, not Akash.
I've listened to a few interviews with Lionel Barber about his new book on Masayoshi Son, including his profile in the @financialtimes.com. I might have to buy the book...
newbooksnetwork.com/gambling-man
Back of the envelope, we’d need to set global tariffs at 120% to match current tax revenue.
An interview I recently did with Rumu Sarkar on international development. Seems relevant.
newbooksnetwork.com/internationa...
Excellent essay
If there is any doubt that tariffs are passed through to consumers, the cost of propane to heat my house just went up by the amount of the tariff
May 15, 2026 will be a very interesting/scary day.
