There's plenty of history and geopolitics for the War Nerd fans, but the real delight of this book is in following long-suffering podcast host John DoThere's plenty of history and geopolitics for the War Nerd fans, but the real delight of this book is in following long-suffering podcast host John Dolan as he traipse across the last frontiers of the affordable world. A picaresque, anti-travel memoir, an antidote to FOMO-inducing, pixel perfect Instagram fantasies....more
Kenney, I contend, is an emblematic figure in modern right-wing politics who manipulated populist sentiment to implement policies that strengthened elKenney, I contend, is an emblematic figure in modern right-wing politics who manipulated populist sentiment to implement policies that strengthened elite rule, exclusively benefiting those in positions of authority. That is a consistent thread throughout Kenney’s political career. He was by no means the first political leader to pursue this project, but in the Canadian context he was one of the most successful figures to do so.
A book on a Canadian politician is admittedly a tough sell. Good luck finding any high drama, and once they're out of office the public's goldfish memory resets––people don't care about yesterday's news.
But what author Jeremy Appel does here is special. He drives home the horror and cruelty of Kenney's lifetime mission, provoking a visceral reaction that the media often overlooked while Kenney was in office. And in fact, Appel has this great way of demonstrating how it works. Kenney is a man who craved mainstream respectability, and Appel starts most chapters and policy discussions with Kenney's stated aims--always something that sounds vaguely reasonable, boring, the stuff of CBC hourly reports. But then Appel dive in to assess the damage: the AIDS patients separated from their loved ones, the immigrant workers unable to make a home in this country, the Cargill workers dead of Covid.
The book also does a great job of building the case for why Kenney had to step down from the Alberta premiership, why he couldn't parlay that into the prime minister's office. In short, Kenney wanted two irreconcilable things: populist appeal and elite respectability. When push came to shove during the covid crisis, he made the wrong bet and his voters turned on him.
One hopes that this is more than just a book, that it's the nail in the coffin of a vampire....more
I was in Fort McMurray in 2016 when the fire happened and he captures the moment-by-moment of it quite well, to the point that wheQuite enjoyed this.
I was in Fort McMurray in 2016 when the fire happened and he captures the moment-by-moment of it quite well, to the point that when I doubted him I went back and checked my the journal I'd kept throughout the fire and realized he'd got it dead on more often than not. Interesting to go back to that time and revisit it from different angles.
The science and environmental aspects are a good fit and much-needed, given how, as he points out, talk of climate change during the disaster became verboten, on the misguided notion that it was 'punching down.' That said, sometimes the poetic license he takes is a bit much. Don't get me wrong, I like Beowulf or whatever just fine but it's not really relevant to the topic. I've heard good things about his other book, The Golden Spruce, so I'll probably check that out eventually....more
This was great. A journalist poses as a refugee to accompany his Kabuli friend on a dangerous journey from Afghanistan to Turkey, on a boat across theThis was great. A journalist poses as a refugee to accompany his Kabuli friend on a dangerous journey from Afghanistan to Turkey, on a boat across the sea to Greece, in the Moria refugee camp on Lesbos, and in the City Hotel Plaza anarchist squat in Exarcheia, Athens.
Essentially, there are three things going on in this book, all of which the author handles extremely well. The first is a story about the hardship and plight of refugees, the second is an adventure story/travelogue almost like something out of an updated Tintin about the author and his friend's journey, and finally there's a more removed look at the geopolitics and philosophical/political background underpinning the story.
Highly recommended.
Heard about it from Tim Bousquet mentioning it in the Halifax Examiner.
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