BOOK BLOGGING….It’s kinda slow around here today, so how about if I put you guys to work for a change? I’ve been in a fiction phase for the past month and I’m ready to switch back to nonfiction for a while. Got any recommendations? I don’t happen to be in the mood for either political books or history at the moment, but anything else is fair game. I want to learn something new about some interesting institution, movement, or field of knowledge. What have you got for me?
The Power of Vote at Home
Voter turnout in California’s mail-ballot primary was off-the-charts. That’s a far more important story than waiting a week for results.
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The Exiles Who Sold Trump’s Wars
Iranian and Venezuelan émigré networks made the case for U.S. intervention. Then the president cut them loose.
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The Iran War’s Biggest Loser? Definitely Netanyahu
The American president’s “Art of the Deal” reputation is in tatters. But the Israeli prime minister’s attempt to impose a military solution on the region makes him the war’s biggest loser—and Israel isolated and vulnerable.
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How Local News Reduces Loneliness
One more reason rebuilding local news is vital. Academic research suggests that whether it’s an obituary, a puff piece, or news of a sale on tuna at the grocery, local news makes us feel less alone.
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Trump’s Dangerous Litmus Test for NIH Grants
An absurd politicization of scientific research that will weaken America.
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The 2026 Kukula Award Winners
The Washington Monthly’s annual award celebrates the best in nonfiction book reviewing and honors the memory of Kukula Kapoor Glastris, the magazine’s beloved books editor.
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Are the Elderly Holding America Back?
A new book treats old age, or ‘gerontocracy,’ as the central crisis of modern politics. The framing obscures more than it explains.
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