blog

[2022-08-07 Sun]

I've read {A. Tooze (2021). Der ökologische Leninist (The ecological leninist), Tagebuch, pp. 26–31}. Tooze (2021) reviews the book White Skin, Black Fuel by Andreas Malm et al.. Malm is a radical climate activist, who poses an old question — should we use sabotage and direct action in the climate struggle? Malm et al. believe that we should, because the conventional ways of protest seem to be inefficient. They compare the current situation with the post-World War I era, where the looming threat of another war was used to legitimise more radical actions.

[2022-07-26 Tue]

I've read Die Natur der Zukunft (The nature of the future) by Bernhard Kegel. Unlike Magnason's book, this book is just facts. It reports in great detail the disruptions and regime shifts that are expected across Earth's ecosystems due to the ongoing climate change. Reading all these facts starts out interesting but becomes disturbing after a while. The book is neatly written—very German—and gives a good overview of all the challenges that await. It's pretty good.

The part on tree mortality was especially interesting to me. Kegel summarises the extreme drought in Europe that started in 2018 and went through 2020, causing unprecedented damage to German forests. One issue that made German forests especially vulnerable to the drought is that they are industrial monocultures. Such single species ecosystems don't have enough flexibility to navigate a heavy disturbance. In addition, the weakened trees fell victim to a bark beetle plague, which was again amplified by the monoculture nature of the forests. Kegel points out that the regime shift in forests was immediate, without much lag. What needs to be done to secure forests in the future is not entirely clear. For economic purposes, it might make sense to plant non-native, drought resistant trees in mixed systems. However, the optimal combination of species is unclear.

[2022-07-03 Sun]

I've read Um tímann og vatnið (Water and time — A story of our future) by Andri Snær Magnason. The book is a mixture of Magnason's family history, glaciers, and climate change. Through his family stories, Magnason relates human timescales to geological ones and connects everything beautifully to the ongoing climate emergency. If you have read a book on climate change before, you will not find a lot of new information. The strength of this book is its prose, which is well-crafted, rich, and poetic. It did touch my heart. I may read it again after some time.

[2022-08-07 Sun]

1. The Family Law — an Australian sitcom about a Chinese-Australian family that gets through a divorce. The teenage son, Benjamin, is the protagonist, who in addition has to come to terms with his own sexuality. It's very wholesome. Best show I watched this year.
2. White Lotus — a comedy drama series set in a Hawaiian resort with the same name as the series title. We are introduced to several dysfunctional guests of privileged background and follow their interactions among each other and with the hotel staff. The series touches on classism and its intersection with race—most of the hotel staff are black and native people—but remains funny until its dramatic end.
3. Joel Kim Booster's Netflix Special: Psychosexual — stand-up comedy from Joel Kim Booster. He talks about being Asian–American, about being queer, and about the pressure of representing both groups. Entertaining stuff.
4. Chameleon — an investigative podcast on the so-called Hollywood Con Queen, who scammed numerous people in the lower ranks of the Hollywood industry. Highly recommended.

[2022-07-29 Fri]

1. Animals as Leaders — Parrhesia {djent}
2. Kool Savas — ONE {hip-hop}
3. Covet — technicolor {math rock}

[2022-06-30 Thu]

1. Makam — The Hague Soul {house}
2. Louise Chen — Boiler Room x FLY Open Air 2022 {house}
3. Kanye West — The College Dropout {hip-hop}

[2022-07-29 Fri]