Some noteworthy reads from the last week:
“Phantom Public,” Astra Taylor
“Today you don’t have to be a card-carrying McLuhanite to believe that forms of media have their own inherent politics.”
“Therapy Wars,” Oliver Burkeman
“A newly emboldened band of psychoanalytic therapists are pressing the case that CBT’s pre-eminence has been largely built on sand.”
“Empire of Letters,” Jeffrey J. Williams
“Although I kept calling ‘L-A-R-B,’ everyone who works on it calls it ‘Larb,’ like the Thai salad. ‘The only literary review which is also delicious,’ Lutz joked.”
“The Curious Case of Island-Dwelling Goats,” Juliet Lamb
“Early North American settlers had a method for clearing forested areas without heavy machinery. Step one: let the goats in.”
“The Man With 20,000 Books,” Jacob Heilbrunn
“Abramsky transformed his home near Hampstead Heath into one of the most important private libraries on socialism and Judaism in the world. Books invaded every corner of his house—excepting the kitchen, where his wife Miriam whipped up lavish meals for the members of his salon that ranged from E.P. Thompson to Eric Hobsbawm, from Arnaldo Momigliano to Haim Ben-Sasson.”