Chris Blattman

Critic Bethanne Patrick recommends 10 promising titles, fiction and nonfiction, to consider for your April list.April is the kindest month, the season when novels spring forth from the richest literary soil. Beloved novelists return to push their particular talents in bold new directions (and one, Ocean Vuong, returns to poetry). These recommendations include amazing books on some dark and difficult subjects, but there is always joy in great writing.FICTION Sea of TranquilityBy Emily St. John...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Coming soon. The post Case Study appeared first on Chris Blattman.

In light of the current crisis, a journalist reached out for general advice for people who want to make a difference, whether it’s with refugees or those still in country. Do send heavy blankets, used clothes, food, and teddy bears, preferably collected in at home and shipped overseas. Canned goods or dried beans are even better, both because of their high weight-to-value, and their widespread availability in the destination country.   Don’t support organizations that give the afflicted...

In light of the current crisis, a journalist reached out for general advice for people who want to make a difference, whether it’s with refugees or those still in country. Do send heavy blankets, used clothes, food, and teddy bears, preferably collected in at home and shipped overseas. Canned goods or dried beans are even better, both because of their high weight-to-value, and their widespread availability in the destination country.   Don’t support organizations that give the afflicted...

After reaching Lviv, I visited the Georgian legion’s new base in nearby Dubliani to meet with Commander Mamuka Mamulashvili. His legion also accepted many other foreign fighters, among them a good number of Americans. I walked through a checkpoint of soldiers strapped with AKs alongside a Georgian fighter. I asked him how it felt to be going to the front on behalf of another country. “It’s like sacrificing yourself for something, but splitting your heart 50/50,” he told me. Mamulashvili’s...

After reaching Lviv, I visited the Georgian legion’s new base in nearby Dubliani to meet with Commander Mamuka Mamulashvili. His legion also accepted many other foreign fighters, among them a good number of Americans. I walked through a checkpoint of soldiers strapped with AKs alongside a Georgian fighter. I asked him how it felt to be going to the front on behalf of another country. “It’s like sacrificing yourself for something, but splitting your heart 50/50,” he told me. Mamulashvili’s...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Illustrator Sam Owen’s creepy muppet series Latecomer’s guide to crypto What we can learn from our political adversaries STDs in the centuries before syphilis From Duncan Green, a magnificent letter from John Steinbeck to Marilyn Monroe: The post Links I liked appeared first on Chris Blattman.

Illustrator Sam Owen’s creepy muppet series Latecomer’s guide to crypto What we can learn from our political adversaries STDs in the centuries before syphilis From Duncan Green, a magnificent letter from John Steinbeck to Marilyn Monroe:

Jeannie and I played a LOT of board games with the kids over the pandemic. We still do. But if you’re like me, long games of Monopoly induce brain fog, Clue is dull and morbid, and Sorry makes you sorry you ever bought the damn game. What we wanted were games that were fun and engaging for kids as young as 7, but were great for adults as well. There were five clear winners, all of them games that I (and most of my friends) had never heard of: Splendor. Because all kids at heart want to be...

Jeannie and I played a LOT of board games with the kids over the pandemic. We still do. But if you’re like me, long games of Monopoly induce brain fog, Clue is dull and morbid, and Sorry makes you sorry you ever bought the damn game. What we wanted were games that were fun and engaging for kids as young as 7, but were great for adults as well. There were five clear winners, all of them games that I (and most of my friends) had never heard of: Splendor. Because all kids at heart want to be...