Category: Open Thread

How are things in India right now? As many Indians now read this weblog as Americans (33% each). Mostly curious about the post-coronavirus world. New podcast with Abhinav Prakash. More suggestions for podcast guests welcome. One thing I had a mild disagreement with is the use of the term “genocide” in relation to what the…

Reading The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous and thinking about how perhaps America may not be so “WEIRD” in the near future…. The plan write now is to review the book somewhere, and interview the author for The Insight. I may write something earlier about WEIRD…

I did an episode on Big Brown Army a few days ago. The conversation revolved around being Christian (evangelical) and Indian, as well as what wokeness is doing to Christianity and Indians. The host of BBA, Decruz, is someone who I’ve known on and off for 15 years. We’ve both changed a lot, but stayed…

Talk about whatever you want. One thing: most of your comments on “OIT” end up making me more skeptical of “OIT” (sometimes blog contributor JR is an exception insofar as he tends to present his arguments more tightly and offer plausible hypotheses). Half the time is spent in arguments that I don’t even necessarily hold.…

I got an early copy of The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous. This book, by Joe Henrich, doesn’t come out until early September, but hopefully I can get Henrich on The Insight to talk about it around the release date. Long-time readers know I’ve appreciated Henrich’s…

What’s going on?

The usual. Talk about what you want. Or not. Pakistan, Islam, etc. Or American riots. Also, starting a semi-regular podcast with Surya Y. about American politics from two viewpoints (Left and Right). The first episode is up, check it out. If you don&#8…

I’m not a big reader on revolutions, but they rarely turn out the way revolutionaries expect them, and in the long view of history they often don’t turn out too well. But in the short-term they’re exhilarating. When violence broke out last week and the looting started I was downcast. It was “explained,” by some…

The usual. Talk about whatever (that means Pakistan, Islam, and haplogroup H, I guess). Second, please remember to subscribe to the podcast (see the links for the services). There has been a delay in some episodes for posting show notes.  Also, please post more positive reviews. Third, this month is a Brown Pundits record for…

The above chart is from a report by the California Academic Senate suggesting that the university system of the state of California keep the SAT as part of their admissions process. The report is from April. Nevertheless, the UC system has temporarily suspended the SAT/ACT as a requirement. Eventually, they may phase it out permanently,…

Do your thing.

I noticed The Birth of the West: Rome, Germany, France, and the Creation of Europe in the Tenth Century is $3.49 on Kindle. So I got it. It’s 500 pages and people complain it’s too academic. So what else could I do? Please give The Insight more 5-star ratings (or Stitcher. Unlike many podcasts, our…

Please put comments here that won’t fit elsewhere.

The conversation has overwhelmed this weblog this week. Please move your threads into this post. Should be easier to manage. Also, thinking of doing a 12:30 PM (India time) Zoom today. If interested please check back 10 minutes before for the link in t…

Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China’s Last Golden Age is pretty good. It gives a blow-by-blow of the lead up to the Opium Wars. One gets a more visceral sense of why Chinese nationalists hate the West so much. Influenza: The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic and…

Do your thing. A minor note: like a frog being boiled, I’ve unconsciously been increasing the threshold of moderation on a lot of these posts. This applies to my posts in particular, as I’m more ‘liberal’ on other threads and le…

Between family, work, and other stuff, I’ve been remiss in posting “open threads.” Life changes. I remember back in 2010 I was posting daily roundups of links and what not. No time for that. Finished The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao. Recommended. One thing that most of you likely know is…

Do your thing.

Another BP Podcast is up. You can listen on Libsyn, Apple, Spotify,  and Stitcher (and a variety of other platforms). Probably the easiest way to keep up the podcast since we don’t have a regular schedule is to subscribe to one of the links above! You can also support the podcast as a patron. The primary benefit now is that you get…