Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage

Ernest Shackleton was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who planned to cross the Antarctic from sea-to-sea, and instead he and his crew of 28 men became trapped in pack ice. I just finished listening to Endurance by Alfred Lansing and read by Tim Pigott-Smith. This author retells the story of the incredible voyage of these men through extreme weather conditions over a period of 21 months during which none perished.

Recommendation: Fall of Civilizations

For the last few weeks I have been listening religiously to the Fall of Civilizations Podcast which I discovered also has this same podcast in a YouTube video version. I’m likely to go back and watch all these videos when I have a chance, because the story Paul Cooper (@PaulMMCooper) tells is clear, detailed and illustrated with relevant pictures of artifacts, and readings from the period and from the people who discovered the ruins. I explain here why this is such a great podcast.

A Novel Perspective of World History

I just finished listening to the Audible version of The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan. The author gave me much more than simply another world history. He provided a perspective of world history that considers Central Asia at the center rather than the usual focus on Western Europe. This blog mentions some of my insights as a result of reading this book.

Genetic Modification of Humans will Happen

Jamie Metzl in Hacking Darwin makes the argument that a genetics arms race is in progress, and we must, as individuals, take responsibility for developing an international regulatory program. Such an effort will not be easy to build, but it is essential if we do not want unfettered genetic manipulation of humans and their descendants. Metzl writes that his purpose is to get readers to act, and so I am acting by writing to the US President.