Hump day recommendations 01/11/2023

This week, we share a few from our readers. Thank you to everyone who submitted their picks. Enjoy!

Read: "And There Was Light – Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle," by Jon Meacham. I thought I knew a lot about Old Abe, but I am learning new things, like his ideas on the Bible when he was in his '20s. Highly recommend this book. — Tom Zdrojeski, Massapequa Park, NY

Watch: "Firing Line with Margaret Hoover" on PBS. I recommend Signal readers watch all the interviews (recent and past). Readers will appreciate the deep conversations moderated by Margaret Hoover on a variety of topics and perspectives. — Ray Pun, San Francisco, CA

Read: "Five: The Untold Stories of the Women Murdered by the Jack the Ripper." This is my top non-fiction book of 2022. Rather than focusing on the details surrounding their deaths, the book delves into the lives of the women from birth, their working-class backgrounds, and the really unexpected twists and turns of their enlightening life stories. It was really eye-opening for the conditions and social standards of 19th Century Britain and really makes you think of how far we’ve come. — Ruaridh Heath, Manchester, UK

Listen: "Blowback" is an amazing podcast about the characters behind the scenes of conflicts America likes to forget about. Starting with the war in Iraq (then moving on to Cuba and North Korea), it breaks down the motives and outcomes of the American strategy of isolating "rogue states" in an effort to bring about regime change from the narrative of the people at the levers of power. — Lawrence Wood

More from GZERO Media

a silhouette of an armed soldier and GZERO World with ian bremmer - the podcast
GZERO

Listen: On this episode of the GZERO World Podcast, while the Gaza war rages on with no end in sight, Ian Bremmer and three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman discuss how it could end, who is standing in the way, and what comes next. It may seem premature to talk about a resolution to this conflict, but Friedman argues that it is more important now than ever to map out a viable endgame. "Either we're going to go into 2024 with some really new ideas,” Friedman tells Ian, “or we're going back to 1947 with some really new weapons."

2024 04 04 E0819 Quick Take CLEAN FINAL

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: On the back of the Israeli Defense Forces strike killing seven members of aid workers for the World Central Kitchen, their founder, Chef Jose Andres, is obviously very angry. The Israelis immediately apologized and took responsibility for the act. He says that this was intentionally targeting his workers. I have a hard time believing that the IDF would have wanted to kill his workers intentionally. Anyone that's saying the Israelis are only to blame for this—as well as the enormous civilian death toll in this war–I strongly disagree.

President Joe Biden pauses during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023.
Miriam Alster/REUTERS

Biden told Netanyahu that the humanitarian situation in Gaza and strikes on aid workers were “unacceptable,” the White House readout of the call said.

Commander Shingo Nashinoki, 50, and soldiers of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB), Japan's first marine unit since World War Two, take part in a military drill as U.S. Marines observe, on the uninhabited Irisuna island close to Okinawa, Japan, November 15, 2023.
REUTERS

Given the ugly World War II history between the two countries, that would be a startling development.

Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko listens to the presidential candidate he is backing in the March 24 election, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, as they hold a joint press conference a day after they were released from prison, in Dakar, Senegal March 15, 2024.
REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Newly inaugurated Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, in his first act in office, appointed his mentor Ousmane Sonko as prime minister on Wednesday.