*Naked Economics* is a great primer on microeconomic and macroeconomic principles. It’s written in an understandable and entertaining way for a lay audience without sacrificing coverage.
*A Short History of Nearly Everything* (though mistitled) is also a really entertaining look at a lot of early history.
kingoflesobeng on
The Power Broker, Robert Caro
The Warburgs, Ron Chernow
Economics of Good and Evil, Sedlacek
The Origin of Political Order, Fukuyama
A History of the United States, Jill Lepore
Particular-Treat-650 on
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman: We’re basically layer on layer of shortcuts kludged together. Kahneman is a deep dive into all the biases this creates.
Influence by Robert Cialdini: This is all about how people try to influence you and techniques to mitigate them.
Vaclav Smil: How the World Really Works. Fernand Braudel: A History of Civilizations. Charles Van Doren: A History of Knowledge. Heilbroner: The Worldly Philosophers
almamahlerwerfel on
The Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea by Micklethwait. Incredibly useful for understanding how corporations came to run the world.
Master-Monk-8690 on
“A people’s history of the United States” should be required reading in the USA for high school students. Every person who enters the workforce needs to know how many people struggled, fought, and died for the worker rights we have. Class warfare is very real and we are living inside a second guilded age.
Aggressive_Layer883 on
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich for being working class in the US
astra823 on
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan – probably the most important nonfiction book I’ve ever read
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer – meditative, timely, and informative
Because Internet by Gretchen McCulloch – a delightfully fun look at internet language and modern linguistics
How to Be Perfect by Michael Schur – the creator of The Good Place wrote a delightful, intro-level book on ethics
Some other highlights:
– How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith (a poet by trade)
– any of John Green’s nonfiction
– One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El-Akkad
– The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Pretty-Plankton on
Dancing at the Edge of the World, Ursula K LeGuin
Sister, Outsider, Audre Lorde
The Orwell Reader, George Orwell
nimbus_signal on
How to invent Everything – a fun intro to all kinds of things.
fireflypoet on
Caste, by Isabella Wilkerson.
Letters_to_Dionysus on
grit
the new jim crow
hooked/salt sugar fat
all of mary roach’s books
determined
i will teach you to be rich
Glass-Fault-5112 on
Freakonomics has several books about how economics affects life. Has ongoing podcasts too.
plastic-death on
I’d add Ishmael by Daniel Quinn and Civilized to Death by Christopher Ryan. The former does have a fictional narrative foundation, but nonfiction perspectives on the world on top of it.
15 Comments
Michael Foucault, Noam Chomsky
*Naked Economics* is a great primer on microeconomic and macroeconomic principles. It’s written in an understandable and entertaining way for a lay audience without sacrificing coverage.
*A Short History of Nearly Everything* (though mistitled) is also a really entertaining look at a lot of early history.
The Power Broker, Robert Caro
The Warburgs, Ron Chernow
Economics of Good and Evil, Sedlacek
The Origin of Political Order, Fukuyama
A History of the United States, Jill Lepore
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman: We’re basically layer on layer of shortcuts kludged together. Kahneman is a deep dive into all the biases this creates.
Influence by Robert Cialdini: This is all about how people try to influence you and techniques to mitigate them.
My much longer [psychology list](https://hardcover.app/@JDM_books/lists/intelligence?referrer_id=24134) if you want to explore more about what makes people tick. I’d be happy to elaborate on anything that catches your eye.
Vaclav Smil: How the World Really Works. Fernand Braudel: A History of Civilizations. Charles Van Doren: A History of Knowledge. Heilbroner: The Worldly Philosophers
The Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea by Micklethwait. Incredibly useful for understanding how corporations came to run the world.
“A people’s history of the United States” should be required reading in the USA for high school students. Every person who enters the workforce needs to know how many people struggled, fought, and died for the worker rights we have. Class warfare is very real and we are living inside a second guilded age.
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich for being working class in the US
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan – probably the most important nonfiction book I’ve ever read
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer – meditative, timely, and informative
Because Internet by Gretchen McCulloch – a delightfully fun look at internet language and modern linguistics
How to Be Perfect by Michael Schur – the creator of The Good Place wrote a delightful, intro-level book on ethics
Some other highlights:
– How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith (a poet by trade)
– any of John Green’s nonfiction
– One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El-Akkad
– The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Dancing at the Edge of the World, Ursula K LeGuin
Sister, Outsider, Audre Lorde
The Orwell Reader, George Orwell
How to invent Everything – a fun intro to all kinds of things.
Caste, by Isabella Wilkerson.
grit
the new jim crow
hooked/salt sugar fat
all of mary roach’s books
determined
i will teach you to be rich
Freakonomics has several books about how economics affects life. Has ongoing podcasts too.
I’d add Ishmael by Daniel Quinn and Civilized to Death by Christopher Ryan. The former does have a fictional narrative foundation, but nonfiction perspectives on the world on top of it.