TV Midyear Report

Blog link.

On something of a lark, I started jotting this down while working on Speaking of Which, linking to the Washington Post list. As it grew, I decided to hold it back, giving me a couple extra days to play with it.

I've pretty much given up on watching movies. For one thing, the story arc timing is almost always both too long or too short: too long because the 2-3 hour time chunk tries one's patience, especially given how clichéd most movie story arcs are; and too short because there's very little you can do with characters in the given chunk of time. TV started getting more interesting when they learned to develop the stories and characters over multiple episodes, instead of always returning to the rest state of traditional TV series. And the lengths got shorter, flexible enough to fit the story -- not that it isn't annoying when they decide to split stories over multiple seasons. It also helped to get past the family censors -- although the rise of anti-heroes isn't something I'm particularly happy with.

My wife, Laura, and I watch a couple hours late each night. She watches some more during the day, which I may or may not notice. She also watches news -- she's much more engaged in daily politics than I am -- and she's still interested in movies, although finding 2-3 hour chunks of time can be difficult (cartoons and classics tend to be shorter). Sometimes, I'll watch something on my own, usually late, but it's hard for me to find time.

Two lists follow. The first starts with a qualification of how much (or often, how little) I've seen, followed by an explanatory note. This falls far short of a review or even description, but may help explain my reaction. The notes inevitably include spoilers, so if you're phobic about that, sorry. (I tried to implement some workaround code, but failed and gave up. I understand why, but don't see a workaround.) For some entries, I've included a letter grade, which is a summary judgment on nothing more than how much I enjoyed the show. The grades are probably scaled lower than my music grades, but that's partly because we're talking about whole series, not individual episodes. (Also, note that grades are for this year only. Shows that I've only seen previous seasons from aren't graded.) As a rule of thumb, anything with a B or higher was pleasant enough to watch, and not a waste of time. That there's nothing lower below just signifies that I didn't have the patience to finish anything worse.

The lists consulted are as follows (the Washington Post was the first). The shows appeared in one or more lists, and are divided into two sets: ones I've seen at least some of, and ones I've never seen. I've also added shows to the first list that didn't make any of the consulted lists, but which we watched. These are marked [*].

• AV Club
• Complex
• Consequence
• Cosmopolitan
• Glamour
• The Guardian
• The Hollywood Reporter.
• Looper
• Mashable
• Paste
• Polygon
• Primetimer
• Rolling Stone
• Slant
• Stuff
• Time
• TimeOut
• Town & Country
• Uproxx
• USA Today
• Variety
• Vogue
• Vulture
• Washington Post

I also looked at several more lists to try to remind myself of TV shows that we've seen that didn't show up in the best-of lists. These shows, in this first section, are marked with [*].

Abbott Elementary, Season 2: Seen: first season, working on second. Comedy. Feels a little claustrophobic with just five teachers and two other adult regulars, all finely drawn and brilliantly acted caricatures, but that seems to be some constraint of the workplace sit-com universe. More troubling is the lack of significant roles for children in a series that's ostensibly about teaching them. B+

All Creatures Great and Small, Season 3: Seen: all. Based on a series of books about a Yorkshire veterinarian named James Herriot, proceeds from 1937 to the call up for war in 1939 (with gruesome flashbacks to the Great War). The veterinary work often makes me wonder, but you get lots of countryside and animals, and while the home life isn't exactly idyllic, you wish them the best. And fear for the war, which the young Tristan Farnon foolishly signed up for, not least to prove himself to his older brother, who still bears the scars of the previous war, and would rather spare him the trauma. A-

Atlanta, Season 4: Seen: some of the first season, none since. Donald Glover's riff on aspiring rappers. Didn't stick (or I didn't stick with it).

Barry, Season 4: Seen: all. Third season could have sufficed, as it ended with Barry arrested, facing the rest of his life in jail, so fourth season always seemed superfluous. First three episodes have him in jail, and are dead-ass boring, until a few brilliant moments of botched assassination turned into escape. Then they jump ahead eight years, revealing him in a desert hideaway ith Sally Reed, who evidently had nothing better to do, and their young son. That episode was boring, too. Then events shook Barry out of his torpor, leading to a final reckoning, and a reprise as folklore. Ends about as well as it could. B

Big Sky, Season 3: Seen: first season, and not sure we got all of it. Set in Montana, about a highway patrol cop and a trucker who pick up prostitutes and sell them to traffickers. The trucker gets mad at a couple teens and snatches them, and things go bad from there. False start with the ostensible hero, a PI named Cody, getting killed in the first episode, leaving his wife and his partner-lover to carry on. By the end of what we've seen, the cop is dead, and the trucker has slipped away. [*]

Bloodlands, Season 2: Seen: not sure about Season 1. Police drama set in Northern Ireland, where a DCI goes bad initially to cover up something he did during the "troubles" period, but it's really the gold. B [*]

The Brokenwood Mysteries, Season 9: Seen: all. Mystery set in northern New Zealand, built around idiosyncratic Detective Mike Shepherd and his local crew (most dependably his Sergeant Kristin Sims, and most eccentrically a Russian medical examiner). This season he seemed more distracted than usual -- one problem being the meeting of his ex- and would-be future wives, which turns out badly. A long-time favorite. A- [*]

The Conners, Season 5: Seen: Hit and miss, but not so much lately. The family from Roseanne, rebooted without the matriarch, the vacuum more than filled by now-adult daughters, Darlene and Becky. [*]

The Consultant: Seen: one episode. Christoph Waltz plays a creepy corporate "fixer" in a high-tech world he doesn't particularly relate to (but, I'm guessing, he does understand a thing or two about capitalism and/or crime).

Cunk on Earth: Seen: one episode. Pseudo-documentary, Diane Morgan (Cunk) goes around interviewing and misunderstanding experts while regularly cycling back to a refrain of "Pump Up the Jam."

Dalgliesh, Season 2: Seen: all. British murder mysteries, based on novels by PD James, with Bertie Carvel playing the titular character. Fairly classic. B+ [*]

Deadloch: Seen: working on it (6/8). Murder mystery set in Tasmania, with two mismatched women detectives, a preponderance of lesbians, a peculiar sense of humor, and a series of ill-fated prime suspects. So far: A-

Death in Paradise, Season 12: Seen: all. A long-time favorite, set in the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie, where brilliant but odd British DI's are sent to solve a regular series of murders, each with a set of visiting suspects, the perpetrator deduced in a final scene each week. A- [*]

The Diplomat: Seen: all. The political angle is completely implausible, and the war game scenario is scarcely any better, but at least it's not Madame Secretary. The power marriage between the Wylers also strains credibility. The acting, on the other hand, is superb, as is the flow, and the various mismatches add a gratifying dimension of comedy. Also, the comedy doesn't come at the expense of competency (unlike, say, Veep, where incompetency is the point). Season ends prematurely, with the story only half-baked, keying up a second season. It's not like we shy away from genius detective shows because they're nothing like real world cops. A-

Endeavour, Season 9: Seen: working on it (2 episodes down, of 3); all previous, plus most of the 1987-2000 Morse this is a prequel to, and the later Lewis spinoff. Classic British detective series, set 1965-72. A few new cases, more or less tied to old cases (many too old to recall), trying to wrap up the series, so the next/last episode will be crucial. Probably: A-

Father Brown, Season 10: Seen: All earlier, working on this season. Slightly ridiculous crime sleuthing drama, where the priest of a village that seems to be all Catholic has a knack for figuring out crimes, even with the interference of a series of hapless inspectors. Fairly major supporting cast shake up this season, as Sorcha Cusack's fussy parish secretary has been replaced by a suitably odd pair, and Tom Chambers is back as Inspector Sullivan, exiled from Scotland Yard and more aggravating than ever. Of course, we love it. B+ [*]

Godfather of Harlem, Season 3: Seen: Some of first season. Forest Whitaker plays a fictional Harlem mob boss, fresh out of prison in the early 1960s. Much of the interest is in the intersection with historical characters like Adam Clayton Powell Jr and Malcolm X. [*]

The Great, Season 3: Seen: two seasons. An "occasionally true" but comedic portrayal of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia 1762-1796, got stuck in 1762 as Nicholas Hoult's portrayal of Peter III saved him from the death that is prerequisite to Catherine's greatness, leaving us with a highly entertaining royal court opera. Laura wasn't interested in this one, so I've only just found out about it. I'll get to it in due course. Hopefully, the third time will be the charm.

Happy Valley, Season 3: Seen: all. British ex-detective-turned-beat-cop wrapped up in nearly unbearable psychodrama. Laura was annoyed enough to drop it, but I insisted on slogging through, and the payoff at the end is satisfying. The lead, played to Sarah Lancaster, is bitter, bottled up, and threatening to explode, mostly due to a villain so psychotic I've finally gotten past remembering the very nice vicar he played in Grantchester. Happy enough with the ending that I might wind up remembering it better, but it's been a rough road getting there. B+

History of the World, Part II: Seen: first episode). Sketch comedy jumping around history, same as with Brooks' 1981 film.

Hunters, Season 2: Seen: first season only. Conspiracy series starting in 1977, with a group of Nazi hunters who ultimately discover a hidden Fourth Reich, led by Eva Braun, with a geriatric but still living Hitler. Some choice acting, headlined by Al Pacino, with Dylan Baker playing a Nazi secret agent who kills everyone present, including his family, when he is recognized at a barbecue he is hosting. I wasn't aware of a second season, but the first ended with the reveal of Braun and Hitler. [*]

Love and Death: Seen: one episode. Set in small town Texas from 1978, church choir singers turn to adultery and wind up with murder. Supposedly based on a true crime. Don't see much point to it.

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Season 5: Seen: all. Portrait of a Jewish comedian who isn't Lenny Bruce, but keeps bumping into him. I've loved all of this, but Laura dropped out for the middle seasons, and heckled parts of this one. (The Jewish schtick is laid on very thick, but she also dislikes the stand up.) Problem here is that it tries to wrap up the long story after her big break, while holding the break off until the last episode, so suffers lots of time jumps, many into a rather dubious future. On the other hand, the first four seasons struggled with throttling her brilliance with setbacks delaying her success, probably suspecting that once it hit it'd be as boring as it turned out. B+

Miss Scarlet and the Duke, Season 3: Seen. Set in Victorian England, Eliza Scarlet is the daughter of a PI, determined to continue her late father's business, despite much prejudice to the contrary. In this she is reluctantly aided by Scotland Yard DI William Wellington, and a Jamaican underworld figure named Moses Valentine. B+ [*]

Mrs. Davis: Seen: one episode. Too scattered, but if I had to watch more, I probably would. Supposedly has something to do with AI.

The Murdoch Mysteries, Season 16: Seen: caught up through season 15; haven't found new one yet. Police drama set in Toronto c. 1900, the title character a brilliant innovator, his doctor-wife even more modern, his sergeant given to flights of fancy that often foreshadow the future, his superintendent helps keep the rest grounded. Livened up with guest cameos for numerous historical figures. Great fun.

NCIS, Season 20: Seen: all of this, and several recent seasons, probably going back to season 11, when Ziva David left and Eleanor Bishop joined. Laura watched it from much further back, but quit during or after season 18. Requires considerable suspension of one's critical facilities, but has redeeming features, including expert teamwork, and a general sense of honor and decency (even if it's sappy soft on the military; at least every episode starts with a dead Marine or Sailor, and the cases usually reflect corruption both within and beyond the ranks -- everyone else, of course, is impeccably disciplined). I don't miss Gibbs, whose replacement is more an amiable chaperone than a psychotic leader. Also nice not to have any Afghanistan story arcs, although I'm afraid Russian nemesis is on the rise. As for the spinoffs, we watched NCIS: New Orleans for a while, but quit before they canceled it. I've missed out on the occasional overlapping story lines, but probably haven't missed much. B [*]

Party Down, Season 3: Seen: one or two episodes, rebooted from two seasons 2009-10 I've never seen. Comedy series about would-be actors working for a catering firm, played by actors recognizable enough this feels like slumming. Funny enough.

Perry Mason, Season 2: Seen: all. Radical prequel which cannot possibly evolve into the famous TV show, making me wonder whether the source books have any relationship to either. But this works as grimy Los Angeles noir, with the familiar names recast as black, gay, or (for Mason himself) as a seedy PTSD drunk. One case per season, hopeless until miraculously saved (but not half so miraculous as most weeks of the TV show). B+

Poker Face Seen: all. Natasha Lyonne plays a lady whose uncanny ability to spot lies gets her into and out of lots of trouble, solving murders Columbo-style but being on the lam herself not having the authority of most detectives. (A symbiotic relationship with an FBI agent developed late helps.) Episodes are structured oddly, with one thread up to a murder, then a step back in time that integrates Lyonne's character, allowing her to do her thing. Fun enough. Sets up a second season, with a new nemesis replacing the (now deceased) old one. B+

Rabbit Hole: Seen. Mega conspiracy plot starring Kiefer Sutherland as a corporate spy facing a global conspiracy based on the idea that whoever controls big data can run the world, but the specific mechanism seems to be to find and use blackmail, which turns people like security guards into automatons doing the conspiracy's bidding. Many flashbacks and, worse, hallucinations acting as false flags -- most immediately recalled, but some leave you confused (e.g., did Miles Valence survive his skyscraper jump, adding to a long list of characters who faked their deaths?). Entertaining as long as you're amused. B [*]

Ridley Seen: working on it (just one episode so far). British crime drama, Adrian Dunbar plays a retired DI brought in to consult on something possibly related to one of his cold cases.

The Righteous Gemstones, Season 2: Seen: bits (Laura's watching). Danny McBride comedy about a megachurch dynasty, has some good actors. Review touts: "outlandish set pieces, absurd but gripping action sequences, awkward invective and clumsy love." From what I've seen (or sometimes just heard), that seems plausible.

Sanditon, Season 3: Seen. Unfinished Jane Austen novel, set as the tides were changing from landed aristocracy to rising bourgeoisie, and as the young heroines aren't in quite as much hurry to get married. More rough spots this time than I would have liked, but it does all come to an agreeable end. A-

Shrinking: Seen: couple episodes. Therapists, a genre I've never warmed to. (I totally skipped In Treatment, which Laura loved.) I took a quick dislike for the main character, a depressed widower played by Jason Segel, but there's little appeal elsewhere, aside from straight man Harrison Ford.

Sister Boniface Mysteries, Season 2: Seen: all. A spinoff from Father Brown, one major difference being that the Sister gets encouragement from her Inspector, who hires her as a consultant, and generally steps back while she solves the cases. Also, unlike Father Brown, she's pays little attention to saving souls, and she's a lot funnier -- a delight, as are the rest of the cast, even the Reverend Mother. A- [*]

Somebody Somewhere, Season 2: Seen: all this year, most of season one. Comedy, set in a part of Kansas I've never set foot in, with people I scarcely recognize (although I'm not sure my late sister wouldn't have known them all). B

A Spy Among Friends Seen. Kim Philby's defection to the Soviet Union, with flashbacks to his time, going back to the 1930s, as a double agent, revolving around his close friendship with fellow agent Nicholas Elliott (played by Damian Lewis). B+ [*]

Stonehouse: Seen. Matthew Macfayden plays a 1970s British MP who fakes his own death to dodge an inadvertent scandal, going from bad to worse. B

Succession, Season 4 Seen: all. There have never been any sympathetic characters here, let alone rooting interests in the contest of heirs. But it's been quite watchable for three seasons, mostly as an exposé of the lush and damaged lives of the ultra-rich. But, I'm almost reluctant to admit, it finally got good in this year, not least because of how brutal and harrowing it turned once stakes turned real. A

Ted Lasso, Season 3: Seen: all. Jason Sudeikis plays a folksy football coach from Wichita rebounding from a broken marriage. He goes to England as the butt of a joke, which his good humor turns around. As ingratiating as he is, the best characters are all around him, and the balance between the coaches, the players, and the business end (somehow, "management" doesn't feel right here). The final season feels a bit rushed, and Lasso's final return to his wife doesn't make much more sense than his departure. A-

The Tower, Season 2: Seen. Police drama, set in London, the first series about two people (a cop and a young girl) who fell to their deaths from Portland Tower, where two witnesses (one a cop) prove less than helpful -- while the police have their own problems. Second season picks up the police, running them through another wrenching case. Seems like it ends abruptly, after setting up a second story line about an undercover shot at a gangster. B+ [*]

Vienna Blood, Season 3: Seen. Mystery series set in 1900s Vienna, where detective Oskar Reinhardt draws on young psychologist Max Liebermann to solve the usual run of murder cases. They make an engaging pair. B+ [*]

White House Plumbers: Seen. Early WWII novels aimed for realism, but over time they became increasingly surreal, at least through Catch 22 and Slaughterhouse Five. Something like that is happening with Watergate art, moving from the very straightforward All the President's Men up through last year's Gaslight, and now this, which aims for laughs by focusing on the "third-rate burglars." John Dean is the common denominator in the last two, which helps you calibrate the shift. So do the wives and children, largely unheard of before. B+ [*]

Seems like there must be more, but I'm hard pressed to recall at the moment -- hence the dependency on lists. Of course, we're still catching up on 2022, and sometimes older items as we stumble across them. The Nordic Murders (a German series, originally titled Der Usedom-Krimi) is one we particularly liked. We are, of course, at the mercy of our various streaming sources, which offer a lot of stuff we have little interest in, but seem to miss (or delay) much that we do.

These are additional series that appeared in the best-of lists. I haven't seen any of them (except perhaps a trailer).

• 100 Foot Wave, Season 2
• American Auto
• American Born Chinese
• Angel City
• The Bear, Season 2
• The Beautiful Things
• Beef
• Black Mirror, Season 6
• Black Ops
• Blue Lights
• Bupkis
• Call the Midwife, Season 12
• Class of '07
• Colin From Accounts
• Daisy Jones and the Six
• Dave, Season 3
• Dead Ringers
• Dear Edward
• Django
• Dreamland
• Drive to Survive, Season 5
• Extraordinary
• Fatal Attraction
• Fauda, Season 4
• Firefly Lane, Season 2, Part 2
• Fleishman Is in Trouble
• Frankie Boyle's Farewell to the Monarchy
• Freeridge
• Funny Woman
• The Gallows Pole
• Game Changer, Season 5
• Ganglands, Season 2
• Gen V
• Ghosts, Season 2
• The Glory, Part 2
• Grand Crew, Season 2
• Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies
• Great Expectations
• High Desert
• Hijack
• I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson
• I'm a Virgo
• The Idol
• Jerk
• Jury Duty
• Kids
• The Last of Us
• The Last Thing He Told Me
• The Legend of Vox Machina, Season 2
• Lockwood & Co.
• Love Is Blind, Season 4
• Lucky Hank
• The Lying Life of Adults
• The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House
• The Mandalorian, Season 3
• Manifest, Season 4: Part 2
• The Muppets Mayhem
• Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland
• The Other Two, Season 3
• The Owl House, Season 3
• Paul T. Goodman
• Physical 100
• Platonic
• The Power
• Primo
• Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
• Race Across the World
• Rain Dogs
• The Reluctant Traveler
• Schmigadoon!, Season 2
• School Spirits
• Secret Invasion
• Servant, Season 4
• Shadow and Bone, Season 2
• Silo
• A Small Light
• Snowfall, Season 6
• Star Trek: Picard, Season 3
• Steeltown Murders
• Superman & Lois, Season 3
• Swarm
• Sweet Tooth, Season 2
• Taste the Nation With Padma Lakshmi
• Top Chef, Season 20
• A Town Called Malice
• The Traitors [U.S.]
• Transatlantic
• Unicorn: Warriors Eternal
• Vanderpump Rules
• Wild Isles
• Will Trent
• Willow
• XO, Kitty
• Yellowjackets, Season 2
• You, Season 4

Daily Log

Scraped this off Facebook. Not sure who the original author is (posted by John Rose, forwarded by Iris Demento):

Reflecting on it, the reason I think the OceanGate situation has become such a flashpoint for anger is because it's such a perfect microcosm of the problem with everything right now. Decisions are not made based on safety, reasonable caution, or concern for human life. Every decision is instead made from a default assumption of what if the bad thing just DIDN'T happen?' We are given pie-in-the-sky promises and sizzle reels and an endless PR hype-cycle for every new innovation and inevitably it fails to work, harms people, and then is maybe barely apologized for before the next bad idea comes down the pike. OceanGate's underengineered, undercooked, doomed submarine isn't merely a meraphor for the hubris of the wealthy, it is a scale model of the way the wealthy dictate our reality. All consequences can be ignored, all blowback can be forestalled, let the end-user eat the cost. I am not angry because the submarine was badly-made. I am angry because I live in a vastly larger pressure vessel being managed and maintained by the exact same people.

Music Week

Expanded blog post, June archive (final).

Tweet: Music Week: 40 albums, 4 A-list,

Music: Current count 40476 [40436] rated (+40), 9 [12] unrated (-3).

Another big Speaking of Which yesterday: 6163 words, 98 links. I started on Thursday, so the Prigozhin putsch drive caught me midstream. Upon reflection, the critical detail that's rarely reported is that Putin had moved to force Wagner back under Russian military command, so the revolt was a reaction to an existential threat. Anti-Russian pundits enjoyed themselves immensely this weekend by taunting Putin as weak, but at several critical junctures it was Prigozhin whose hand was forced. Also, it was rather clever of Putin to allow Prigozhin an exit ramp to Belarus.

The big question now is how much of the Wagner army will join Prigozhin in Belarus. My guess is that it won't be much, so the net effect will be equivalent to house arrest. There Prigozhin will still remain as a potential political threat to Putin, but he's given up on being a military one. And while Putin is often regarded as a front man for the oligarchs, it's worth remembering that Prigozhin's not the first one Putin forced to heel. None of this strikes me weakness. Sure, the war is still a disastrous miscalculation, and Putin is likely to be judged for that mistake eventually. But not yet.

Looking around this morning, one link worth adding is Heather Digby Parton: Trump's messianic appeal can't be replicated. One thing I've never understood about these "Revelations" scholars is why none of them recognize Trump (or, before him, GW Bush) as the Antichrist. As one who doesn't believe in that crap, this isn't a point I'm inclined to belabor, but given the assumptions, doesn't it seem pretty obvious?

Parton also gets into a story I didn't bother with, which is how Moms for Liberty got caught quoting Hitler, then had to beat a retreat. Pro tip: you're much less likely to make this mistake if you don't believe in the same things Hitler believed in. Parton quotes "Ryan Helfenbein @ the Faith & Freedom Coalition Gala": "If you don't control education, you can't control the future. Stalin knew that. Mao knew it. Hitler knew it. We have to get that back for conservative values."

The problem with this isn't that he aligned conservatism with bad examples. The problem is thinking that the future is purely a creation of will, and as such subject to thought control (or more precisely, by keeping people from thinking for themselves). One of the most important truths about the world today is that we need lots of people who are capable of thinking critically and creatively when faced with new problems, because they're coming all the time. That's way up there with we have to learn to accept and respect people different from ourselves, because we can't afford to fight all the time.

It's not that conservatives have no good ideas -- some traditional values should be honored, and some change should be resisted -- but their inability to grasp such fundamental concepts, along with their defense and promotion of greater social and economic hierarchy, has made them not just wrong but dangerously so.

I've been pretty bummed about lack of progress, even on previously simple home projects. But while writing on book projects has been hard to get into, cranking out the weekly Speaking of Which still comes easy, and almost seems therapeutic. Same could be said for Music Week, but I'm more anxious to get it out of the way, thinking that will open up a new week of opportunity.

Those frustrations, along with trouble finding things to listen to, led me to start off the last couple days with something old from the cases (leading to a couple tweets). That threatened to suppress the ratings count, but turns out not by much. Peter Brötzmann died last week, at 82, ending a 56-year career that literally spans the entire German (and for that matter, European) avant-garde. I've often had trouble with his exuberant cacophony -- his Penguin Guide crown album, 1968's Machine Gun, is a mere B+(**) in my list -- but I've occasionally found items to A-list, including this year's set with Majid Bekkas and Hamid Drake, Catching Ghosts, and, to pick an example where the noise is transcendent, 2009's Hairy Bones. Chris Monsen got me going when he linked to Sprawl.

Among new releases, I've never cared much for Jason Isbell, and had the new one wrapped up at B+(***), until I gave it a couple more plays. Also benefiting from extra attention was Mother Earth, a side trip after checking out the latest Tracy Nelson album. I remembered having at least one of their albums, but hadn't filed a grade.

Jeffrey Callahan posted a request for mid-year lists on Expert Witness. Few returns as yet, but Clifford Ocheltree identified "only three items strike me as durable":

• Black Gospel Ladies: I Walked Out Jesus Name (Narro-Way)
• The War & Treaty: Lover's Game (Mercury Nashville)
• Hermanos Gutierrez: El Bueno Y El Malo ('22)

I suppose you can derive my list from here, but I wouldn't put much stock in the order, which reflects initial slotting but little sorting.

Last Monday in the month, so I've opened a new monthly Streamnotes archive for July. But indexing for June will have to wait -- no need holding this post up for a bunch of busy work. I'll also do a post of notes on television shows, probably tomorrow. Diminishing returns have me given up on mid-year music lists, but similar lists exist for television (and probably movies, which I've lost all interest in). Not on any list so far is Deadloch, a mystery series set in Tasmania that still has a couple episodes to come. Body count is too high to really call it a comedy, but it often is very funny.

New records reviewed this week:

• Charlie Apicella & Iron City Meet The Griots Speak: Destiny Calling (2022 [2023], OA2): [cd]: B+(***)
• Asake: Work of Art (2023, YBNL Nation): [sp]: B+(**)
• Atmosphere: So Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously (2023, Rhymesayers Entertainment): [sp]: B+(***)
• Blue Cranes: My Only Secret (2022 [2023], Jealous Butcher/Beacon Sound): [cd]: B [08-11]
• Chris Byars Quartet: Look Ahead (2023, SteepleChase): [sp]: B+(***)
• The Ekphrastics: Special Delivery (2023, Harriet): [sp]: B+(*)
• Amanda Fields: What, When and Without (2023, Are and Be): [sp[]: B+(**)
• Béla Fleck/Zakir Hussain/Edgar Meyer: As We Speak (2023, Thirty Tigers): [sp]: B+(*)
• Caesar Frazier: Tenacity (As We Speak) (2022, TrackMerchant): [sp]: B+(*)
• Caesar Frazier: Live at Jazzcup (2023, Stunt): [sp]: B+(**)
• Noah Haidu: Standards (2023, Sunnyside): [cd]: B+(**) [06-23]
• Ben Howard: Is It? (2023, Island): [sp]: B+(*)
• Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: Weathervanes (2023, Southeastern): [sp]: A-
• Christine Jensen: Day Moon (Justin Time): [sp]: B+(**)
• Stephen Jones & Ben Haugland: Road to No-Where (2021 [2023], OA2): [cd]: B+(**)
• Kaisa's Machine: Taking Shape (2022 [2023], Greenleaf Music): [cd]: B+(**) [07-07]
• Ryan Keberle's Collectiv Do Brasil: Considerando (2023, Alternate Side): [cd]: B+(**) [07-14]
• Kill Bill: The Rapper: Fullmetal Kaiju (2023, Exociety): [sp]: B+(**)
• Gordon Lee Quartet: How Can It Be? (2022 [2023], PJCE): [cd]: B+(**)
• Bill Lowe and the Signifyin' Natives Ensemble: Sweet Cane: Suites and Other Pedagogical Prompts (2021 [2023], Mandorla Music): [bc]: B+(***)
• Greg Mendez: Greg Mendez (2023, Forged Artifacts, EP): [sp]: B-
• Tracy Nelson: Life Don't Miss Nobody (2023, BMG): [sp]: B+(**)
• Linda May Han Oh: The Glass Hours (2023, Biophilia): [sp]: B
• Jacques Schwarz-Bart: The Harlem Suite (2022 [2023], Ropeadope): [sp]: B+(*)
• Dave Scott: Song for Alice (2022 [2023], SteepleChase): [sp]: B+(**)
• Don Toliver: Love Sick (2023, Cactus Jack/Atlantic): [sp]: B
• Ray Vega & Thomas Marriott: East West Trumpet Summit: Coast to Coast (2021 [2023], Origin): [cd]: B+(***)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Dave Douglas and Elan Mehler: If There Are Mountains (2019 [2023], Greenleaf Music): [sp]: B+(*)
• Johnny Hodges Septet: In Concert: Falkoner Central, Copenhagen, March 17, 1961 (1961 [2023], SteepleChase) **
• Muddy Waters Blue Band Featuring Otis Spann: Live Paris 1968 (1968 [2023], Lantower): [sp]: B+(**)

Old music:

• Peter Brötzmann/Alexander von Schlippenbach/Sven-Åke Johansson: Up and Down the Lion-Revised (1979 [2010], Olof Bright): [bc]: A-
• Peter Brötzmann/Maleem Mahmoud Gania/Hamid Drake: The Wels Concert (1996 [1997], Okka Disk): [bc]: B+(***)
• Peter Brötzmann: Sprawl (1996 [1997], Trost): [bc]: A-
• Peter Brötzmann/Peeter Uuskyla/Peter Friis Nielsen: Noise of Wings (1999-2001 [2009], Jazzwerkstatt): [sp]: B+(***)
• Peter Brötzmann/William Parker/Hamid Drake: Never Too Late but Always Too Early: Dedicated to Peter Kowald (2001 [2003], Eremite, 2CD): [sp]: B+(***)
• Peter Brötzmann/Michiyo Yagi/Paal Nilssen-Love: Head On (2007 [2008], Idiolect): [bc]: B+(**)
• Rory Gallagher: Big Guns: The Very Best of Rory Gallagher (1970-90 [2005], Capo, 2CD): [cd]: B+(*)
• Mother Earth: Living With the Animals (1968, Mercury): [sp]: B+(*)
• Mother Earth: Make a Joyful Noise (1969, Mercury): [sp]: A-
• Mother Earth: Satisfied (1970, Mercury): [sp]: B+(***)
• Mother Earth: Bring Me Home (1971, Reprise): [sp]: B+(*)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• The Sofia Goodman Group: Secrets of the Shore (Joyous) [07-14]
• Daniel Hersog Jazz Orchestra: Open Spaces: Folk Songs Reimagined (Cellar) [06-23]
• Gabriela Martina: Homage to Grämilis (self-released) [07-14]

Speaking of Which

Blog link.

The Washington Post Editorial Board headline today is actually rather sensible (and hopefully sobering): Putin's humiliation means new dangers for Russia -- and the world. Still, given the dangers, maybe "humiliation" isn't the word we should be using. While the odds that Putin would resort nuclear weapons were never very high, it should be understood that they do go up with every humiliation, with every time he gets pushed back into a corner. The only way out of this trap is a negotiated settlement based not on the balance of power but on generally recognized principles, notably self-determination. And to bring that about, we still need a stable Russia. Blowing it up and replacing Putin with even crazier leaders isn't the way.

The Washington Post Editorial Board also wrote another piece that should be sobering but probably isn't: [06-24] Is there enough money to rebuild Ukraine? In it, they fantasize about getting Russia to pay for the rebuilding, which may be "an unarguable moral case" but is also a total non-starter. (Remember when LBJ promised to pay for rebuilding Vietnam?) Meanwhile, the fact that Americans are asking these questions suggests that they don't intend to pay either.

One problem is probably that the Post editors are reading their own war propagandists, like David Ignatius: [06-24] Putin looked into the abyss Saturday -- and blinked. From what I can gather, it looked like Prigozhin was the one who took the easy way out. But then the former Iraq War apologist has been writing pieces like this all along: [06-06] D-Day dawns for Ukraine.

As usual, it's impossible to get to everything. I do hope this is the last time I ever devote a whole section to Hunter Biden. Even with this much, I doubt I really got adequately into the Republican reaction, or their continuing obsession with him. Sure, he could serve as an example of why nepotism and influence-peddling are wrong, but that's not a point Republicans are going to make. Tax cheating and gun buying are things they normally celebrate.

Top story threads:

Trump:

• Adam Goldman/Traci Angel: [06-21] Former FBI analyst goes to prison for taking classified documents: "Like former President Trump, the former analyst was accused of violating the Espionage Act, taking home hundreds of classified documents and being unhelpful." Kendra Kingsbury was sentenced to 46 months jail for fewer charges than Trump is facing. Republicans like to say that if they can come for Trump, they can come for anyone. Looks like they got the order backwards.

• Margaret Hartmann:

  • [06-21] Trump pretends Jared and Ivanka didn't quit, he fired them.

  • [06-22] Kari Lake auditions to be Trump's next Pence and/or Melania: The latter is the more amusing prospect, but unlikely, given that Lake is actually older than Melania (by a few months; both are 53).

• Fred Kaplan: [06-23] When Trump promises to end the Ukraine War, here's what he really means. I initially filed this under Ukraine, but Trump has no plan as such. Rather, all he has is tremendous faith in his genius as a dealmaker, which is supported by absolutely nothing from his previous term as president. Kaplan cites Iran, North Korea, Russia, and China as examples. One problem with those cases is that his closest advisers (e.g., Pompeo and Bolton) didn't want deals, so they sandbagged every prospect, leaving him with nothing. Not mentioned are a couple cases where Trump's people did negotiate deals, which Trump agreed to but really didn't have any direction over. The first is a minor revision of NAFTA, fulfilling a campaign promise. He got a new name, plus a couple of trivial concessions he could tout as a victory. The other was the deal with the Taliban for a ceasefire and withdrawal of US forces. The Taliban was still free to attack Afghan forces. More effectively, they recruited so the moment the US left, Afghanistan fell into their hands. By that point the US was helpless, having put all its faith into an army and government who by then worked for the other side. What would have been much better was to negotiate an orderly transition, with promises of future support in exchange for protections (including a right to exile) of Afghans who had worked for the US-backed regime). But no American, least of all "strongman" Trump, could admit to such a defeat, so they concocted this charade that the Afghans would be able to survive on their own.

• Ed Kilgore: [06-20] Trump's Fox News interview exposed his real weakness: He "does not come across as a cunning predator avoiding the snares of his fearful liberal prey and plotting his revenge. He's more like a weak, confused old man worried about grubby law-enforcement personnel touching his golf clothes."

• Eric Lipton: [06-20] Trump real estate deal in Oman underscores ethics concerns.

• Ben Mathis-Lilley: [06-21] Donald Trump continues to twist what it means to be "conservative" into total incoherence: Good for him, too, because clear and lucid explications of "conservatism" are not just unappealing but repugnant to most people. However slipshod Trump might be on policy, he gets the appeal right: for him and his followers, conservativm is simply a matter of worshipping certain totems -- like God and country -- and hating people they deem unworthy. And while all conservatives agree with that much, no one else delivers hatred as unvarnished as Trump.

• Greg Sargent: [06-21] Trump's confession on Fox News should prompt Democrats to step up. Contrasts this with Hunter Biden case.

• Asawin Suebsaeng/Adam Rawnsley: [06-20] Team Trump suspects his former Chief of Staff is a 'rat': They're wondering what Mark Meadows is up to?

• Li Zhou: [06-20] Trump's Fox News interview was a defense attorney's nightmare.

DeSantis, and other Republican lowlifes:

• Ed Kilgore:

  • [06-21] House GOP forges ahead on wildly unpopular national abortion ban.

  • [06-22] Will Hurd bets GOP presidential voters want anti-Trump Texan: Former three-term Congressman, has proven appeal to center-Democrats, no chance with Republicans.

  • [06-23] Freedom Caucus mulls ejecting MTG for loyalty to Kevin McCarthy: I can imagine her hearing the news and breaking out in song: probably "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina."

• Ben Mathis-Lilley: [06-22] House Republican strategy of elevating unstable clown people reveals itself to have downsides.

• Catherine Rampell: [06-25] It's almost like the House GOP never cared about deficits after all: Almost?

• Beth Reinhard/Josh Dawsey: [06-20] Gov. Ron DeSantis used secretive panel to flip state Supreme Court.

• Maegan Vazquez/Marianna Sotomayor: [06-22] House votes to send articles of impeachment against Biden to committees: Introduced by Lauren Boebert, citing "dereliction of duty" and "abuse of power" over Biden's handling of the Mexico border, vote was 219-208, although some see this as a compromise among Republicans, where some are less gung-ho than Boebert to advance impeachment, and some just don't like her.

• Li Zhou: [06-22] Why Republicans are censuring Adam Schiff: After a first draft of this censure resolution failed last week, a Facebook Friend echoed Trump's directive that the 20 Republicans who voted against should be fired (primaried and purged from the GOP). My reaction was: "Not my party, but fire away." But I also wondered whether they realized what a favor their censure is doing for Schiff, who is by far the most conservative Democrat running for California's Senate seat in 2024. Certainly, testimony that Republicans hate him will get him more votes than his 2003 vote for Bush's Iraq War. [PS: See Ed Kilgore: [06-22] House Republicans' 'sham' censure was a gift to Adam Schiff.]

Hunter Biden: The president's son agreed to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors and admitted to the facts of a rather dubious gun charge. The plea deal would give him three years of probation, plus a diversion on the gun charge, so it is expected that he will not go to jail. This should bring to a close one of the sillier outrages of the "lock her up" era, but Republicans have invested so much in it they can't bear the idea of letting go. Besides, what else to they have to run on? Certainly not policy ideas. On the other hand, it's hard to have much sympathy for him, even if you buy that he was railroaded. His influence-peddling schemes may not have been illegal, but probably should have been. (Had they been, that would wipe out a large swathe of Washington's upper crust, and good riddance to them.) And as a person, he seems to offer little to respect much less admire. But that, too, is hardly grounds for prosecution, and if it were, I can think of lots to put in line ahead of him.

• Andrew Prokop: [06-20] Hunter Biden's plea deal, explained: "The president's son will plead guilty to two tax charges and admit unlawfully buying a gun. Naturally, the right is furious -- that he wasn't charged with more."

• Norman Eisen: [06-22] Who wins in the Hunter Biden plea deal: Eisen sees it as a good deal for both sides. The prosecution gets a conviction that might have been hard to win in court, in what would certainly have been seen as a politically-driven vendetta. (Sure, Biden hasn't belabored that point as much as Trump has, but his case is at least as solid.) Biden gets a punishment he can live with, as well as some degree of closure (although the investigation of other possible crimes is still quite pointedly open).

• Matt Ford: [06-20] Republicans are smearing the Bidens like they did Hillary Clinton: It's like the old joke about lawyers: if you have the law, pound the law; if you have the facts, pound the facts; if you have neither, pound the table. The question is what sticks, and the Clintons looked much shiftier than Bidens ever did. On the other hand, the only ones who deserve to be grouped as a "crime family" are the Trumps.

• Ryan J Reilly: [06-20] Legal experts say the charges against Hunter Biden are rarely brought: "The federal statute making it unlawful for a drug addict to possess a gun faces court challenges. The misdemeanor tax charges also rarely result in jail time."

• Matt Stieb:

  • [06-21] Hunter Biden is tying off his legal loose ends.

  • [06-23] IRS whistleblower: Hunter Biden used dad's name in business deals: This is (a) disgusting, and (b) utterly unsurprising, given that it was pretty much his whole business plan. How this relates to the case isn't clear. Perhaps Henry Zhao can sue Hunter Biden for fraud?

• Tatyana Tandanpolie: [06-21] Experts say Hunter Biden deal is actually "harsh" -- and question when Trump will face tax charges.

Law and the courts: The Alito scandal broke last week, under Li Zhou below. It's beginning to look like Leonard Leo not only grooms conservatives for the Supreme Court, he hooks them up with billionaire patrons to keep them on the straight and narrow. And, let's face it, no one in recent history has been more narrowly partisan than Alito.

• Samuel G Freedman: [06-21] The DOJ barely scratched the surface of Minneapolis police thuggery. If the US had a sensible president at the time of the George Floyd murder, one easy step would have been to appoint a commission to provide an in-depth investigation of police prejudice and flouting of authority leading to such murders. Instead, Trump tried imposing martial law to suppress (and inflame) the demonstrations. (I've been thinking about this, while reading Karen J Greenberg's Subtle Tools: The Dismantling of American Democracy From the War on Terror to Donald Trump, which dedicates a chapter to this episode.) While a commission report would go nationwide, this case study is a big part of what needs to be understood, and corrected.

• Kerry Howley: [06-21] Ginni and Clarence: A love story.

• Dahlia Lithwick/Michael Podhorzer: [06-21] Our major American misunderstanding: "It's been a long time since most Americans shared a values system. Maybe it's time to accept that." I'd say there's never been such a time -- it's not like you can reconcile slavery and abolition, which predates the Constitution, and you certainly can't deny that they represent different value systems. Although I will grant that the liberal consensus in the 1950s did an effective job of marginalizing the left, until the Vietnam War brought us back, not that right-wingers were going to let that consensus stand anyway. Of course, the authors have something narrower in mind: whether the DOJ stands for law and justice, or simply works for the president to help crush his political enemies. The latter is Trump's view, while Democrats -- at times to their own discomfort -- still believe in the former. Of course, we on the left always knew DOJ was out to get us, and blamed liberals for helping them along.

• Ian Millhiser:

  • [06-20] One of America's top abortion rights lawyers was just confirmed as a federal judge: "Julie Rikelman, the abortion rights movement's top Supreme Court litigator, will serve on the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit."

  • [06-21] The Fifth Circuit comes for the First Amendment right to protest: "A rogue federal court has spent years harassing a prominent civil rights advocate."

  • [06-22] The Supreme Court's latest opinion means innocent people must remain in prison.

  • [06-23] The Supreme Court may be running out of patience for Trump's worst judges: "The Court's decision in United States v. Texas stops rogue judges from seizing control of law enforcement."

• Li Zhou: [06-21] The Supreme Court has an ethics problem. Justice Alito's fishing trip is the latest proof. For quite some time, conservatives have fretted over Republican appointees to the Court drifting leftward. One way to keep that from happening is to keep the Justices closely bound to their sponsors. So no big surprise that Alito has his own version of the Scalia and Thomas scandals. Back in May, Zhou wrote: [05-05] The many ethics scandals of Clarence and Ginni Thomas, briefly explained. The report and other links follow:

  • Justin Elliott/Joshua Kaplan/Alex Mierjeski: [06-20] Justice Samuel Alito took luxury fishing vacation with GOP billionaire who later had cases before the Court.

  • Jonathan Chait: [06-21] Samuel Alito's ethics defense is even less persuasive than his legal rulings.

  • Jeet Heer: [06-23] Matchmaker Leonard Leo helps unite billionaires with Supreme Court justices.

  • Adam Liptak: [06-21] Justice Alito defends private jet travel to luxury fishing trip.

  • Dahlia Lithwick: [06-22] Justice Samuel Alito IS the salmon: "Calling this an ethics scandal misses the point."

  • Amanda Marcotte: [06-23] Samuel Alito scandal shows why conservative justices on the Supreme Court are so whiny.

Environment:

• Rachel DuRose: [06-22] How America solved its first air pollution crisis -- and why solving the next one will be harder.

• Evan Halper: [06-24] Heat is battering Texas's power grid. Are giant batteries the answer? "Texas is uniquely vulnerable to power failures because it cannot draw electricity from neighbors in a crisis. It is the only state in the contiguous United States disconnected from the national grid, a deliberate move to avoid federal regulation."

• Ian Livingston/Jason Samenow: [06-23] Rare pair of June tropical storms churn across record-warm Atlantic: "Bret and Cindy are the first pair of named storms to develop east of the Caribbean on record during June."

• Dan Stillman: [06-23] Texas heat wave is so bad, meteorologists are apologizing for it: "Dangerous heat expected to continue for at least another week, and possibly longer.

• Daniel Wu: [06-22] Meteorologist resigns, citing PTSD from threats over climate change coverage. Tempted to file this under Republicans, since you know who the threats are coming from.

Ukraine War: High hopes for Ukraine's counteroffensive have precluded any interest in diplomacy, but so far: [06-23] Early stages of Ukrainian counteroffensive 'not meeting expectations,' Western officials tell CNN. On the other hand, the head Wagner Group, a mercenary outfit Russia has employed especially at Bakhmut, has "declared war" on Russia's military command, which may signal a rebellion or even a coup against Putin. I cited this piece last week, by Anatol Lieven and George Beebe, which now looks prophetic. This is very much a developing situation. I'm citing some articles as it develops, but (as with the "counteroffensive") note that nobody knows very much. One thing that does seem clear is that Prigozhin's beef with the Russian command (and Putin?) isn't over whether to continue the war, but how to fight it more effectively. Lieven and Beebe ended their piece with: "however bad things are in Russia, they can always get worse."

PS: As of Sunday afternoon, the key events are: Wagner occupied Rostov (Russia's "southern command" center), and started to march on Moscow; Putin condemned them harshly ("Those behind the mutiny will pay"), then Belarus president Lukashenko negotiated a stand down, which will allow Prigozhin and those who revolted with him to relocate to Belarus.

• Connor Echols: [06-23] Diplomacy Watch: Brinksmanship on grain deal could frustrate Russia's friends.

• Isaac Chotiner: [06-15] Ukraine's counter-offensive, and what comes after. Interview with Marina Miron, a "postdoctoral researcher at the war-studies department, in King's College London." Not much detail here, but I'm not sure that details are that important. They key thing to understand is that this year's war is different from last year's war. Last year Russia was on offense, and Ukraine defense. Russia's blitz against Kyiv and Kharkiv failed, foiling Putin's hopes for a quick coup, leading to a strategic retreat. On the other hand, Russia's offensive from Crimea was fairly successful, including the hard-fought battle for Mariupol, securing a land corridor to Crimea (which otherwise is being supplied over the Kerch Bridge). This year, all Russia has to do is to defend against the much hyped Ukrainian offensive, and in doing so they have a fairly wide buffer territory they can afford to lose before Ukrainian forces approach the ethnically Russian enclaves that broke off from Ukraine in 2014. Most Ukrainians have fled this buffer zone, so the remaining inhabitants should be more favorable to Russia, as are the Donbas and Crimean zones. And most importantly, as Ukraine showed last year, it is easier to defend and disrupt than it is to attack. The prolonged battle of Bakhmut, where Russia prevailed, offers little hope that Ukraine will make major gains elsewhere.

  Zelensky has spent the winter promising NATO that if they give him enough weapons, Ukraine will win back all of the pre-2014 territory. That seems unlikely to happen, but few in the west were willing to sound a note of caution, least of all about the capabilities of their pricey weapons. The result is that the war will continue as long as the political orders on both sides remain entrenched, which could be a long time. Miron's main contribution here is to point out that even if Ukraine recovers territory, it will be nearly impossible to rebuild as long as hostilities ensue, and Russians would likely resort to some kind of guerrilla insurgency even if regular troops are withdrawn. Once again, the only solution is negotiation.

• Chas Danner: [06-24] Wagner's Prigozhin backs off after marching on Moscow.

• Valerie Hopkins: [06-25] One big winner of Kremlin-Wagner clash? The dictator next door. Don't bet on that. The last thing any dictator needs is an alien army with no one else to fight. (I imagine there are numerous examples, but the Vandals are the first to leap to mind.) Of course, it's also possible that Putin orchestrated the deal, and Lukashenko is just the patsy we always figured. Either way, he has little reason to sleep soundly, much less to gloat.

• Ellen Ioanes: [06-25] Russia's wild last 24 hours and the Wagner group's march to Moscow, explained.

• Jen Kirby:

  • [03-21] The Wagner Group, Russia's maybe-private army in Ukraine, explained: Background.

  • [06-24] Prigozhin's coup attempt unleashes chaos on Russia.

• Anatol Lieven/George Beebe:

  • w/George Beebe: [05-31] Prigozhin erupts: Has a Russian succession struggle begun? "The Wagner chief's furious attack on elites and the war could portend turmoil with potential to extend well beyond Moscow." Last line: "As an old Russian joke about the difference between an optimist and a pessimist should remind us, however bad things are in Russia, they can always get worse." [Cited last week, even more prophetic this week.]

  • w/George Beebe: [06-21] Rampant Russophobia takes us down a dangerous path: "Demonizing Russian culture and people only makes peace in Ukraine harder to achieve and plays into Putin's propaganda."

  • [06-25] Putin: Disastrous but indispensable for the system he created? "The Wagner insurrection has raised serious questions about not only the durability of Putin's role, but also that of the regime that he has built."

• David Remnick: [06-24] Putin's weakness unmasked: "How Yevgeny Prigozhin's rebellion exposed the Russian President." Well, not exactly. He draws on conversations with Mikhail Zygar, who wrote the 2016 book All the Kremlin's Men ("a best-seller in Russia and a well-sourced examination of Putin's rule and the inner dynamics of his ruling circle"), and has a forthcoming book, War and Punishment: Putin, Zelensky, and the Path to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine, which is fast becoming obsolete. It's worth remembering that the word "dictator" implies much more autonomy at the top than is often the case. (Biden's recent slur on Xi Jinping and the furor it aroused should be another reminder.)

• Anton Troianovski: [06-25] Prigozhin revolt raises searing question: Did it harm Putin's staying power? Certainly the first question on the mind of American hawks dreaming of regime change, but way too early to answer. It looks to me like it does two things: one is that it immediately reduces Russian troops in Ukraine, at a time when Ukraine's "counteroffensive" is ramping up; the other is that it should shortly bring an end to the acrominiously divided Russian forces command. Any student of war will tell you that divided command is a recipe for disaster, so Russia may emerge in better shape -- though much still depends on whether Russian command is really as bad as Prigozhin alleged. My guess is that in the short term Putin can rally support, but the stakes of losing Ukraine are growing more severe.

• Joshua Yaffa: [06-24] The Wagner Group is a crisis of Putin's own making.

Sunday morning, Max Blumenthal tweeted: "Everything we said about Russia yesterday was an insane lie or completely wrong, now check us out on the White House ex-propaganda minister's show today." He's referring to "Inside with Jen Psaki," where the guests constitute a war council: Michael McFaul (former Ambassador to Russia), James Stavridis (Admiral), Anne Applebaum, Elissa Slotkin (Representative), and Nancy Pelosi (House Speaker Emerata). So the "we" isn't meant to include Blumenthal, but most likely it applies to him as well -- he has spent the last year attacking Ukraine and military support from US/NATO so exhaustively it's hard to draw a line between his stand against the US-led empire and his willingness to repeat Russian propaganda. But it's easy to imagine these five going gaga over the prospect of a revolution against Putin, even from the right -- something they have little conception of, despite the fact that Putin's harshest critics have always come from that direction -- then their disappointment when Prigozhin called the whole thing off. Whiplash is a risk of cheerleaders for politicians who can spin on a dime. I'm always reminded of the poor Communists who woke up one day finding they had to defend the Hitler-Stalin Pact.

[1] Blumenthal quotes Applebaum as saying: "Yet even the worst successor imaginable, even the bloodiest general or most rabid propagandist, will immediately be preferable to Putin, because he will be weaker than Putin." Weaker, but still armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons.

Around the world: Indian president Narenda Modi visited Washington last week, which occasioned much agonizing over India's human rights record, and Biden's willingness to overlook it. That actually strikes me as respect due to leader of another nation -- respect that the US, with its compulsion to divided the world up between friends and foes -- rarely shows. Which doesn't mean that the parties weren't up to no good.

• Ben Burgis: [06-22] Israelism is a powerful indictment of pro-apartheid indoctrination. Quotes a critic of the film complaining, "There is no mention, for instance, of the UN role in the creation of Israel, Arab aggression at the birth of the state," blah, blah, blah. True that the UN passed one resolution approving of the partition of the British protectorate of Palestine, but there is no reason to treat that as some sort of immaculate conception. While Israelis lobbied for the resolution, and cited it in their Declaration of Independence, they immediately discarded its borders, and moved to claim Jerusalem (an international zone per the resolution), as well as expelling Arabs from Jaffa (a Palestinian enclave surrounded by Israel). Then Israelis murdered the UN mediator. The UN never sanctioned the explusions that Palestinians know as the Nakba. The UN Security Council passed resolutions after the 1967 and 1973 wars that Israel gave lip-service to but never honored (although Egypt and Jordan eventually did, and Syria negotiated a peace deal that Israel ultimately rejected). The "peace offers" that Palestinians supposedly rejected were never made in good faith, but the Oslo Accords, which Arafat did accept, were wrecked by Israel. Still, I doubt the film dwells on all that history, when the case against Israel's denial of basic human and civic rights to Palestinians today is so clear cut, and really so shameless.

• Melvin Goodman: [06-23] Netanyahu takes aim at US diplomacy again: Over the last several weeks, I've seen reports that Biden is close to an agreement with Iran to restore the JCPOA deal that Obama negotiated and Trump scuttled. I haven't bothered reporting them because they're meaningless until announced, and the likelihood of that happening is slim given that Israel remains opposed -- it beggars belief why, suggesting that Israel would much rather prop up Iran as a mortal enemy (something that has never been true, either under the Shah or the Ayatollahs) than see its stated concerns actually addressed -- and Israel exerts such influence over American politics that it's unlikely that Biden would dare. The thing is, while Israel can afford pricking at Iran, the US actually does have good reason for negotiating friendlier terms. Non-proliferation matters, but more immediately pressing is Iran's ability to block oil traffic through the Straits of Hormuz. There's also the matter of Iranian-backed militias in Syria and Iraq, which Israel periodically attacks, and could hit back at American troops there. Biden must also realize that pushing Iran into the embrace of Russia and China isn't helping. He also must realize that after the US military failed so badly in Iraq and Afghanistan, a military threat against Iran would be several steps beyond stupid. But to move forward Biden would have to reassert the importance of American interests over Israel's.

• Jonathan Guyer: [06-23] Why the US is selling India so many weapons: "Prime Minister Modi visits the White House, and arms deals follow." It's almost like the sole determinant of US foreign policy is arms sales. India has most often bought arms from Russia, which is part of the reason India has refused to support US sanctions against Russia. But one can see the thinking as more than an immediate cash grab. But arms sales may be a lever both to divide India from Russia and to align India against China.

• Ellen Ioanes: [06-25] Guatemala's elections can't undo years of government corruption: Not to mention coups, most directed or at least sanctioned by the US.

• Achal Prabhala/Vitor Ido: [06-01] Next pandemic, let Cuba vaccinate the world. Uh, you think this pandemic is done yet? We're going to be taking boosters indefinitely. There's still plenty of world demand, especially if affordable. And Cuba's developments should remind us that we don't need billionaire patents to motivate people to develop life-saving pharmaceuticals. Even if the US companies shut down today, we could ride free on the rest of the world's research and development. Also the world could free ride on Cuba's investment. The embargo, which remains stupid and cruel, wouldn't stop others from manufacturing Cuban vaccines, assuming they got developed in the first place.

Other stories:

Dean Baker: [06-25] Why the RFK Jr., Rogan, Musk outrage machine doesn't bother Big Pharma. Also see Sarah Jones, below.

Tim Dickinson: [06-15] Is America already in a civil war? Interview with Bradley Onishi, author of Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism -- and What Comes Next. I have to admit that my eyes glaze over when I read these pieces about the Christian Right, given that my own faith is so lapsed that they seem to be from a completely different planet. The idea that anyone, much less than 30% of all Americans, believe in predispensationalism just boggles my mind -- even though I now realize that one of my more memorable conversations with my grandfather (1895-1965) was about exactly that. I never took him to be insane, but in that moment he was.

Andrea González-Ramirez: [06-23] One year without Roe: "All the ways abortion bans have affected pregnant people, providers, and clinics, by the numbers and in their own words." Also:

• Megan Carpentier: [06-23] The deadly silence since Dobbs.

• Grace Segers: [06-23] The end of Roe created two unequal Americas.

• Tessa Stuart: [06-22] Republicans are torching democracy to deny women abortions.

• Li Zhou: [06-23] The end of Roe, one year later: "The devastating impact of Dobbs, by the numbers."

Constance Grady: [06-22] When you can't separate art from artist: Interview with Claire Dederer, author of Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma, a meditation on how to feel about art produced by people who turned out to have committed other reprehensible acts. (Michael Jackson, Woody Allen, and Bill Cosby are among the first-named, along with Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Roman Polanski.) I'm only bringing this up because my wife read the book, so it came up in conversations I never really answered. But I do have two core reactions: one is that I believe that works of art stand on their own the moment they are released (you might argue that copyrights and residuals argue differently, but I've never cared much for boycotts either); the other is that people are complicated but only turn monstrous when they take or are given power over others. So this isn't a dilemma I often engage in. I won't deny that some works of art embody their creator's damaged psyches in ways that merit little or no respect (e.g., Ayn Rand's novels). But the problem there is the art, not the artist (not that Rand, herself, wasn't quite some piece of work).

Greg Grandin: [06-21] Cormac McCarthy's unforgiving parables of American empire.

Sarah Jones: [06-24] Anti-vaxxers don't want a debate; they want a spectacle. Image here, with a mask reduced to the space of a Hitler moustache grafted onto a picture of Anthony Fauci, and the caption: "Stop! Faucism," is one way of saying, I'm so dumb, no point arguing with me! One of the most disturbing things about the Republicans (and one of the most Republican things about RFK Jr) is how completely, based on nothing but symbolism and bile, anti-vaxxers have taken over the collective consciousness of the GOP.

Naomi Klein: [05-08] AI machines aren't 'hallucinating'. But their makers are. Too broad a subject to simply endorse her take, although the core idea that AI will serve the powers that control it, which means that in a system of rapacious capitalism, that's what it will mostly be used for. The details are messier. The word "theft" gets thrown around a lot, which needs to be squared with a stiff critique of so-called "intellectual property" rights.

Eric Levitz: [06-23] The recession that didn't happen: Well, didn't happen yet -- Jerome Powell is still promising further rate increases, his pause explained by worry over failing more banks (the health and wealth of banks, after all, being the Fed's true raison d'être).

Nicole Narea: [06-22] What happens now that the Titanic submersible search has ended in tragedy. Not that you need more, but:

• Molly Osberg: [06-22] Who wants to die on vacation?

• Alex Shephard: [06-20 The media cares more about the Titanic sub than drowned migrants. E.g., [06-19] Up to 600 people drown off Pylos, Greece; [04-28] More than 200 refugees die off Tunisia coast in 10 days; [06-21] Dozens of people drown after dinghy sinks near Canary Islands; [02-26] Dozens of migrants found drowned off Italian coast. The contrast is further explained by Francois Furstenberg: [06-23] A tale of two disasters.

• Chas Danner: [06-23] What we've learned from the Titanic sub disaster.

Joseph O'Neill: [03-21] One man's foray into the heartland of the far right: Review of Jeff Sharlet's The Undertow: Scenes From a Slow Civil War.

Alex Park: [06-16] 'Freakonomics' was neoliberal bullshit: "A look back at the bestselling book franchise that taught people to 'think like economists,' by which it meant 'think cynically and amorally.'" The bestseller was written by Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner, and published in 2005, and sold over four million copies, spawning a sequel and other exploitations. I never read it, but I've read several other think-like-an-economist books (the most disturbing being Steven Landsburg's Armchair Economist, which left me haunted by "the principle of indifference"). I don't know about neoliberal, but I've been reading John Quiggin's Economics in Two Lessons, and I have little doubt that Freakonomics qualifies as what Quiggin calls "Lesson One economics": if it looks "cynical and amoral," that's because the theory doesn't allow for anything else.

Heidi Przybyla/Shia Kapos: [06-23] No Labels declines to reveal just who is funding its third party bid. I don't think I've mentioned this "centrist" group, with its plot to offer the distraction of a presidential candidate not aligned with either major party. I've had plenty of opportunities from Democrats who have been whining about third-party candidates on the left since Nader in 2000. This year their pet peeve is Cornell West -- for some reason they assume that they should pocket the votes of everyone on the left, even if they offer nothing in return. But this year, they're even more worried about No Labels siphoning away center votes they do bend over backwards to woo. After all, Biden in 2024 is the only possible protection against Trump (or some equally vicious MAGA maniac), and everyone should be willing to put up with a lot of waffling and compromise to keep that from happening. The fact that the money behind the operation is secret just adds to the air of conspiracy. As does the flirtation with conservative Democrats like Manchin and Sinema, which makes it look like they are prioritizing capturing Democratic votes. I suspect that, like most third party efforts, it won't ultimately amount to much, and is likely to serve as a protest outlet for more disaffected Republicans than Democrats, so may even help Biden. But in any case, the answer isn't to whine. It's to come up with a better campaign, and win so big the third parties are irrelevant.

Tweets:

Dr. David A. Lustig @drdave1999:

Ron DeSantis continues to drop in the polls, as Americans reject the chance to "make America more like Florida."

DeSantis miscalculated badly in believing that voters were looking for an authoritarian strongman with the social skills of a rabid wolverine.

Daily Log

Rannfrid Thelle wrote a piece on The best history books about how we know the past. She listed:

• Marc Bloch: The Historian's Craft
• Stephen Jay Gould: Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle: Myth and Metaphor in the Discovery of Geological Time
• Hope Jahren: Lab Girl
• Louis De Bernieres: Birds Without Wings
• Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz: An Indigenous People's History of the United States

I commented on Facebook:

Only one I've read here is Gould -- I think I've read everything but the first, although it's possible I missed another monograph or two. Seems like I should be able to rattle off a list, but it would take some thought. Off the top of my head, John Garraty's "Conversations With Historians" and David Hackett Fischer's "Historians' Fallacies" got me off on the right foot. David Quammen's "The Song of the Dodo" on Wallace and Darwin complements Gould, as does William Glen's "The Road to Jaramillo" (as good a detective book as you'll ever find, and everything you need to know about plate tectonics). William Colby's "Thy Will Be Done" (on "Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil") is another tour de force. I have a better reference list since 2000, and in that time my fafovite book is Geert Mak's "In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century" -- really just a travel book, but he finds history everywhere, and explains its all. I should also mention Gilles Kepel's "Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam" (which was written before 9/11); also Kurt Andersen's "Evil Geniuses" (the best book on how today's political cataclysm came about).

More midyear lists:

• Billboard
• Vinyl Factory

Monday, June 19, 2023

Music Week

Expanded blog post, June archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 44 albums, 5 A-list,

Music: Current count 40436 [40392] rated (+44), 12 [16] unrated (-4).

I published another fairly long (5592 words, 96 links) Speaking of Which last night. Lots of important points there.

I noticed a few more mid-year album lists:

• AV Club
• Dig!
• Humanizing the Vacuum
• Northern Transmissions
• Nylon
• Our Culture
• Paste
• Rolling Stone
• Whiskeyriff
• Why Now

A few more, like Boston Globe and Times of London, were paywalled, and others no doubt missed Google's net. I doubt if they change the listings I presented last week very much. They drove much of my listening this week, as did Robert Christgau's June Consumer Guide -- although in the latter case it mostly got me to relisten to albums that I possibly had shortchanged previously. Two of them I bumped up a couple notches, although even now I'm wondering if one might have been more correct. The rest I left as is, with Wednesday's Rat Saw God headed for a lower grade before the last couple cuts showed some promise. It's one of the five or so best-regarded albums of the year, which leaves me feeling wildly out of synch with current music trends.

Pretty out of synch with his Consumer Guide, too, although I will note that the África Negra compilation got an A- from me back in May 2022.

I updated the Consumer Guide database at Robert Christgau's website. It had gotten considerably in arrears, although the practice of withholding reviews nine months to give his Substack subscribers some exclusivity makes it seem more like a bookkeeping exercise. Still, something I should be doing more regularly, if only to keep from having to rediscover how to do it.

I've been playing the original Hairspray soundtrack a lot. While the dance songs are as great as I remembered, the real earworm is the slow dance number, Gene Pitney's Town Without Pity. The lyrics still resonate: "How can we keep love alive/ how can anything survive/ when these little minds tear you in two." Indeed, the "little minds" the film sends up in the early 1960s have returned to hector us, even more stunted and deformed than before.

New records reviewed this week:

• Gracie Abrams: Good Riddance (2023, Interscope): [sp]: B+(***)
• Amaarae: Fountain Baby (2023, Interscope): [sp]: A-
• Roxana Amed/Frank Carlberg: Los Trabajos Y Las Noches (2022 [2023], Sony Music Latin): [cd]: B+(*)
• Kelsea Ballerini: Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (2023, Black River, EP): [sp]: B+(**)
• Bar Italia: Tracey Denim (2023, Matador): [sp]: B+(***)
• Michael Bisio/Timothy Hill: Inside Voice/Outside Voice (2022 [2023], Origin): [cd]: B+(*)
• Robert Sarazin Blake: One Summer Night: Live at the 2018 Subdued Stringband Jamboree (2023, Same Room): [sp]: B+(**)
• Blondshell: Blondshell (2023, Partisan): [sp]: B+(*)
• Eddie Chacon: Sundown (2023, Stones Throw): [sp]: B+(*)
• Davido: Timeless (2023, DMW/Columbia): [sp]: B+(**)
• Indigo De Souza: All of This Will End (2023, Saddle Creek): [sp]: B+(*)
• Jeremy Dutton: Anyone Is Better Than Here (2023, self-released): [cd]: B+(**)
• En Attendant Ana: Principia (2023, Trouble in Mind): [sp]: B
• Alexander Hawkins Trio: Carnival Celestial (2022 [2023], Intakt): [sp]: B+(*)
• Phil Haynes/Drew Gress/David Liebman: Coda(s): No Fast Food III (2022 [2023], Corner Store Jazz, 2CD): [cd]: B+(***)
• Keigo Hirakawa: Pixel (2022 [2023], Origin): [cd]: B+(**)
• Javon Jackson: With Peter Bradley: Soundtrack and Original Score (2023, Solid Jackson): [cd]: B+(***)
• JustVibez + Negro Justice: Art of the Craft (2023, self-released): [bc]: B+(**)
• Killer Mike: Michael (2023, Loma Vista): [sp]: B+(**)
• Larkin Poe: Blood Harmony (2022, Tricki-Woo): [sp]: B+(*)
• Model/Actriz: Dogsbody (2023, True Panther Sounds): [sp]: B+(***)
• Meshell Ndegeocello: The Omnichord Real Book (2023, Blue Note): [sp]: B+(*)
• Pony: Velveteen (2023, Take This to Heart): B+(*)
• Smokey Robinson: Gasms (2023, TLR): [sp]: B+(**)
• Rust Dust: Twere but It Were so Simple (2023, Omad): [sp]: B+(**)
• Samia: Honey (2023, Grand Jury): [sp]: B+(*)
• Shalom: Sublimation (2023, Saddle Creek): [sp]: B+(***)
• Edward Simon: Femininas: Songs of Latin American Women (2022 [2023], ArtistShare): [cdr]: B+(*)
• Son Volt: Day of the Doug: The Songs of Doug Sahm (2023, Transmit Sound): [sp]: B+(*)
• Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives: Altitude (2023, Snakefarm): [sp]: B
• Stuck: Freak Frequency (2023, Born Yesterday): [sp]: B+(**)
• Uncle Waffles: Asylum (2023, Kreativekornerr): [sp]: B+(**)
• Rufus Wainwright: Folkocracy (2023, BMG): [sp]: B
• Youth Lagoon: Heaven Is a Junkyard (2023, Fat Possum): [sp]: B+(*)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Roger Bekono: Roger Bekono (1989 [2023], Awesome Tapes From Africa): [sp]: B+(**)
• Ernesto Djédjé: Roi Du Ziglibithy (1978-82 [2022], Analog Africa): [sp]: B+(**)
• Sonny Rollins With Heikki Sarmanto Trio: Live at Finlandia Hall, Helsinki 1972 (1972 [2023], Svart): [sp]: A-
• Nkono Teles: Love Vibration (1982-84 [2023], Soundway): [sp]: B+(**)
• Ali Farka Touré: Voyageur (1991-2004 [2023], World Circuit): [sp]: B+(***)
• Neil Young and the Santa Monica Flyers: Somewhere Under the Rainbow: Nov. 5, 1973 (1973 [2023], Reprise): [r]: B

Old music:

• Big Joanie: Sistahs (2018, Daydream Library Series): [sp]: B+(***)
• Fokn Bois: Coz Ov Moni (2010, Pidgen Music): [sp]: B+(**)
• Fokn Bois: Fuk Wit Ewe (2012, Pidgen Music): [sp]: A-
• Fokn Bois: Coz Ov Moni 2 (Fokn Revenge) (2014, Pidgen Music): [sp]: B+(**)
• Fokn Bois: Fokn Ode to Ghana (2016, Hofo Truffels/Yoyo Tinz): [sp]: B+(**)

Grade (or other) changes:

• Taj Mahal: Savoy (2023, Stony Plain): [sp]: [was: B+(**)] A-
• Water From Your Eyes: Everyone's Crushed (2023, Matador): [sp]: [was: B+(**)] A-

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• JoVia Armstrong & Eunoia Society: Inception (Black Earth Music) [06-30]
• Will Bernard & Beth Custer: Sky (Dreck to Disk) [09-05]
• The Rempis Percussion Quartet: Harvesters (Aerophonic) [07-18]

Speaking of Which

Blog link.

Calling time on this, 10 PM Sunday evening. The most obviously missing story is something on the heat waves in Asia and Texas. Also, note that while the non-Trump Republican section is short, it's pretty ominous, and even worse things are lurking down in the miscellaneous section.

Top story threads:

Trump: He was arrested on Tuesday, pled innocent, and was allowed to leave. Republicans are so sure he's guilty they're already talking about pardoning him. Some "law and order" party they are!

• Ryan Bort: [06-16] Trump says his hand-picked chief of staff was 'born with a very small brain': If that doesn't narrow it down enough for you, I'll save you the jump and point out it's John Kelly, who "pretended to be a 'tough guy,' but was actually weak and ineffective." Trump also added: "In the end he was a 'mummy' who sat in his office and stared at the ceiling" -- actually, a pretty fair description of Kelly's photos from the period.

• Chris Cameron: [06-18] Barr says documents case against Trump is 'entirely of his own making'. Barr "also attacked his character in extraordinary language."

• Margaret Carlson: [06-13] Miami Nice: The Trump document plea deal we need. Anyone else would be looking for a deal here, but Trump seems to feel that his persecution is a political asset -- at least until the case goes to trial, and the risks start to become tangible. Whether Smith would give up a deal that would escape jail time -- about the best he could hope for -- is another story, especially because Smith can still file more charges. Plus Trump has his New York case, and probably one in Georgia. So I don't see this happening soon, unless Trump decides to punt on 2024, which has a slim but non-zero chance.

• Ed Kilgore: [06-13] Ramaswamy puts rivals on spot with Trump pardon pledge: So no cant about everyone being equal before the law. [PS: For Trump's response, see Adam Rawnsley/Asawin Suebsaeng: [06-15] Trump demands GOP rivals pledge to pardon him . . . or else. Pence still thinks such talk is "premature," but Nikki Haley spun around and declared herself "inclined in favor."]

• Eric Levitz: [06-13] The DOJ went easy on Trump for political reasons.

• Ian Millhiser: [06-13] Aileen Cannon, the Trump judge assigned to oversee his trial, explained. Cannon has a history of making rulings favorable to Trump that have been overturned on appeal, so it seems like a gamble to bring the case forward in her court. Also see: Tatyana Tandanpolie: [06-14] Jack Smith has a "backup plan" if Judge Aileen Cannon issues "Trump-friendly rulings": He could bring further documents charges in New Jersey, where Trump also kept secret documents. That doesn't sound like much of a plan to me. Regarding this, see Josh Kovensky: [06-14] The mystery of the Bedminster documents.

• Nicole Narea:

  • [06-13] Trump's post-indictment speech was a master class in alternative facts and false victim narratives.

  • [06-14] Why the Biden, Clinton, and Pence document cases don't compare to Trump's.

• James Risen: [] Trump is a predator who feeds on lackeys; and [] How many indictments does it take to bring down a cult leader?

• Nathan J Robinson: [06-12] Nobody can come up with a good defense of Donald Trump.

• Jon Schwarz: [] The special counsel who indicted Trump is no Democrat. They never are. Also: Chauncey DeVega: [06-17] Jack Smith is no hero: "The special prosecutor is a professional doing his job."

• Areeba Shah: [06-17] "DOJ really had no choice": Experts say non-lawyer Tom Fitton's advice horribly backfired on Trump: "Trump could have avoided charges if he listened to his lawyers. He trusted Judicial Watch activist instead." Trump's instincts are always political, and within limits he's pretty good at that.

• Alex Shephard: [06-16] Trump was begging to be indicted: "He passed on opportunities to bury his classified documents scandal, and now he's paying for the mistake."

• Matthew Stevenson: [06-16] Will Trump hang? Note that the death penalty is written into the law Trump violated (see St Clair, below, on how this was applied to the Rosenbergs), as well as long prison sentences -- which have been given for less egregious offenses than Trump is charged with.

• Jonathan Swan/Charlie Savage/Maggie Haberman: [06-15] The radical strategy behind Trump's promise to 'go after' Biden: "Conservatives with close ties to Donald J. Trump are laying out a 'paradigm-shifting' legal rationale to erase the Justice Department's independence from the president." Also note that DeSantis "rejects the norm that the Justice Department should be independent."

• Joshua Zeitz: [06-16] What Aaron Burr and Jefferson Davis tell us about the Trump indictments: Never say "unprecedented" to a historian.

DeSantis, and other Republican scum:

• Brakkton Booker: [06-18] DeSantis takes aim at Trump's signature criminal justice reform law. If all you're interested in is rhetoric, there's always room to pass on the right.

• Jonathan Chait: [06-16] Ron DeSantis wants more honoring Confederates, less funding for black history.

• Ed Kilgore: [06-15] Trump and DeSantis are on a mission to destroy the civil service: They believe that everyone who draws a paycheck from the government should be a loyal political operative. If someone isn't into them, they'll find someone who will carry their water. What they're pushing isn't just the return of the spoils system; it's the end of the very idea of public service.

• Kenny Stancil: [06-16] Republicans just annihilated local democracy in Texas: Gov. Abbott signed a bill "that drastically limits the ability of cities to enact progressive policies."

• Li Zhou: [06-15] The Republican attempt to censure Adam Schiff was a flop. The motion was tabled 225-196, with 20 Republicans shying away. [PS: Now Trump weighs in: Kelly McClure: [06-17] Trump calls for replacement of 20 Republicans who voted to block censure of Adam Schiff.]

Climate and environment, disastrous and new-normal:

• Ryan Cooper: [06-15] The climate home insurance apocalypse is nigh: Now "Farmers Insurance Group and AIG are halting home policy sales in Florida." One more reason to fear DeSantis's "make Florida America" vow.

• Umair Irfan: [06-16] The world's oceans are extremely hot. We're about to find out what happens next. Unprecedented heating in the Atlantic, and the return of El Niño.

• Norimitsu Onishi: [06-17] 'The fires here are unstoppable': "The first foreign firefighters to reach Quebec amid Canada's worst wildfire season on record said that some of the blazes were 100 times bigger than any they had ever seen."

• Lily Sánchez: [06-08] Air quality has long been overlooked, but it's a major environmental justice and public health issue.

Courts and the law:

• Adam Freelander: [06-15] Why the Supreme Court made this map illegal: The Republican gerrymander in Alabama and what's left of the Voting Rights Act.

• Ruben J Garcia: [06-08] The Supreme Court's latest ruling against unions is really aimed at the New Deal.

• Constance Grady/Anna North: [06-16] A damning new DOJ report accuses the Minneapolis Police Department of civil rights abuses.

• Evan Mandery: [06-16] How White people stole affirmative action -- and ensured its demise: "If elite colleges owned up to their racism, the Supreme Court might rule differently." What he's suggesting is that elite colleges should consider reparations. I'm not generally a fan, but I can see that making sense.

• Ian Millhiser: [06-15] The Supreme Court is doing something out of character: Obeying precedents: "A landmark statute protecting Indian tribes from cultural genocide is upheld."

• Nia Prater: [06-14] Grand jury indicts Daniel Penny in Jordan Neely's death: The charge is second-degree manslaughter. Sounds more like second-degree murder to me.

• Dylan Scott: [06-16] Big Pharma's legal fight to stop cheaper Medicare drugs, explained.

Ukraine War: The "counteroffensive" has officially started, but there's little reporting on it -- the best the cheerleaders of the New York Times can muster is: [06-18] Ukraine appears to make a small gain in the south as counteroffensive continues.

• Blaise Malley: [06-16] Diplomacy Watch: Roiling disagreements over Ukraine path at NATO: There hasn't been much diplomacy to watch for at least six months, as Ukraine has been arming for its counteroffensive, in the expectation that gains on the ground will offer leverage when they finally start negotiating. Meanwhile, pressing for NATO membership just confirms Putin's gravest fears and shores up Russia's resolve.

• Masha Gessen: [06-15] Putin's war hits close to home: "Russia has faced a series of recent attacks, but, in the absence of public space, military losses are personal tragedies, not collective experiences." More pointedly, attacks in Russian territory are more likely to rally support for Putin than to cause people to doubt his leadership. Includes some quotes from Jade McGlynn, author of the new book Russia's War.

• James Glanz, et al: [06-16] An inside job: "The evidence suggests Russia blew it up from within." I was inclined to keep an open mind on the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, but this presents a reasonably convincing case that Russia blew up the dam, causing extensive flooding along the lower Dnipro, and denying Ukraine a large hydroelectric power plant. In doing so, Russia sacrificed the power plant, the major water source for Crimea, and its occupied territory along the east bank of the river. The destruction is fairly described as an ecological disaster, and as a war crime -- one more in a war full of them. [PS: Robert Wright, who's followed this war more carefully than most, tweeted: "I'm calling bullshit on this Times piece. It makes no sense for Russia to have blown that dam."]

• Lev Golinkin: [06-13] The western media is whitewashing the Azov battalion: "Before Russia invaded Ukraine, these fighters were neo-Nazis. They still are." Not clear to me what "whitewashing" Nazis means, but this is an old story, one that got picked up by Putin as part of his rationale for invading, which is no more excuse for invasion than any of his others. It's much more accurate to say they're Ukrainian ultra-nationalists, which have practically everything in common with the Russian ultra-nationalists who fervently support Putin's war, except that they hate each other, going back to WWII, where the Russians fought the Nazis, and a faction of Ukrainians, Lithuanians, etc., saw Germany as their liberator from Russian rule. As long as Russia is fighting in Ukraine, I don't see any problem with them fighting for Ukraine. After the war, of course, they could be a problem, like the German Freikorps. Even in the run up to the war, Ukrainian nationalists made it harder to reach any sort of accommodation with the ethnic Russian minority, and thus helped trigger the invasion. After the war, they're likely to be a malign political force -- as ultra-nationalists are everywhere, but Ukraine is likely to emerge with a very powerful warrior caste.

• Greg Lane: [06-16] The real reason why Putin put Russian nukes in Belarus: I'm afraid that the "real reason" isn't very clear here. Has Belarus offered itself up as a Russian hostage? Is Putin hinting at nuclear aggression without blowing anything up? Is he setting Belarus up to demonstrate use of a tactical weapon while preserving a slim thread of deniability?

• Anatol Lieven: [06-14] Ukraine's paradoxical lessons for the future of warfare: Hard for me to comment on the technical military aspects Lieven focuses on, particularly "a kind of belated vindication of the 'Revolution in Military Affairs' (RMA) of the 1980s." (Fred Kaplan wrote about RMA in Daydream Believers: How a Few Grand Ideas Wrecked American Power, published in 2008.) I think it's too early -- Ukraine's gains to date can just as easily be seen as strategic retreats by Russia -- to enthuse about the superiority of American weapons and methods. I have no doubt that Ukrainian soldiers are more motivated than Russian soldiers, but wonder whether that advantage will hold up when/if Ukraine enters ethnic Russian strongholds in Donbas and Crimea. Meanwhile, the territory between the front lines and the strongholds could easily change hands, as it's of little value to Russia (but also few Ukrainians remain there to welcome liberation). Lieven doesn't bother with what I think of as the bigger lessons: the strategy of deterrence has completely failed; the threat of sanctions has had little effect on Russia; and while European unity against Russia has never been stronger, few beyond the US and Europe share that instinct (suggesting that the US and Europe aren't widely trusted as sympathetic powers).

• Branko Marcetic: [06-13] Is the US military more intent on ending Ukraine war than US diplomats? I think it probably is true that top military brass is more acutely aware of the limits of military power than the jingoistic neocons Biden has chosen to stock his State Department with.

• Alfred McCoy: [06-15] Is China the only way for peace to come to Ukraine? "It's beginning to look as though Beijing has the means, motivation, and ultimate self-interest to end the war." [Originally on TomDispatch.]

• David Sacks: [06-16] Will upcoming NATO summit launch forever war in Europe? "Pressure is mounting to make some sort of formal declaration over Ukraine's membership at meetings in Vilnius next month."

Around the world:

• Jonathan Guyer: [06-15] Why are there still American troops in Syria? Guyer calls it "classic forever war." My first riposte was: to give Iran target practice. Really, I think we're just too embarrassed to admit that Assad won, and is now the only ticket for peace and any kind of future. The mission was always doomed, in large part because it was always schizophrenic, which is what you get when your so-called allies are primarily at war with each other.

• Keren Landman: [06-16] Uganda's anti-gay law will hurt all Ugandans: "When identity gets criminalized, everyone gets hurt."

• Dana Priest: [06-16] Khashoggi's widow sues Israeli firm over spyware she says ruined her life.

• Sina Toossi: [06-14] Iran's Supreme Leader opens space for possible nuclear deal.

• Nick Turse: [] Climate change and conflict are wreaking havoc in Somalia.

Other stories:

Dean Baker:

• [06-07] Owning up to mistakes and pandemic deaths: As noted, the embargo of Cuba since 1962 has been an all-around failure. That it continues to hamper worldwide distribution of Cuba's affordable Covid-19 vaccines is one more problem, one that contrasts starkly with the massive subsidies the US has lavished on Moderna's pricey patents.

• [06-15] Biden's restrictions on oil drilling have pushed prices back up to where they were in the Bush administration: Irony alert (what "restrictions"?), but look at the chart: oil prices reached their absolute peak late in the Bush administration, before the economy cratered and took the oil market with it. I've long maintained that the dip had more to do with the financial collapse killing futures speculation than with unemployment reducing demand. Same thing happened with the pandemic in 2020, and since the Fed started increasing interest rates in 2022.

• [06-16] Will Biden's industrial policy create a lot more Moderna billionaires? It will unless it also addresses the gross inequality in power between companies and workers (unions would help; so would codetermination, which gives workers board representation; my favorite is worker-owned companies, which doesn't just tip the scales but blows them up).

Niccolo Barca/Tommaso Grossi: [06-15] The damage Silvio Berlusconi (1936-2023) leaves behind: "The notorious tycoon and former Italian prime minister is gone, but his toxic legacy remains." Before Trump, there was another billionaire who sought office to flamboyantly flount his ego. With his death (and his neo-fascist successor), I'm surprised not to see more on their analogies, including a stretch out of office before coming back, and various skirmishes with the law.

Ok, found one:

• Marina Catucci: [06-18] Was Silvio Berlusconi the "Trump before Trump"? Only in some ways -- but they're disturbing.

Zack Beauchamp: [06-15] What a new conservative call for "regime change" in America reveals about the culture war: Review of Patrick J Deneen's new book, Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future. Deneen, a political science professor at Notre Dame, previously wrote Why Liberalism Failed in 2018. I grew up reading fairly radical critiques of liberalism, and only softened my view as liberals lost power and prestige and stopped being the ones chiefly responsible for American imperialism and instead became fair-weather defenders of people with little power that conservatives like to pick on. So I can imagine writing books with titles like these, but not this crap, which boils down to a program of seizing power for self-appointed right people and using that power to marginalize or suppress everyone else, resulting in a well-ordered utopia of well-behaved automatons. One problem with liberals is they cut fascists too much slack.

Frederick Clarkson: [06-17] "Unfriending" America: The Christian right is coming for the enemies of God -- like you and me. Inside the "New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), a movement at the cutting edge of Pentecostal and Charismatic evangelicism, which is now the second largest Christian faction in the world after the Roman Catholic Church and the largest growth sector in American and global Christianity."

Fabiola Cineas: [06-17] The "anti-intellectual attack" on higher ed will take years to undo: Interview with Irene Mulvey, president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), noting more than 50 bills in 23 states aimed at "chilling academic freedom." Could have filed this under DeSantis.

David Cohen: [06-16] Daniel Ellsberg, who exposed the truth behind the Vietnam War, dies at 92. "Some called Ellsberg a hero and others branded him a traitor." Count me in the hero camp. As far as I know, there has never been any "top secret" document more in need of exposure than the deep history of mistruths and bad faith exposed in The Pentagon Papers. More on Ellsberg:

• Spencer Ackerman: [06-16] Daniel Ellsberg's heroism began with listening to the anti-war left.

• Ben Bradlee Jr: [06-16] Daniel Ellsberg's life beyond the Pentagon Papers: "After revealing the government's lies about Vietnam, Ellsberg spent six decades as an anti-nuclear activist, getting arrested as many as ninety times in civil-disobedience protests."

• Chip Gibbons: [06-16] Daniel Ellsberg, American hero.

• Morton H Halperin: [06-17] My reflections on Dan Ellsberg, a man who helped end a tragic war.

• Seymour Hersh: [03-08] My fifty years with Dan Ellsberg.

• Michael Hirsh: [06-04] Daniel Ellsberg is dying. And he has some final things to say. "The iconic whistleblower reflects on the urgent need for others to follow in his footsteps."

• Charlie Savage: [06-18] Why the Pentagon Papers leaker tried to get prosecuted near his life's end: "When Daniel Ellsberg was 42, a judge threw out Espionage Act charges against him. At 90, he sought such charges again in hope of challenging their constitutionality."

• Norman Solomon: [06-16] Daniel Ellsberg wanted Americans to see the truth about war: "In an interview before his death, the Pentagon Papers whistleblower urged the media and the government to be more honest about America's bombing of civilians."

Michael Hiltzik: [06-13] A farewell to James G Watt, environmental vandal and proto-Trumpian: Reagan's infamous Interior Secretary (1981-83) has died, at 85. His most Trumpian attribute was a loose tongue that repeatedly offended everyone but mining company executives, although it's worth noting that eventually he was (per Wikipedia) "indicted on 18 counts of felony perjury and obstruction of justice and accused of making false statements before a federal grand jury investigating influence peddling at the Department of Housing and Urban Development," which was settled when he "pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of withholding documents." More:

• Liza Featherstone: [06-16] Good riddance to the architect of the GOP's environmental culture wars.

Sarah Jones: [06-15] What the censors want. Same question raised by Jane Smiley: [05-30] What are the book banners afraid of? It's not just that they want to hermetically seal young people in a cocoon that celebrates the conservative order. "They are afraid of readers -- especially young readers -- learning the truth about humans, about American history, about, perhaps, their own lives." They talked less about banning books in my day, because it was effectively done before any schools could get their hands on contraband. My reaction was to seek out anything else I could find, and, well, look how I turned out.

Jay Caspian Kang: [06-13] What was Nate Silver's data revolution? I've sometimes wondered whether I should read Silver's book (The Signal and the Noise, 2014). I avoided statistics when I was a sociology major (much to my regret), but I've picked up a general understanding since then; even if I still lack technical skill, I have an interest in and feel for data. But scanning through the book sample on Amazon doesn't reveal much I don't already know. Nor is this piece especially enlightening, least of all about Silver's recent defenestration from FiveThirtyEight. On the other hand, it does highlight a new stats/gambling competitor, Split Ticket. Their Initial 2024 Presidential Ratings are almost exactly what you'd expect.

Ed Kilgore: [06-16] Why do so many Americans think Biden is doing a bad job? That's a good question. I'm afraid it boils down to Republicans never missed a beat in trashing Biden, Democrats rarely fighting back, and the media's predilection for bad news and/or controversy, and their lack of interest in context or complexity. It also hurts that Biden's not much good at speaking for himself. Context matters, because most of our current problems have been developing for decades, making change hard, especially given entrenched Republican power centers. Climate change is probably the clearest example, but workers have been losing ground since the 1980s, inequality has been increasing, the military has been growing (to no good effect), diversity has been increasing (along with a more virulent backlash). The net effect is a sense of decline, which Republicans rail against, blame and exacerbate, while Democrats craft weak reforms and try to exude confidence (without much conviction).

The easiest response here is to list the many ways Democrats are not as bad as Republicans, while glossing over the cases where there isn't much difference (foreign policy, especially the Ukraine War; support for the military; policing immigration; bailing out banks). Even there, it's possible to hope that Democrats will improve. But even where Biden has fallen short, the solution isn't to throw him out -- the only hope is to elect more Democrats. Related:

• Bill Scher: [06-15]l Republicans say inflation, crime, and immigration are out of control. The numbers disagree. Sure, but which story sounds more convincing? Even if you do understand that Democrats have done better, isn't there still room for improvement?

Ezra Klein: [06-18] 'What the hell happened to the California of the '50s and '60s?': Talks with California Gov. Gavin Newsom about permitting problems, especially environmental impact studies that are slowing down and often killing decarbonization projects needed to save the environment. While consideration of environmental impacts is important, it shouldn't be crippling, as is often the case. Republicans have made "permitting reform" a hot-button issue, with a view to pipelines and mines that are being held up, but it's also obstructing "green energy." Reading this, two thoughts came to mind: one is that California wouldn't exist as we know it had the water projects of the early 1900s had to pass environmental impact studies (one can argue whether that would be good or bad, but it's certainly big). The other is that the first principle of the New Deal was "do something." One looks back at the 1930s and marvels at how much they did, how fast and cheap it was. And sure, much of what they did was build dams, but they changed people's lives, mostly for the better. A progressive movement that can't do that is going to have a hard time surviving, much less flourishing.

Naomi Klein: [06-14] Beware: we ignore Robert F Kennedy Jr's candidacy at our peril: Useful if you're considering giving him a second thought. I read his 2005 book Crimes Against Nature: How George W Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy, which seemed solid enough, but in retrospect was an easy target. He dedicated that book to his then-wife ("the real environmentalist in the family"). He filed for divorce in 2012, and four days later she killed herself. He moved to Los Angeles, married an actress, and within months was railing against vaccines. As Klein documents, he went crackers after that, including his hate book (The Real Anthony Fauci, published by right-wing Skyhorse Publishing). One more point I'd like to add is that I really hate the idea of dynastic politics (and more generally the whole nepotism dynamic, and for that matter inherited wealth -- which better describes Trump than entrepreneur, not that new money can't be obnoxious either). Also on Kennedy:

• Lily Sánchez/Nathan J Robinson: [05-18] Robert F Kennedy Jr is a lying crank posing as a progressive alternative to Biden.

Eric Levitz: [06-14] Larry Summers was wrong about inflation. He argued that "we need two years of 7.5 percent unemployment or five years of 6 percent unemployment or one year of 10 percent unemployment" to contain inflation. Of course, he'd argue that it's still not contained, even if levels have dropped significantly. But the problem isn't just that Summers is often wrong. It's the ways in which he's wrong, and his obliviousness to the human toll that he argues for.

Jaclyn Peiser: [06-17] How Instant Pot went from coveted appliance to bankruptcy: Regardless of "post-pandemic trends," the real culprit is private equity, which robbed the company (Instant Brands) blind while saddling it with excessive debt.

Thomas Piketty: [06-15] The wealth of (some) nations: French economist, author of major works Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2013) and Capital and Ideology (2020) as well as more pointedly political collections of essays, interviewed by Felicia Wong and Michael Tomasky.

Kelsey Piper: [06-14] Four different ways of understanding AI -- and its risks: I'm surprised this isn't illustrated with a simple four quadrant chart, where one axis is how important AI will be (really big to fairly minor) and the other is how useful or troubling it will be. The piece does mention four quadrants, but only focuses on the "big and good" corner.

I think the more important questions are whether access to AI will be restricted to enhance corporate profits, and whether the AI itself will be engineered to further corporate interests. Of course, the same thing can be said about software in general, and the line between crude deterministic software and AI is already rather blurry (e.g., in shopping for an electric toothbrush I found models that advertise AI, which almost certainly is far short of I). There are also questions of whether AI is subordinate to human decision making or autonomous, and whether it is able to command mechanical power (self-driving cars are a case in point), and therefore how fast it can act, or how hard it is to halt. The author's "four quadrants" depend a lot on these questions. Related:

• Faiz Siddiqui/Jeremy B Merrill: [06-10] 17 fatalities, 736 crashes: The shocking toll of Tesla's Autopilot.

Alex Shephard: [06-12] The rise of independent voters is a myth: Well, it feels better to think of yourself as an independent, as opposed to someone who blindly follows party choices you have little or no control over. Also, both parties share one major negative: both spend much of their time chasing donors, offering to do their bidding. And both parties are bound to the military and the residues of imperialism, even though we have nothing but sorrow to show for their last twenty (or, hell, seventy-five) years of belligerence. Democrats have the extra burden of having repeatedly ignored and undercut the interests of most of their voters. Republicans have the extra burden of nearly everything they try backfiring. So it's easy to see why many people prefer to distance themselves from such a dysfunctional system. But the self-proclaimed centrists rarely offer any sort of alternative. Rather, they embrace the worst of both parties, a muddle of clichés.

Alex Skopic: [06-13] How the lottery became a substitute for hope: I knew a guy who signed all his email with a definition of lottery: "a tax on stupidity." My quick take was that it's a tax on hopelessness. It offers people an extremely small chance of becoming rich, which could be seen as a good deal if your actual real life chances were even slimmer. But it also depends on people believing that becoming rich is the answer to their problems.

Jeffrey St Clair: [06-16] Roaming Charges: All the girls around him say he had it coming. Starts with a quote from the late Cormac McCarthy: "Life is brief and to have to spend every day of it doing what somebody else wants you to do is not the way to live it." Then he mentions Trump, but just to point out he's no whistleblower (his counterexample is Julian Assange, who Trump's DOJ prosecuted, and Biden's is still after). Then: "When I think about the many victims of the Espionage Act, my thoughts immediately go to Ethel Rosenberg," who was convicted and executed not for treason but for "being engaged in a conspiracy to 'commit espionage.'" A crucial figure in that execution was Trump's old mentor, Roy Cohn, who personally lobbied the judge to sign the death warrant.

Trump fancies himself as the victim of a "witch hunt," but while he's earned a desire among many for vengeance, he doesn't grasp the most basic principle of actual witch hunts, which is less to punish the initial target than to smoke out more witches. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to point out how much McCarthyism had in common with the Salem witch trials -- two episodes in American paranoid thought that are now widely regretted (if not fully: one can imagine DeSantis setting up tribunals to interrogate witnesses -- "are you now or have you ever been woke?" -- and demand that they name names; and while none of the recent laws criminalizing aid and advice on getting an abortion specifically mention witches, the history there runs pretty deep; by the way, later down there's a Pat Robertson quote about the "feminist agenda" which lists "practice witchcraft" among other evils, like "leave their husbands" and "destroy capitalism").

St Clair shows a meme, where Trump says "In reality, they're not after me . . They're after you. I'm just in the way." But where was Trump when "the feds came for crack users, welfare mothers, immigrant families, striking workers, jaywalkers, whistleblowers, and medical pot users"? He was mostly cheering them on. "There are 2 million people currently incarcerated in US prisons and jails. There are 5 million formerly incarcerated people in the US. 20 million people have been convicted of felonies. 80 million have some kind of criminal record. They've already come for and gotten almost all the rest of us."

Then there's a quote from DeSantis vowing "We will fight the woke in education, we will fight the woke in corporations, we will fight the woke in the halls of congress." St Clair:

Who knew the war on corporations would finally be launched because they sold t-shirts and beer to gay and trans people and not because they gouged prices, poisoned your drinking water, evicted you from your home, killed the Gulf of Mexico, made life-saving drugs too expensive to buy and turned the atmosphere into an air fryer?

Colin Woodard: [06-16] The geography of gun violence: Most likely interesting for the map, which was the subject of Woodard's 2011 book American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America. But the differences in gun deaths are striking (3.5 and 3.8 at the bottom, 12.2 in the Far West and 15.6 in the Deep South, and a few outliers even higher).

Notable tweet, from Dean Baker (linked to a Washington Post editorial you can chase down yourself):

Trump was completely right. He can shoot someone on 5th Avenue and the Washington Post would say that indicting him for murder endangered democracy.

Music Week

Expanded blog post, June archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 54 albums, 2 A-list,

Music: Current count 40392 [40338] rated (+54), 16 [16] unrated (-0).

I wrote another long Speaking of Which (5822 words, 105 links). Started early to capture the tweets at the bottom, then had to restructure twice after Trump was indicted. Even pulling the Trump pieces out, I still had more pieces in the section on other Republicans. Anyone who fancies that DeSantis might be less bad than Trump should read the Ezra Klein piece.

The environment section is a bit skimpy, especially in my comments, but the pieces (and even the titles) speak for themselves. The Ukraine stories drew me out more, but I still never got around to making the most obvious point, which is that this week's horrible stories are the natural consequence of not negotiating an end to the war a year ago, and not preventing it two-to-eight years ago.

Further down, the Irin Carmon and Sarah Jones interviews remind us of the real world impacts of Republicans' obsession with controlling pregnancy. The Dean Baker and Ryan Cooper pieces remind us that Pharma profits are rigged by policy choices that can be changed. The James Galbraith piece works as a tombstone over the debt fiasco. As I recall, he wrote a similarly belated piece on the 2008-09 bank bailouts, which argued that we should have let the banks fail, and put the public money into helping those who got hurt, as opposed to those who were responsible for the recession. Given how little progress we've made on getting the banks to work for the general good, it's hard to say he's wrong. And the Zachary Carter piece points out current myths about inflation, and points to better solutions than the classic Volcker recession. (And yes, let's call it that, unless you can convince me that it's really Milton Friedman's fault -- not implausible, given his contribution to NAIRU.)

Lots of good-but-not-great records below. Stereogram seems to have been first out of the gate with a "best of 2023 so far" list. At least, that's the first one I saw. By the time I counted, I had heard 33 (of 50) albums on the list (probably closer to 40 now, but I've lost track). Then I started looking for more, and found the following:

• British GQ
• Complex
• Consequence of Sound
• Esquire
• Exclaim
• Guardian
• Hip Hop DX
• Mixmag
• Pitchfork
• Saving Country Music
• Spin
• Stereogum
• Treblezine
• Uproxx
• Vulture

I did a partial tabulation (probably 10 of 13 lists, skipping the last three added -- if memory serves, Mixmag, Pitchfork, and Saving Country Music). This gives the following frequency of mentions (almost none of the lists were ranked, so no point trying to weight them). The following records appeared three or more times (numbered by count; my grades in brackets):

9. Lana Del Rey: Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (Interscope/Polydor) [B+(**)]
8. Billy Woods & Kenny Segal: Maps (Backwoodz Studioz) [A-]
7. JPEGMafia & Danny Brown: Scaring the Hoes (AWAL) [B+(*)]
   Kelela: Raven (Warp) [B+(**)]
   Caroline Polachek: Desire, I Want to Turn Into You (Perpetual Novice) [B+(*)]
   Jessie Ware: That! Feels Good! (PMR/EMI) [A-]
   Wednesday: Rat Saw God (Dead Oceans) [B+(*)]
6. Boygenius: The Record (Interscope) [B]
   Paramore: This Is Why (Atlantic) [B+(*)]
   Yves Tumor: Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) (Warp) [B+(**)]
   Yo La Tengo: This Stupid World (Matador) [A-]
5. Yaeji: With a Hammer (XL) [B+(*)
4. Lil Yachty: Let's Start Here (Quality Control Music/UMG) [B+(*)]
   Kali Uchis: Red Moon in Venus (Interscope) [B+(**)]
3. Black Country, New Road: Live at Bush Hall (Ninja Tune) [B+(*)]
   El Michels Affair & Black Thought: Glorious Game (Big Crown) [A-]
   Feist: Multitudes (Polydor) [B+(*)]
   Fever Ray: Radical Romantics (Rabid/Mute) [B+(**)]
   Debby Friday: Good Luck (Sub Pop) [A-]
   Boldy James/Rich Gains: Indiana Jones (self-released) [B+(**)]
   Kaytraminé [Amine/Kaytranada]: Kaytraminé (Venice Music) [B+(***)]
   Metallica: 72 Seasons (Blackened) []
   Model/Actriz: Dogsbody (True Panther Sounds) []
   Arlo Parks: My Soft Machine (Transgressive) [A-]
   Water From Your Eyes: Everyone's Crushed (Matador) [B+(**)]

I have six A- records there. Christgau has just two so far, and his (JPEGMafia and Boygenius, both full A) aren't in my six. Two I haven't heard yet. I'll probably fix that, but given that the only Metallica album I've heard so far landed at C-, it's hard to see much point.

This probably skews a bit more toward hip-hop than my recent EOY aggregates, but I count that as a plus. On the other hand, virtually no country (even "Americana") or jazz made the lists. I don't know of anyone who's done a "best jazz so far" list, but I can copy one out from my always-changing scratch list:

1. Art Ensemble of Chicago: The Sixth Decade From Paris to Paris: Live at Sons D'Hiver (RogueArt, 2CD)
2. George Coleman: Live at Smalls Jazz Club (Cellar)
3. Mark Feldman/Dave Rempis/Tim Daisy: Sirocco (Aerophonic)
4. Lakecia Benjamin: Phoenix (Whirlwind)
5. Ivo Perelman/Ray Anderson/Joe Morris/Reggie Nicholson: Molten Gold (Fundacja Sluchaj) **
6. Javier Red's Imagery Converter: Life & Umbrella (Desafio Candente)
7. Jason Moran: From the Dancehall to the Battlefield (Yes) **
8. Floy Krouchi/James Brandon Lewis/Benjamin Sanz: Cliffs (Off '22)
9. Ivo Perelman/Joe Morris: Elliptic Time (Mahakala Music '22) **
10. Wadada Leo Smith and Orange Wave Electric: Fire Illuminations (Kabell) **
11. Peter Brötzmann/Majid Bekkas/Hamid Drake: Catching Ghosts (ACT) **
12. Jim Black & the Schrimps: Ain't No Saint (Intakt) **
13. Ivo Perelman/Dave Burrell/Bobby Kapp: Trichotomy (Mahakala Music) **
14. Christian McBride's New Jawn: Prime (Mack Avenue) **
15. Natural Information Society: Since Time Is Gravity (Aguirre/Eremite) **
16. Das Kondensat: Andere Planeten (WhyPlayJazz)
17. Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: In the Dark (ESP-Disk, 3CD)
18. Dave Rempis/Elisabeth Harnik/Fred Lonberg-Holm/Tim Daisy: Earscratcher (Aerophonic) **
19. Margherita Fava: Tatatu (self-released)
20. Ivo Perelman/Elliott Sharp: Artificial Intelligence (Mahakala Music) **
21. The Mark Lomax Trio: Tapestry (CFG Multimedia) **
22. Anthony Branker & Imagine: What Place Can Be for Us? A Suite in Ten Movements (Origin)
23. Henry Threadgill Ensemble: The Other One (Pi)
24. Kaze & Ikue Mori: Crustal Movement (Libra)
25. Daniel Bingert: Ariba (Moserobie)
26. James Brandon Lewis Trio: Eye of I (Anti-) **
27. Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: America: The Rough Cut (ESP-Disk)
28. Jo Lawry: Acrobats (Whirlwind)

Don't put much stock in the order: this has been haphazardly assembled since January and I haven't done any editing, let alone rechecking. Not that it makes much difference these days, but ** indicates streamed or downloaded, with the rest on CD (pretty sure there's no vinyl here. Of this list, the only albums I'm more than 50:50 confident will end up in the top ten in year-end critics polls are McBride, Threadgill, and Lewis (on Anti-), although AEC, Benjamin, Moran, Smith, and/or Lowe could surprise; NIS is a real left field prospect. In most of these cases, the artists are sufficiently well-known, but the labels have little if any track record at getting the music out to critics.

PS: Three more links: The Week; Subjective Sounds; i-D.

New records reviewed this week:

• 6lack: Since I Have a Lover (2023, Interscope): [sp]: B+(**)
• Amber Arcades: Barefoot on Diamond Road (2023, Fire): [sp]: B+(*)
• Vicente Archer: Short Stories (2022 [2023], Cellar): [sp]: B+(**)
• Nanny Assis: Rovanio: The Music of Nanny Assis (2023, In + Out): [cd]: B+(**) [06-23]
• Baby Rose: Through and Through (2023, Secretly Canadian): [sp]: B+(*)
• Beach Fossils: Bunny (2023, Bayonet): [sp]: B
• BigXthaPlug: Amar (2023, United Masters): [sp]: B+(*)
• Black Country, New Road: Live at Bush Hall (2023, Ninja Tune): [sp]: B+(*)
• Bully: Lucky for You (2023, Sub Pop): [sp]: B+(**)
• Gail Caesar: Guitar Woman Blues (2023, Music Maker): [bc]: B+(**)
• Conway the Machine: Won't He Do It (2023, Drumwork/Empire): [sp]: B+(**)
• Clarence "Bluesman" Davis: Shake It for Me (2023, Music Maker): [bc]: A-
• Ensemble 0: Jojoni [Made to Measure Vol. 49] (2023, Crammed Discs): [sp]: B+(**)
• Feeble Little Horse: Girl With Fish (2023, Saddle Creek): [sp]: B+(***)
• Feist: Multitudes (2023, Polydor): [sp]: B+(*)
• Tomas Fujiwara's Triple Double: March On (2019 [2023], self-released, EP): [dl]: B+(***)
• Jack Harlow: Jackman (2023, Generation Now/Atlantic): [sp]: B+(*)
• Heinali: Kyiv Eternal (2023, Injazero): [sp]: B+(*)
• Ian Hunter: Defiance Part 1 (2023, Sun): [sp]: B+(*)
• Illegal Crowns: Unclosing (2022 [2023], Out of Your Heads): [cd]: B+(**) [06-02]
• Império Pacifico: Clubs Hit (2023, Variz): [sp]: B+(**)
• Boldy James/Rich Gains: Indiana Jones (2023, self-released): [sp]: B+(**)
• Lil Yachty: Let's Start Here (2023, Quality Control Music/UMG): [sp]: B+(*)
• Mandy, Indiana: I've Seen a Way (2023, Fire Talk): [sp]: B+(**)
• Gia Margaret: Romantic Piano (2021-22 [2023], Jagjaguwar): [sp]: B+(*)
• Ryan Meagher: AftEarth (2021 [2023], Atroefy): [cd]: B+(***)
• Metro Boomin: Heroes & Villains (2022, Boominati/Republic): [sp]: B+(**)
• Metro Boomin: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse [Soundtrack From & Inspired by the Motion Picture] (2023, Boominati/Republic): [r]: B+(*)
• Janelle Monáe: The Age of Pleasure (2023, Bad Boy): [sp]: A-
• MSPAINT: Post-American (2023, Convulse): [sp]: B+(**)
• Nakibembe Embaire Group: Nakibembe Embaire Group (2023, Nyege Nyege Tapes): [sp]: B+(**)
• Kevin O'Connell Quartet Featuring Adam Brenner: Hot New York Minutes (2023, Ignoramus Music): [cd]: B+(**)
• Oddisee: To What End (2023, Outer Note): [sp]: B+(***)
• Dave Okumu & the 7 Generations: I Came From Love (2023, Transgressive): [sp]: B+(*)
• Panic Shack: Baby Shack (2022, Brace Yourself, EP): [sp]: B+(**)
• P!nk: Trustfall (2023, RCA): [sp]: B+(**)
• Shelton Powe: Shelton Powe (2022, Music Maker): [bc]: B+(**)
• Caroline Rose: The Art of Forgetting (2023, New West): [sp]: B+(*)
• Esther Rose: Safe to Run (2023, New West): [sp]: B+(**)
• Frankie Rose: Love as Projection (2023, Slumberland): [sp]: B
• Jeffrey Scott: Going Down to Georgia on a Hog (2023, Music Maker): [bc]: B+(***)
• Screaming Females: Desire Pathway (2023, Don Giovanni): [sp]: B
• Paul Simon: Seven Psalms (2023, Owl/Legacy): [sp]: B
• Skech185 & Jeff Markey: He Left Nothing for the Swim Back (2023, Backwoodz Studioz): [sp]: B+(**)
• Sparks: The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte (2023, Island): [sp]: B-
• Squid: O Monolith (2023, Warp): [sp]: B+(**)
• Superviolet: Infinite Spring (2023, Lame-O): [sp]: B+(*)
• Tinariwen: Amatssou (2023, Wedge): [sp]: B+(*)
• U.S. Girls: Bless This Mess (2023, 4AD): [sp]: B+(**)
• Water From Your Eyes: Everyone's Crushed (2023, Matador): [sp]: B+(**)
• Zulu: A New Tomorrow (2023, Flatspot): [sp]: B+(*)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Walter Bishop Jr.: Bish at the Bank: Live in Baltimore (1966-67 [2023], Reel to Real): [sp]: B+(***)
• Alan Braxe/Fred Falke: The Upper Cuts [2023 Edition] (2005 [2023], Smugglers Way) **
• Clifford Jordan: Drink Plenty Water (1974 [2023], Harvest Song): [cd]: B+(***)
• RP Boo: Legacy Volume 2 (2002-07 [2023], Planet Mu): [sp]: B+(*)
• Tyler, the Creator: Call Me if You Get Lost: The Estate Sale (2021 [2023], Columbia): [sp]: B+(**)

Old music:

None.

Grade (or other) changes:

• Water From Your Eyes: Everyone's Crushed (2023, Matador): [sp]: [was: B+(**)] A-

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Roxana Amed/Frank Carlberg: Los Trabajos Y Las Noches (Sony Music Latin) [06-09]
• Charlie Apicella & Iron City Meet The Griots Speak: Destiny Calling (OA2) [06-16]
• Blue Cranes: My Only Secret (Jealous Butcher/Beacon Sound) [08-11]
• Kaisa's Machine: Taking Shape (Greenleaf Music) [07-07]
• Ryan Keberle's Collectiv Do Brasil: Considerando (Alternate Side) [07-14]
• Kevin O'Connell Quartet Featuring Adam Brenner: Hot New York Minutes (Ignoramus Music) [05-15]

Speaking of Which

Blog link.

I see that Nathan Robinson's Current Affairs has launched a biweekly News Briefing via Substack. If the free first issue is anything to judge by, it's better than what I've been trying to do (e.g., below) over the last several years. Still, I stopped cold when confronted with the paywall (Substack's minimum $5 per month, or $50 per year). Nonetheless, I got an email within minutes saying, "You're receiving free posts from Current Affairs Biweekly News Briefing." (I did nothing more, but maybe they glommed onto a cookie, as I'm a non-paying subscriber to a couple other Substack newsletters. The way they do this makes it impossible for my wife and me to share Substack accounts, which disinclines me from doing anything with them at all.)

By the way, apologies for the paywalled content linked to below. My wife subscribes to a lot of stuff (New York Times, Washington Post, etc.), which I piggyback on, so I don't notice when it's not free. On the other hand, the titles usually work as an outline, and my comments are always visible, never joined to a shakedown or any other kind of scam. If Current Affairs (or anyone else) wants to fold stuff I write here into their own offerings, more power to them. Just don't charge me for it.

I continue to be bothered by my lack of progress on any other writing front, despite the relative ease with which this weekly compendium practically writes itself.

Top story threads:

Trump: I started collecting before the Trump indictments dropped, but that only partially obsoletes Andrew Prokop: [06-08] Trump's next indictment is looming -- and the evidence against him is trickling out. Prokop also wrote: [06-08] Trump says he's been indicted again: The Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, explained; and [06-09] The detailed, damning new Trump indictment, explained.

• Devlin Barrett: [06-11] Why Trump was charged on secret documents and Clinton, Pence were not: Actually, Trump (like Clinton and Pence) wasn't charged for illegal retention of documents returned. He was only charged for things that Clinton and Pence didn't do.

• Zack Beauchamp: [06-09] The dangerous Republican freakout about Trump's indictment: "The paranoid reaction to the Justice Department's charges reveal a party gripped by the politics of perpetual apocalypses." Starts by quoting Kevin McCarthy, Ron DeSantis, and Marco Rubio -- a list the author could have extended greatly, but he wanted to dig into "the paranoid style in Republican politics." Much can be said about that, including that the "weaponization" of investigators was pioneered by Republicans against Clinton in the 1990s. But these Republican reactions suggest something more troubling, which is the implied belief that Republicans should never have to answer for infractions against law. Note that I could have said "their crimes" instead of "infractions against law," because Trump's indictments so far fall short of what we universally recognize as criminality. One possible defense of Trump is that we've gone overboard in criminalizing lots of things that should be handled more delicately, often with harsh punishments meant to deter but hard to apply fairly. Of course, it's hard for Trump to make that defense, given that he's spent his entire political life grandstanding for ever harsher punishments. (One especially delicious irony here is that Trump himself signed the law that stiffened the punishment for secret document violations.)

• Christina Cauterucci: [06-10] Trump's messy bragging is all over this indictment: "He couldn't help but show off his beautiful, improperly hoarded classified documents.".

• Isaac Chotiner: [06-09] The legal dynamics of Trump's second indictment: Interview with Stephen Vladeck.

• Ellen Ioanes: [06-04] The Georgia Trump election investigation keeps getting bigger: Latest hints suggest using Georgia's RICO law.

• Chris Lehmann: [06-09] The criminal delusions of Donald Trump.

• Kelly McClure: [06-11] Former Trump AG Bill Barr says, "He's toast": "I mean, it's a very detailed indictment, and it's very, very damning." Also: "We can't forget here that this entire thing came about because of reckless conduct of the president. If he had just turned over the documents, which I think every other person in the country would have done . . ." McClure also reports: [06-10] Kari Lake takes wild leap in Trump's defense, threatening gun violence against DOJ and Biden.

• Nicole Narea: [06-09] Your 7 biggest questions about Trump's latest indictment, answered.

• Charlie Savage: [06-09] A Trump-appointed judge who showed him favor gets the documents case; and [06-10] Trump appointee will remain judge in documents case, clerk says: Judge Aileen Cannon, who showed egregious favoritism to Trump in the early days of this case. Mark Joseph Stern explains: [06-09] Judge Aileen Cannon can absolutely sink the federal prosecution of Trump.

• Kenny Stancil: [06-09] 12 million US adults think violence is justified to put Trump back in White House. Along similar lines: David Gilbert: [06-09] 'We need to start killing': Trump's far-right supporters are threatening civil war.

• Tatyana Tandanpiolie: [06-09] Indictment of Trump aide Walt Nauta suggests he's not cooperating -- but "that could change"

DeSantis, and other Republicans: I originally wanted to keep all the sociopaths together, but the Trump volume argued for a separate section. Still, the only significant difference seems to be that he got caught -- something that in happier times he derided John McCain for:

• Jonathan Chait::

  • [06-05] The GOP's authoritarian acceleration: "Internal resistance to its anti-democratic turn has all but vanished." Kind of odd that the first illustration here (four paragraphs long) of the Republican embrace of "violations of democratic norms" is Trump's firing of James Comey: "Now every FBI director is eminently fireable," which sounds to me like an improvement over the untouchable J Edgar Hoover. (The idea that Hoover was above politics is a pretty lame and narrow view of politics.) Of course, the basic point is valid: Republicans have always had an exaggerated sense of their own indispensability, and conservatives have never trusted democracy, so the combination has proven especially eager to cut corners and rig power centers in their favor. Nixon's "dirty tricks" backfired when exposed, but Trump can be more brazen about his authoritarian aims, largely because, to quote David Kochel, "the conservative media ecosystem has built a giant wall of inoculation around everything Trump." Or everything Republican.

  • [06-08] Mike Pence says Trump can commit all the crimes he wishes: "Enforcing the law would be 'divisive.'"

• Ana Marie Cox: [06-11] The war on drugs is getting meaner and dumber, and Texas and Florida show how bad it can get.

• Zach Despart: [06-09] GOP donor at center of Ken Paxton scandal charged with 8 felonies as prosecutors seek $172 million: "Texas real estate investor Nate Paul charged with making false statements to financial institutions."

• Margaret Hartmann: [06-08] Why I support Chris Christie's (doomed) 2024 presidential bid: More than a little tongue in cheek here, and "there's no chance he'll actually be president" isn't much of a reason. The one exception is that Christie's likely to be the only Republican candidate willing to talk about Trump's graft. Of course, Christie's such a sleazeball that could blow back on him.

• Jack Hunter: [06-07] Neocon Nikki Haley rides again: Every now and then I worry that some Republican will try to outflank Biden on war, and that one issue will sway people. To some extent, Trump did that in 2016, although he was never very credible, in part because he was so inconsistent. On the other hand, Biden came into office determined to bring NATO back into American orbit, and thanks to Putin he succeeded way beyond his wildest dreams. Less noticed, he's also managed to reunite America's allies around the Pacific rim, again by pushing the spectre of threat from China. Still, one Republican I'm not worried about upsetting Biden with a turn toward world peace is Haley.

• Ed Kilgore: [06-07] Doug Burgum bets that 2024 voters don't care about culture wars: Given the laws the North Dakota governor has signed recently, he's pretty well hedged on culture war issues. Hard to see what else he can run on, other than the once-successful "I'm a billionaire, so you know I'm honestly for you."

• Ezra Klein: [06-11] Ron DeSantis thinks Trump didn't go far enough: A fairly close reading of the Florida governor's campaign tome, The Courage to Be Free: "It's not a good book, exactly. But it's a revealing one." What it mostly reveal is that DeSantis is a vindictive prick who will use every ounce of power he can seize to punish his supposed enemies, which very likely means you and me.

• Mike Lofgren: [06-09] The party of pollution, disease and death: When Republicans tell you who they are, believe them. By the way, Lofgren previously wrote: [05-20] The GOP's heart of darkness: Why Ron DeSantis can never beat Donald Trump: "No Republicans can beat Trump, because no one else can command his coalition of damaged, discarded, marginal people." I've never been especially happy with deriding Trump's followers as mere miscreants, but he has something that brings to the fore those traits in lots of people, making them seem respectable and even special. (Lofgren, by the way, is a recovering Republican, author of The Party Is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted.)

• Dana Milbank: [06-09] In the House, a spectacular flameout: Speaker Kevin McCarthy, after passing his debt limit deal with considerable help from Democrats, fails to get enough Republicans to pass his purely symbolic gas stoves initiative.

• Nicole Narea: [06-09] Why are all these random Republicans running for president? Well, it's not, as the subhed argues, because "everybody still thinks they can win in 2024." Most candidates, as ever, see it as a way to raise their political profile (a category that obviously includes Doug Burgum, and extends past Tim Scott to Vivek Ramaswamy, who will be happy just to sell more books). What's more remarkable is the absence of 2016 contenders (Cruz, Rubio, Paul, Kasich, Carson), who have more to lose than to gain by losing again. (Christie is the one back, but he has a fairly unique martyr angle. DeSantis and Pence are in, because they'd look like cowards if they didn't run, and each has an angle to claim Trump's mantle should Trump fail. Same could be said for Haley, although her angle is more oblique. And, well, while it's unlikely any Republican can beat Trump in the primaries, he could still be forced out, or simply collapse, creating an opening. [Who did I leave out? Looks like Asa Hutchinson and Larry Elder. Feel free to slot them yourself.]

• Katha Pollitt: [06-08] The Right's latest target: no-fault divorce: "Republicans have a new way of sticking their noses in other people's business." Not to mention that their favorite game is finding fault with everyone else for the myriad sins of the world. They can't fix anything, but at least they can assign blame.

• Alex Thomas: [06-09] The right has a vigilante fetish: "Daniel Penny takes his place in conservatives' growing pantheon of violent 'heroes.'"

• Ken Ward Jr: [06-01] West Virginia Governor's coal empire sued by the federal government -- again: "seeks millions in unpaid environmental fines."

• Linda K Wertheimer: [05-30] Inside the Christian legal crusade to revive school prayer.

While the following articles aren't strictly about Republicans, this seems like a good place for them:

• Rick Baum: [06-09] The US has made great progress at increasing economic inequality.

• Mitchell Zimmerman: [06-09] Anti-trans politicians are following the Nazi playbook.

Fire and smoke:

• Benji Jones: [06-08] Why is eastern Canada on fire -- and when will the smoke clear? Jones also wrote [06-08] The future of Canada's wildfires, explained by a Canadian fire scientist: Interview with Morgan Crowley.

• Rebecca Burns: [06-09] Oil lobby pushed pollution loophole for wildfire smoke.

• Rachel DuRose: [06-08] Why some of the US has the most polluted air in the world right now; also [06-08]: The future of Canada's wildfires, explained by a Canadian fire scientist.

• KK Rebecca Lai/Jon Huang: [06-09] See what Canadian wildfire smoke looked like in 8 places this week.

• Rebecca Leber: [06-08] The air we breathe was getting better. Then climate change hit.

• Robert Moor: [06-10] Canada is on fire. America is choking on smoke. Is this the 'new abnormal'? Interview with John Vaillant, author of Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World.

And other environmental disasters:

• Jane Braxton Little: [06-04] Looking for home in an overheating world: "If emissions continue, will we all be migrants someday?"

• Abraham Lustgarten: [06-06] Climate crisis is on track to push one-third of humanity out of its most livable environment. Also see: New climate maps show a transformed United States.

Ukraine War: Most observers are reporting that Ukraine seems to have started their "counteroffensive," albeit with little fanfare. Their only discernible victory so far is in getting journalists to say "counteroffensive" instead of "[Spring] offensive" -- we still need to make clear that Russia is the aggressor in this war. It's been pretty clear all Winter that Zelensky has no intention of negotiating until he first gives his fancy new war weapons -- especially the tanks -- a chance to tip the scales. While I wouldn't be surprised if Ukraine manages to claw back much of the territory they lost in 2022, the only solution is still negotiation, and the only reasonable basis for negotiation is the self-determination of the people involved. Until both sides realize that, the destruction continues. And if you think this week's dam destruction was a disaster for everyone, wait until the fighting overwhelms the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant (already endangered, especially denied water from the dam).

• Connor Echols: [06-09] Diplomacy Watch: S. Africa suggests moving BRICS summit to China: The change of venue would allow Putin to attend without fear of being arrested and handed over to the ICC. The BRICS nations have nearly all floated peace initiatives, as have (noted here) Indonesia and the Vatican. Meanwhile, Anthony Blinken dismisses any ceasefire as a "Potemkin peace."

• Ben Armbruster: [06-09] How WWII nostalgia fuels media's impractical Ukraine aims: "Yes fighting the Russians is just and Putin is a very bad guy, but analogies to the Nazi era rarely if ever apply." The most obvious difference is that Roosevelt's insistence that Germany surrender unconditionally is impossible: even if Ukraine recovered its 2014 borders, a hostile Russia would remain a persistent threat. The only way to eliminate this threat is to negotiate a deal which leaves Russia satisfied -- if not with Ukrainian territory, then with other (possibly economic) concessions.

• Chris Baraniuk: [06-08] The Kakhovka Dam collapse is an ecological disaster.

• Max Boot: [06-09] The Ukrainian offensive is beginning. David Petraeus is optimistic. Now, that's what I call "pathetic."

• Shane Harris/Souad Mekhennet: [06-06] US had intelligence of detailed Ukrainian plan to attack Nord Stream pipeline. Further information from the what's now being dubbed the Discord leaks, suggests that Ukraine, rather than the US (as Seymour Hersh reported) was responsible for blowing up the gas line between Russia and Germany. This follows an earlier Discord leaks piece by John Hudson/Isabelle Khurshudyan: [05-13] Zelensky, in private, plots bold attacks inside Russia, leak shows.

• Matthew Hoh: [06-09] A war long wanted: Diplomatic malpractice in Ukraine: This provides a pretty detailed litany of the many acts seen as provocations by Russia since 1991, including the scuttling of the Minsk agreement and the military buildup in 2021 before Russia invaded in February, 2022. Part of the intent is "understanding the war through Russia's eyes," which should help open our own. Perhaps the article needs a stronger disclaimer that Putin in many cases misunderstood the provocations, and in any case had no right or even reason to invade as he did, but it's not like those are points we don't understand. Rather, they are chits that critics of US policy have to cash in order to be taken seriously on any other point. This ends with brief sections on "who profits?" and "the cost of war," as well as a couple paragraphs on the need for peace through diplomacy. All very sensible.

• Fred Kaplan: [06-08] Ukraine's counteroffensive has begun. Now what? "Impossible to say."

• Jen Kirby:

  • [06-08] Why the Ukraine dam destruction is a massive disaster -- now and in the future.

  • [06-10] A guide to understanding the Ukrainian counteroffensive: "Cool it with the predictions, for one." Or much ado about nothing? Except that any intensification of the fighting isn't nothing. It's greater suffering, more destruction, and further recriminations.

• Najmedin Meshkati: [06-09] Kakhovka dam breach raises risk for Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant -- receding waters narrow options for cooling.

• Samantha Schmidt/Isobel Koshiw/Natalia Abbakumova: [06-06] Damage to Russian-held hydroelectric plant floods south Ukraine battlefield. One possible factor is that Water level behind Russian-controlled Kakhkovka Dam was at historic high before it was destroyed. Of course, Russia and Ukraine are blaming each other for the destruction. While high water would have stressed the dam, making an accidental breach (somewhat) more likely, it more obviously made the flooding worse. Much depends here on whether Russia expected to lose the dam during Ukraine's counteroffensive, which last fall advanced to the Dnipro River. Blowing up the dam would presumably slow Ukrainian advance in the region, as well as adding to the rebuilding cost of the flooded areas. On the other hand, blowing the dam sacrifices the canal that diverts Dnipro water to Crimea -- a view that only makes sense if Russia expected to lose the dam and canal anyway. For Ukraine's spin, see Veronika Melkozerova: [06-06] Defiant Ukraine says dam carnage won't stop counteroffensive.

• Robert Wright: [06-09] Timothy Snyder's pernicious influence: I've long admired Tony Judt, so I was inclined to give his protégé some slack. But I'm left wondering whether the influence went the other way, with Judt's late celebration of East European revolts against Soviet domination boosted by Snyder's vicious anti-Russian prejudices. In any case, Snyder has become one of the most uncritical anti-Russia hawks anywhere. I'm reminded of an old saw: that America's China experts usually fell in love with China, but the Russia experts inevitably hated Russia. Anne Applebaum has rivaled Snyder among public intellectuals turned warmongers.

• Kelley Beaucar Vlahos: [06-08] Nord Stream revelations should chasten Ukraine dam 'hot takes': Rule of thumb: Ukraine always blames Russia, and Russia always blames Ukraine. Ukraine blamed Russia for the Nord Stream sabotage, but that never made sense, for lack of motivation. Ukraine had the motive, but how could they do it? The US and maybe Poland or Norway had lesser motives, which allowed Seymour Hersh to construct a plausible (albeit uncertain) scenario for a US operation (with help from Norway). We've since seen a plausible scenario for Ukraine (with help from Poland). Still not proven, but makes sense. As for the Kakhovka Dam disaster, I can imagine motives for both Ukraine and Russia, and while it would be easier for Russia to pull off, it certainly could have been Ukraine. Yet neither motive is convincing, as each depends on assumptions about how the counteroffensive will go under different scenarios. And, let's face it, neither side knows, no matter how confident they seem. Then there's the third possibility, that it was some kind of accident. I'd score that as Russia's fault, because they had no business being there. But also because war always leads to unpredicted disasters, and Russia -- even admitting much provocation -- launched this war.

World:

• Katharine Houreld/Hafiz Haroun: [06-09] Sudan's rapid decline into war evokes Somalia's catastrophic collapse.

• Pankaj Mishra: [05-04] The big con: "on Modi's India and the New World Order."

• Yumna Patel: [06-08] Israel's punitive home demolition policy, explained.

• Mitchell Plitnick: [06-06] Blinken address to AIPAC epitomizes the failure of the Biden Administration: "Anthony Blinken resurrected the two-state zombie in his address to AIPAC on the 56th anniversary of the 1967 War." It's impossible to pledge blind obeissance to Israel without admitting that the much bruited "two-state solution" has never been anything but a farce, as the governing clique in Israel has repeatedly admitted. On the other hand, a limited two-state division has been trivially easy to implement since Sharon dismantled Israel's settlements in Gaza: spin Gaza off as an independent state, while Israel tries to deal with Jerusalem, the West Bank, Golan, and the refugees as a separate problem. I'm continually amazed that no one sees such a simple solution.

Other stories:

Dean Baker: [06-07] Owning up to mistakes and pandemic deaths: "It would be a huge step forward for both public health and US foreign policy if we could begin down the road of freely sharing health care technology rather than trying to bottle it up so that a small number of people can get very rich." Also see Ryan Cooper, below.

Zack Beauchamp: [06-11] How the right's defeats gave us the anti-LGBTQ moment: "The American right is returning to its homophobic roots." I figured the culture war over LGB was pretty much settled, but T opened it up again, largely, I think, because the right will embrace any non-economic grudge they can get any leverage on. (Gas stoves is an almost comical example.) Economic issues are trickier, because helping the rich get richer isn't all that popular, even among caste-conscious Republicans. Beauchamp's thesis is less convincing, but the right has few rivals when it comes to nursing grudges and stoking paranoia about vast left conspiracies. Otherwise, they might have to face responsibility for their repeated failures.

Irin Carmon: [06-06] When pregnancy is the crime: "An exit interview with Lynn Paltrow, who has spent decades representing women jailed for miscarriages and stillbirths."

Zachary Carter: [06-06] What if we're thinking about inflation all wrong? "Isabella Weber's heterodox ideas about government price controls are transforming policy in the United States and across Europe." With visions of magical markets dancing in their heads, economists hate price controls (even if coupled with wage controls, which softens the blow because economists also hate people), it's easy to see how they fell for the Volcker maneuver as the only proper remedy for inflation. But it's a very blunt, indiscriminate instrument, kind of like engineering a flood to put out a house fire. It may eventually work, but the collateral damage is immense, and may not even solve the real problem.

This recent round of inflation always struck me as caused by two things: the first is temporary supply chain kinks, which made it possible for companies to price gouge, some of which stuck given that most companies preferred profit to volume; which was possible due to increasing monopolization of damn near everything. Monopoly rents had trailed limits to competition because customers resist price increases, making companies reluctant to squeeze their every advantage, but the dam broke, companies could take whatever the market would bear. For proof, consider that most companies have been raking in record profits while others pay their premiums.

Weber has some interesting ideas for price controls -- often ones that avoid the bureaucratic overhead of the old OPA, although with modern computers you'd think that overhead could be slashed.

Ryan Cooper:

• [06-06] How Big Pharma rigged the patent system.

• [06-08] Merck says negotiating drug prices is unconstitutional.

• [06-07] The SEC comes for Big Crypto: "The agency has sued both Binance and Coinbase for violating securities law."

James K Galbraith: [06-09] Next time, dammit, just default: "Democrats feared a monster called 'default' -- but it's just another Washington scare story." Makes sense to me. In fact, makes me wonder why I didn't see something like this before the deal -- although parts of it are somewhat familiar. It's actually an old story where the Left (or its compromised proxies in parties like the Democratic) are called on to sacrifice their own goals in order to save capitalism, on the premise that not doing so would hurt worse.

Sarah Jones: [06-11] "It's not just the fringe who are committing these violent acts": Interview with Julie Burkhart, who runs the only clinic that provides surgical abortions in Wyoming. She formerly worked for the late George Tiller here in Wichita.

Peter Kafka: [06-07] Firing Chris Licht won't fix CNN. Licht drew flak for his efforts to move CNN toward the "center," especially the synthetic news event he billed as a "Trump town hall, but Kafka attributes his firing to the exposure in Tim Alberta: [06-02] Inside the meltdown at CNN. Alberta says "Licht felt he was on a mission to restore the network's reputation for serious journalism." I'm not sure that "serious journalism" is even possible on TV given diminished attention spans, but if one wanted to try, the obvious way to go about it would be to look beneath the headlines and start to notice the interests that corrupt and distort understanding.

• Alex Shephard: [06-08] CNN's problems go way beyond Chris Licht.

Robert Kuttner: [06-09] Remembering William Spriggs: "A life devoted to pursuing economic justice." Died this week, at 68.

Dylan Matthews: [06-10] Labor unions aren't "booming." They're dying. "Unions won't come back without fundamental changes to bargaining."

Ian Millhiser:

• [06-08] Surprise! The Supreme Court just handed down a significant victory for voting rights. This throws out one of the most savagely gerrymandered district maps I've ever seen. (It racially divides two of Alabama's largest cities, Birmingham and Montgomery, then connects their black-majority neighborhoods through a winding path that includes Tuscaloosa and Selma, resulting in one majority-black district while reducing black representation in two or three more.) Also commenting, Ed Kilgore: [06-08] Supreme Court passes up chance to keep gutting Voting Rights Act.

• [06-08] Ketanji Brown Jackson's first major opinion saves Medicaid: "The Supreme Court voted not to make federal Medicaid law virtually unenforceable."

Nathan Robinson:

• [06-08] How the John Birch Society won the long game: Review of Matthew Dallek: Birchers: H ow the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right. Argues that "The American right doesn't need the John Birch Society these days, but that is because it's adopted the Birchers' extremism wholesale."

• [06-05] We now know the full extent of Obama's disastrous apathy toward the climate crisis: Columbia University, with funding from the Obama Foundation, has compiled 470 interviews to form an "oral history of the Obama presidency." We also have what Robinson terms memoirs by sycophants and his own gargantuan self-exonerative autobiography, where even rose-tinted reflection fails to show Obama as concerned much less prophetic on the climate crisis (though maybe not contemptuous and imbicilic, which would be par for the Trump administration). I've always been dismayed at the lack of credit Obama got for expanding oil production (mostly through fracking, you may recall), but the media always assumed that Republicans were the oil party. Yet there is a bit here where Obama is speaking to a bunch of Texas oilmen and bragging: "You know how we became number one in the world in oil production? That was me." The oil men cheered. Then they voted for Trump.

• [05-31] Introducing Murray Bookchin, the extraordinary originator of 'social ecology': Interview with Janet Biehl, who wrote a 2015 biography (Ecology or Catastrophe: The Life of Murray Bookchin) and edited The Murray Bookchin Reader (1999; looks like both of these are out of print). Bookchin's 1971 book Post-Scarcity Anarchism had a great deal of influence on my own thought. Of late, I've been thinking about how anarchist cooperation models could help us with international relations, given the impossibility of establishing a world order (no matter how much Washington, Beijing, etc., might try).

Greg Sargent: [06-08] How Pat Robertson created today's Christian nationalist GOP: The Christian Broadcasting Network founder died at 93. Interview with Rick Perlstein.

• Sarah Posner: [06-09] How Pat Robertson helped create the Christian Nationalist Lawyer Brigade reshaping American life.

• Aja Romano: [06-09] Pat Robertson's influence over conservative culture spanned decades.

Jeffrey St Clair: [06-09] Infamy at sea, cover-up in DC: Israel's attack on the USS Liberty: In 1964, two American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin reported being fired on, which LBJ quickly blew up into the casus belli that justified America's escalation of war against Vietnam. Three years later, another American ship was attacked at sea, this time killing 34 US sailors and injuring 174. LBJ was still president, but the only thing he escalated this time was the amount of foreign aid sent to the attackers. This is an old piece, from a 2004 book, but perhaps the story is new to you?

Maureen Tkacik: [06-02] Days of plunder: A review of two recent books on the most malign force in modern capitalism: Gretchen Morgenson/Joshua Rosner: These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs -- and Wrecks -- America, and Brendan Ballou: Plunder: Private Equity's Plan to Pillage America. Opens with more than you want to know about PetSmart, but that's just one example.

Robert Wright: [06-07] AI is at a dangerous juncture: It's hard to know just where to hook into this argument, mostly because it's unclear what AI is going to do -- the most obvious thing is to increase speed and productivity of data-intensive operations -- or more pertinently what it could do that we don't want it to do. One thing that makes that alarming is that for many years speed has been viewed as the holy grail of war (from blitzkrieg to the decision to respond to a nuclear first strike). Still, the question we should ask isn't how AI can give us (or them) an advantage in waging war, but whether our model of defense through deterrence hasn't been thorough discredited (e.g., in Ukraine).

One comment here: "AI will not be regulated properly because companies will always put profits over everything else." For all the talk about the need to regulate AI, I've never seen a concrete proposal for doing so. My best guess is that the first movers want it regulated to keep future competitors out -- that's actually a common regulation strategem. What would make more sense to me is not to regulate what AI can do but to regulate the business you can do with it, starting with how it can be monetized. A good start would be to deny any patents on it, which would disincentivize developers, especially from doing unsavory things with it. One could go a step further and require that the source code be free (in the GNU sense). For starters, that would make it publicly inspectable (and again it would disincentivize bad actors). And certainly, the products of AI shouldn't be copyrightable. (Thus far, as I understand it, they are not.) Of course, if we start talking along these lines, the current companies' push to regulate is going to evaporate. As long as politics are driven by greedy parties, this isn't likely to happen, but if the threat is real, how can we afford not to?

• Daron Acemoglu/Simon Johnson: [06-09] Big tech is bad. Big AI will be worse.

• Edward Ongweso Jr: [06-07] AI doesn't pose an existential risk -- but Silicon Valley does. For an idea where the author is coming from, you might also look back at his [05-23] article: Abolish venture capitalism.

Abby Zimet: [06-04] A rank immunity: Henry Kissinger is still a war criminal: I thought we had flogged this not-year-dead 100-year-old carcass enough over the last couple weeks, but couldn't resist tipping you to the Wonder Wart-Hog detail used as an illustration. If you can stand more, try Jonathan Guyer: [06-08] I crashed Henry Kissinger's 100th-birthday party: "The elite love him but for some reason won't say why."

Notable tweet from @sorrelquest:

it's insane how like half of all political "arguments" boil down to one side that's universally beneficial and that everyone agrees with and one side that we need to pretend is contentious because eight people with a lot of money feel strongly about it

From Zachary D Carter:

The vagueness around whether we "need" unemployment at 4.5 percent or 5.5 percent shows how imprecise enthusiasts of this model can be, but the really extraordinary line for me is: "That's why we have central banks, is to make tough choices."

The point Furman is making is that central banks exist to do unpopular things. Democracy left to its own devices will produce too much inflation. "Too much" here being defined as about 4 percent, the "though choices" solution being millions of layoffs.

Plenty of economists agree with Furman that this is the proper role of a central bank. But that has not always been the case. It's pretty easy to create unemployment without a central bank. The U.S. had decades of deflation and persistent financial crises from 1870 to 1913.

And one of the chief arguments for establishing a central bank was to create more economic flexibility so that these crashes didn't become depressions and that deflation didn't destroy American democracy.

The idea that the Fed was supposed to handle one aspect of a full employment program was pretty common until the Volcker era. Congress passed two laws to that end, one in 1946 and another in 1978.

Managing expertise and public opinion isn't obvious or easy. But the belief that the people want too many jobs for their own good, and need to be disciplined into unemployment is not inherent to central banking. It's a very particular worldview, and one that I think is wrong.

Music Week

Expanded blog post, May archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 46 albums, 3 A-list,

Music: Current count 40338 [40292] rated (+46), 16 [38] unrated (-22: 16 new, 0 old).

I published a Speaking of Which Sunday evening. I collected a few links early, but didn't touch it for most of Friday and Saturday -- cooked a little dinner -- so it came up short (45 links, 2846 words, the shortest since Dec. 27 last year). Rated count should be down too, but I cheated, massively. It's a one-shot deal, and I'm happy it's done.

Ever since I've been blogging reviews, I've started each post off with a slug line, noting how many records I've rated (week and total), plus how many I had sitting around unrated. In the early days, I bought a lot more than I could listen to quickly, and then I started getting promos, including some I had little interest in, so the number combined those. In March, 2003, I rated 13 albums, bringing me to a total of 8080, but also added 78 unrated albums, which put me at 899. The unrated count continued to grow over the next couple years, hitting an all-time high of 1157 in July, 2004, before I finally started whittling away at it. By the end of 2008 I got it down to 757, but it shot up as high as 886 in 2011 and 882 in 2012, before finally dropping below 600 (Dec. 2012), 500 (Dec. 2014), 400 (Mar. 2015), 300 (Aug. 2018), 200 (Oct. 2021), and 100 (June 2022).

I finally got it down to 27 a couple months ago, and it's been stuck at that level since then. Aside from a couple boxes that I never found time for, the remaining albums were proving very hard to locate. Last week I dug through a neglected shelf of loose, unpackaged promos, and found four of them. On closer inspection, only one of the four was even worth cataloguing (a Campbell Bros. advance that turned out to be pretty good). The other three (two label samplers and a 14-minute live single that was probably never released as a product) I just commented out of the database. After that, and looking in some more desperate places to no avail, I decided to wipe the slate. Henceforth, unrated albums will only be items in the current demo queue (or new purchases).

A few things from the list that I either found or could stream show up in Old Music below. Everything else is noted in the Unrated Closeout section below. In some cases I went ahead and ascribed grades (pretty conservatively, I think): some were based on memories, some from sampling similar material, and a couple were minimal estimates based on general familiarity. In other cases, I was too unsure to bother. If/when I do manage to find and play any of those items, I'll revisit the grades, or add them as ordinary old music discoveries.

Probably meaningless to anyone else, but feels like a weight lifted.

Been having trouble thinking of new things to play. The Music Tracking file has grown to 881 items, of which I've rated (or have unrated) 414. I'm pretty sure that's behind last year's pace -- if you figure four months (forget January, which is catchup for 2022), we're a third of the way through. I won't be surprised if I slack off as the year progresses. Depends on how the non-music writing comes along.

I did manage to wrap up the May, 2023 Streamnotes file. Quite a bit of good music in it.

New records reviewed this week:

• Christian Artmann: The Middle of Life (2021-22 [2023], Sunnyside): [cd]: B
• BC Camplight: The Last Rotation of Earth (2023, Bella Union): [sp]: B
• Buselli/Wallarab Jazz Orchestra: The Gennett Suite (2022 [2023], Patois, 2CD): [cd]: B+(***)
• Andre Carvalho: Lost in Translation Vol. II (2022 [2023], Clean Feed): [bc]: B+(*)
• Clark: Sus Dog (2023, Throttle): [sp]: B
• Mario Costa/Cuong Vu/Benoît Delbecq/Bruno Chevillon: Chromosome (2022 [2023], Clean Feed): [bc]: B+(*)
• Depeche Mode: Memento Mori (2023, Columbia/Mute): [sp]: B-
• Dropkick Murphys: Okemah Rising (2023, Dummy Luck Music): [sp]: B+(*)
• Bob Dylan: Shadow Kingdom (2021 [2023], Legacy): [sp]: B+(***)
• Kari Faux: Real B*tches Don't Die! (2023, Drink Sum Wtr): [sp]: B+(*)
• Debby Friday: Good Luck (2023, Sub Pop): [sp]: A-
• Ladytron: Timie's Arrow (2023, Cooking Vinyl): [sp]: B+(*)
• SG Lewis: AudioLust & HigherLove (2023, PMR/EMI): [sp]: B+(***)
• The Mark Lomax Trio: Tapestry (2022 [2023], CFG Multimedia): [os]: A-
• M83: Fantasy (2023, Mute/Virgin): [sp]: B
• Brian McCarthy Nonet: After Life (2022 [2023], Truth Revolution): [cd]: B+(**)
• Noshir Mody: A Love Song (2023, self-released): [cd]: B+(*)
• Nourished by Time: Erotic Probiotic 2 (2023, Scenic Route): [sp]: B
• Orbital: Optical Delusion (2023, London): [sp]: B+(*)
• Overmono: Good Lies (2023, XL): [sp]: B+(*)
• Pere Ubu: Trouble on Big Beat Street (2023, Cherry Red): [sp]: B+(**)
• Rozi Plain: Prize (2023, Memphis Industries): [sp]: B+(*)
• The Selva: Camarão-Girafa (2021 [2023], Clean Feed): [bc]: B+(**)
• MF Tomlinson: We Are Still Wild Horses (2023, Prah): [sp]: B+(*)
• Juanma Trujillo: Contour (2021 [2023], Clean Feed): [bc]: B+(**)
• Dara Starr Tucker: Dara Starr Tucker (2023, Green Hill Productions): [cd]: B+(**)
• Tanya Tucker: Sweet Western Sound (2023, Fantasy): [sp]: B+(**)
• Yves Tumor: Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) (2023, Warp): [sp]: B+(**)
• Water From Your Eyes: Everyone's Crushed (2023, Matador): [sp]: B+(**)
• Young Nudy: Gumbo (2023, RCA): [sp]: B+(*)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• None.

Old music:

• The Campbell Brothers: Can You Feel It? (2005, Ropeadope): [cdr]: A-
• The Campbell Brothers Featuring Katie Jackson: Pass Me Not [Sacred Steel Guitars - Vol. 2] (1997, Arhoolie): [sp]: B+(**)
• Cesaria Evora: Distino Di Belita (1990, Lusafrica): [r]: B+(**)
• Cesaria Evora: Miss Perfumado (1992, Lusafrica): [r]: B+(*)
• Forever, for Always, for Luther: Volume II (2006, Rendezvous): [sp]: B
• The Swimmers: Fighting Trees (2007, Mad Dragon): [sp]: B

Unrated Closeout

Back when I bought lots of CDs, I added them to the database with grade 'U' -- unrated, waiting my attention. At one point the Unrated list topped 900 albums. I've gradually whittled it down over the years to less than 30, which roughly speaking divide into two categories: records I can't find, and records I can locate but don't feel like listening to (some of these are big box sets that would take up major time). For my own sanity, I've decided to clean out the category here. Some I found and reviewed above. Some I've gone ahead and assigned grades to (based on my memory, not especially trustworthy here, but sometimes supplemented by sampling). Some of these I may find later and review as makes sense. Unless noted otherwise, I just commented out my 'U' grade and added a note-to-myself. ("Dropped from database" means I decided I shouldn't even track it as an album.)

Absolut Null Punkt: Absolut Null Punkt (2003 [2004], Important): Japanese band (1984-87), reformed in 2003. Album (almost certainly a CDR) not listed in Discogs, could possibly be Live in Japan. Dropped from database.

Derek Bailey/Pat Metheny/Gregg Bendian/Paul Wertico: The Sign of 4 (1996 [1997], Knitting Factory, 3CD): Improv clash of two guitarists and two drummers. Had CD, and remember having trouble with it. Penguin Guide 4-star, but others hated it. Fair grade: B

Berkeley Guitar 2006 (2006, Tompkins Square): Effectively a sampler; found CDR but dropped from database.

Big Stick: Drag Racing Underground (1989, Albertine): As best I recall, a noise rock band with a drag racing fetish. Discogs doesn't list, but AMG has this as a 23-track CD. Later compilation Some of the Best of Big Stick has some overlap. I have it at B+(**), so this is probably some kind of: B+

Boston Horns: Shibuya Gumbo (2008, Boston Horns): Funk-jazz group, seven albums 2001-11. No recall.

Brazil Today! Volume 2 ([1984], Polygram): Classic selection (16 tracks) of MPB, dates not provided. Label should be Philips. Not sure whether this or another album (not in database) was my introduction to Brazilian music.

Césaria Evora: Nova Sintra (1990 [1998], West Wind Latina): Cape Verdean singer, have four other albums rated (two at A-). This appears to be a reissue of Distino Di Belita, reviewed above, making this redundant (but since I have a copy somewhere under the other title, I'll count it twice). Grade: B+(**)

Funkatronic: Live at Discover Festival Burlington, VT (2002, self-released, EP): Three-song promo (length 14:28), found CDR, not in Discogs, band doesn't appear to have released anything else, so no harm dropping from database.

Rory Gallagher: Big Guns: The Very Best of Rory Gallagher (1970-90 [2005], Capo, 2CD): Irish rocker (1948-95), probably deserves a best-of, but I've never played any of his 14 records.

Iscathamiya: Zulu Worker Choirs in South Africa (1986, Heritage): Compilation recommended by Christgau, related to the mbube made famous by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, but tougher (or so I hear). Fairly safe guess: B+

Flaco Jimenez: El Sonido de San Antonio (1980, Arhoolie): Tex-Mex legend, tons of stuff in print but not this. Probably ex-LP: B+

JSL Records 20th Anniversary Sampler (1988-2006 [2008], JSL): Label sampler, found CDR but dropped from database.

Hazard/Fennesz/Biosphere: Light (2001 [2004], Touch, EP): Turns out I had this listed twice, once under various artists (each has his own section) and once as listed. The latter was graded: B

Mind Over Matter Music Over Mind: Matador (2004, Soundz Impossible): Not in Discogs, but aka MOM², with Bobby Hill and Thomas Stanley. Probably got this because Stanley is a friend of a friend, and could kick myself for losing it. Bassist Luke Stewart played in a later iteration of group (Chris Downing was on this record). No idea.

Astor Piazzolla: Themes Originaux (1982, Jonathan): Probably ex-LP. Some early albums sound uncomfortably classical. I think this is one, but cannot be sure, and I'm reluctant to guess.

Astor Piazzolla: Tristezas de un Doble A (1987, Rounder): Could be LP or CD. Again, hard to guess. I have nine Piazzolla albums graded in database.

Leslie Pintchik: Live in Concert (2010, Pintch Hard, DVD+CD): Jazz pianist, probably got waylaid (and for that matter ignored) due to DVD packaging. Six other albums in database are various levels of B+, so most likely this is also some kind of: B+

Richard Pryor: . . . And It's Deep, Too! The Complete Warner Brothers Recordings (1968-92 [2000], Rhino, 9CD): Christgau graded this A+. I don't doubt that he was a genius, but I rarely listen to comedy albums, and don't feel like spending 9-10 hours -- even if I could bag extra credit by breaking out the original albums. But I do know where it is, and figure this is a lazy, minimal grade: B+

Elba Ramalho: Personalidade ([1987], Verve): Brazilian star, many records, this a sampler, only one in my database.

Hank Snow: The Singing Ranger, Vol. 4 (1969-84 [1994], Bear Family, 9CD): Country star from Canada. I was a big fan, and grabbed this big box when I could, but never got through it all. Maybe some day. The five Bear Family boxes (the first is called The Yodelling Ranger) total 39 CDs. This is the only one I have.

Spire: Live in Geneva Cathedral/Saint Pierre (2004 [2005], Touch, 2CD): Ambient/minimalist concert, pieces by seven artists, the most famous being Henryk Górecki and Fennesz, the first disc heavy on the organ.

Alan Stivell: Zoom 70/95 (1970-95, [1997], Dreyfus, 2CD): Legendary Celtic harpist from Breton in France. One other item in my database at B+. Almost certainly have CD somewhere. I don't have a lot of patience for this music, but minimal grade is: B

Mel Tormé: The Mel Torme Collection (1944-85 [1996], Rhino, 4CD): Career-spanning box set of one of the more important jazz singers of the 1950s. I feel negligent for not getting to this. Little chance that this is not some kind of: B+

Neil Young: Archives Vol. 1 (1963-1972) (1963-72 [2009], Reprise, 10CD): Another big box I never made it through. (Bought it when Borders was going out of business, and not sure I even tried.) Safe guess: B+

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Vicente Archer: Short Stories (Cellar) [06-09]
• Michael Bisio/Timothy Hill: Inside Voice/Outside Voice (Origin) [06-16]
• Jeremy Dutton: Anyonen Is Better Than Here (self-released) [06-16]
• Noah Haidu: Standards (Sunnyside) [06-23]
• Kevin Harris & the Solution: Jazz Gumbo (Blujazz) [05-01]
• Keigo Hirakawa: Pixel (Origin) [06-16]
• Illegal Crowns: Unclosing (Out of Your Heads) [06-02]
• Stephen Jones & Ben Haugland: Road to No-Where (OA2) [06-16]
• Gordon Lee Quartet: How Can It Be? (PJCE) [06-16]
• Dara Starr Tucker: Dara Starr Tucker (Green Hill Productions) [06-03]
• Ray Vega & Thomas Marriott: East West Trumpet Summit: Coast to Coast (Origin) [06-16]

Speaking of Which

Blog link.

Abbreviated this week, as I basically lost Friday and Saturday to a cooking project. Anyhow, enough for a placeholder. The non-story of the week is the debt deal. (Glad that's over.) The story that really looms large is the insurance industry debacle. Also note the problems in Kosovo, which should remind us that temporary hacks don't last where long-term stable solutions are needed.

Top story threads:

Trump, DeSantis, and other Republican sociopaths:

• Kate Aronoff: [05-30] Ron DeSantis threatens to "Make America Florida": "The GOP hopeful's climate denial papers over a horrifying reality in his home state." I've been to Florida a couple times, and it's a nice enough place to visit (in March, anyway). But is this really a workable sales pitch? Even if you ignore the considerable damage he's already inflicted on Florida, which is really more to the point. A while back, Aronoff wrote: [2022-10-12] Florida and the insurance industry weren't build to withstand a flooded world.

• Devlin Barrett/Josh Dawsey/Carol D Leonnig: [05-31] Prosecutors have recording of Trump discussing sensitive Iran document: "could undercut key defense claims that Trump declassified or didn't know about the documents."

• Ben Brasch/Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff: [06-01] Candidate charged with shooting at Democrats' homes after election loss. Solomon Pena (R-NM), lost state House seat nearly 2-to-1, blamed fraud, hired two more guys to help him with shootings.

• Fabiola Cineas: [06-02] Florida has launched an "unparalleled" assault on higher education: "Ron DeSantis is threatening academic freedom everywhere." Illustration here is a sign that gets to the point: "Support real education, not DeSantis indoctrination."

• Margaret Hartmann: [05-30] It turns out 'Trump Bucks' aren't actually legal tender.

• Ed Kilgore: [06-01] 2024 presidential candidates side with far right on debt deal: No responsibilities, no consequences.

• Eric Levitz: [05-29] The contradiction at the heart of DeSantis 2024: On the one hand, he wants to be seen as more electable than Trump; on the other, he also wants to be seen as doing everything Trump would do and then some, suggesting he intends to be more extreme. But that's only a contradiction if you assume that everything balances off the center -- a view that only centrists have these days, I suppose because they insist on being wrong about everything. DeSantis embraces both sides of this equation not because he's a centrist but because he's a cynic. In the Republican primaries, he'll run not as the saner Trump but as the more effective model: the guy who delivers things that Trump can only promise. If he's nominated, he'll pivot back to the middle, not because he's changed one iota but because the gullible media wants any excuse to cozy up to a Republican. If he's elected, he'll pull the same kind of stunts he's been doing all along in Florida, which will come as a complete surprise to all the centrists who rushed to support him. It's not a bad plan, and if he wasn't such a jerkwad (or at least could fake it) it might work, but there are lots of possible pitfalls. The first is that Trump's base don't want a subtler, more efficient strongman. They want one who acts up, who gets in their supposed enemies' faces and heads.

• Yvonne Wingett Sanchez: [06-01] After harassment, Arizona county official won't run for reelection: The unfortunately named Maricopa County Supervisor, Bill Gates.

• Li Zhou: [06-01] Mike Pence is a man without a constituency: That's not really fair. Pence has a constituency, just a very small one. It's wonks who liked Trump's policies but were ultimately taken aback by his personality. Billmon referred to the GW Bush years as the Cheney Administration, because the personnel and all the policies seemed to emanate from the VP. (Curiously, Cheney lost most of his influence in Bush's second term, especially after he lost Scooter Libby to indictment.) Same thing with the Trump years, except that Trump claimed all the glory. But even though Pence was central to policy direction, most people realize that any Republican flunky would have done the same, and most could have presented the same pious supplication.

Biden, Democrats, and the end of the debt crisis: For the record, I'm not unhappy with Biden's debt ceiling deal. He gave McCarthy a little victory and a bit of respect, which he probably didn't need to do, but it didn't cost much. And what Biden gained was to kill the issue until 2025, or longer if Democrats recover and win Congress. Anything else would be litigated endlessly, and while he'd probably win, that would have made the Supreme Court look a bit less fanatical than they are. It might have been different had he been able to rally the media to his viewpoint, but he's not that kind of guy. I wish Democrats could do better, but there's not much evidence of them even trying.

• Zack Beauchamp: [06-02] Everything is coming up Biden: "The president's had a string of recent wins. So why do his numbers suck?" Perhaps part of the reason is that even this generally sympathetic article starts with Biden tripping and falling, quite literally, at a recent speech.

• John Nichols: [06-02] Here's why principled progressives opposed a cruel and destructive debt ceiling deal: In the House, 46 Democrats voted against the debt ceiling deal, as did five Senators. I'm never going to complain when elected Democrats land top my left. Nichols also wrote: [05-31] There's never a debt ceiling for the Military-Industrial Complex.

• Andrew Prokop: [06-01] 5 winners and 5 losers from the debt ceiling deal.

• Bill Scher: [06-01] The debt-ceiling deal shows Joe Biden is a normal president just like he promised. Which begs the question, how low can you lower the bar?

Ukraine War:

• Blaise Malley: [06-02] Diplomacy Watch: A peace summit without Russia.

• Andrew Bacevich: [06-01] The compulsion to intervene: "Why Washington underwrites violence in Ukraine.

• Dave DeCamp: [06-01] SpaceX lands Pentagon contract for Starlink terminals for Ukraine: Add Elon Musk to the list of war profiteers.

• John Feffer: [05-31] How Russia's war in Ukraine threatens the planet.

• Anatol Lieven/George Beebe: [05-31] Prigozhin erupts: Has a Russian succession struggle begun? No reason to get excited here. "And if the choice of a successor to Putin really becomes that between President Prigozhin and President Patrushev, would either of these be an improvement on Putin himself?"

• Suzanne Loftus: Kazakhstan's view of Ukraine is complicated because it, too, is complicated.

• Neil MacFarquhar/Milana Mazaeva: [06-03] In Russian schools, it's recite your ABC's and 'Love your army': "The curriculum for young Russians is increasingly emphasizing patriotism and the heroism of Moscow's army, while demonizing the West as 'gangsters.' One school features a 'sniper'-themed math class." This just poisons the future.

• Nicole Narea: The potential fallout from drone attacks in Moscow.

• Timothy Noah: [05-08] Putin can't afford to lose in Ukraine -- but he can't afford to win, either: When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, it represented 10.5 percent of the global economy; by April 2022, Russia's share had shrunk to 3.5 percent, and GDP has shrunk by a quarter since 2013. Capitalism doesn't seem like much of a blessing.

• Jordan Michael Smith: [06-02] How Russia got the Ukraine War wrong: Review of two recent books on the war: Owen Matthews: Overreach: The Inside Story of Putin's War Against Ukraine, and Serhii Plokhy: The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History. I've read Plokhy's 2021 The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine, which was pre-invasion but well into the 2014 division. No doubt he knows the history, but I have wonder how much inside scoop Matthews -- a British journalist based in Moscow in the late 1990s, and later in Istanbul -- actually has.

  Matthews offers three reasons behind Putin's decision to go to war. The first, that "Western influence was growing too powerful in a country vital to Russian influence," needs a lot more elaboration. It seems likely that Biden's administration took much more concern with Ukraine than Trump's had done, and that promise of support emboldened Zelensky to ditch the Minsk II accord and further threaten Russian separatists in Donbas. Why Putin should see Ukraine as a vital interest is deeply embedded in the history Plokhy explains, seeing it as a threat, and believing Russia could solve that threat with aggression, is a more complex problem.

  Matthew's second reason seems justified: Putin's belief that Russia could withstand sanctions has largely been vindicated, but like most conflict issues, it has a second side. It is just as possible that the US overestimated the sanctions threat. The third reason -- that the US was weakened by its clumsy retreat from Afghanistan -- makes the least sense. If anything, the US was more eager to confront Russia once it was no longer stuck in Afghanistan. If Putin thought otherwise, he was being foolish -- although it is just the sort of thing American hawks would say.

  I suspect much more research is needed to fill in the details, which is where the devil dwells. One pull quote deserves reiteration here: "A wounded Russia might be even more prone to extremism, paranoia, and aggression than it was before the war."

The rest of the world:

• Ellen Ioanes: [05-30] Uganda's extreme anti-LGBTQ legislation, explained. Three other African states have similar laws (Kenya, Zambia, Ghana). But there is an argument that the driving force behind such laws is "American evangelicals through their local actors." Probably unrelated: Uganda reels from deadly terrorist attack. You might be thinking "karma," but the more obvious source is Uganda's long involvement in the Congo wars.

• Marc Martorell Junyent: [06-01] Is the new Taliban reign less extreme than it was in 2001? Hassan Abbas has a new book on this, The Return of the Taliban: Afghanistan After the Americans Left, arguing that the question is open, but continued exclusion isn't helping.

• Anatol Lieven: [06-02] Ethnic conflict in Kosovo: Cutting the Gordian Knot: This is yet another diplomatic failure, exacerbated by foreign powers picking sides in a local ethnic dispute. One might even argue that NATO's intervention in Kosovo was every bit as egregious as Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Other stories:

Christopher Flavelle/Jack Healy: [06-01] Arizona limits construction around Phoenix as its water supply dwindles.

Matthew Duss: [06-01] The bad thing Henry Kissinger did that you don't even know about: "the practice of turning vast global contacts into wealth has been horrible for American democracy." After leaving government, Kissinger set up shop and encouraged rich people to give him money. What he did for all that money was often unclear (and still is). But he turned GW Bush's invite to oversee a commission on 9/11 because he feared that taking the post would expose his business to public scrutiny. He wasn't the first person to do that sort of thing, and many more have followed in his footsteps.

Victoria Guida: [05-29] Historic gains: Low-income workers scored in the Covid economy. Something else for Republicans to try to destroy.

Umair Irfan:

• [05-30] A big El Niño is looming. Here's what it means for our weather. "How warm water in the Pacific shapes storms, droughts, and record heat around the world."

• [06-02] Climate change is already making parts of America uninsurable: "We're steadily marching toward an uninsurable future." This is probably the biggest story of the week, and maybe the year. Two key problems with private insurance: the risk models haven't kept pace with increasing risks; and once you fix the risk models, the upshot is that few people can afford insurance. And if you can't insure property, how can you finance it? If we had understood this 20-30 years ago, maybe we could have done a realistic cost-benefit analysis on carbon reduction, but having ignored the real risks all this time, it's too late to catch up. I'm convinced that the solution will be for the federal government to provide insurance, either by backstopping the private companies or by offering some degree of insurance directly. If the latter seems hard to imagine, consider such current programs as flood insurance, crop insurance, FEMA disaster funding, and and too-big-to-fail banks. This will be a big political issue in the not-so-distant future, and needs to be thought about sooner rather than later.

Sarah Jones:

• [05-30] The revolt of the other mothers: "Moms for Liberty learned motherhood is a potent force. So too have their opponents."

• [05-30] A generation moves on: On a Washington Post feature about "Christina and Aaron Beall, parents who have abandoned the Christian homeschool movement." They themselves were home schooled, brought up to "discipline" their children as they had been "disciplined" (which is to say, beaten). As with all case studies, no way to tell how representative their stories are. Jones has a similar (though she suspects less extreme) background, which helps. By the way, I've kept Jones' [04-08] piece open, as it's one of the best I've seen all year: Children are not property. I find the notion that they are property, which is consistent with recent right-wing programming, horrifying. Even worse, I suppose, is the notion that your children should be their property too.

• [05-29] The fantasies of Josh Hawley: "The senator's new book, Manhood, is an exercise in cowardice." I've cited several rejoinders to this book in recent weeks, less because we need to tear it down than because its its author is often taken as a serious Republican thinker-activist yet the book is such an easy target. By the way, on Facebook Greg Magarian noted: "Masculinity? That's a complicated idea, but I've never encountered any idea of manhood that looks like Josh Hawley."

Glenn Kessler: [05-16] And the president most to blame for the national debt problem is . . . Author cites one fairly arbitrary study to pin the blame on Lyndon Johnson, on the theory that "entitlements" like Medicare and Medicaid are the culprit, and ranks Nixon second for similar reasons, despite later admitting that "social programs, in fact, can provide more benefits than costs in the long run." Curiously, no mention here of the impact of war and defense spending on the balance sheet -- not even Johnson's (and Nixon's) largely unfunded Vietnam War, which was the source of most budget imbalances at the time.

Whizzy Kim: [05-26] What was Succession actually trying to tell us? The HBO series has been a rare unflattering portrait of the very rich, and the many ways their wealth warps their perceptions and actions. For its first three seasons, it managed to be watchable despite a total absence of sympathetic characters, but it finally got good in the fourth season, when Logan Roy's death raised the stakes. Kim also wrote [05-29] Succession ends exactly how it needed to. I'd say they did what they could after painting themselves into a corner. To say Tom Wambsgans came out the winner overlooks how totally hollow his new position will be. But I don't like Lukas Matsson's odds any better. He came out as a phony and bully way out of his league. Except that everyone involved comes out with unimaginable piles of money, conjured from rarefied bullshit. This is no way to run a world.

Ian Millhiser: [06-01] The Supreme Court deals another blow to labor unions.

Andrew Perez: [06-03] Right-wing dark money funded Kansas's failed anti-abortion campaign.

Jeffrey St Clair: [06-02] Roaming Charges: The shame of the game. Not happy with the debt deal: "The Democrats asked for nothing and got less. The Far Right demanded all they could think of, got it and now wants more."

Peter Turchin: [06-02] America is headed toward collapse: From the author's new book, End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration. Section here is a very sketchy outline of two previous crises -- the Civil War and the Great Depression -- with similarities to the current period highlighted. Turchin has several previous books. His War and Peace and War: The Rise and Fall of Empires, is summarized as follows:

Turchin argues that the key to the formation of an empire is a society's capacity for collective action. He demonstrates that high levels of cooperation are found where people have to band together to fight off a common enemy, and that this kind of cooperation led to the formation of the Roman and Russian empires, and the United States. But as empires grow, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, conflict replaces cooperation, and dissolution inevitably follows.

May 2023