Author: James Traub

Published: 2016

Read: 2019

Summary Review:

I’ve had the chance to read a lot of biographies over the last few years of founding fathers, but none have I found so much perspective on myself as I did with John Quincy Adams. There are many things that he was (or wasn’t) that don’t apply to me; genius, terrible dad, etc. But his attitudes about life felt very close to home.

Author: Peter Kaufman (Editor)

Published: 2005

Read: 2020

Summary Review:

Living life intentionally is not an easy or common thing. I used to believe I was fairly thoughtful about the way I live my life, but Charlie Munger is an aggregator of some of the finest ideas other people have come up with. This is a distillation of that goodness.

Author: Ian F. McNeely and Lisa Wolverton

Published: 2008

Read: 2021

Summary Review:

I came away captivated by The Republic of Letters. “The Republic of Letters can be defined as an international community of learning stitched together by handwritten letters in the mail.” What does that look like in a world powered by the internet and the creator economy? Are DMs the new letters? Are the ideas shared by intellectuals as much about culture as they are technology?

See also