43 Comments
May 7, 2022Liked by Matt Welch

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ixS0zzpAIk5MWcVmbCxB9duwJ5-g5aWJUVKoFbsoJ4A/htmlview

This is the Google doc for all book mentions. I had the link saved from a while ago, but appears the person who made it has been keeping it up to date.

Very very detailed spreadsheet

Moynihan apparently is responsible for roughly 1/2 of all unique book mentions and also about 1/2 of all mentioned in general.

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May 6, 2022Liked by Matt Welch

I already like it better here, and late is always preferable to never. Thanks Matt! See you guys soon in NYC

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May 6, 2022Liked by Matt Welch

You guys talked about little known Revolutionary War spots in Brooklyn, gives me a chance to shove the book I’m almost done with in your faces since it’s so well done . “Almost a Miracle” by John Ferling is so good about not just the war but the reactions and fallout with the British Parliament. Think it’s pretty well known but it’s so damn great, and if you’re interested and the war, check it out if you haven’t.

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May 9, 2022Liked by Matt Welch

I, too, have Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, and haven't finished it. I have, however, read the Christopher Hitchens introduction to my Penguin edition two or three times.

I did, however, finish and can recommend Garden, Ashes, by Danilo Kiš, who was born in what is today Serbia. It is bleak but excellent.

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May 7, 2022Liked by Matt Welch

Anytime Sam Power is mentioned, I’m contractually obligated to mention that we went to high school together. She had great parties at her house, which was called the “castle house” because it had these weird turret things going on despite not being particularly ornate inside or out. Many years later, we passed each other on the streets of DC and and did the movie thing where we both stopped, turned around slowly, and caught up for a while.

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May 7, 2022Liked by Matt Welch

Echoing Jeff, it is already better here

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Welcome to the Substack dark side!

For a very small, weird moment in the history of Yugoslavia, this is a fun read (although there have, in fact, been *many* much worse cars). https://www.amazon.ca/Yugo-Rise-Fall-Worst-History/dp/0809098954

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I got cussed out by a nice (looking) Slovakian girl at in a bar in Denmark once for saying that she was from “Eastern Europe”. Her response was basically “look at a map dickhead”.

I was politely informed that the Visegrad 4 and Yugos are “Central Europe”. Eastern Europe means Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, etc. When I told her that Americans think Finland is Western Europe but Estonia is Eastern Europe she had finally heard enough nonsense and walked off.

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What’s the protocol for sending non-post-specific messages? Email? Not missing Patreon at all, but there you could comment on episodes/posts but also send direct messages. What is the equivalent mode of communication on Substack? Seems like email was (deservedly) derided before but the direct message option, unless I’m an idiot (probable), doesn’t exist here.

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Your description of your Bosnian roommate reminds me of my time in Yerevan. A medical doctor, employed as a driver, telling me how all Armenians are kings just as a (knockoff?) Jeep blows by the standstill traffic by driving onto the curb and down the sidewalk. The good doctor stops his pro-Armenian lecture, points at the Jeep barreling down the sidewalk (now in the distance) and exclaims “You see! Kings! The man has somewhere to be, he makes his own road!”

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Already getting my money's worth.

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Hey I got this started on the subreddit but apparently Trey has kept it going. Cool to see someone taking care of it.

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I'm headed to Serbia at the beginning of June for work, is Balkan Ghost a good flight read?

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Categorization of people into rigid groups seems to have this spiral into violent insanity thing, no matter what context it is tried in.

Funny how it is expressed in bars of peaceful cities too. Once had a German in Munich get emotionally offended on the suggestion their name might be Polish. "NEVER call a German Polish!"

Silly Americans and their un-focus on ethnic history... oh nm. Woops.

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Heya! Sorry to go off topic (I love book rec fwiw) but I haven’t seen a link to the Fifth NYC hangout. Did that go live yet? Just want to make sure I don’t get shut out. Thanks and love the Substack!

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Do you have any recommendations on Documentaries that cover this subject? I would like to do some reading on it but feel like I want to start with a documentary that covers this subject to watch with my girlfriend.

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