Imperial Twilight by Stephen Platt

For a book ostensibly about a war, this slow burning buildup of geopolitical diplomacy, drama, and intrigue detailing British-Chinese relations in the early 1800s doesn’t actually find its climax in battles, but rather in the very dryly funny political maneuverings that led to the war, which I found to be entertaining and ultimately quite worthwhile, altho it was a dense read along the way at some points, and I wish it had detailed more of the Chinese history alongside the British.

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contact 1997

Both the sci-fi elements and the scientist characters are really fun and involving in this carl sagan book adaptation - but on the other hand the love interest is really annoying and the movie should’ve been 30 minutes shorter.

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dulevoz train videos youtube channel

dulevoz is a mesmerizing collection of lengthy high-def videos from trains traveling through Serbia and Montenegro, made with obvious care and love for the trains and the view.

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The Unaccountability Machine by Dan Davies

This nonfiction treatise on systems, communication and accountability is bold in its breadth, smoothly written and researched, laid out in a confusing and silly way, occasionally under-edited, but also fascinating, fun, and particularly impressive at the end.

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