We Defy Augury

Thoughts (loosely) inspired by Daniel A. Sjursen's book "A True History of the United States: Indigenous Genocide, Racialized Slavery, Hyper-Capitalism, Militarist Imperialism and Other Overlooked Aspects of American Exceptionalism."

Thoughts (loosely) inspired by Seth Harp's military exposé The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces.

Thoughts (loosely) inspired by Malcolm Gladwell's book Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering (and everything else Malcolm Gladwell has written).

Thoughts (loosely) inspired by S.A. Cosby's Southern noir novel The King of Ashes and Tana French's wild tale of undercover infiltration The Likeness.

Thoughts (loosely) inspired by Tana French's "Dublin Murder Squad" series and Anthony Horowitz's "Magpie/Moonflower/Marble Hall Murders" series. You will be tested.

Thoughts (loosely) inspired by the Charles Portis novel Gringos . . . and living at the beach for a month. Salt life!

Thoughts (loosely) inspired by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's classic Sicilian novel "The Leopard."

A meditation on how place influences psyche (with some help from Bon Jovi and Bruce).

Thoughts about narration, reliable and otherwise, loosely inspired by the novels of Jim Thompson and the Richard Russo essay "In Defense of Omniscience."

There is also a film quiz . . . see how you fare.

Thoughts on creativity and identity (or the lack thereof) loosely inspired by the SNL Weezer sketch, Jonah Lehrer's article "Groupthink, Song Exploder episode 70: Weezer "Summer Elaine and Drunk Dory," the Atlantic article "Is This the Worst-Ever Era of American Pop Culture?" by Spencer Kornhaber and a bunch of other stuff.

A philosophical, literary, and musical meditation on creativity and good ideas.

Thoughts (loosely) inspired by Jonah Lehrer's article "Groupthink," Plutarch's "The Ship of Theseus Dilemma," and Steven Johnson's book Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation.