Rememory

by liberal japonicus Going to make two posts from this podcast by Hasan Minaj, but following up on nous’ suggestion of https://podscripts.co/, I found https://www.podchaser.com, which had a transcript for the podcast I want to talk about, where Hasan Minaj interviews Jacob Soboroff about two books he’s written. (Unfortunately, the transcript is raw, so you … Read more

An interesting map

by liberal japonicus This is an illustration from issue 372 of Sino-Platonic papers (pdf link) which consists of S. Robert Ramsey’s book The Japanese and Their Language: How the Japanese Made Their Language and It Made Them. Sino-Platonic papers is “a monograph series…[whose] chief focus of the series is on the intercultural relations of China … Read more

Talarico

by liberal japonicus I was a bit surprised to see Ezra Klein interviewing James Talarico, who is running for the Senate seat of Texas currently occupied by John Coryn, but after listening, I can see that Talarico hits some of Klein’s sweet spots. Some things about where I’m coming from on this. Because I didn’t … Read more

2026, as f**ked up as 2025

by liberal japonicus I read the news today, oh boy… We are left with Kremlinology, but I assume this indicates the ascendance of the Rubio/Vance faction, though I don’t think there are any people who might have suggested restraint.

Dayyyyum

by liberal japonicus Two thoughts, one serious, one not. Is it surprising that there was no mention of 9-11 as a symbol of New York resilience? I have to imagine that he and his speechwriters didn’t forget, but felt it was too difficult. Or perhaps he wants to speak to a generation for whom 9-11 … Read more

Moving towards Epiphany

by liberal japonicus As we crawl to the end of the year, maybe a word about epiphanies. I assume that it must be the same as Hemingway’s line about going bankrupt. Ephiphany, which is usually celebrated on the Sunday between Jan 2nd and Jan 8th, is from the Greek epiphaneia and means manifestation or revelation, … Read more

Weekend music thread #10 Maurice Ravel

by liberal japonicus Last week, I mentioned Daphnis et Chloé by Maurice Ravel, so down the rabbit hole we go. My favorite work by Ravel is Le Tombeau de Couperin, and I was able to find the album that was my first listen to this. Had I heard that earlier in my life, I might … Read more