REVIEW: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari (1-star)

 This book is one of those "big history" books where the author attempts to explain all of human history -- anthropology, sociology, pop psychology and pop economics -- through the objective lens of his own narrow perspective.  Frankly, I'm not sure why I kept listening in the hopes that he would uncover something novel or interesting.  I had intended to borrow the e-book to do a re-read but there are plenty of critical reviews out there of this book.

An excellent critical review here: SAPIENS BY YUVAL NOAH HARARI: A BRIEF JUSTIFICATION FOR CHAUVINISM

There's nothing new or groundbreaking in this book except that the author could manage to slide in so many sly, sexist references.  His treatment is hardly objective -- he repeatedly inserts sexist, racist and biological deterministic comments that had me laughing out loud. This book gets such rave reviews - why?  (See also: The Dangerous Populist Science of Yuval Noah Harari)

He's a good story teller - but he does drone on and on --  sneaking in many biased statements and utter nonsense as "factual."  He even weaves in his own Western appropriation of Eastern spirituality in ways that seem to justify and excuse injustice throughout human history.  For example: 

"suffering is not caused by ill fortune, social injustice or divine whims. Rather, suffering is caused by the behavior patterns of one's own mind." 

I did a bit of research and he's practices meditation -- but it's really the racism and chauvinism that get me:

"In 1880, the Chinese empire did not operate a single railroad."  Why?  "they lacked the values, myths, judicial apparatus, and sociopolitical structures that took centuries to form and mature in the West and which could not be copied and internalized rapidly. France and the United States quickly followed in Britain's footsteps because the French and Americans already shared the most important British myths and social structures.  The Chinese and Persians could not catch up as quickly because they thought and organized their societies differently."

He claims that  "This explanation sheds new light" on the mid-to-late 19th century because there were no tangible advantages in the West or other explanations for their increased rate of industrialization.  Huh, ya don't say? 

He repeatedly talks about "feminism" as an ideology and in several repeated rants about the woes of individualism, he implies the negative consequences of women being able to vote, have checking accounts, divorce abusive husbands or choose not to marry at all.  

In more than one way - he makes it clear that he identifies with the successful, monied classes. This line was so laughable I bookmarked it:  "A government may impose heavy taxation on industrialists and use the money to give lavish unemployment benefits which are popular with voters."  Clearly, he doesn't understand how unemployment benefits work (ie, workers pay toward this fund) and his definition of "lavish" may need some examination.  Here in California, the maximum unemployment benefit is $450/week which is hardly a cause for celebration much less paying one's rent. 

Finally, he wraps up his conclusion with a dystopian prediction of a future occupied by cyborgs who have their feelings managed, and yea, even experience feelings we cannot imagine.  It's all a very "Gattaca" + "Blade Runner" + "The Fifth Element" kind of future and I had to rewind through the conclusions because it had me hooting and giggling so much.   YMMV.

Stick with Thomas Piketty's "Brief History of Inequality."

REVIEW: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari 

RATING: 1-star

© Jennifer R Clark. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may share and adapt this content with proper attribution.

QUILT: Paper Pieced Stars Update - 6 complete

Six stars are fully complete:  

One star is mostly complete:  it's definitely getting easier. I no longer use the spray starch or pins - I just hold the fabric together, place it against the light and then sew! 

Not ripping stitches and reworking nearly as much as the first few stars. 

REVIEW: Real Flow: Break the Burnout Cycle and Unlock High Performance in the New World of Work by Brandi Olson (4-stars)

This book covers three important topics critical for the health of an organization and, ultimately, its success. The integral, systems approach is a mainstay of digital transformation - but that topic can be difficult to tackle. Brandi Olson approaches the topic in accessible language, with excellent illustrations -- both graphics and metaphorical.

Much of what she describes is not new: Max Weber and Emile Durkheim, among others, wrote about these kinds of issues over 100 years ago.

Olson issues a challenge: "you (and everyone else) will need to stop settling for the appearance of productivity and performance rather than the real thing."

The author describes the challenges faced in organizations and low-key leads up to a discussion of the roots of corporate culture in a white supremacist, colonialist mindset which not only results in overworked, burned out employees but which also perpetuates the same dysfunctional system, reinforcing the lack of diversity of cultures, people and ideas.

"Burnout is energy-consuming and self-perpetuating. It fosters a monoculture: if everyone is operating on a burned-out and overworked level, no one has the brain capacity to think that perhaps things could and should be different."

Most organizations respond to symptoms -- burned out employees are compelled to use up their vacation time before the year-end, company potlucks or online "coffee/happy hour" chats (or worse: Yammer) substitute for connection and culture. More is seen as "better" and forcing employees to jump between many different projects always leads to no clear successes or improvements.

What organizations fail to realize is that “peak performance means making the greatest possible impact over the longest period of time.” That means addressing root causes -- finding the smallest changes you can make that will have the biggest impact (Pareto principal), implementing changes incrementally and iteratively to have time to reflect on the impact throughout the ecosystem (ie "butterfly effect"), and avoiding toxic perfectionism ("better > best").

"Flow is the experience of energy, creativity, and value moving from ideas to results throughout your entire organization." This is achieved by making your work visible throughout the organization -- put it on KanBan boards, for example (or open up access in Confluence to all enterprise users).

In John Doerr's "Measure What Matters," he similarly advocates for cross-functional sharing of goals so that individuals, teams, departments and divisions can work together to ensure they all help each other meet their goals (and thus all the company/enterprise level goals).

When an organization is "flooding" -- they are taking a shotgun approach which may inevitably result in some losses: limiting growth opportunities, trapping people in a "wash, rinse, repeat" or dooming teams to failure like Lucy's chocolate factory speed-up.

Olson offers a lot of practical tips to get people thinking differently about how to identify the challenges and keep track of the work: switch from small screens & spreadsheets to big whiteboards or walls, establish "work in progress" (WIP) limits. Olson's analogy on how a WIP functions:

"Have you ever been to one of those gigantic waterslides where you first spend 25 minutes climbing up six stories, only to whoosh down the slide in approximately 93 seconds? Have you ever noticed that, in order to keep everyone safe, they have a one person on the slide limit?"

Work that has been started but not finished is a big liability - it represents unrealized value (and may end up as waste). This is why prioritization is critical -- but rather than prioritize, many organizations would prefer to continue piling up the work and ignore the costs in turnover as people burn out from constantly being spread too thin or having to switch projects too frequently.

"Productivity without outcomes is not real productivity." Building a bridge is an output while people safely crossing that bridge is an outcome. Migrating a website to a new content management system is an output while enabling marketing team members to update their own pages quickly is an outcome. "Outputs answer the question, How will we do it? Outcomes answer the question, Why does this matter?" -- or "When can we open the champagne?"

Olson also talks about the importance of focus and the damage of "multi-tasking" -- an organization that is flooding is multitasking across the enterprise, busy without achieving meaningful outcomes.

Let's jump ahead to characteristics of white supremacy work culture outlined in “White Supremacy Culture” --

1. Perfectionism - focusing on what doesn't work, punishing people for mistakes, not leaving room for learning and continuous improvement.
2. Sense of Urgency - everything is a "high priority" where I work, probably where you work, too. "There is little time for thoughtful decision-making, short-term fixes come with long-term costs."
3. Quantity over Quality - conflict avoidant environments with a focus on productivity and output over EQ and the underlying mechanics that enable the establishment of teams with high levels of trust where creativity can flourish.
4. Document-Driven Communication - leaves little time for conversations and exploration.

A key takeaway:

"By making work visible, limiting work in progress, and being clear on prioritization, you can create time, focus, and energy for teams to have difficult conversations, get to know each other personally, build trust, and identify significant opportunities for learning how to do and be better."

As the author states: the future of work is PEOPLE - who need to be in environments designed to for cross-functional collaborative teams where they can develop trust and work toward shared outcomes:

• The team must have all the cross-functional skills and expertise to do the work from start to finish
• The team must work together long term
• The work must be transparent so the team can be in flow

There is no such thing as "best practices" -- start by identifying what you do now, create a map of your ecosystem. Make improvements - better not best., and don't obsess with a "big bang" of fixing "all the things."

"If everything changes at once, you’ll overwhelm the system and slow down learning."

"...empower people to do their best work, solve problems, and be better leaders—no matter where they are in the organization."

"better is always better than best."

REVIEW: Real Flow: Break the Burnout Cycle and Unlock High Performance in the New World of Work by Brandi Olson 

RATING: 4-stars

© Jennifer R Clark. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may share and adapt this content with proper attribution.

QUILT: Paper Pieced Stars Update - 2 more completed!

QUILTING: New Paper Pieced Star WIP

QUILT: Paper Pieced Stars Update - 4 Complete Stars!

 As of New Year's Eve 2022 - I now have completed 4 stars.  It is getting easier - I have to let go of the need to absolutely maximize every tiny bit of fabric and let go of some scraps being just almost big enough but not quite for use:

QUILT: Paper Pieced Stars Update

Here's what the pices all look like using starch and a bit of fabric spray adhesive (it peels off):

My gorgeous little white Singer Featherweight:

My Favorite Plant-Based Cheeses

 

In the intervening decade or so since I started this blog,  many vegan-friendly, plant-based cheeses have come and gone (looking at you, Nacheez & Nacho Mamma). Fortunately, being in the Bay Area, there are always a lot of enterprising locals who create amazing vegan options. 

BAY AREA ARTISANAL PLANT-BASED CHEESE

Miyoko's Creamery - so many options!  I love the Sharp English Farmhouse - it's one of my favorites for eating with bread or crackers. https://miyokos.com/collections/all 

• Liquid Mozzarella - this stuff is great for pizza, but it also works for open-faced toasted cheese in the toaster oven, and on nachos.
• Roadhouse Cheddar - this is amazing stuff.  It tastes just like cheddar cheese log cheese, but in a good way.  Maybe I'll make a nut log with it this holiday season. 
• ALL THE CHEESE WHEELS:  the "Double Cream Classic Chive" tastes like goat cheese. The Sharp English Farmhouse and Smoked English Farmhouse are also favorites.  They are ALL good.

Vegan Butcher's Son Feta - packed in salty brine with a bay leaf or two, this feta tastes exactly like the dairy based version to me (granted, it's been 15+ years since I've eaten any dairy cheese). It's got a great texture - crumble it onto salads, eat with crackers or fruit.  You can buy it in person or through delivery services at   https://www.thebutchersveganson.com/

The Uncreamery - Smoked Gouda, Truffle Brie, Ghost Pepper Jack -- great right out of the white paper.  This stuff is so delicious with a nicely uniform, delicate texture.  It never lasts long enough in my house to cook with it, ymmv. https://www.theuncreamery.com/ or any number of stores, including Rainbow Grocery.

OUTSIDE THE BAY AREA

Portland-based Vtopian makes a lot of amazing cheeses.  Any time I am in Portland, this is a required stop and I always end up eating Vtopian cheese with bread for my meals on the road trip home.  You can visit them in Portland, or find their cheese in stores all around the Bay Area (SF's Rainbow Grocery has an awesome selection): https://www.vtopiancheeses.com/ 

Bandit Barn Cat --great with bread, dried fruit and on sandwiches.  This savory delight is wrapped in black ash and white paper, this cheese is so delicious and tastes like a blue cheese.  I purchased this at the vegan grocery at Little Saint in Healdsburg, and there may be options near you. https://eatlikeabandit.com/products/barn-cat

Renegade Foods makes amazing plant-based salame (not GF) -- https://renegadefoods.com/ - also available at SF's Rainbow Grocery.

NON-ARTISANAL CHEESES FOR COOKING: not all vegan cheeses possess the cultured, tang and texture that makes them ideal for eating with bread or as part of your charcuterie. However, there are quite a lot of non-artisanal cheeses that work pretty well cooked in your broccoli rice casserole, nachos or macaroni and cheese. 

Nachos - I like Violife and Daiya shredded cheeses.  They melt pretty well under the broiler of my wee toaster oven. 

Open-faced toasted cheese tastes just like I remember it (plus my version of Grandma Clark's Pottsville Relish) when I use thin slices of Daiya's Grilling Cheese Block (I'm also a fan of Daiya's "Smoked Gouda" and "Jalapeño Havarti").

REVIEW: Vegan Africa: Plant-Based Recipes from Ethiopia to Senegal by Marie Kacouchia (4-stars)

This book is beautiful:  the photos, layout and fonts are all a pleasure to the eye.  There are several really strong recipes that are very eye catching, such as "Cauliflower Tabbouleh with Pistachio and Lemon Confit" -- which I cannot wait to put into action. Some of the simplest recipes sound the most appealing - like sauteed spinach, mushrooms & ripe plantains.  Plantain beignets sound really amazing as do the "Sweet Pepper and Corn Cakes" and I will be planning a meal from this book very soon.

The recipes are very accessible -- some much more than others, making me wonder about the target audience for this book.  Some of the recipes remind me of recipes in a book about ancient Roman dining -- particularly the "Cauliflower Yassa with Olives" and "Cumin Spiced Orange and Chickpea Salad" -- making me wonder about the cultural exchange between Africa and the ancient Romans.  

The main drawback of this book is that  there are a lot of filler recipes in the book such:  sprinkling the spice blend ras al hanout on popcorn, lemonade, iced tea, hot tea and avocado-based chocolate mousse.  

Some recipes assume access to items that might not be normally found in most grocery stores such as the "vegan brioche" called for in the Coconut-Lime French Toast -- Where?  Hook me up!   At least 3 recipes call for harissa.   There's no recipe for harissa in the book, which feels like a loss. Likewise leaving out instructions for creating your own "ras al hanout."

Overall - this is a good starter book for someone who is not an experienced cook and there are enough novel recipes for people who are not lucky enough to have grown up with this kind of food to keep experienced cooks interested. 

REVIEW: Vegan Africa: Plant-Based Recipes from Ethiopia to Senegal by Marie Kacouchia 

RATING: 4-stars

© Jennifer R Clark. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may share and adapt this content with proper attribution.

REVIEW: Rare Trees: The Fascinating Stories of the World’s Most Threatened Species by Sara Oldfield (5-stars)

I was thrilled to receive an advance copy of Rare Trees. As someone who loves trees, I hoped for a book that combined striking visuals with clear, accessible information—and this volume exceeded my expectations.

With its National Geographic–quality photography and encyclopedia-style detail, Rare Trees is both visually stunning and deeply informative. It’s the kind of book that invites readers to linger over its pages, making it equally at home as a coffee table centerpiece or an educational resource.

What impressed me most was the thoughtful conclusion: a concise, one-page list of practical steps readers can take to support trees and the environment. The inclusion of lifestyle suggestions—such as reducing meat and dairy consumption—shows the author’s commitment to connecting beauty with action.

This is a gorgeous, inspiring book that will appeal to adults and children alike. I can’t wait to see it in print and share it with others. 

REVIEW: Rare Trees: The Fascinating Stories of the World’s Most Threatened Species by Sara Oldfield 

RATING: 5-stars

© Jennifer R Clark. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may share and adapt this content with proper attribution.