Top Hacker News Book Recommendations in Politics & Social Sciences (past 6 months)

All Time Past 6 Months

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (P.S.)

Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

4.6 on Amazon

2 HN comments

The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (A Free Press Paperbacks Book)

Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray

4.7 on Amazon

2 HN comments

Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World

Anand Giridharadas

4.5 on Amazon

2 HN comments

Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the Twenty-First Century

Josh Rogin, Robert Petkoff, et al.

4.5 on Amazon

2 HN comments

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

Robert A. Caro

4.7 on Amazon

2 HN comments

Intellectuals and Society

Thomas Sowell

4.9 on Amazon

2 HN comments

Don Quixote: Translated by Edith Grossman

Miguel de Cervantes, George Guidall, et al.

4.6 on Amazon

2 HN comments

HumanKind: Changing the World One Small Act At a Time

Brad Aronson

4.6 on Amazon

2 HN comments

The Wretched of the Earth

Frantz Fanon , Richard Philcox , et al.

4.8 on Amazon

2 HN comments

The Last Lecture

Randy Pausch

4.7 on Amazon

2 HN comments

Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work

Matthew B. Crawford

4.3 on Amazon

2 HN comments

Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?

Mark Fisher

4.7 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Irresistible Revolution: Marxism's Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military

Matthew Lohmeier

4.7 on Amazon

1 HN comments

The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War

Louis Menand

4.4 on Amazon

1 HN comments

The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph

Ryan Holiday and Tim Ferriss

4.7 on Amazon

1 HN comments

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BrianYeshonApr 26, 2021

If you enjoyed Shop Class as Soulcraft you'll love The Anarchist's Tool Chest by Christopher Schwarz.

https://lostartpress.com/collections/getting-started/product...

This book is very practical and will give you specific ways to start making. With hand tools and wood. Mr Schwarz writing style is funny and very accessible.

You do not need to join anything to be satisfied by making real things with your hands. You do not need to speed a lot of money doing it. You can do it in your tiny apartment. Watch free Youtube videos when you need a new skill.

Don't buy a bunch of power tools. Skip that and go straight to hand tools. Even a pocket knife and a good piece of wood. I love my power tools. But sometimes wish I had spent my money on hand made hand tools and spent more time learning how to use use them.

I am a front end web designer that got a university degree in sculpture some twenty years ago. Immediately after graduation I got jobs in graphic design using early Photoshop. Years later I missed making physical things. So I made myself a little workshop and build on nights and weekends.

Respect! Good luck!

desineonApr 24, 2021

Thanks, I had not heard of this, but will definitely give it a read. Zen definitely does go a bit into lofty metaphysics, enough to lose some of the more casual readers. Shop Class as Soulcraft is very much in the physical world. I think that point on the line that many of seem to feel is when we no longer understand the underlying principles of the technology, but both (all three?) books examine the breaking down of these knowledge barriers. For anyone else still reading this comment - Zen focuses more on "quality" and it's definition, than the actual work. The physical acts of adjusting the bike serve as introduction to the discussion.

Anyways thanks again for the recommendation.

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