God of the Desert Books

God of the Desert Books

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We are the first-ever Psychedelic Zionist book publisher. We offer nonfiction, novels, and poetry. Our Substack features cultural essays, political polemics, satire, podcasts and other assorted experiments from a diverse group of writers.
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35 Substack Posts Which Intrigued Me This Week

I haven't read all of these but I hope I can get to the rest of them this weekend. Please let us know if you like these article round-up style posts.

David Swindle 🟦's avatar
David Swindle 🟦
May 13, 2023
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person holding laboratory flasks
Photo by Alex Kondratiev on Unsplash

As I’ve tried to learn more about how to use this new Substack medium I’ve subscribed to a whole bunch of publications. Here are some of the pieces from them which most jumped out at me over the last 7 days and I hope you might find of interest too.

And if you enjoy these round-ups of news and opinion items which I’m experimenting with this month then please let me know! I want to provide people with content they find most interesting and compelling at our site. And if there are any of these stories you’d like me or other contributors here to write about then please let me know too.

And BTW - all of these (with one exception) are free pieces. I haven’t yet made the plunge to start doing paid subscriptions even though there are several which I’d like to read more.

And, of course, this post is too long for email.

OK, now let’s begin:

Sunday - May 7

Yes, I’m going to go ahead and start with Sunday to make this round-up a full week’s worth.

Undaunted Joy
Undaunted Joy #52
I married into a family that nicknames. My family was not like this. There were no terms of endearment. There was no mythology or inside jokes. Undaunted Joy is a reader-supported publication. Thank you for forwarding and sharing on social media My husband, Justo is one of six children. Five of which are men. It took me 20 years to realize that “Woody” …
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2 years ago · 10 likes · 12 comments · Shemaiah Gonzalez

Shemaiah Gonzalez
is wonderful.

Grizzly Pear Jr.
Go make a portfolio!
Even with all the industry movement these past two years, this week was the first time that a person looked at my online portfolio before contacting me. (LinkedIn recruiters are shockingly lazy!) The opportunity wasn’t a good fit, but we had a great conversation, and I learned about an exciting position to share with younger architects…
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2 years ago · 6 likes · Justus

Some good advice from someone I’ve been following on Substack Notes and enjoying.

Aaron Ross Powell
A Twitter Eulogy
This weekend I deleted my Twitter account. Which is a small thing, yes, but it’s 16 years of interactions, and 13,000 followers, and it wasn’t an easy decision. Not the least because, in those 16 years, I made real and important friends through Twitter. The platform meant a lot to me. So as my little commemoration, and moment of self-indulgence, I’m reprinting below a very short essay I wrote—originally as a Tweet thread—ages ago when one of those friends, who meant an awful lot to me, died unexpectedly. Five years later, I still miss him, and I hope this essay can give a sense of what it is Elon Musk has destroyed, and why social media, as many problems as it has, still matters—and still brings value…
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2 years ago · 24 likes · 4 comments · Aaron Ross Powell

I’ve been following

Aaron Ross Powell
primarily through Notes and like him quite a bit. Check him out.

Monday - May 8

Something to Say with Abigail Bergstrom
Why do you have such a problem identifying as a writer?
If you’re reading this newsletter I’m guessing you have this problem. Or that you at least relate to it on some level: the cringing, the slight recoil, the feeling of separation and the just-out-of-reachness that surfaces before you utter those words: I am a writer. Even now, when someone asks me what I do I explain eloquently and con…
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2 years ago · 41 likes · 29 comments · Abigail Bergstrom

I’ve identified as a writer since third grade when I chose it as my primary identity and professional aspiration, the latter which I have now achieved. Being able to work full-time at such a rate that it could support me was all I ever wanted in life. And I’ve had it since 2009 now.

  • I’m going to count The Bulwark as technically still on Substack, so that gives me license to include some of their pieces here. However, they won’t embed like pieces on standard substack.

At the Bulwark, Jay Caruso asks: “Is There A Gun Idolatry Problem?” Yes, of course there is. There’s always been a violence-blood-and-war idolatry problem. This is human nature. We have evolved from all the people who won the wars over the millennia.

Persuasion
Why AI Will Never Rival Human Creativity
AI might put artists out of business. It will not, however, replace them. It will not—cannot—make good art, great art: true art. Which is to say, original art. This is, I know, a dangerous prediction (“dangerous prediction”: a redundancy). But unli…
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2 years ago · 72 likes · 5 comments · William Deresiewicz

I really haven’t found all the talk about AI and ChatGPT and so forth all that interesting. I don’t feel threatened by some program capable of imitating writing. Serious writers know to perpetually evolve their writing, becoming adept at multiple mediums, and adapting to new and different markets as needed. That’s what I’ve done over the years - regularly shifting the kinds of writing I’ve done and known how to do as needed.

The Microdose
Prozac Lessons: 5 Questions for drug historian David Herzberg
David Herzberg started his career as a cultural historian, and grew interested in the idea that what people think can be more important than what is true. That led him towards the gulf between the world of drug advertisements and reality. In particular, Herzberg began to study drugs marketed to ease depression, anxiety, and psychological suffering. His …
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2 years ago · 43 likes · 9 comments · jane c. hu

My experience with my PTSD journey the last year and a half has been one big, long lesson in the shortcomings of both today’s pharmaceutical industry and the psychiatric profession. I think we’re on the edge of a revolution in both as America starts opening up again to psychedelics-as-medicine.

Tuesday - May 9

Range Widely
Hamilton + Burr = JPMorgan Chase
With the exception of state-owned banks in China, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the world. And growing. JPMorgan recently struck a deal to acquire the deposits and most of the assets of First Republic Bank, which was seized by regulators as it headed for collapse. According to the…
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2 years ago · 38 likes · 21 comments · David Epstein

I love learning about history. Note to self: subscribe to more history-centric substacks.

Substance
How to make a Molotov Cocktail, according to the NYPD.
You already know to be scared of homeless people and Black teenagers and the gangs in The Warriors, but a new threat has emerged on the mean streets of New York City: ToPo Chico sparkling seltzers. “This is a Molotov Cocktail that was found at tonight’s protest,” the NYPD warns. “We are committed to ensuring everyone’s right to protest. Violence has no…
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2 years ago · 13 likes · 1 comment · Tana Ganeva

Please subscribe to

Tana Ganeva
right away if you have not already. One of the most informative and perpetually fascinating writers I’ve yet come across on Substack.

Inkygirl by Debbie Ridpath Ohi
Writing & Illustrating Picture Books 101 (Part 1)
Hi, I’m Debbie Ridpath Ohi! Welcome to the first part of my Writing and Illustrating Picture Books 101 post series, which I plan to send out twice a month. I’ve been creating picture books for over a decade, working with publishers like Simon & Schuster, Random House, and HarperCollins. Before then…
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2 years ago · 24 likes · 11 comments · Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Another substack, I’ve just started following recently, illustrator

Debbie Ridpath Ohi
’s art is just wonderful. She’s a reminder how much I need to start following more art-related substacks. They’re so much fun.

CC:

Mike Kilgore
- someone to check out and a category for you to explore too.

  • I was never all that impressed with Lindsay Graham. He always struck me as more follower than leader.

Random Minds by Katherine Brodsky
The Rise of the Right Wing Woke
Traditionally, the word woke was used to refer to the idea that one is awakened to social injustices, but, in recent years it has become almost like a bit of a slur—associated mor…
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2 years ago · 23 likes · 18 comments · Katherine Brodsky

I really should write a substack on why all this back-and-forth about “woke” this and that annoys me so much. Or maybe I should just do a podcast rant. Yeah, that sounds more appropriate than trying to organize my thoughts into a coherent article.

Katherine Brodsky
is wonderful to follow BTW - a skilled writer and intriguing independent thinker.

The Healthy Jew
Let Go
“The name of the game is balance,” a good friend of mine, who also happens to be a master health coach and herbalist, declares in his WhatsApp profile. And so we learned here several weeks ago from this year’s off-balanced rain in Israel: health is the balance that avoids all extremes – not too much or too little, not too early or too late…
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2 years ago · 4 likes · 1 comment · Shmuel Chaim Naiman

A substack I’ve started following recently by

Shmuel Chaim Naiman
which I’m really enjoying.

Wednesday - May 10

Persuasion
The New Right Loves the State
One of the staples of my teaching of comparative politics over the years was to point out the differences between European and American conservatives. The former were generally comfortable with the exercise of state power, and indeed sought to use power to enforce religious or cultural values (the old unity of “throne and altar.”) A…
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2 years ago · 61 likes · 6 comments · Francis Fukuyama
Rigid Thinking
It's Quibi. You invented Quibi.
You can't keep a conspiracy-addled propagandist down for long, I guess: Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson plans to launch a new show on Twitter, the pundit announced on Tuesday. Carlson, in a three-minute video posted to his account with more than 6 million followers, made no mention of Fox News but blasted the news media more generally for what he desc…
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2 years ago · 4 likes · Damian Penny

Damian Penny
has quickly become one of my favorites on Substack. Just perpetually churning out both thoughtful and entertaining commentary in both culture and politics. And he's a really nice guy too.

Culturcidal by John Hawkins
The 25 Most Entertaining Action Sequences of All-Time
This isn’t our standard fare at Culturcidal, but who doesn’t love a great action sequence? Just this once, relax, turn your brain off, click through the best action scenes of all time in alphabetical order, and enjoy the testosterone, stylized violence, and mayhem…
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2 years ago · 10 likes · 2 comments · John Hawkins

Some real good ones here! Check out the single-take masterpiece from “The Protector.”

On Substack
Toward a better media system
In the last few weeks, following the launch of Notes, Twitter has chosen to restrict writers’ ability to share their work by hiding Substack previews and limiting the distribution of Substack links. It has also cut Substack off from its API, which means writers can no longer embed tweets in their posts. We are deeply disappointed by Twitter’s actions an…
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2 years ago · 1161 likes · 467 comments · Chris Best, Hamish McKenzie, and Jairaj Sethi
Simon Owens's Media Newsletter
In praise of outside-the-box media business models
Welcome! I'm Simon Owens and this is my media newsletter. You can subscribe by clicking on this handy little button: Let’s jump into it… In praise of outside-the-box media business models It should probably surprise no one that I spend a significant amount of time each week studying media business models. It’s pretty much th…
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2 years ago · 21 likes · 4 comments · Simon Owens

Thursday - May 11

Eucatastrophologist
Conspiratorial realism
It is remarkable that very young children, without ever being taught, will realise that absolutely nothing in the world explains itself. This is what’s behind that infamous why phase. Kids will ask why until grownups, often confronted with the alarming limits of their knowledge, grow too exhausted to answer. As we get older, the intensity of this intuit…
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2 years ago · 11 likes · Duncan Reyburn

Conspiracy theory-based ideologies will be a continued subject of study for me. Most of them derive from Jew hatred and echo the themes in antisemitic conspiracy theories. Both are capable of driving people to both madness and violence.

The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey
Middle Eastern rivalries are alive and kicking despite de-escalation
To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, and Spreaker.The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber…
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2 years ago · 29 likes · James M. Dorsey

This podcast by

Daniel Gordis
: What if the Ashkenazi - Mizrahi divide doesn't exist, and politicians created it for their own ends? [excerpt]

So What?
The 55 craziest lines from Donald Trump's CNN town hall
Donald Trump did a town hall on Wednesday night. In front of an adoring New Hampshire audience. On CNN. It was a command performance of the sort of lying and bullying that Trump has turned into an art form since emerging on the political scene 8 years ago…
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2 years ago · 38 likes · 25 comments · Chris Cillizza

Book of the Day: 'Assume Nothing: Encounters With Assassins, Spies, Presidents and Would Be Masters of the Universe'

David Swindle
·
May 11, 2023
Book of the Day: 'Assume Nothing: Encounters With Assassins, Spies, Presidents and Would Be Masters of the Universe'

So I’ve decided to reinstitute our “Book of the Day” feature. We’ll see if I can manage to make it a consistent feature each day (probably not!). I’d like to try since we really need to up the amount of premium content for our paid subscribers and at the same time try and encourage more people to upgrade. So I’ll try for each day to feature a book from my collection or that I’ve acquired from the library and I’ll discuss a bit about why the book interests me. For many of these titles I won’t have read them yet and will more be talking about why I got them from the library or what I chose to buy them not having read them yet.

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OK, one exception to my avoiding paid posts, given that this is one by me. Please consider becoming a premium subscriber to our substack. I’m going to be upping the amount of premium content this month.

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Horse of a Different Colour
The Online Streaming Act is less controversial than you think.
Bill C-11, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and make related and consequential amendments to other Acts, also known as the Online Streaming Act passed into law on April 27, 2023 causing quite a stir in the media and online about how the amendment would impact the content we have access to in Canada. The bill is very sh…
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2 years ago · 1 like · Sadie-Rae Werner

Sadie-Rae Werner
is someone you should be reading no matter the subject she chooses for her weekly essay:

Like many Millennials, I do not pay a traditional cable bill. I subscribe to a number of streaming services where I can watch the shows I want to watch at any hour of the day. While this does include some Canadian programming, it is composed largely of American and other international content, and I have no restrictions on how many episodes I can watch at a time in most cases.  Because online streaming is not limited by the number of hours in a day, everything is available all at once. This simultaneously lowers the bar to entry, and raises the bar for popularity. 

This piece is reviewing a new book on the rise and fall of internet media and so-called online journalism here. Sounds interesting - and something that I’ve very much lived working full-time through the shifting of various internet media trends since 2009.

Friday - May 12

And the Quest for Pop Culture
'Guardians of the Galaxy' and the Virtue of Knowing When to End
Though recent Marvel movies have disappointed me, I’m happy to say that I enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It can easily hold its own among the great run of pre-Endgame MCU films. As far as this series within a series goes, the first Guardians of the Galaxy…
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2 years ago · 1 like · Daniel Sherrier

Daniel Sherrier
is the voice I most look to on superheroes these days. Having written several novels on the subject he's become a bit of an expert IMHO.

I don’t particularly care for the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, though. None of the characters really impress me all that much.

So What?
Why the worst is yet to come with Donald Trump
In just the last week, Donald Trump has: suggested that “unfortunately or fortunately” stars have been able to grab women by the private parts for “millions” of years praised January 6 as a “beautiful day” and said that he would pardon most of the people convicted that day…
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2 years ago · 39 likes · 7 comments · Chris Cillizza

What’s clear from Trump’s town hall performance is that if you thought his first term in office was over the top, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

…

By the second half of his term, those debates were over. Trump had fired and/or run off any advisers who tried to constrain his natural instincts for chaos and norm-busting.

On Substack
How to sell a book on Substack
There’s nothing that drives book sales like email. It’s a direct line of connection to your most passionate supporters, and, for many authors, Substack is the most efficient and powerful way to promote their upcoming and published books. Melinda Wenner Moyer…
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2 years ago · 410 likes · 136 comments

Of course a primary preoccupation and purpose of this substack…

The Microdose
Oregon’s first licensed psilocybin service center and next steps on a data privacy bill; a review of psychedelic trials finds poor blinding
Happy Friday, and welcome back to The Microdose, an independent journalism newsletter brought to you by the U.C. Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics. The Latest in Oregon: Oregon’s first licensed psilocybin service center Oregon Psilocybin Services has officially licensed its first service center in Eugene, Oregon, called Epic Healing. Now th…
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2 years ago · 9 likes · jane c. hu

I haven’t started hunting in earnest for psychedelic substacks yet, but so far this one is my favorite.

Sherman Alexie
Hometown, Homeland
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2 years ago · 132 likes · 83 comments · Sherman Alexie

I always liked

Sherman Alexie
's poetry since I was introduced to his work in college but now getting to read him regularly via Substack my appreciation and respect has grown tremendously.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Trump Officially Sex Offender, Santos Arrested, US Will Set Record in Mass Killings (We're #1!), SC Women Senators' Heroic Choice, Goldman Sachs Pays $215 Million, Jennifer Warnes Sings
Jury finds Donald Trump liable in civil sex abuse case of E. Jean Carroll (USA Today…
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2 years ago · 156 likes · 47 comments · Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- if there is a better athlete-turned-writer then please show me who they are immediately.

The UnPopulist
The New Right ❤️ State Power
Shutterstock. Diana Shilovskaya By Francis Fukuyama One of the staples of my teaching of comparative politics over the years was to point out the differences between European and American conservatives. The former were generally comfortable with the exercise of state power, and indeed sought to use power to enforce religious or cultural values (the old un…
Read more
2 years ago · 27 likes · 36 comments

Among the many reasons why I’ve about “the Right.” While I’m fairly moderate on economics these days I remain a libertarian-conservative in spirit when it comes to government being very effective at much of anything apart from inflicting violence both on its citizens and people all over the world.

The E. Jean Carroll Verdict May Never Mean Anything to Trump. But it Means Everything to Me.

Sally Shideler
·
May 12, 2023
The E. Jean Carroll Verdict May Never Mean Anything to Trump. But it Means Everything to Me.

Earlier this week, former President and current presidential candidate Donald Trump was found liable in a civil court for the sexual assault and defamation of veteran journalist, advice columnist extraordinaire, and all-around badass E. Jean Carroll. He's been ordered to pay her approximately …

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I suppose nobody should be surprised that I continue to be endlessly impressed by the extraordinary writing of my fiancee

Sally Shideler
. That she is such a great writer is one of the reasons why I fell in love with her.

Letters From the Desert
Letter From the Desert: Down
I walked yesterday morning past a rather spectacular forest of cryptobiotic soil crusts, the crowns of each bit of crust towering over the terrain at 20 millimeters high or more. It was hot, already; maybe 99°F in the direct sun, which was the only option for the first 2.3 miles. Neither I nor my podcast cohost, who was trudging along with me gamely…
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2 years ago · 10 likes · Chris Clarke

Nobody should be surprised that I’m subscribing to as may desert-themed substacks as I can.

Saturday

Theory of Change Podcast With Matthew Sheffield
Theory of Change #071: Phil Christman on Rod Dreher and Christian radicalization
Listen now (48 min) | Episode Summary Everything we do, think, or feel is based 100 percent on rational thinking. Or at least that’s what we tell ourselves. The truth, however, is that we humans often act based more on psychological …
Listen now
2 years ago · 1 like · Matthew Sheffield and Phil Christman

Matthew Sheffield
remains a voice on media and ideology who continues to influence me deeply.

The Triad
How To Be Better on the Internet
Every week I highlight three newsletters. If you find value in this project, do two things for me: (1) Hit the Like button, and (2) Share this with someone. Most of what we do in Bulwark+ is only for our members, but this email will always be free for everyone…
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2 years ago · 147 likes · 47 comments · Jonathan V. Last
War and More
Prague-ably Europe's Most Beautiful City
On the Blue Danube By now, you have figured out my prejudice is for smaller, walkable, beautiful, historic European cities without the masses of tourists. Prague (Praha) checks all the boxes. Thanks for reading War and More ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work…
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2 years ago · 3 likes · 1 comment · James Jay Carafano

James Jay Carafano
remains one of my favorite foreign policy voices.

So what do you think? Would more regular rounds-ups like this be of interest? Your opinion is very much appreciated!


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Rabbi Shmuel Chaim Naiman
May 17, 2023

Thanks David for the honorable mention!

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Justus
May 14, 2023

Thanks for the link and your kind compliments!

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12 more comments...
Why Far Right Men Love Laura Loomer
It is so simple and the entire conservative media project collapses when we acknowledge this fundamental reality.
May 12 • 
David Swindle 🟦
Russia Is a Suicidal Slave State with a Terrible Culture
Putin is only a symptom. The moral values of the nation are the disease.
Mar 16, 2024 • 
David Swindle 🟦
The Real Reason J.K. Rowling Needs to Be Arrested Immediately
The bestselling author committed serious crimes to fuel her massive success.
Apr 4, 2024 • 
David Swindle 🟦

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God of the Desert Books
God of the Desert Books
35 Substack Posts Which Intrigued Me This Week
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