My latest summary is for Seeing Like A State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed by James C Scott. The book explores how states simplify and standardize complex societies to make them “legible” to distant rulers. In doing so, the state ends up reshaping reality to fit its narrow view. As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above. KEY TAKEAWAYS States try hard to make their subjects legible: State power is...

In the past, I've sent monthly updates, but I haven't been publishing enough in the past several months for that. So you're getting a quarterly update instead for now. This quarter, I posted only 1 book summary and 1 blog post: Book summaries Essentialism by Greg McKeown (23 mins). This can be a useful read, if you're feeling a bit overwhelmed and hoping to get your priorities straight heading into 2026. You've probably heard much of the advice before, but I still find I need the reminder...

I know it's been a while since my last update. Somewhat ironically, reading and summarising Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown played a role in that. The book helped me see how my commitments had accumulated over time, so I decided to put this summary on the backburner as I focused on other priorities. While reading and learning are still “Essential” for me, publishing two summaries a month (an arbitrary, self-imposed target) is not. Anyway, as usual, the key...