Six-Chart Sunday (#50) – Turning the Page(s)
6 Videos + 1 Infographic
If you’re like me, you start each new year with a plan to (1) exercise more, (2) waste less time & (3) read more books. I’ve never cracked the code on the first two, but to help with #3, here are some great books worthy of your time in 2025 via discussions with their authors. Happy New Year!
The Fourth Turning Is Here. Neil Howe’s brilliant follow-on to his 1999 classic shows how the interplay between generations explains America’s history and future (as well as every other culture’s). If you like history and/or sociology, you’ll love this book. We discussed it shortly after it came out.
The Revolt of the Public & Crisis of Authority. While I haven’t had the chance to interview author Martin Gurri yet, innovation super-star Marc Andreessen recommended it in our discussion here, as it explains how new information pathways are leading to the rise of global populism and fall of 20th century establishment gatekeepers. (tl;dr… the Internet = the Printing Press). Marc also discusses a ton more here.
Where Have All the Democrats Gone & Party of the People. If you read these two books (or watched our interviews), you were not surprised by the outcome of the 2024 election. Republican pollster Patrick Ruffini explains how the GOP is becoming a multi-racial working-class party, while liberal scholar Ruy Teixeira catalogues how the Democrats lost the voters on the factory floor by embracing the rhetoric & ideology of the faculty lounge.
Chip War: Northeastern University Professor Chris Miller managed to write a super-relevant-to-2024 business / history / geopolitics / technology book that reads like a fast-paced action story. I was lucky enough to speak with him shortly after the book’s release, before it went “super-nova” (topped many 2023 charts) and he became much harder to schedule.
Broken News. Journalist Chris Stirewalt explains how the Fourth Estate lost the trust of the public when they shifted from the truly-fair-and-balanced Cronkite/Russert model to pursuing “’rage revenue’ through slanted coverage that drives political division and rewards outrageous conduct.” I recommend you listen to the Audible version of this one since Chris reads himself and is very funny, as can also be seen in our discussion of the book here.
The Wisdom of the Bullfrog. Retired Admiral Bill McRaven uses ~20 stories of wartime heroism & problem-solving to offer lessons for business and community leaders. A true American hero, he’s also a great story-teller and thoughtful counsellor.
UPCOMING LIVE DISCUSSION: Political journalist Mark Halperin on what to expect from the Trump Restoration, U.S. politics in 2025 and the future of political media… Thursday 1/9 at 3pm ET. Register here.
CHART:
My 2025 reading list is already pretty long, and I am most eager to get to these books (and even more excited to host events for the authors with all of you, if possible!)
Glad you got to speak with Chris Miller early. That's cool to know.