"A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn - book review

This is another book on my list of Books to read after Finals recommended to me by Roman Krznaric 20-odd years ago. And boy was it a good one! It's a history of the United States of America told from the perspective of the small people: the Native Americans forced off their ancestral land by Christopher Columbus and the other invaders from Europe; the African slaves whom the colonizers brought over in huge numbers and treated terribly; the labourers in the mines and factories of the industrial era; the women who were denied the right to vote or live on an equal footing with men; the young men who didn't want to fight imperial wars in Europe and Vietnam; the poor, the non-white whose interests are frequently ignored by the government.

I don't read much history, but I've read enough to know that this is not how most history books are framed. It's mind-blowing, powerful, and inspiring. It taught me so much that I didn't know about American history - much of it shameful, regretful, and violent. It's an important revision of the myth of the Founding Fathers, who created a strong central government to protect their (rich, white) interests at the expense of the ordinary people.

The narrative is told chronologically and really gathers pace as it reaches the more familiar history of the 20th century. It's shocking how often the US government has resorted to violence to solve its problems: whether that's removing Native Americans and Mexicans from fertile land that it covets for its expanding population of white immigrants; suppressing the collective action of striking labourers asking for better pay and working conditions during the period of the robber barons (Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, and others); opposing Vietnam War protestors; or exerting imperial control over Central and South America, and its other interests all over the world.

I'd love to read a similar history about the UK. Any recommendations?

This 2014 Kindle edition of the book (originally published in 1980 but updated multiple times between 1995 and 2003) was littered with typographical errors, which I duly reported via the Kindle interface. It doesn't seem to have been properly edited, or it was scanned by an OCR without being fully checked by a human.

"Alright, Alright, Alright: The Oral History of Richard Linklater's 'Dazed and Confused'" by Melissa Maerz - audiobook review

I love this film (Dazed and Confused) and I really enjoyed this book. It made me want to rewatch the film (I just bought the DVD from eBay). My big brother, Gregory, introduced me to this film in the mid-90s. It's right in my wheelhouse as a coming-of-age film. It has that timeless quality: the film is set on the last day of high school in 1976 and goes all through the night to the next morning.

Anyway, enough about the film. Why did I like the book? I haven't read many oral histories before. It's kind of like reading the trivia section from IMDb in a really drawn-out and detailed way. It's a really interesting insight into the early career of Richard Linklater: his years in Austin, Texas, where he lived off his savings, paying cheap rent, watching movies every day, not really having to work. That led to Slacker; Dazed and Confused was his second major film, funded by Universal.

Most of the cast of the movie seemed to have a great time: partying, staying up all night, smoking weed, drinking, sleeping around. Linklater, on the other hand, had to fight really hard against the Hollywood machine to make the film he wanted to make. His memories of making the film are more painful.

His filmmaking style seems to be really laid back: he is definitely in control, but he lets his actors express themselves, write scenes, improvise; and sometimes he goes with it.

I hadn't realized that the film was the start of some pretty major acting careers for Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Parker Posey, Milla Jovovich, Renée Zellweger, and others.

It's nostalgic for me to revisit this beloved film. I really wish Gregory was still around so that I could talk to him about it. He introduced us to so much culture like this when I was growing up.

The audiobook narration by Brittany Pressley is pretty good: clear and easy to follow. It includes some contributions by George Newbern, who I think reads some of the male voices. There's also an interview between the author, Melissa Maerz, and Richard Linklater at the end. It makes sense to read this as an audiobook, but I did find it hard to keep track of who everyone is. This would be easier in a book, where you could stop to check the cast list. The audiobook has a PDF, but I didn't read this until after I'd finished it. It doesn't really matter though: it evoked a mood, a good time, and I learned a lot about one of my favourite films and made me want to rewatch it.

Bicester and Woodstock general election constituency voting projection based on 2 May 2024 district council ward results

There is a general election on Thursday 4 July. I live in the new Bicester and Woodstock constituency. I've always been slightly suspicious and dissatisfied with the way the local parties' leaflets project the vote share, so I thought I'd do it myself using data from the recent district council elections on 2 May 2024. These are the results:

• Lib Dem 38%
• Conservative 29%
• Labour 15%
• Green 13%
• Other + rejected 6%

The turnout was low at 33%. Here's the underlying data: https://bit.ly/bwdc2024.

Don't forget to register to vote by Tuesday 18 June. And remember you'll need valid photo ID if you want to vote in person. The deadline to apply for a postal vote is Wednesday 19 June.

Please consider voting tactically to stop the Tories winning in your constituency.