NBN Book of the Day - Phil Klay, “Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless, Invisible War” (Penguin, 2022)

When Phil Klay left the Marines a decade ago after serving as an officer in Iraq, he found himself a part of the community of veterans who have no choice but to grapple with the meaning of their wartime experiences--for themselves and for the country. American identity has always been bound up in war--from the revolutionary war of our founding, to the civil war that ended slavery, to the two world wars that launched America as a superpower. What did the current wars say about who we are as a country, and how should we respond as citizens?

Unlike in previous eras of war, relatively few Americans have had to do any real grappling with the endless, invisible conflicts of the post-9/11 world; in fact, increasingly few people are even aware they are still going on. It is as if these wars are a dark star with a strong gravitational force that draws a relatively small number of soldiers and their families into its orbit while remaining inconspicuous to most other Americans. In the meantime, the consequences of American military action abroad may be out of sight and out of mind, but they are very real indeed.

This chasm between the military and the civilian in American life, and the moral blind spot it has created, is one of the great themes of Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless, Invisible War (Penguin, 2022), Phil Klay's powerful series of reckonings with some of our country's thorniest concerns, written in essay form over the past ten years. In the name of what do we ask young Americans to kill, and to die? In the name of what does this country hang together? As we see at every turn in these pages, those two questions have a great deal to do with each another, and how we answer them will go a long way toward deciding where our troubled country goes from here.

AJ Woodhams hosts the "War Books" podcast. You can subscribe on Apple here and on Spotify here. War Books is on YouTubeFacebook and Instagram.

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New Books in Native American Studies - Matthew Bentley and John D. Bloom, “The Imperial Gridiron: Manhood, Civilization, and Football at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School” (U Nebraska Press, 2022)

The Imperial Gridiron: Manhood, Civilization, and Football at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (University of Nebraska Press, 2022) examines the competing versions of manhood at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School between 1879 and 1918. Students often arrived at Carlisle already engrained with Indigenous ideals of masculinity. On many occasions these ideals would come into conflict with the models of manhood created by the school’s original superintendent, Richard Henry Pratt. Pratt believed that Native Americans required the “embrace of civilization,” and he emphasized the qualities of self-control, Christian ethics, and retaliatory masculinity. He encouraged sportsmanship and fair play over victory.

Pratt’s successors, however, adopted a different approach, and victory was enshrined as the main objective of Carlisle sports. As major stars like Jim Thorpe and Lewis Tewanima came to the fore, this change in approach created a conflict over manhood within the school: should the competitive athletic model be promoted, or should Carlisle focus on the more self-controlled, Christian ideal as promoted by the school’s Young Men’s Christian Association? The answer came from the 1914 congressional investigation of Carlisle. After this grueling investigation, Carlisle’s model of manhood starkly reverted to the form of the Pratt years, and by the time the school closed in 1918, the school’s standards of masculinity had come full circle.

Bennett Koerber is a senior research associate at Taylor Research Group. He can be reached at bennettkoerber@taylorresearchgroup.com

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | America’s Downtown Ghost Towns

It’s 2023 – and less than half of all Americans have returned to the office full time. That means U.S. downtowns from San Francisco to New York are emptier than they’ve been in decades. Offices are actually trending away from policies that mandate returning five days a week. So, how can cities get creative – and develop some new ways to boost the local economy?


Guest: Henry Grabar, Slate staff writer


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The Gist - BEST OF THE GIST: Climate Communications Breakdown Edition

Today on Best Of The Gist, with heat in the air (almost everywhere) we listen back to Mike’s May 2022 interview with Climate scientist Michael Mann, author of The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet on an environment that is simultaneously dire and deadly but not hopeless. Then Mike updates listeners on how he got Twitter-blocked by Mann. 

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara 

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Motley Fool Money - Rule Breaker Investing Fundamentals

Investing has plenty of rules. Don’t invest in stocks without earnings. Sell half your position after a stock doubles. But, who made those rules anyway? Ricky Mulvey caught up with Rule Breakers Lead Advisor Tim Beyers and The Motley Fool’s co-founder and Chief Rule Breaker David Gardner to discuss: - What makes a business a Rule Breaker. - Investing lessons from Apple, Tesla, and Intuitive Surgical. - How to invest like a venture capitalist. - Creating your own investing rules. - What risk actually means for an investor. Companies mentioned: TSLA, ISRG, AAPL, SNOW, CRM, TOST Host: Ricky Mulvey Guests: David Gardner, Tim Beyers Engineer: Tim Sparks

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CoinDesk Podcast Network - MARKETS DAILY: Featured Story | Revenue Constraints Will Drive Bitcoin Mining to Sustainability

Proof-of-work mining has a place in global renewable energy adoption. But its larger role is ensuring economic freedom and liberty if nations are destabilized by climatic pressures.

Today's episode is sponsored by Kraken Pro.

Today’s featured story is an opinion piece from Margot Paez, titled: “Revenue Constraints Will Drive Bitcoin Mining to Sustainability.”

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It’s Kraken's most powerful trading platform ever - packed with trading features like advanced order management and analytics tools — all in a redesigned, modular trading interface.

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Not investment advice. Some crypto products and markets are unregulated. The unpredictable nature of the cryptoasset markets can lead to loss of funds and profits may be subject to capital gains tax.

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This episode was hosted by George Kaloudis. “Markets Daily” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl. All original music by Doc Blust and Colin Mealey.

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