Masculine Mystique, Human Character, Discourse Lab
Austin events + links and recommendations
You can now catch my conversation with Anthony Rispo and Clayton Smith on the Discourse Lab podcast.
Links for Spotify and Apple Podcast.
The Spectator
The Spectator recently published a discussion between me and Theodore Dalrymple, author of Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass. You can read it here or here.
I was honored to write the foreword for the 25th anniversary edition of Life at the Bottom. Due out in March.
Austin
I’ll be in Austin, Texas next week.
First, I’ll be at the University of Austin on January 13 at 1pm for a public event, speaking with the film producers who are adapting my book Troubled for the big screen. RSVP and details here.
Figured while I’m in town it would be a good idea to have a meetup. January 15. 6pm. Please register here.
The Only Reading App I Use:
I’ve been using Readwise since April of 2021.
If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter/X, you’ll know I regularly share screenshots like this from books or articles I’ve read:
These screenshots come from my Readwise app.
Readwise aggregates your reading highlights from various sources like Kindle, Apple Books, Substack, Twitter, and so on. It stores your highlights in one place, making it easier to stay on top of your reading.
Each morning, it emails me 8 random excerpts from different books I’ve read. Since 2021, that daily message has been a quiet ritual for me: fragments from books I half‑forgot are resurfaced, like my own past self giving me a tap on the shoulder.
Moreover, when I’m thinking about a particular topic, a quick search pulls up not just my notes but every highlighted Kindle passage I’ve ever saved on the topic.
Exclusive Offer for My Readers
Use this link → https://readwise.io/robkhenderson/ to try Readwise free for 60 days (double the length of the standard free trial).
I suspect, like me, you’ll wonder how you ever read without it.
Links and recommendations:
America has already differentiated into castes by Performative Bafflement
The Secret Document That Transformed China by David Kestenbaum and Jacob Goldstein
REVIEW: South Africa’s Brave New World, by R.W. Johnson by John Psmith
The Masculine Mystique. Sex and monstrosity at the movies by Oliver Traldi
Follow me on Instagram here. The platform is less volatile and more chill than Twitter/X, so I post some spicier excerpts from my readings on my IG stories
You can follow me on TikTok here
Three interesting findings:
1. 41 percent of Democratic college students would not support a Republican-run business, 37 percent would not be friends with a Republican, and 30 percent would not work for one. The Republican numbers regarding Democrats were 7, 5, and 7 percent, respectively. (source).
2. Can immigrants make the native population happy? The gender composition of immigrants affects the subjective well-being of native citizens. Female immigrants are robustly positively associated. In contrast, male immigrants are negatively associated with the life satisfaction of the native population. (source).
3. In the early 18th century, the fashionable way for a gentleman to stand for his portrait was with his right hand tucked into his waistcoat. But this was later deemed vulgar because it had been adopted by the middle classes. Elites updated the rules again to retain distinction. (source: In Pursuit of Civility: Manners and Civilization in Early Modern England by Keith Thomas).
The paperback version of Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class is now available.
If you have gained any value from this newsletter and want to support my work, please buy a copy today. For yourself. For a friend or a loved one. If you can’t afford it, please support your local library.
Order your copy now:
Audible (I narrated the audiobook myself)
The Point article was really something.