What I'm reading

Here's my Substack, a platform I've designed for a constructive dialogue and an attempt to overcome the perils of polarization.

Over the years, I have been influenced by a lot of different books. I find it hard to have a definitive list. I always enjoy re-reading To Kill A Mockingbird, the book that taught me empathy. A very different and far more recent book, Age of Discovery, is as important because it reminds me that humanity has experienced a deep crisis before, and what came immediately after is what we now call the Renaissance. So the future belongs to those who'll be able to seize the coming Renaissance.

Beyond that, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley are perhaps among two of my favorite authors on the fiction side (though I know they've published non-fiction as well). On the research side, Thomas Schelling, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Henry Kissinger (with whom I agree on just about nothing) are three other authors that have shaped my understanding of the world we live in. Huntington's book on the Clash of Civilizations is one that I disagree so deeply about that my PhD dissertation is meant to offer an alternative reading of history and international relations. Finally, in more recent years, I've started to pay a lot more attention to psychological factors of decision-making. Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow, has been instrumental in this exploration.

Day to day, my sources are different. Obviously. In terms of English-language sources, I rely on the usual suspects: the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Axios and The Economist.

I also regularly use Feedly, a news aggregator, to stay on top of what is going on in this chaotic and dogmatic world. Here's a board of articles that I have collected over time.

I'm also an avid listener of podcasts, especially during long commutes. Here are my favorite ones that I try to never miss. Some of the websites of these podcasts also contain a lot of resources that I often find helpful.

 

 

Finally, when I lack ideas and I don't know what to read next, I find the Foreign Affairs reading list very helpful.

(PS: I found this recent conversation about the sources to read when there is a lot going on around you to be very interesting).