Nice historical overview, very topical in an era where technology significantly affects the Ukraine war and the power play between the USA and China around Taiwan.
Sourdough pita from the BBQ
Ingredients
- 500 gr plain white flour
- 175 gr plain yogurt
- 12 gr salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 100 gr sourdough starter (120% hydration, activated)
Method
- Mix the dry ingredients
- Knead for c 5 mins
- Rise for 6-8 hours
- Bake on BBQ of c. 200-230 C
- Oil your grid to avoid dough sticking
- Monitor progress closely to avoid blackening
My twist v the original:
- Use sourdough instead of commercial yeast
- Longer rise to compensate
Skillet baked sourdough Naan
Ingredients
- 500 gr white flour
- 200 gr sourdough starter (120% hydration, activated)
- 250 gr plain yogurt
- 100 gr water
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 6 gr salt
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp nigella seeds
- 5 tbsp melted butter (add garlic to taste)
Method
- Mix flour, water, and yogurt.
- Rest for c. 30 mins
- Mix in starter, baking powder, salt and, seeds
- Knead c. 5 mins
- Rise 6-8 hrs
- Divide in portions and flatten to c. 1/2 cm (rolling pin is OK)
- Brush with melted butter
- Bake butter-side down in cast iron skillet until bubbles form
- Brush top side with butter and flip to bake the other side
My twist v the original:
- Leave out milk in favor of more yogurt + water
- Longer rise: more reliance on sourdough, less on baking powder
Variations
- Squeeze a garlic clove into the melted butter
- Use anise and nigella seeds instead (Bahaa’s recommendation)
Moro Sourdough bread
Ingredients
- 900 gr wholewheat flour (2 times 450gr needed)
- 700 ml water
- 250cgr sourdough starter (120% hydratation)
- 18 gr salt
Method
- Mix half the flour (450 gr) with the water and the starter
- Initial rise: 8 hrs
- Mix in the remaining flour (450 gr) and salt
- Transfer the dough to two well-oiled tins (max. half filled)
- rise: 4 hrs
- Bake 45 mins at 230 C:
- First 30 mins in tin
- Final 15 mins out of tin
My twist v the original:
- Wholewheat instead of plain flour
- 120% rather than starter 167% hydratation
Silicon valley types and tech icons all recommend using OKRs for business steering, but each means something slightly different
John Doerr – Measure what matters
If you look past the author’s boundless Andy Grove adoration, there are some useful lessons to be learnt.
The issues and conflicts plaguing modern Spain are rooted in a troubled history that until shockingly recently was a dictatorship
Great overview that brings together different perspectives in a shocking narrative without becoming judgemental.
The subtle nuances that can be achieved by varying ingredients, shaping, and timing of your bread are under-appreciated
Dan Lepard – The handmade loaf
Impressive collection of inspiring perspectives and variation on bread making.
Protective parenting and the quest for emotional safety hurt the mental resilience of gen Z
Greg Lukianov and Jonathan Haidt – The coddling of the American mind
The writers provide valuable life lessons for individuals, but (unfortunately) do not discuss the broader societal function of protest movements.
The struggle to keep the legacy of the Roman empire alive has shaped much of Ravenna’s history
A front-row seat to the decline and fall of the (Western) Roman empire.
To bring a socio-techincal concept to life, you need a lot of technology
In capable hands, data governance can actually be made into a sexy topic.
Rivalry and pursuit of personal glory are major drivers for scientific progress
Walter Isaacson – The Code Breaker
History blessed the author with a pandemic that made his subject even more topical, but unfortunately he could not resist the temptation to make it more a memoir than a biography.
Consumer brands should prioritize investment in mental and physical availability
Some basic statistical concepts (regression to the mean, conditional probability) presented with much fanfare are sufficient to marvel marketeers.
Polls are certainly not perfect, but they are much less bad than public opinion suggests
G. Elloitt Morris – Strength in Numbers
The explanation of combining online and offline methods is insightful, though somewhat superficial
If you want to learn how to build good products or start yur own company, Tony Fadell recommends listening to Tony Fadell
Tony Fadell – Build
Shamelessly self-aggrandizing autobiography dressed-up as self-help book for entrepreneurs.
Aging populations and the breakdown of global trade make that very bad things are going to happen all over the world, but less so in the USA
Peter Zeihan – The end of the world is just the beginning
Highly entertaining read with a lot of black humor, but incomplete in its analysis (e.g. of risk of internal conflicts in the USA and likelihood of collaboration between states in Europe).
Elections are not democratic but aristocratic, because only members of the elite get on the ballot
David van Reybrouk – Against Elections (read in Dutch)
It would be interesting to expand the solution space to include not just random selection of citizens but also modes of participation and collaboration from non-political domains like open source software development.
To learn how to make an open source software project a commercial success, study business models in the media industry
Nadia Eghbal – Working in Public
From an economical perspective, open source software is no different from other content that is published online.
To benefit the most from network effects: build local scale, fiercely fight for each new value pocket, and remember that every hockey stick will become an S-curve
The book proves that those A16Z folks are very good at marketing sauce on not-so-ground-breaking ideas (as described by Sebastian Mallaby)
Every measured quantity should come together with another, more intuitive, figure as a reference
Andrew Elliott – Is that a big number?
Charming book with some nice perspectives that preaches to the converted
The initial strength of the Hanseatic League was the fluidity of the institution, but that also limited the degree to which it could scale its power
Carsten Jahnke – Die Hanse (read in German)
Nice to read as an example of a successful alternative power structure (in the sense of Graeber en Wengrow), that is nonetheless is firmly rooted in proto-capitalist principles.