...and while I'm bookmarking things that I might write about more at a future date, I should include this as well: 

Noam Chomsky Gives His Take On Jeffrey Epstein (2020 New Interview)

(I had actually been intending to post about this weeks ago, but then while researching the topic, I got distracted when I figured out the podcast I was listening to was actually AI generated.)

Part of me wants to condemn Noam Chomsky for his association with Epstein.  (This is why you should never have heroes!)

Part of me wants to excuse Noam Chomsky.  (Chomsky is 97 years old.  Surely he's not still interested in sex at his age.  His relationship with Epstein must be innocent.)

And while I'm still sorting that all out in my mind, deciding whether I want to condemn or excuse Chomsky, I guess I'll just stay quite for the moment. 

 As I mentioned before, I am a fan of Freddie Deboer's subscriber writing links.

He's got a new batch up now, and from that batch, this one in particular spoke to me: What Does "Autistic" Even Mean? Social atrophy, late bloomers, becoming well-adjusted

For now I'm just going to bookmark it here.  Along with this post here.  At some point, I may come back to these posts if I decide I want to write more about this in the future.

My Favorite Historical Fiction Books

Part 2: My Favorite Historical Fiction Books

This is part of my so-called "Scripted Review" series, in which I make a Youtube video based on an old blogpost.  For more information on what this is and why I'm doing it, see HERE:

https://youtu.be/HgneyXvRI04  

and HERE: https://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2018/12/vlog-scripted-book-reviews-i-ramble-on.html

In this case, the old blog post is here: https://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2013/12/my-favorite-historical-fiction-books.html

* My Favorite Narrative History Books: https://youtu.be/-IpTC7RX9d0

Links to reviews of books mentioned (where applicable):

* Pontius Pilate by Paul L. Maier: https://youtu.be/w-SsjFvMO3Y

* Claudius the God by Robert Graves: https://youtu.be/NoHKNdijwso

* Caesar by Colleen McCullough: https://youtu.be/USI4FSjMeUQ

* The October Horse by Colleen McCullough: https://youtu.be/8Wr0eWDcCos

* Imperium by Robert Harris: https://youtu.be/nh2LQXMPhIE

* Dictator by Robert Harris: https://youtu.be/7sGTdy2LVmg

* Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel: https://youtu.be/J0zNJfWetsc

* Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel: https://youtu.be/rJVScfpXO9A

* The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel: https://youtu.be/7zJBEMjUCwE

* A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel: https://youtu.be/lPLJp56MDGE

* Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong: https://youtu.be/Vs3rx7QW2mw

* The Last Shogun by Ryotaro Shiba: https://youtu.be/wFPuYTDqdbY

* The Last Card by Hans Hellmut Kirst: https://youtu.be/6PmgJAADOBg

* Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee Min: https://youtu.be/gdvA27WLv88

* Tyrant by Valerio Massimo Manfredi: https://youtu.be/ik069OWp1Uo

* Richard II by William Shakespeare: https://youtu.be/MIJYvvjeUWM

* Henry IV Part 2 by William Shakespeare: https://youtu.be/czOmU4KPuJc

* Richard III by William Shakespeare: https://youtu.be/8xiudFz601s

* The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks: https://youtu.be/CDZqhxD1skI

* Red Rosa: A Graphic Biography of Rosa Luxemburg by Kate Evans: https://youtu.be/VALDkbMUiXE

* 300 Graphic Novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley: https://youtu.be/uRIbT4_VKfE

Related Playlists:

* Book Review Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x7dao6py7ODX_PkUvrAEch7

* Scripted Reviews Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x5BKcEIufNKlS58JHU_glyL&si=Pje0KQqIqOgWGGUI

* History Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x52uI39vSXVrJvUFjdN9QkL&si=IkwsRH5HTXptL1kk

* Lists Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x6Gk86iLUhEIsqdwtFnCjhQ&si=rwR4fCLM5I5SWJx5

* Historical Fiction Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x6aPjnfogXT4vyaZ6934DkU&si=thpc_WSscVPUaJWr

* My Favorite Historical Fiction Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x6y_ou1tIJAMLBfwYyxArww&si=poywaEzvbQlFE0Bl

Started: The New Teen Titans Volume 12 by Marv Wolfman

Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4aFU2ze       (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)

Everyday Clothes Vocabulary

(TESOL Materials--Clothing Vocabulary)

* Lin's Day of Clothes Storybook--Created from this chat here  (Made using Google Gemini Storybook).  [If you look at the chat, you'll notice I messed up the prompt slightly--I said it was the topic of people at work.  This was because of copying and pasting the same prompt from another lesson, and forgetting to change the name of the topic. Thus clothing vocabulary is mixed in with work situations.  But I think it still works.]

* Clothing Vocabulary slideshow: slides, pub

* Clothing worksheet to color: docs, pub

[Notes: These are all materials that I used to supplement the lesson Everyday Clothes p.28-29 from Oxford Picture Dictionary Content Areas for Kids, and the specific choice of vocabulary in the storybook is influenced by that lesson.  However, I think these materials could be used for any general lesson on describing homes, and so I'm including them here.]

Clothing Vocabulary

(Specific Vocabulary Sets)

* Everyday Clothes Vocabulary

* Quizlet only for Clothing: English World 2 Unit 4 Clothing (from English World 2 Unit 4 Review)

* Clothing Vocabulary lesson from English World 2

* Reading and Clothing Vocabulary lesson from English Word 2

* Clothes and Fashion: docs, pub (from Conversation Questions for the ESL/EFL Classroom)

Mickey 17: Movie Review

(Movie Review)

This is my first time watching this movie, so according to my new rules, I'm doing this as a video only review.

Mickey 17: Movie Review

Links to stuff mentioned: 

6th day - Clone strips and steals the clothing from his real person: https://youtu.be/sC5gXkf_4h4?si=GWNDaHVeyfGQhZtf

Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_17

Related Playlists: 

Movie Reviews Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x6N06WoIoV2fLb6xRYrepTk&si=iWMhXdwlxxKxm6r6

Movies that I watched in 2025: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x67grGI4ZJsBc8QYFa5cSvu&si=oZDgEqLXtgLsGB2A

Check out this movie on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3KEaYf1             (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)

My Favorite Narrative History Books

This is part of my so-called "Scripted Review" series, in which I make a Youtube video based on an old blogpost.  For more information on what this is and why I'm doing it, see HERE:

https://youtu.be/HgneyXvRI04  

and HERE: https://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2018/12/vlog-scripted-book-reviews-i-ramble-on.html

In this case, the old blog post is here: https://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2013/12/my-favorite-narrative-history-books.html

Links to stuff mentioned:

* Revolutions of 1848 by Priscilla Robertson: https://youtu.be/psZm98XOuUE

* Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon and the Destruction of Cambodia by William Shawcross: https://youtu.be/1qJzQ4LTwzQ

* The Fall of Paris by Alistair Horne: https://youtu.be/blWPy94ENOM

* The Great Upheaval by Jay Winik: https://youtu.be/RfFZX5URUSc

* The Judgment of Paris by Ross King: https://youtu.be/tlQqTGuKfN8

* The Scramble for Africa: 1876-1912 by Thomas Pakenham: https://youtu.be/oy8fySdy4zw

* Three Empires on the Nile by Dominic Green: https://youtu.be/J3YKiMu7otA

* Monarchy From the Middle Ages to Modernity by David Starkey: https://youtu.be/6Qe8C8LP1mM

* The Storm Before the Storm by Mike Duncan: https://youtu.be/6AfNvXDgUS8

* Mayday 1971 by Lawrence Roberts: https://youtu.be/epphSQTizO0

* Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann: https://youtu.be/H6TdMJi7m08

* Conspirator: Lenin in Exile: The Making of a Revolutionary by Helen Rappaport: https://youtu.be/QXJAsfU1zgI

* For Liberty and Glory: Washington, Lafayette and Their Revolutions by James R. Gaines: https://youtu.be/9YeASwuLEdQ

* Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution by Mike Duncan: https://youtu.be/Q7XX8zXjIPE

* Karl Marx: A Life by Francis Wheen: https://youtu.be/8ev1gt7wJvs

* Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore: https://youtu.be/b4B35afhzHk

* The Life of Mahatma Gandhi by Louis Fischer: https://youtu.be/CerNpLfTD8E

Related Playlists:

* My Favorite Narrative History Books Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4UNr3YnflpbkIwTpO07ui-&si=QqWoyIomhY7pXUGv

* Book Review Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x7dao6py7ODX_PkUvrAEch7

* Scripted Reviews Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x5BKcEIufNKlS58JHU_glyL&si=Pje0KQqIqOgWGGUI

* History Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x52uI39vSXVrJvUFjdN9QkL&si=IkwsRH5HTXptL1kk

* Lists Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x6Gk86iLUhEIsqdwtFnCjhQ&si=rwR4fCLM5I5SWJx5

Gula Hymn of Bullutsa-Rabi (from Before the Muses by Benjamin R. Foster): Summary and Discussion

(Book Review--Blogging the Canon, Classics)

From my reading of Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature Edited by Benjamin R. Foster

Gula Hymn of Bullutsa-Rabi (from Before the Muses by Benjamin R. Foster): Summary and Discussion

Links to stuff mentioned:

* My video on the Epic of Anzu: https://youtu.be/4N19KSSkuRY

* Wikipedia article on Bullussa-rabi's Hymn to Gula (stub): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullussa-rabi%27s_Hymn_to_Gula

* Wikipedia article on Bullussa-rabi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullu%E1%B9%ADsa-rabi

Related Playlists

* Classic Books Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x53EsuWSZ-z0uFGL_0Jl6F1&si=giDKwvKMzCWtXvzl

* Book Review Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x7dao6py7ODX_PkUvrAEch7&si=kiFeTonJJ3Ux5H1T

* Books I read in 2025: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x7Fev7Uv6_tzuSf84LtYwQu&si=Im1rdozRXrgGnr99

* Babylonian / Akkadian Literature Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x5BtyzrSv3NMPA3VpzLIuq8&si=x0yeQPCkXyxtPCr4

* Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4Cvg1Yw4LQyKEXIwDwo1m0&si=X6OZ7Ectw-fzHbCn

* Akkadian Literature: The Mature Period 1500-1000 BC Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x545tikwEDqcgD_qmFqtLUF&si=XlI2gaYNnh1HGPyf

I was able to read this book thanks to the Michigan statewide state-wide interlibrary loan service called MeLCat, which may be in danger thanks to a Presidential executive order.  If you, like me, enjoy using MeLCat, contact your local representatives and let them know. 

Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4k08VgZ            (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)

You'll never get a job with that degree (the sympathetic version)

This video is 6 months old, but I just discovered it today.

I don't know how many of these "don't go to graduate school in the humanities" stories I've heard over the years, (and a number of them I've linked to on this blog before in the past), but I still find them interesting.  This, for me, is the path not taken.  And I sometimes still catch myself feeling regretful that I never pursued a PhD in history.  But then I watch a video like this, and I'm reminded of why it would never have been a good idea.