I get a lot of emails this time of year asking, ‘what should I get for the special eduwonk in my life?’
It’s a tough question, everyone is different, and amazingly some people don’t find Collective Bargaining in Education to be the gift to top all gifts. But, to help, here are a couple of ideas almost guaranteed to please:
- Something to watch: John Lurie’s “Fishing with John.” He can’t fish, nor can his guests, but it’s still the best fishing show around. Willem Dafoe ice-fishing in Maine is must-see TV. Get the entire season on DVD.
- Something to hear: Anything by Jackie Greene. There won’t be another Dylan so the people putting that label on him are setting him up. But, his varied work is great especially if you like Americana. He’s the real deal. And, if you want to hear him rock and keep it more up tempo (and want a low-price gift) then you can download his performances with Phil and Friends from Archive.org.
- Something to read: Lynne Olson’s new book, Troublesome Young Men, about the group that helped bring Churchill to power in ’39 and ’40. Nick Lemman continues to be among the most supple writers about America’s racial history and Redemption is timely in a lot of ways and one of my favorite books of the last year. And, for a great stocking stuffer, it’s a bit hard to find right now but Sterling Pub’s new version of Poor Richard’s Almanac, with an introduction by Paul Volcker, could be just the thing.
Happy Holidays. Posting will be pretty light over the next week, back fulltime in January.