Despite the fact that it is an institution which so obviously and painfully falls short of what it could and should be, I do like riding on Amtrak trains.

Gibraltar

Sainte-Chapelle

A profile of my deceased colleague Marty Sherwin and his biography of Robert Oppenheimer.

Currently reading: Self-Made: Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians by Tara Isabella Burton 📚

Currently reading: The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture by Rebecca L. Spang 📚

Finished reading: Seven Ages of Paris by Alistair Horne 📚

Finished reading: One-Way Street and Other Writings by Walter Benjamin 📚

Caves of Hercules

Cap Spartel, where the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea meet

Moroccan mint tea

The kasbah in Tangier

Tangier from the rooftops

Tangier from the rooftops at night

The medina in Tangier

Tangier, looking across the Straits of Gibraltar with Spain in the distance

The bay in Tangier

Finished reading: A History of Modern Morocco by Susan Gilson Miller 📚

Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca

Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca

Ian Bogost:

“Your entire world is a canvas for apps,” a Vision Pro product manager said of the begoggled life, apparently without intent to cause despair.

Currently reading: France by Emile Chabal 📚

Finished reading: Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant 📚

Finished reading: The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography by Graham Robb. 📚 A truly remarkable work of social and linguistic history.

If you care about history, then you should consider subscribing to the newsletters Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. We have news about K-12 education, podcasts, religion, and more. Here’s the most recent issue of our religion newsletter.

Friends: If you are interested in the history of the Bible in the United States, perhaps with a side of interactive visualizations and computation, then you can join this online discussion at the Congregational Library and Archives on April 19.

Currently reading: France: A History from Gaul to De Gaulle by John Julius Norwich 📚

Finished reading: Making Judaism Safe for America by Jessica Cooperman 📚

Finished reading: The Hag: The Life, Time, and Music of Merle Haggard by Marc Eliot 📚

Finished reading: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan 📚

Finished reading: The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson 📚

Finished reading: Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World by Adam Tooze 📚

New status board for my office door.

I am a man more scheduled against than scheduling.

Currently reading: Starstruck in the Promised Land: How the Arts Shaped American Passions about Israel by Shalom Goldman 📚