Emily Wilson’s translation of the #Odyssey (which is great) has an introduction that describes the world of that time, a time before money existed (from a review):
“Xenia acquired an extra importance in the era when Greek men were expanding their world. Travelers, in an era before money, hotels, or public transportation, had to rely on the munificence of strangers to find food and lodging and aid with their onward journey.”
“In the first months of 2026, the United States has bombed nearly 20 sovereign nations. I do not believe that you could name two-thirds of them without consulting your favored LLM"
Podcast:
“Cassie Thornton of the Feminist Economics Department is my guest in Episode 04. We discuss the Hologram, a framework for viral, peer-to-peer care she developed following a visit to post-Crisis Greece, and which people all over the world are currently using to make themselves “harder to fuck with.” We talk about the Hologram works, how to start one for yourself, and how to access the resources that are available to help you do so – and a whole bunch of other stuff, including antifragility, the Flat White Dimension, Miranda Mellis’s book “Crocosmia,” the brain fog of war, and what it feels like to be a human rhizome.”