Playing With Reality is a revealing look at the hidden role that games have played in human development for centuries. Kelly Clancy provides a wide-ranging intellectual history that reveals how important games have been to human progress, and what’s at stake when we forget what games we’re really playing.

Clancy claims we play games to learn about the world, to understand our minds and the minds of others, and to make predictions about the future. Games are an essential aspect of humanity and a powerful tool for modeling reality. They’re also a lot of fun.

But, at the same time, games can be dangerous, especially when we mistake the model worlds of games for reality itself. The recent news stories about people falling in love with their Artificial Intelligence chat-bots is a prime example.

Playing With Reality explores the history of games since the Enlightenment. I enjoyed Clancy’s ability to weave a path through military theory, political science, evolutionary biology, the development of computers and AI, cutting-edge neuroscience, and cognitive psychology. She covers a lot of ground! But the details are enthralling!

It helps that Kelly Clancy is a neuroscientist and physicist. Her convincing analysis shows how intertwined games have been with the arc of history. War games shaped the outcomes of real wars in nineteenth and twentieth century Europe. Game theory warped our understanding of human behavior and brought us to the brink of annihilation—yet still underlies basic assumptions in economics, politics, and technology design. Games are more than just a tool…they can turn into weapons, too.

I used games to teach my students about using computers when I was a College Professor. Now, with powerful AI programs, games are being designed that could determine the shape of our society and future of democracy. In this astonishing book, Kelly Clancy makes a strong argument that the human fascination with games is the key to understanding our nature and our actions. What games do you play? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Part I: How to Know the Unknown
2. Chapter 1: The Play of Creation — 3
3. Chapter 2: How Heaven Works — 16
4. Chapter 3: Dice Playing God — 41
5. Part II: Naming the Game
6. Chapter 4: Kriegsspiel, the Science of War — 71
7. Chapter 5: Rational Fools — 85
8. Chapter 6: The Clothes Have No Emperor — 112
9. Chapter 7: A Map That Warps the Territory — 137
10. Part III: Building Better Players
11. Chapter 8: Chess, the Drosophila of Intelligence — 107
12. Chapter 9: The End of Evolution — 177
13. Chapter 10: Nous ex Machina — 200
14. Chapter 11: Cogito Ergo Zero Sum — 222
15. Part IV: Building Better Games
16. Chapter 12: SimCity — 249
17. Chapter 13: Moral Geometry: Playing Utopia — 257
18. Chapter 14: Mechanism Design: Building Games Where Everyone Wins — 278
19. Epilogue — 301
20. Acknowledgments — 307
21. Notes — 309
22. Bibliography — 325
23. Index — 349

I enjoyed Robert Jackson Bennett’s first Ana and Din Mystery, A Tainted Cup (2024) so I was looking forward to the sequel, A Drop of Corruption (2025). Ana Dolabra (a genius who frequently wears a blindfold to suppress sensations) and her hand-picked assistant, hunky Dinios Kol, travel to the canton of Yarrowdale to investigate the mysterious death of an Imperial Treasury official.

Yarrowdale is best known for its island that houses The Shroud, a site for the processing of the gigantic Leviathan bodies. Leviathans occasionally attack cities of the Empire and cause widespread death and destruction. But the select few at The Shroud harvest the bodies of the Leviathans to produce incredible reagents that can cure diseases and boost life expectancy.

Ana and Din’s investigation link the murder of the Empire official with the secrets hidden in The Shroud. The implications lead Ana to believe the murderer intends to destroy the Empire.

If you’re in the mood for a mystery with long tentacles and a mind-boggling plot, A Drop of Corruption presents the perfect Summer Beach Read. GRADE: B+

Human Lie Detector Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) returns for a second season of being on the run from Bad Guys. No matter where she goes, Charlie stumbles onto a murder and feels compelled to solve it. Having the ability to know when people are lying is a Big Advantage!

Season 2 offers 12 episodes on Peacock, with new episodes dropping every Thursday, featuring a variety of guest stars. The first episode kicks off with a wonderful installment directed by Rian Johnson and written by Laura Deeley. “The Game Is a Foot” features Cynthia Erivo playing five sisters, one of whom killed their mother (Jasmine Guy). The five sisters starred in a TV series–Kid Cop: Nights–as child actresses. But their mother stole their residuals which amounted to millions of dollars. The sisters are struggling economically, especially Amber–the caretaker of the fatally ill mother.

Cynthia Erivo plays all five sisters with their unique personalities. I really liked the assortment of different hairstyles and accents each sister had. And, of course, Natasha Lyonne detects the lies that swirl around the death of the mother. If you’re looking for a contemporary Columbo-like mystery program with a satisfying blend of humor and cleverness, I highly recommend Poker Face. GRADE: A

A week ago I reviewed Best American Screenplays: First Series. You can read my review here. I ordered the next book in the series, also edited by Sam Thomas, and read the screenplays.

My favorite screenplay in this volume is James L. Brooks’s Terms of Endearment, a movie that I cannot watch without crying…no matter how many times I’ve seen it. Also very powerful is James Goldman’s The Lion in Winter.

The most fun reading is Billy Wilder and I.A. L. Diamond’s Some Like It Hot. And, I’m fond of David Ward’s The Sting, too.

How many of these movies have you seen? Any favorites here? GRADE: A

Before Peter Wolf became the lead singer for the J. Geils Band, he performed in New York City, rubbing shoulders with other musicians just starting their careers.

“Bob was always playing and trading songs with other musicians, and this exposed him to a wide array of influences, including Appalachian mountain music, Elizabethan ballads, and the songs of Hank Williams, Hank Snow, and Blind Lemon Jefferson. I came to learn that this voracious curiosity was typical of Bob.” (p. 45)

Yes, Peter Wolf hung out with Bob Dylan. And Van Morrison, David Lynch, Muddy Waters, Andy Warhol, and dozens of other artists who would hit the Big Time.

Peter Wolf and The J. Geils Band also hit the Big Time for a short period with a couple of hits. But as Wolf writes: “Success, if it does come to a band, often comes with its own special price.” (p. 284). At the height of their success, the J. Geils Band broke up.

“Frank Barsalona, our agent, took me out for a dinner after his final meeting with the other band members. In disbelief, he said, ‘After al these years, the band finally made it. It’s really quite unbelievable. I’ve dealt with the craziest of crazies; the drugs, the girlfriends, the managers–nothing even comes close to this. Nothing as stupid, as senseless, and as wasteful in what these guys are insisting on doing. So, Peter, let’s start thinking about your solo career.'” (p. 285)

And the result: “Shortly after the split, I went on to release an album called Lights Out which rose to the top ten on the Billboard charts. All the songs on that album were the very songs the band had rejected. The J. Geils Band then released You’re Gettin’ Even While I’m Gettin’ Old. As a result of poor sales, the band was dropped from the record company, and the ‘new’ J. Geils Band came to an ignominious end.” (p. 285)

I learned a lot about the era where Peter Wolf began his career with so many other musicians and performers. The dynamics of being in a band and trying to make it in a competitive music industry was also fascinating. Opening for The Rolling Stones, hanging out with Sly stone, meeting Alfred Hitchcock and Tennessee Williams, and falling in love with Faye Dunaway is just part of Peter Wolf’s amazing life. GRADE: A (for both the book and the CD)

Track Listings:

Last week I reviewed Damon Knight’s One Hundred Years of Science Fiction (you can read my review here). I quibbled about the lack of introductory material about the stories and their authors. Well, A Century of Science Fiction rectifies that issue. Knight provides detail about the stories and the writers this time around.

Publishers in the 1960s seem to be in the market for anthologies that presented an historical approach to Science Fiction. Of the two Damon Knight edited, I prefer A Century of Science Fiction.

Using a topical approach–Robots, Time Travel, etc.–Knight chose some classics like H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine (an excerpt) and more contemporary works like Keith Laumer’s Worlds of the Imperium (also an excerpt). Of the time travel stories, I really enjoyed Mack Reynolds’ snarky “Business As Usual.”

Where One Hundred Years of Science Fiction lacked some Big Names, A Century of Science Fiction includes Edmond Hamilton, Robert A. Heinlein, and Arthur C. Clarke.

Before Frank Herbert became a Big Name SF Writer with his DUNE series, he was a pretty good science fiction short story writer. “Cease Fire” is Herbert’s take on War and how to stop it.

A Century of Science Fiction is a first-rate SF anthology. Highly recommended! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• 9 • Introduction (A Century of Science Fiction) • essay by Damon Knight
• I ROBOTS:
• 15 • The Ideal (excerpt) • [Professor Manderpootz] • short fiction by Stanley G. Weinbaum
• 17 • Moxon’s Master • (1910) • short story by Ambrose Bierce (variant of A Night at Moxon’s 1899)
• 26 • Reason • [Mike Donovan] • (1941) • short story by Isaac Asimov
• 42 • Who Can Replace a Man? • (1958) • short story by Brian W. Aldiss
• II TIME TRAVEL:
• 51 • from The Time Machine (excerpt) • [H. G. Wells’ Time Machine Universe] • (1962) • short fiction by H. G. Wells
• 56 • Of Time and Third Avenue • (1951) • short story by Alfred Bester
• 64 • Sail On! Sail On! • (1952) • short story by Philip José Farmer^?
• 73 • Worlds of the Imperium (excerpt) • [Imperium (Keith Laumer)] • (1961) • short fiction by Keith Laumer
• 74 • The Business, As Usual • (1952) • short story by Mack Reynolds
• III SPACE:
• 80 • What’s It Like Out There? • (1952) • novelette by Edmond Hamilton
• 101 • Sky Lift • (1953) • short story by Robert A. Heinlein
• 115 • The Star • (1955) • short story by Arthur C. Clarke
• IV OTHER WORLDS AND PEOPLE:
• 121 • The Crystal Egg • (1897) • short story by H. G. Wells
• 136 • The Wind People • (1959) • short story by Marion Zimmer Bradley
• 152 • Unhuman Sacrifice • (1958) • novelette by Katherine MacLean
• V ALIENS AMONG US:
• 180 • What Was It? A Mystery • [Harry Escott] • (1859) • short story by Fitz-James O’Brien (variant of What Was It?)
• 192 • The First Days of May • (1960) • short story by Claude Veillot (trans. of Les premiers jours de mai)
• 208 • Day of Succession • (1959) • short story by Theodore L. Thomas
• 215 • Angel’s Egg • (1951) • novelette by Edgar Pangborn
• VI SUPERMAN:
• 249 • Another World • (1962) • novelette by J. H. Rosny aîné^? (trans. of Un autre monde 1895)
• 273 • Odd John (excerpt) • short fiction by Olaf Stapledon
• 277 • Call Me Joe • (1957) • novelette by Poul Anderson
• VII MARVELOUS INVENTIONS:
• 309 • From the “London Times” of 1904 • (1898) • short story by Mark Twain
• 319 • Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (excerpt) • [Vingt mille lieues sous les mers (abridgments, adaptations, and excerpts)] • (1956) • short fiction by Jules Verne
• 324 • You Are with It! • (1961) • short story by Will Stanton
• 331 • Cease Fire • (1958) • short story by Frank Herbert
• 351 • Suggested Reading • essay by uncredited

While the first episodes of Ironheart are due to show up on Disney+ today, MARVEL fandom already hates it. “Iron Man retread with a Black Girl Genius” is just one of the takes about this new series of six episodes. Some fans are claiming Disney is already expecting the Ironheart to fare poorly, and decided dropping all the episodes within two weeks to keep audiences engaged.

Three episodes will drop today. Here’s the Official Trailer to give you a taste of what Disney+ hopes is a hit:

Andrea Barrett won a National Book Award for Ship Fever. Barrett has hit the Best Sellers List with Voyage of the Narwhal, Servants of the Map, and Natural History. In her new nonfiction book, Dust and Light: On the Art of Fact in Fiction, Barrett explores various means of injecting historical facts into novels.

One of my quibbles with many novels is that some authors do information dumps. The action of the novel is interrupted by a page or two (or more!) of fact after fact after fact. I find that trend annoying because it stalls the momentum of the novel and frequently bogs down the story.

Barrett’s techniques of weaving facts into fiction with grace and precision without grinding the story to a halt are both practical and clever. If you’re a fan of historical fiction, you’ll enjoy Barrett’s methods to keep novels lively and educational. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION — 1

1.  The Floating Pants 19
2.  The Years and the Years 57
3. Dust and Light 77
4. Traveling Corpse 97
5. Life Writing 125
6. Life, Writing 167

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — 177

NOTES — 179

INDEX — 187

Diane and I watched Patience on PBS and enjoyed it (you can read my review here). Jeff Meyerson suggested that we watch the original French series, Astrid et Raphaëlle. I found it on AMAZON PRIME VIDEO and watched the first episode.

Like Patience, Astrid et Raphaelle focuses on Astrid Nielsen (Sara Mortensen), a woman on the Autism spectrum, who works in the police records department. Astrid is drawn into an active investigation by a frustrated detective, Raphaëlle Coste (Lola Dewaere), who is impressed by Astrid’s ability to see patterns in crimes that no one else does.

The two dissimilar characters develop a partnership that results in solving cases together. Astrid discovers key details that the police investigators miss that Costa can use to identify the perpetrator.

Jeff is right that Astrid et Raphaëlle is better than Patience because of the detail invested in the characters. And Paris has a lot more eye candy than York. I’m going to end up watch both series… GRADE: Incomplete, but trending towards an A

Martin Wolf, associate editor of the Financial Times, finds plenty to worry about in The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism. Wolf sees Trump and the wacky Right Wing as symptoms of underlying Democratic Capitalism. “…the appeal of right-wing populism to devotion to an idealized nation and a ‘great leader’ supplies a large mass of the people with what democracy cannot: relief from the burden of thinking for themselves in return for absolute loyalty to the leader. …it is going to win. It is far more successful than left-wing populism, because it feeds off fear and anger, while the left promises hope. …Hope requires trust. Fear does not: it just requires an enemy.” (p. 214)

Along with a brilliant economic analysis of our current problems, Wolf points out that climate change will affect all governments and all politics. No one can escape its effects. But, not much is being done to mitigate the problem which will be getting much worse in the years ahead.

“The marriage of liberal democracy with market capitalism is the most successful system in the history of the world. But liberal democrat is vulnerable to the selfishness of elites and ambitions of would-be despots. Historically, democratic republics have been exceptions. The normal human political patterns have been plutocracy or tyranny. The latter always waits in the wings. In todays world, tyrannies–demagogric and bureaucratic–are not just in the wings, but on the march.” (p. 375)

As the war in Ukraine and the possible invasion of Taiwan demonstrates, crises stress our global responsibilities. Wolf sets out an action agenda to address these matters, but warns the political will to solve these crises is currently lacking. If you’re interested in the present state of our fragile democratic and economic system, The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism will enlighten…and alarm you. GRADE: A

1. Table of Contents
2. Preface: Why I Wrote This Book — xiii
3. Chapter One: The Fire This Time — 1
4. Part I: On Capitalism and Democracy
5. Prologue to Part I — 11
6. Chapter Two: Symbiotic Twins: Politics and Economics in Human History — 13
7. Chapter Three: The Evolution of Democratic Capitalism — 40
8. Part II: What Went Wrong
9. Prologue to Part II — 81
10. Chapter Four: It’s the Economy, Stupid — 83
11. Chapter Five: Rise of Rentier Capitalism — 118
12. Chapter Six: Perils of Populism — 175
13. Part III: Renewing Democratic Capitalism
14. Prologue to Part III — 217
15. Chapter Seven: Renewing Capitalism — 221
16. Chapter Eight: Toward a “New” New Deal — 283
17. Chapter Nine: Renewing Democracy –311
18. Part IV: A Hinge of History
19. Prologue to Part IV — 347
20. Chapter Ten: Democratic Capitalism in the World — 349
21. Conclusion: Restoring Citizenship — 371
22. Acknowledgments — 383
23. Notes — 387
24. Bibliography — 427
25. Index — 457