Why all the questions?

Parasram, Ajay, and Alex Khasnabish.  Frequently Asked White Questions.  Halifax, Nova Scotia, 

        Canada: Fernwood Publishing, 2022.  ISBN: 9781773635576

 

 

So what questions do you have about race or race relations that you would like answered?  Ajay Parasram and Alex Khasnabish, two mixed raced Canadians, have distilled the questions they have frequently encountered during their online forums (Safe Space for White Questions) on race relations into this title along with what answers they have to the questions.  Since these sessions were held in Canada, a number of the specific examples are Canadian, but the answers are broadly applicable.

 

The book has ten chapters.  Some chapter looks at a particular topic - "Can you be Racist Against White People," "How Does Racism Relate to Other Forms of Oppression?," and "Can Members of an Oppressed Group be Oppressors?"  Other chapters focus more on personal involvement - "How Do We Fix Past Wrongs Without Creating New Ones?, "How Can I Talk About Social Justice Without Turning People off?, " or "What's the Difference Between Cultural Appreciation and Cultural Appropriation?"  There are also chapters on how to be antiracist and what exactly the "Race Card" is.  The authors finish with a list of principals for thinking about racial politics as a white person.

 

So if you are trying to figure out how to navigate this maelstrom of race and culture, take the time to read or listen to Frequently Asked White Questions.  The time will be well spent. 

Racism and Science

West, Keon.  The Science of Racism: Everything You Need to Know But Probably Don't - Yet.  

        New York: Abrams, 2025.  ISBN: 9781419774379  

So what is racism?  How many folks are racist?  Could you be racist?  Just some of the questions that get swirled around a lot on the news and social media.  But these are questions that need to be answered.   Keon West, a researcher from England, has spent his time in the trenches of this research and aims to share with the reader his scientific findings, not just anecdotes.  

Keon West breaks the book into four parts.  Part I deals with how do we know that racism is real and what evidence does science have on this topic with chapters discussing definitions of terms, how science comes to a consensus on a topic, and how pervasive racism might be and its relationship to power.  Part II looks at unconscious bias, outright deception/lying, and games people play on themselves to hide their own racism.  Part III gets down into the weeds to examine the complexities of racism - how it is not all black and white, but rather very nuanced.  Part IV provides various approaches to dealing with racism scientifically.  Some of these approaches include colour-blind approach, diversity initiatives, and what really does work.  West finishes the book with a call-out to other related issues of bias beyond race - i.e. gender, class, status, and a multitude of other issues that all interplay with racism.  

So, if you are interested in learning what science has on this topic, The Science of Racism will be a great place to start.  Keon West documents his points and provides plenty of references for the reader to explore.  A recommended read for anyone interested in racism. 

Actual science or fictional science?

Ritchie, Stuart.  Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search 

          for Truth.  New York: Metropolitan Books, 2020.  ISBN: 9781250222695

 

What do you know of the scientific method?  Now that you talked about how science is supposed to be done, what do you know of the publishing process for scientific research?  Well Stuart Ritchie, a social scientist, presents you with plenty of evidence that all is not well in the world of science, whether social or physical science!

 

Ritchie opens with some examples in  the Preface, then has a chapter on how science works or at least is supposed to work.  He then discusses the replication crisis that is still gripping science (people duplicating experiments but getting very different results than the original experiment).  He follows this up with chapters on fraud in science, how bias of various sorts infect science, how negligence leads to worthless and/or bad science, and how hyping results lead to over-blown expectations that do not pan out.  Ritchie follows up these chapters with an examination on the perverse incentives that scientists have when doing and publishing science (need for funding, need for publications, need to positive vs negative results, etc.  But he finishes the book with some steps that may help turn the tide on the scientific fictions being published.  And a s a final gift to the reader, he has an appendix entitled "How to Read a Scientific Paper" - in other words how to evaluate for yourself whether an article is actually science or just pretending!

Science Fictions is not for those who want a story, but will richly reward those who are interested in seeing actual, credible science being produced.

Is Math a language?

Orlin, Ben.  Math for English Majors: A Human Take on the Universal Language.  New York: Black 

        Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2024. 

So, when you think of mathematics, do you come up with images of a dry subject that you were forced to study in school, but no longer remember much of the content?  Or do you think of mathematics as the elegant description of everything?  Maybe you are somewhere in between these polar opposites.   But no matter where you fall on this sliding scale, Ben Orlin wants you to think of math as more than a game of "meaningless marks on paper" (David  Hilbert).  

Ben Orlin lays out his premise in the introduction and then dives the reader into it.  He discusses the syntax of Algebra, looking at numbers and treating numbers as nouns in that syntax.  After he has gone through symbols, equations, graphs, errors, and rules, he takes a break and provides a phrase book - A Local's Guide to  Mathematical Vocabulary.  Orlin then drags the reader into the actions of mathematics - what he calls the Verbs.  Verbs for Orlin include the standards - addition, subtraction, multiplication, division plus squaring/cubing, exponents, logic and proofs, infinity and a host of others.  Orlin finishes off the book with famous names and mathematical folklore followed by citations and where a reader could learn more.

If the reader is looking at a different approach to mathematics, Ben Orlin's Math for English Majors will aid in that quest.He accompanies the text with bad drawings (he has written another book called Math with Bad Drawings) to illustrate his points.  Give it a try and maybe you will retain more math knowledge then when you started!

Weapon Creators

Bainbridge, Jr., John.  Gun Barons: The Weapons That Transformed America and the Men Who 

         Invented Them.  New York: St. Martin's Press, 2022.  ISBN: 9781250266866

Guns are part of American history.  The Kentucky rifle, The Colt six-shooter, the Winchester rifle have all played a part in American history and American myths.  John Bainbridge, Jr. seeks to bring to life the men behind these iconic firearms in the Gun Barons.

 

Samuel Colt was the first gun baron, but it took him two tries before he was successful with selling his revolver.  It took the endorsement of a Texas Ranger and the Mexican-American War plus a few court cases before his became a major weapons producer.  The Remington family took a while before they became known for their rifles.  Oliver Winchester made a fortune in shirts before he got involved in creating weapons.  Horace Smith was employed by Ethan Allen in helping improve the Allen pepperbox pistol before he joined with Daniel Wesson to make pistols. Christopher Spencer got interested in gun making from time spent on his grandfather's farm.  Each man had to overcome obstacles to succeed.  Some achieved only fleeting success while others went on to great profits and renown.  But each story is intertwined with others and part of the tapestry of American history.  

 

If the reader want an overview of the weapon makers of 19th century America, Gun Barons is the book for you.   The reader will gain an appreciation for how everything works since "no man is an island unto themselves" (John Donne).

Four from the O.S.S!

Rogak, Lisa.  Propaganda Girls: The Secret War of the Women in the O.S.S.  New York: 

        St. Martin's Press, 2025.  ISBN: 9781250275592. 

How much do you know about the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the World War II predecessor to the CIA? Want to learn more, then join Lisa Rogak as she twines the tales of four women who worked in the Morale Operations branch of the OSS.

 

Lisa Rogak opens with background chapters on each of the four women in Propaganda Girls - Elizabeth "Betty" McDonald, Jane Smith-Hutton, Barbara "Zuzka" Lauwers, and Marlene Dietrich.  The background chapters lay the groundwork and motivation of why each woman volunteered to be part of the OSS's black propaganda operation.  The next several rounds of chapters laid out the various jobs they held and how each of these jobs whether in Washington D.C., in India, China, Italy, or France managed to aid the Allied cause while raising havoc with the Axis forces.  For example, Zuzka had toilet paper created with the image of Hitler's face and the German phrase "Use this side" airdropped behind enemy lines.  She also used POWs to sneak behind German lines in Italy with pamphlets saying that the war was over and Kesselring was in charge.  Betty used her skills as a newspaper reporter to create newsletters dropped on Japan and behind the lines in China to create division in the enemy population.  Jane used her hard-earned knowledge the Japanese language and culture to hold "rumor mill" sessions that proposed various rumors to be spread by spies and to create black propaganda items.  Marlene was involved  radio broadcasts from London that were beamed to Allied troops, but picked up the Germans as well.  She was also in the MUZAK Project which had popular American songs sung in German by German artists.  Marlene recorded 12 songs, some with special lyrics, for the program.  Years later, all 12 songs were released as an album.  Finally, Lisa Rognak covers the lives and careers of all four women after the end of the war.

So, if you are looking for a readable, well-documented account of some of the women who worked for the OSS, pick up Propaganda Girls and settle in for the ride.

Hole-in-the-Wall Gangs Revisited

Clavin, Tom.  Bandit Heaven: The Hole-in-the Wall Gangs and the Final Chapter of the Wild West.  

          New York: St. Martin's Press, 2024.  ISBN: 9781250282408

The Wild West!  Cowboys and Indians!  Rustlers and train robbers!  All the stuff of Hollywood movies, right?  Well maybe, but often not.  As Tom Clavin illustrates so well in Bandit Heaven,  Hollywood got a lot wrong when screen writers and directors take history and put it on the big screen, particularly in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).  So to get a glimpse behind the tinsel, dive in with Tom Clavin.

 

Tom Clavin opens the book with an 1899 Wild Bunch train robbery, laying out how it was planned and how it occurred in the Prologue.  The book itself is laid out in three acts.  Act I - Heaven on Earth - provides the background and setting for Brown's Hole, Hole-in-th-Wall, and Robbers Roost and the early outlaws.  The reader learns about the cattle and horse rustling business and the conflict between cattle barons and homesteaders and sheep herders.  Act II - Leader of the Pack - introduces Robert Leroy Parker born on April 13, 1866, a Friday, to British Mormon immigrants in Utah.  He grew up working with livestock and drifted into rustling and the outlaw life where he later acquired the nickname Butch Cassidy.  He was joined on the outlaw trail by Elzy Lay, an Ohio boy, Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, from Pennsylvania, who became the Sundance Kid, and Harvey Alexander Logan from Iowa, also know as "Kid Curry."  Then there the women like Ethel Place and the sisters Josie and Ann Bassett who sometimes accompanied the gang.  Act III - The Lawman Trail - discusses the strange evolution of law in the west and the role of vigilantism and the Pinkerton Detective Agency.  These chapters also highlight individuals such as Charlie Siringo, Joseph Shelby LeFors, John T. Pope, and others who chased outlaws, infiltrated union organizations, solved murders, and brought in fugitives from justice.  Act IV - Fall From Heaven - covers the end of the outlaw life.  As more folks settled the West and telegraphs spread alongside the railroads, it became harder for outlaws to disappear after a robbery.  Bank note numbers would be circulated around the country and folks were getting nabbed in strange locations when they tried to spend their ill-gotten gains.  Also, the bandits did themselves no favors when a group visited Fort Worth (TX) for a wedding and had a group photo taken which got used as advertising by the store.  That photo would lead to the arrest and or death of a number of the Wild Bunch.  This slow closing of the noose led Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid and Ethel Place to move way south to Argentina where they managed to set up a ranch until their past and old ways caught up with them and closed the book on some of the most famous outlaws of the Wild West.

 

So if you have an interest in the "true" Wild West of outlaws and rustlers, pick up Tom Clavin's Bandit Heaven and indulge yourself.  You will not regret it!