(When Romans bought new togas in their favourite gladiator's colors)
Books: still nice.
I am in a bit of a reading period again. Much of the reading is preparing for a podcast episode, which is also a bit of a first as far as I can remember. Some reading, or an episode about a specific book, is nothing uncommon. But this time, I have read two books which add background and depth to the topic, and I have a third one I might be able to fit in too. That is new, and I like this new "deeper preparations for a episode, further in advance" track.
It will probably not become a habit, but I would definitely not mind if it did. Or some spinoff thing did.
Really, the most interesting question is if and how I manage to make use of all that background in the episode. We will find out.
The episode is on a topic in the "AI" radiation field, so in a way I have been preparing actively for more than a year, and passively for what, four? Can this bubble burst already, please?
I thought back to my AI bubble conference talk last year and realized that if anything, I would be more pointed and negative in my criticism now than then. Discovering more deeply educated writing on the topic has only strengthened my feeling that I was on the right track.