Eavesdropping on Animals: What We Can Learn From Wildlife Conversations (George Bumann)

Chirping birds, hooting owls, and barks from foxes and coyotes are all ways that those animals communicate. Many times, those chirps and barks are to others in the same species. However, according to George Bumann, those same sounds could be messages to us and others within the animal kingdom. Eavesdropping on Animals: What We Can Learn From Wildlife Conversations is Bumann’s guide to animal communication and a call to us to take a step back, breathe, and listen with intent to the outside world around us.

Bumann really loves nature, especially the animal kingdom. He lives near Yellowstone Park and often talks about the encounters with various wildlife at Yellowstone and at his home. The book is equal parts chronicle of his interactions with animals and guide to those who aspire to forest bathe (or shinrin-yoku as it’s known in Japanese). Bumann advocates that even those who don’t live near a forest but live in the concrete jungle of Manhattan can listen with more intent to the communication of animals when in the park or in a less noisy part of the world. 

The book’s most useful section lies in the appendix, offering a summary of each chapter’s takeaways to help those who aspire to follow the author’s journey into deep listening and thinking. I also can see a path for usefulness to those who aspire to think more clearly and intentionally regardless of whether they choose to listen to chirping birds or a chirping co-worker in the office. There are some strong parallels with other books that showcase a path to better listening in day-to-day living and the advice Bumann puts forth in the book.

Reading Eavesdropping on Animals made me think that Bumann is a modern day St. Francis of Assisi, walking through the wilderness and blessing wildlife on his journeys. While that is arguably hyperbole, Bumann’s guide to better listening can be useful regardless of whether you’re listening to a crow or a co-worker.

MY RATING: 4.5

Penman of the Founding: A Biography of John Dickinson (Jane E. Calvert)

You may know John Dickenson as a man whose writings helped unite a patchwork arrangement of colonies 3,000 miles away from England into a protonation. Dickinson was one of the nation’s founding sages - a man who was a part of the Continental Congress, the Constitutional Convention, state legislatures, and even was the governor (then known as Presidents) of two states. He was arguably as instrumental to America’s beginnings as most of our more well-known founding fathers. Jane E. Calvert’s Penman of the Founding: A Biography of John Dickinson is a well-written, well-researched biography of one of the important thinkers in 18th Century America.

Calvert chronicles Dickinson’s life and political career from Philadelphia, where he was involved in Pennsylvania government in the 1760’s and 1770’s. In addition, he helped Delaware earn its motto as “The First State” for ratifying the Constitution that Dickinson himself was involved in putting together. He also served in the Continental Army during the Revolution at various ranks and helped defend Wilmington from the British. Despite all of these accomplishments, Dickinson was dogged by the fact that he did not sign the Declaration of Independence, believing it to be too violent of a document because of his increasingly strong Quaker beliefs of pacifism. 

Dickinson was a man of varying levels of moderation and driven to compromise. Some of the frames of American government, such as a bicameral legislature, were ideas Dickinson promoted at various points in his life. Dickinson, a one time slave owner, also gradually evolved into an abolitionist and tried to more strongly limit slavery in Delaware in later years. Calvert’s biography of one of our nation’s early statesmen is a timely example of how leaders can lead not with absolute ideology but on principle and with the conviction of helping their fellow state and nation improve.

MY RATING: 4.5

Dream: The Life and Legacy of Hakeem Olajuwon (Mirin Fader)

Hakeem Olajuwon had a remarkable basketball journey, starting in Lagos and ending his career in Toronto. However, a 20 year stay in Houston and the fame that came with it is what Olajuwon is best known for. His collegiate career at the University of Houston included three trips to the Final Four and two losses in the title game. His NBA career included three trips to the NBA Finals and winning the two championships that Chicago did not win between 1991 and 1998. Olajuwon’s statistics are among the best in basketball history, yet for many reasons he isn’t as well-known as other superstar players from the 1980’s and 1990’s. Mirin Fader hopes to change that with Dream: The Life and Legacy of Hakeem Olajuwon.

This biography of Olajuwon tracks his story from a kid who played handball and soccer to his display of raw basketball talent that was behind his superstar collegiate and NBA player careers. Olajuwon’s personality and devotion to his faith are also woven throughout the book. Fader describes how Olajuwon was drawn back to Islam, using it to harness his talent, control his temper, and become a much better teammate. His Rockets eventually became a Western Conference power in the 1990’s, winning back-to-back titles and in 1995, becoming the only NBA team to eliminate the four best teams in the league by win-loss record as they won the second of those titles.

Olajuwon retired as one of the greatest players to have played in the NBA, known for his defense and also his “dream shake” fadeaway jumper. He was also its first truly international star, helping pave the way for countless others to join the NBA from overseas. Dream is an inspiring story about one of the greats in NBA history.

MY RATING: 4.5

To Overthrow the World: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Communism (Sean McMeekin)

Communism traces its formalized history back to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. However, the ideas of social equality that formed the foundation of their thinking traces back centuries prior to religious and enlightenment thinkers. While Marx’s social ideals and elimination of individualized property were theorized as ideals to be pursued, the practical reality in politics has been much different, much bloodier, and much less successful for those countries that have been governed by it.

Sean McMeekin’s To Overthrow The World: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Communism is a detailed history of communism, from the theories of Marx to the execution of communism by the Soviets, Chinese, and others. McMeekin focuses on how communism has rarely been implemented through the ballot box, with countries transitioning to communism through revolution, military coup, or civil war. Very rarely have these communist countries held power without use of force or repression of critics. Soviet-era communism failed through lack of military and financial legitimacy in Eastern Europe; however, China has been able to grow economically thanks to trade with the West and favorable economic deals from the United States and Japan.

McMeekin points out that while Soviet-era Communism failed, parts of Chinese state control and repression of alternate viewpoints are gaining wider acceptance in some democratic governments. While America and others are still highly democratic, McMeekin cautions about how technology has been used in monitoring citizens. Additionally, he warns about the developing “thought police” within the private sector that can control or shame those whose views aren’t in lockstep with accepted norms in the workplace or polite society. I’d argue that, especially in the workplace and private sector, such tactics are more Orwellian than Communist, but the idea of state or societal control of an individual is a hallmark of past Communist states.

MY RATING: 4.5