Fareed Zakaria Even Likes the Same Books I Do!

I've loved Fareed Zakaria for a few decades, going back to the days of his Newsweek column. So I was delighted to see he was a guest of another podcaster I also really like, Ezra Klein. The episode did not disappoint!

Highlights for me:

[America has] A degree of local variation that you see almost nowhere else.

Definitely is a pet topic. I think most of the arbitrary variation between states is unnecessary and pointless. It's a fine line, I know. "Laboratories of democracy".  Or these days, a few states are the bulwarks of democracy. But maybe if we didn't have so much crazy local variation, we wouldn't be in the dis-united position we are in.

America compared to what? America as least bad hegemon.

Zakaria isn't one to whitewash America's history or foreign policy. But he does make the vital observation that the behavior of most great powers, let alone superpowers, isn't good. That should never be an excuse, but it is a reason for a modicum of American pride and optimism.

The Adventures of Kavalier and Klay

This was the bonus. Klein always asks guests to recommend 3 books. The rules of recommendation are totally open, but typically guests recommend non-fiction books related to the topics of conversation. Zakaria's third pick was one of my favorite books of all time, Michael Chabon's The Adventures of Kavalier and Klay. (Klein also seemed to have read and enjoyed it.)