Anti-corruption ideas have a moment in the media sun while crypto investors fall to earth
Life is hopefully now calming down sufficiently to the extent that I can write some more or less informative newsletters again, so I’m back to bring a little bit of oligarchy into your lives. Last week was that wonderful annual ritual when the world’s best writers descend on my hometown for the Hay Festival, which is probably the finest book festival anywhere. And this year it was particularly good since it was the first full-bore event since before the pandemic.
I got to talk about my own book Butler to the World (which is out next week in North America, should you live on that side of the Atlantic and be looking for some reading material), plus to appear on panels with various fascinating people, including Serhii Plokhy, Bill Browder and Catherine Belton. I also got to sit in the audience and listen to many of my favorite writers, including Michael Lewis, who had this to say when asked why he writes.
- “I try to get myself into a position emotionally when I think it’s so important that it’s an obligation, it’s a duty. I’m not writing it because I want to write a book, I’m not writing it because I need money, I’m writing it because I have a duty to do it, because it’s that important.”
That struck me as a pretty good philosophy, and worth the entry price on its own. Should you wish to see any of the talks for yourself, the festival’s content is available on its own Hay Player for a one-off payment.
While on the subject of Michael Lewis: I’m currently listening to the third season of his podcast Against the Rules, and I highly recommend it. He has a remarkable gift for getting to the nub of things, without becoming as irritating as big-name non-fiction writers sometimes can. I also badgered him after his event to ask what he would be writing about next, and he said it would be something about crypto, which is good news because I would love to have him get to the nub of whatever is going on there.