Friday Flurry #9: Smug old racist pricks with control issues who seriously need to read more

...Too much?

Welcome to Friday Flurry, my weekly round-up. These posts, which are a mixed bag of what I’m doing, reading and thinking about, are exclusively for paid subscribers.

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Hello! I’ve got some frustration and fury to unleash this week - strap on in.

Scroll past the book reviews if you’re time poor and would instead prefer to:

• Read a rant about smug dudes who like ‘debates’

• Ponder why white people are afraid of race, and

• Enjoy some second-hand embarrassment for the hypocrisy of the NZ Right.

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What I’m reading

I keep trying to read non-fiction and failing at the moment. Real life, and the news, seems to be enough.

As a brief exception, I tried to get into On Our Best Behaviour by Elise Loehnen earlier this week, because I’ve been enjoying her podcast Pulling the Thread.

I put the book down pretty fast. The phrase ‘Divine Feminine’ is enough to turn me off, and there was too much religiosity for my liking, but beyond those things, it just wasn’t well-written. If you caught me after two wines and asked for an rapid review, I’d say this: