As a lifelong book-nut and ‘mister curious’, I have asked a ton of people about their favourite books. More than once I’ve made a deep connection, by identifying a book we both regard with special reverence – my favourite instance being a
Latest
I can’t be the only book maniac here who associates odd places with profound book experiences. I can even remember which subway stop my train was pulling into, when I first encountered life-changing paragraphs. Perhaps the strangest place I have found conducive
Some books bring us pleasure, some books stretch our minds, some books broaden our philosophy and expand our moral understanding. Some books hit us at a special moment in our lives and will forever bring us a whiff and resonance of that
I have had a lot of strange jobs. I’ve written about some of the important true things I learned working as a technician, which are still widely ignored (and in some quarters outright despised – like thermodynamics). I’ve also mentioned some curious
There are quite a few libraries in Toronto which hold a special place in my heart. I’ve shown the lovely Yorkville and mentioned the even more original and architecturally exquisite Wychwood library, both of which came from Carnegie’s still reverberating library building
For a few decades now, many in the west have asserted that our feelings are of incredible importance. As an especially weird example, we have tried to teach self-esteem in the abstract, without also imparting competence and confidence – or delivering the
I am almost sixty now, and I have been obsessed with history ever since I was a kid. There has always been a lot of lying going on – especially from liars who are already very powerful, who want us to be
I have mentioned many times that I love a lot of people who would really hate each other. Because of this, I understand very clearly that no team on earth is being completely fair, honest or truthful about their description of whoever
Toronto lost a genuine hero-artist a few days ago, and with all the chaos nowadays in the news, many barely noticed his passing. There are so many different things one can say about Michael Snow (born Dec 10 1928 right here in
I know I’m not the only one who finds it outright painful to watch the news, nowadays. So much obedience, conformity, foolishness, proud ignorance and hatred – and this creepy stuff can be found on every side of every subject you can
Hello friends! I had several ideas about how to approach an introduction for this podcast, but since I have compiled an unusually deep and rich trove of references this time, I will keep it shorter than my usual. My subject today is
I have several large projects about history, spirit, art and understanding underway right now. I am learning a great deal as I work on them, and try to resolve the many contradictions raised, and it feels as if I am making some
Message – as distinct from presentation (top photo) Over the last few years, I have spent a good bit of time and energy objecting to some of our most popular dehumanizing narratives. Some have been offended, and loudly insist that their own
And where it gets us (top photo) I’ve been thinking for many years about how we westerners with many more comforts and luxuries are consistently less happy than many people overseas, who have a great deal less stuff than us, but still
Hi folks – just a little update today. Been working on tuning up my substack site which is located at: https://paulsnyders.substack.com Their bulk-upload feature is welcome, but decidedly imprecise, so this means a lot of editing and locating of lost pictures, to
This is a very passionate moment – a lot of people are incredibly upset – and there are a lot of good reasons to be upset. But our peculiar western vanities and self-delusions have never before been quite so dangerous. Truth actually
Culture to Condos – not the change they wanted (top photo) Discussion is one of those things that pretty much everyone can do. Then again, everyone with a voice can sing – but a far smaller set can do so in a
From that odd place where the psychological, political, intellectual and spiritual (are supposed to) meet. I’m working on my next podcast script, finding myself digging awfully deep and bringing in many other questions which I’ve been thinking about for years. I suppose
Hi folks, here’s a podcast I’ve been wanting to finish and share for quite awhile – part one of two about the way our sloppy mythologizing about the sixties has obscured notes of genuine promise, and also damaged our approach to legitimate
“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”― Carl Gustav Jung I am actually a very cheerful, interested, friendly and enthusiastic guy – so I do sometimes pause and ask myself whether my central theme is
Hey folks – just wanted to let all of my loyal readers know I am now (also) writing on substack. Check it out here. You can bookmark the site itself here and read it any time. But if you sign-up, you get
Hi friends. I have a whole bunch of things in the works which I will have ready to share with everyone soon. A few of them are hard-hitting and political, but the major pieces are all pure uplift – tales of love,
I have written many times about our strange ability to pretend away the malign dominance over human affairs of the military industrial congressional investor complex, and I’ve also mentioned some of the curious ways in which technology has begun to distort human
The self-designating popular groupings which now call themselves “left” and “right” are beyond incoherent. No unified vision, understanding, principle or program in sight. This sad reality has already been quite conclusively proven to anyone eccentric and determined enough to insist upon reading
(plumbers, technicians, mechanics, contractors and all reality-based retail service workers too) I am a book nut with a lifelong passion for music, visual art and writing – essentially creative and romantic by nature. But I am also a guy who had zero
Too Clever by Multiples (top image) I am a little bit nuts and have never denied it, so I expect today’s especially elaborate (and hopefully amusing) proof of that will come as no surprise to anyone. On the other hand, I am