Short and sweet as I'm going to Vietnam in a few hours. I most likely won't be able to post anything for two weeks, so you'll have to subsist on end of year lists in the mean time.

Reading

The New Republic: An Appreciation by Ta-Nehisi Coates

I've only ever read New Republic articles here and there, so I wouldn't say that I'm affected by the troubles occurring with the publication these days. I'm even less troubled having read the ever brilliant Coates' skewering of the magazine and its record in regards to race.

Qassem Suleimani by Martin Chulov

A great profile on the leader of Iranian military efforts in the Middle East. I feel that it's rare to see articles in mainstream publications that address the realpolitik involved in the region and not collapse into apocalyptic rhetoric.

In Conversation With Chris Rock by Frank Rich

An impressive interview with an impressive man.

Viewing

XKCD 1411

The story of my life.

Supernormal Stimuli by Stuart McMillen

Just a nice comic reminding me that I have a lizard brain sometimes.

2014: The Year in Photos, September-December by Alan Taylor

Part 3 in a round up of photos from 2014. It's good to have such a vivid refresher on what happened in the last 12 months.

Listening

The Podcast Method

Dan Benjamin of 5by5 has just started a new podcast about how to podcast. Meta. I'm 13 episodes in to my own podcast, Frequency Asia, so I'm finding it fantastically useful so far.