I made it to London! I'm still a little jet-lagged, but at least the travel gave me time to listen to talks for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was a slate of talks from the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI):

Royhan Akbar, with commentary from Andrew Jen-Guang Lin - the Pertamina corruption case - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL03TfDPFKo

Ishana Tripathi, with commentary from Dan W. Puchniak - succession plans for Indian listed companies - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYS02M-D9qA

Haemin Lee, Ishana Tripathi, and Xingguang Zou - emerging issues in corporate governance - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcHm2--dm00

Wei Zhang and Xu Yan, with discussion by Umakanth Varottil - red-chip companies going private - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phQwJ9Z55ts

Next was "American Vanguard" by John Barnard. This book is a masterpiece, deftly combining historical analysis with quantitative data to provide a deep, nuanced picture of the rise and banner years of the UAW. The chaotic early period of labor organizing in the automotive industry is covered here with incredible detail and insight, with the causes of internal fractures and the strategic moves by different players nicely deconstructed. The internal dissension of the Ford Local 600 during the 50s isn't given much space here though, possibly because it would show a less favorable side of Walter Ruether, but to be fair Barnard he clearly demonstrates the many conflicting priorities Ruether was juggling during this time. This book definitively belongs in the canon of great books about the labor movement. Highly recommend https://wsupress.wayne.edu/9780814332979/

Last was "Africana Philosophy" by Peter Adamson and Chike Jeffers. It's extremely challenging to make a philosophy book readable, much less one that clocks in at over 500 pages, but Adamson and Jeffers deliver that with aplomb here. After covering both the history and academic debate around African thought, the book then moves to the diaspora and the major debates and figures in that community through the 1800s (another book will cover 1900s onward). Links with other philosophical traditions are also explored, with the strong relationship between the Islamic world and the continent analyzed in early chapters, while later chapters also spend time on conversations between those in the diaspora and related salient movements. Beyond those interested in philosophy specifically, people who want to learn more about fundamental intellectual debates that typically aren't covered elsewhere should absolutely pick up this book. Highly recommend https://global.oup.com/academic/product/africana-philosophy-from-ancient-egypt-to-the-nineteenth-century-9780198927174