Despite living in Boston for over 20 years, this week was the first time I actually was next to the Hood smokestack (the area is quite nice, actually). And while exploring the area a bit I listened to talks and books for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was an excellent talk by Henry Farrell on why generative AI is best viewed as a social technology - one that is used to reorganize social relations rather than one that will directly change the economy - at the Blavatnik School of Government. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSE6Q7lRvW8

Next was "Country Capitalism" by Bart Elmore. This book is best viewed as an excellent collection of corporate histories, specifically of Coca-Cola, Walmart, FedEx, Delta, and Bank of America. There's little connective tissue between these chapters, and despite the title claiming that it will demonstrate how these firms changed the world, beyond a few throwaway speculative sentences there's little evidence presented that support this. Rather, these incisive corporate histories demonstrate the strong influence of the US government in supporting and growing these companies, as well as the huge role of chance in bringing these firms to their current large size. Highly recommend https://uncpress.org/9781469673332/country-capitalism/

Last was "Contraception: A Concise History" by Donna Drucker. This is an insightful quick read on the history of contraceptive technology, spending time with the development of the different classes of methods and products in this space and their health and social effects. It's always fascinating to learn how recently this class of products were developed, as well as how quickly organizations to produce them and otherwise support (or hamper) their use emerged over the decades. Importantly this book takes a global perspective, as well as examining technological paths not taken, such as the male contraceptive pill. This book is great for anyone interested in contraceptive technology and markets as well as people interested in STS studies more broadly. Highly recommend https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262538428/contraception/