UMich Retirees Podcast

UMRA Reads: Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the Word by Anne Applebaum

"All of us have in our minds a cartoon image of what an autocratic state looks like, with a bad man at the top. But in the 21st century, that cartoon bears little resemblance to reality. Nowadays, autocracies are run not by one bad guy, but by sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, security services and professional propagandists. The members of these networks are connected not only within a given country, but among many countries. The corrupt, state-controlled companies in one dictatorship do business with corrupt, state-controlled companies in another."

"Unlike military or political alliances from other times and places, this group doesn’t operate like a bloc, but rather like an agglomeration of Autocracy, Inc. Their relations are not based on values, but are rather transactional, which is why they operate so easily across ideological, geographical, and cultural lines. In truth, they are in full agreement about only one Their dislike of us, the inhabitants of the democratic world, and their desire to see both our political systems and our values undermined. That shared understanding of the world—where it comes from, why it lasts, how it works, how the democratic world has unwittingly helped to consolidate it, and how we can help bring it down—is the subject of this book".

"Anne Elizabeth Applebaum is a Polish-American journalist and writer. She has written extensively about Marxism–Leninism and the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe. She has worked at The Economist and The Spectator, and was a member of the editorial board of The Washington Post".

-- Goodreads

ChatGPT Unveiled: Exploring the Power of AI Conversations

ChatGPT Unveiled: Exploring the Power of AI Conversations

Edward Adams
Former Chief Technology Officer
Stephen M. Ross School of Business

Ever wonder what it would be like to have an intelligent conversation with a computer? A conversation exploring history, science and the arts; taking deep dives into philosophy, physics, medicine, and economics; discussing current books, movies and theater; engaging in casual chats about daily life; and more. Well, that's the exciting world of AI chatbots, and one of the most advanced is called ChatGPT. This talk will unveil the secrets behind ChatGPT, demonstrating how conversational AI is revolutionizing communication, education, and daily life and why it's changing the way we interact with technology. We'll explore the possibilities of AI conversations, from helping us with daily tasks to even having friendly chats. Whether you're a tech enthusiast or a curious novice, this talk will provide valuable insights into how AI is shaping our future and how you can leverage its capabilities in your own life.

UMRA Reads: Tom Lake by Ann Patchette

"In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew."

"Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart."

-- Goodreads

UMRA Reads: The Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

"Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, a novel of large beauty and power, creates a magical world out of four generations of black life in America, a world we enter on the day of the birth of Macon Dead, Jr. (known as Milkman), son of the richest black family in a mid-western town; the day on which the lonely insurance man, Robert Smith, poised in blue silk wings, attempts to fly from a steeple of the hospital, a black Icarus looking homeward..."

"We see Milkman growing up in his father's money-haunted, death-haunted house with his silent sisters and strangely passive mother, beginning to move outward--through his profound love and combat with his friend Guitar...through Guitar's mad and loving commitment to the secret avengers called the Seven Days...through Milkman's exotic, imprisoning affair with his love-blind cousin, Hagar...and through his unconscious apprenticeship to his mystical Aunt Pilate, who saved his life before he was born."

 

-- Amazon Books

Why Incompetence Fails to Recognize Itself with Professor David Dunning

Why Incompetence Fails to
Recognize Itself

David Dunning

Professor of Psychology in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Faculty Associate in the Research Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social Research

 

Professor Dunning discusses the psychology underlying the notorious "Dunning-Kruger Effect," where people remain unaware of their incompetence and ignorance, thus left with illusions of expertise they do not have (a condition that visits all of us sooner or later). He touches on its implications for health, education, the workplace, politics—as well as the digital age. Dunning (with Justin Kruger) received the 2023 Grawemeyer Award in Psychology for the work, which has been featured internationally on National Public Radio Public Broadcasting Service, The British Broadcasting Service, The New York Times, and other venues. Even Doonesbury.

 

UMRA Reads: The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn is a book about three female code breakers -- Osla, Mab and Beth -- at Bletchley Park during WWII. The women form a friendship (and a book club) over the years, but a betrayal and traitor among their colleagues lands one of them in locked up in an asylum in the years after the war. But through a letter carefully smuggled out, she's able to issue a cry for help from her confinement.

In this exciting and enthralling tale, The Rose Code tells the story of their friendship, their work and their disappointments and triumphs.

UMRA Reads: The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family

"Happy Days, The Andy Griffith Show, Gentle Ben—these shows captivated millions of TV viewers in the ’60s and ’70s. Join award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard and audience-favorite actor Clint Howard as they frankly and fondly share their unusual family story of navigating and surviving life as sibling child actors."

"With the perspective of time and success—Ron as a filmmaker, producer, and Hollywood A-lister, Clint as a busy character actor—the Howard brothers delve deep into an upbringing that seemed normal to them yet was anything but."

"By turns confessional, nostalgic, heartwarming, and harrowing, The Boys is a dual narrative that lifts the lid on the Howard brothers’ closely held lives. It’s the journey of a tight four-person family unit that held fast in an unforgiving business and of two brothers who survived “child-actor syndrome” to become fulfilled adults."

 

-- Goodreads

Tax Follies & Wisdom: Odd to Horrific Episodes from Ancient to Present

Tax Follies & Wisdom: Odd to Horrific
Episodes from Ancient to Present

Joel Slemrod

Paul W. McCracken Professor of Business Economics and Public policy and
Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy in the
Stephen M. Ross School of Business

Professor of Economics in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

 

 

Professor Slemrod, an authority on tax policy design, is known for his pioneering research on how tax policies influence households and companies. He will use stories to illustrate basic principles of taxation, including how taxes are used to change behavior, both for sinister and laudable purposes, and share notable tax policy successes and failures. Slemrod has testified before Congress, advised the Congressional Budget Office and Internal Revenue Service, and assisted treasury departments on every continent. He has published 17 books, including Rebellion, Rascals and Revenue: Tax Follies and Wisdom through the Ages, and was named U-M's David Bradford Distinguished University Professor of Economics in 2021. Learn more about him here: https://lsa.umich.edu/econ/people/faculty/jslemrod.html.