My interests—other than economics and statistics—include books, music, movies, running, and computing. Here is a map of my personal microculture.
People whose ideas have influenced me: Frédéric Bastiat, Richard Dawkins, Richard Feynman, Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek, Christopher Hitchens, Steve Jobs, Deirdre McCloskey, Michel de Montaigne, Karl Popper, Carl Sagan, Adam Smith, Benedictus de Spinoza, Edward Tufte.
Currently reading:
Desert-island books:
… and books by: Douglas Adams, Paul Auster, Lawrence Block, Godfried Bomans, Martin Bril, Raymond Carver, Anton Chekhov, Ted Chiang, Philip K. Dick, Franquin, Kinky Friedman, Hergé, Gary Larson, Elmore Leonard, Henning Mankell, Ed McBain, Haruki Murakami, Patrick O’Brian, Charles M. Schulz, David Sedaris, Charles Simic, Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, Neal Stephenson, Willy van der Heide. I couldn’t miss The Economist and The Financial Times either.
Other craftsmen (of any gender) I admire: Bashir Abdi, Pierre Alechinsky, Dennis Bergkamp, Constantin Brancusi, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Tyler Cowen, Johan Cruijff, Albrecht Dürer, M.C. Escher, Vilhelm Hammershøi, Mitch Hedberg, Edward Hopper, Katsushika Hokusai, Hasui Kawase, Yuki Kawauchi, Henry Kloss, Donald Knuth, Jan Erik Kongshaug, Stanley Kubrick, Akira Kurosawa, Saul Leiter, Vivian Maier, Nasreen Mohamedi, Edwin Moses, Richard Neutra, Yasujiro Ozu, Steve Prefontaine, Dieter Rams, Gerhard Richter, Marc Rothko, Rudy Van Gelder, Guido van Rossum, Johannes Vermeer, Steve Wozniak. Craftsmanship is underrated.
Johann Sebastian Bach, The Band, Beastie Boys, The Beatles, Beck, Paul Bley, Blind Willie Johnson, the Blue Note record label, Alfred Brendel, Dieterich Buxtehude, Bob Dylan, Can, Captain Beefheart, J.J. Cale, Bill Callahan, Johnny Cash, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Leonard Cohen, John Coltrane, Cornelius (Keigo Oyamada), Miles Davis, Dinosaur Jr, Eric Dolphy, John Dowland, Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, the ECM record label, Eels, Brian Eno, Bill Evans, The Fall, Morton Feldman, Glenn Gould, Jon Hassell, Angela Hewitt, Mark Hollis/Talk Talk, Huelgas Ensemble, Skip James, Robert Johnson, Ali Akbar Khan, Masabumi Kikuchi/Tethered Moon, Kraftwerk, Fela Kuti, Jakob Lindberg, Nick Lowe, Bob Marley, John Martyn, Hank Mobley, Thelonious Monk, Van Morrison, Mississippi John Hurt, My Bloody Valentine, Randy Newman, Charlie Parker, Charlie Patton, Pavement, Pearl Jam, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Prefab Sprout, Radiohead, Ramones, the RCA Living Stereo record label, Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Scott Ross, Domenico Scarlatti, Jean Sibelius, Nina Simone, Eliott Smith, Steely Dan, Talking Heads, Teenage Fanclub, Television/Tom Verlaine, Tinariwen, A Tribe Called Quest, The Velvet Underground, Neil Young, Tom Waits, Ween, Paul Weller, Tony Joe White, Whitney, Wilco, Bill Withers, John Zorn/Masada/New Masada Quartet.
What I have been listening to in 2024: Matthieu Bordenave, The Blue Land. The Smile, Wall of Eyes. Vijay Iyer Trio, Compassion. J Mascis, What Do We Do Now. Paul McCartney and Wings, Band on the Run (Underdubbed). Brittany Howard, What Now. Helado Negro, PHASAR. Philip Glass, Philip Glass Solo. Real Estate, Daniel. John Surman, Words Unspoken. Sabine Devieilhe, Raphaël Pichon & Pygmalion, Bach & Handel (2021). Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Sibelius: Symphony No. 4, The Wood Nymph & Valse Triste. Julien Lage, Speak To Me. Joel Ross, nublues. Alexandre Tharaud, Tic, Toc, Choc: Alexandre Tharaud joue Couperin (2007). Charles Lloyd, The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow. Berliner Barock Solisten & Reinhard Goebel, Symphonies of the Bach Family (2022). Masaaki Suzuki, Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge. Beyoncé, COWBOY CARTER. Khruangbin, A La Sala. Fred Hersch, Silent, Listening. John Zorn, New Masada Quartet (2021), New Masada Quartet, Vol. 2 (2023), New Masada Quartet, Vol. 3 (Live). St. Vincent, All Born Screaming. Brian Eno, Eno (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Fu##in’ Up. Brad Mehldau, After Bach II. Billie Eilish, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. Paul Weller, 66. Kenny Baron, Beyond This Place. Arooj Afab, Night Reign. Richard Hawley, In This City They Call You Love. Jakob Lindberg, Robert de Visée: Theorbo Solos. Oded Tzúr, My Prophet. Crowded House, Gravity Stairs. Eels, EELS TIME!. Paul McCartney & Wings, One Hand Clapping (Live Sessions). John Cale, POPtical Illusion. Hermanos Gutiérrez, Sonido Cósmico. Julius Asal, Scriabin — Scarlatti. Miklós Spányi, C.P.E. Bach: The Solo Keyboard Music (several volumes, 1998—2021). Tomasz Stanko Quartet, September Night. Arve Henriksen, Harmen Fraanje, Touch of Time. Wilco, Hot Sun Cool Shroud (EP). Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Brahms: Symphonies. Pat Metheny, Moondial. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra & Manfred Honeck, Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 — Bates: Resurrexit. Linda Sikhakhane, iLadi. Jack White, No Name. Ray LaMontagne, Long Way Home. Wayne Shorter, Celebration, Volume 1 (Live). John Zorn, Lamentations (feat. Bill Frisell, Julian Lage & Gyan Riley). Gillian Welch / David Rawlings, Woodland. Cleo Sol, Gold (2023). Dave Douglas, Gifts. Dave Douglas, Dizzy Atmosphere: Dizzy Gillespie at Zero Gravity (2020). Albane Imbs, Rolf Lislevand, Capricci: Castaldi & Pellegrini. Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Indoor Safari. Tindersticks, Soft Tissue. Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Leif Segerstam, Sibelius: Lemminkäinen Legends / Tapiola (1996). Tom Verlaine, Songs and Other Things (1996, re-issued 2024). Ensemble Baroque de Limoges, Christophe Coin, Buxtehude: Cantatas and Sonatas (2001). Tord Gustavsen Trio, Seeing. Charlie Haden, Chrisian Escoudé, Gitane (1978). The Smile, Cutouts. Sam Rivers, Countours (1965). Avishai Cohen, Ashes to Gold. Nitai Hershkovits, Call On The Old Wise (2023). Darius Jones, Legend of e’Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye). Anja Lechner, Bach / Abel / Hume. Marc-André Hamelin, Morton Feldman: For Bunita Marcus (2017). Marc-André Hamelin C.P.E. Bach: Sonatas & Rondos (2022). Charles Munch & Boston Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 ‘Italian’ / Symphony No. 5 ‘Reformation’ (1958). Charles Munch & Boston Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 ‘Scotch’ (1961). Anna Besson, Myriam Rignol, Jean Rondeau, Corelli, Quentin: Flute Sonatas. Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock & Paul Motian, The Old Country: More from the Dear Head Inn (Live). Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, C.P.E. Bach: Symphonies — From Berlin to Hamburg Colin Vallon, Patrice Moret, Julian Sartorius, Samares. Ronald Brautigam, Franz Schubert: Sonatas in A major, D 959 & B flat major, D 960.
What I’ve been listening to in previous years.
Tokyo Monogatari (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953); The Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1953); Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati, 1953); A Hard Day’s Night (Richard Lester, 1964); The Godfather I & II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972 & 1974); Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977); Una Giornata Particolare (Ettore Scola, 1977); The Party (Blake Edwards, 1967); The Empire Strikes Back (George Lucas, 1980); Das Boot (Wolfgang Petersen, 1981); This is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984); Goodfellas (Martin Scorcese, 1990); The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen, 1998); Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003); Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014). TV series: Breaking Bad; Cheers; Forbrydelsen (The Killing); Flight of the Conchords; House MD; The Office (BBC); The Queen’s Gambit; Seinfeld; The Sopranos; True Detective (season 1); The Wire.
I am a passionate but slow long-distance runner—driven by grit (“passion and perseverance for long-term goals”) rather than talent. For my marathons (link) I use a training plan from Dave Khuels (1998), Four Months to a Four-Hour Marathon, New York: Perigee.
My first computer was a Macintosh Plus (1987) and I have been using Macs and macOS ever since. The setup in my home and campus offices consists of a MacBook Air (M1, 2020) on a NewStar laptop stand; an iPhone SE (3rd generation); an iPad (7th generation, 2019) with a Paperlike screen cover, Apple Pencil, and Smart Keyboard; Bose QuietComfort headphones (I still use my old Bose TriPort (AE1) and AE2 headphones, too); and (at home) Bose Companion 2 Series III speakers. For writing and research I use the LaTeX editor TeXShop and the bibliography manager BibDesk, Notes, and the Markdown writing app iA Writer. I back up with Time Machine and iCloud. As a fan of open and reproducible science, I write Python code in Jupyter Notebook of BBEdit to analyze data, build models, and for play. My favorite game is Pinball Tristan (macOS and iOS). White Noise by TMSoft is a background noise generator that helps create a distraction-free work environment. Useful iPad apps are Goodnotes (to read and mark up PDFs), Juno (a Jupyter Notebook integrated development environment) and Pretext (a plain text editor that renders Markdown).
Favorite gear: Apple HomePod mini; Beats Flex earphones; BIC Cristal ballpoint pen; Bose Soundlink Color II Bluetooth speaker; Bose QuietComfort noise cancelling headphones; Buff neck gaiter; Camelbak Marathoner hydration backpack; Compressport running belt; Diamant steel frame racing bicycle (1980s); Dopper water bottle; Falke RU4 running socks; Fjällräven Kånken backpack (with shoulder pads); Fjällräven Skogsö (padded) and Sten jackets; Fujifilm X100VI camera; Garmin Vívoactive 4 sports watch; GORUCK GR1 & GR0 backpacks; Hanes plain white T-shirts; Hario Skerton Plus coffee grinder; Herzog compression running socks; iPhone SE; Kalita Wave pour-over coffee dripper (models 155 and 185); Leatherman Wave multitool; Levi’s 501 jeans; MacBook Air; Martin D-28 guitar; Merkur 23C safety razor; Midori MD notebooks; Muji A5 notebooks; Nike Pegasus running shoes; Pentel P205 mechanical pencil; Pilot V5 Hi-Tecpoint pen; SecrID wallet; Speedo Fastskin Elite goggles; Uni-Ball Kuru Toga mechanical pencil; Vans Era sneakers; Varier Thatsit chair (designed by Peter Opsvik, 1991); Victorinox Swiss Army knife (and WD-40 to clean and protect it); Zannata Black Shadow racing bicycle.
Objets de désire (aspirational products): (black or butterscotch blonde) Fender Telecaster; MIYABI Hinoki chopping board.
eiπ + 1 = 0