Recs if you like Waste Wars: The Wild Afterlife of Your Trash...

Niche nonfiction, aka micro-histories!

Non-fiction books that should make you: Re-contextualize your place in the world. Reassess the framework of your life. Strive to be radically kind. Pursue positive change. Become an anarchist, anit-capitalist, anti-fascist, anti-racist, etc. || My list is very North American centric and I would love global recommendations ||

ANTI: fascism, ai, nfts, Big Tech, billionaires, surveillance states, optimization, algorithms, bot farms, technofeudalism, enshittification, exploitation, extractionism, planned obsolescence PRO: organized labor, punk, analog, solidarity, free speech, friction, degrowth, experimentation, right to privacy, right to repair, diy, material process, mutual aid, ecological living, the human hand, the human mind

Looking for fiction? Check out The Big Bad Luddite Novel*.

Recommendations for homeschool survivors, from homeschool survivors. These are books (and additional resources, in the comments) that have helped me and other former homeschoolers begin to fill in some gaping holes in our education.

Nonfiction about trash, waste management, its links to consumerism and social inequity, and how it's contributing to the desecration of our planet.

Let's break through the fog of the capitalist, racist, colonial system that is holding all of us down. For a new world, we need new perspectives. (this list is from a white european girl, so PLEASE also seek out recommendations from BIPOC creators!!)

A spinoff of The Big Bad Luddite List. Whereas the original list is huge and sprawling and includes many books I have not yet read, as well as some that weren't my personal favorite, this Greatest Hits version is condensed and more tightly curated. All the titles on this list are books I personally feel are worth recommending. Check the comments for potential caveats or additional contextual information about certain titles.

SISTER LISTS: The Big Bad Luddite List | The Big Bad Luddite Novel*

Or: reasons I'm not hopeful about our increasingly apocalyptic circumstances, and a defense of despair

I believe hopelessness is unfairly pathologized and scapegoated for our collective failure to take meaningful action against ecocide. Climate catastrophe is accelerating. Collapse is underway, and you're not crazy for noticing. You don't need to feel bad about feeling bad.

SISTER LIST: forthcoming

A list of books that fit the prompts for the 2026 Polymath Training Challenge. (Egypt / Sleep, dreams / Astronomy and space exploration / Gastronomy and foods / Interior design, furniture / Chemistry / Mines and mining / Exploration and explorers / Art and nature /Agriculture /Economics) plus the "choose 1" prompts (Microbiome / Chocolate and coffee / Cultural history / Boardgames and role-playing games / Linguistics / Ethology / History of science / Cosmetics / Empathy). Open to suggestions!