How about a book recommendation? I just read...

[EarnestPutz]

...the following: "Humans: A brief history of how we f**cked it all up" by Tom Phillips.

My libraries catalog entry describes the book as follows.

Modern humans have come a long way in the seventy thousand years they’ve walked the earth. Art, science, culture, trade—on the evolutionary food chain, we’re true winners. But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing, and sometimes—just occasionally—we’ve managed to truly f*ck things up. Weaving together history, science, politics and pop culture, Humans offers a panoramic exploration of humankind in all its glory, or lack thereof. From Lucy, our first ancestor, who fell out of a tree and died, to General Zhou Shou of China, who stored gunpowder in his palace before a lantern festival, to the Austrian army attacking itself one drunken night, to the most spectacular fails of the present day, Humans reveals how even the most mundane mistakes can shift the course of civilization as we know it. Lively, wry and brimming with brilliant insight, this unique compendium offers a fresh take on world history and is one of the most entertaining reads of the year.

I recommend it as something of an antidote to current depression about our situation. We've screwed up on an epic scale in the past and still recovered.

[pangaia]

1. 'Beethoven for a Later Age: The Journey of a String Quartet', by Edward Dusinberre

Meditations on Beethoven resonate with a violinist’s account of life in the Takács Quartet



The title comes from the composer himself. When the first players tried out Beethoven’s Opus 59 string quartets in 1807, their patience quickly wore thin. Frustrated at music he could not understand, the cellist threw his score on the floor and stamped on it. The first violinist was bold enough to declare in the composer’s presence that it was “not music” at all. “Oh, they are not for you,” Beethoven retorted. “They are for a later age.”

[Runningdawg]

2. Killers Of The Flower Moon by David Grann

Subtitle - The Osage Murders and the birth of the FBI.

I've got some family history in that book. 4 generations have lived in Osage Co. and although my family is Cherokee, my grandmothers 2nd husband was Osage and came with 8 kids of his own. Growing up they called it the Reign of Terror. Most elders new someone who had been killed personally. Some had first hand experience with the "guardians" that were appointed to them. The whole county knew what was happening, but most of them were profiting in someway and kept their mouths shut.
The corruption was so wide spread the BIA had to send in special investigators to try and sort it out, which later became the FBI.
Great book. Very factual from what I know from my family and Osage history in general.
Leonardo DiCaprio, the star of the upcoming movie, has been spotted on the reservation lately, I believe filming is just about to start.