The Long Memo Book Club

Graduate School without all the tuition expense

A lot of you have asked me: What should I be reading?

It makes sense. The world is chaotic, media is garbage, and most people don’t have time to sift through mountains of books.

So, I’m starting something new.

I taught at the college and graduate levels and delivered briefings to senior White House officials (including Presidents). There's no reason I can’t leverage those skills to help my readers. Based on reader surveys, most of you (70%) have college and advanced degrees. You’re way more intelligent than most people I’ve presented to and much more likely to benefit from it, so here we go—The Long Memo Book Club. It will be like graduate school without the tuition.

This isn’t a book club in the Oprah sense. No assigned reading. No deadlines. No awkward Zoom calls. Think of it as “auditing” the class. No grades, no credits—just reading to make sense of the madness.

I read about two books a month (it used to be one, but given the crisis, I’ve had to expand beyond just business). The more you read, the better off you are in life. It's as simple as that. I get most people don’t have time to read all that. So, even if all you do is follow along, you’ll still get smarter by osmosis.

What You Get

✅ Free subscribers – A curated list of books worth your time. No fluff. No airport-business-book nonsense. Just substance. You also get some thoughts about those books.

✅ Paid subscribers –

• Full breakdowns – What these books really say, what’s surprising, and how they connect to politics, power, money, and influence today.

• Deeper insights – Extensions on the lessons in these books and how they fit into broader intellectual disciplines.

• Social edge – In short, you’ll be the king of Trivial Pursuit and the most interesting person at any party.

• Office Hours – I’ll do one-on-one Q&A in DMs with paid subscribers if you have burning questions about the books. Think of it as TA Office Hours for your graduate school course.

• Future expansions – I’ll add audio/video analysis and deeper discussions if it makes sense.

Why This Matters

Books are time machines for smart people. You get decades of knowledge in a few hours. You learn to think around corners. You see what others miss.

If you want to sharpen your perspective and understand what actually matters, this is the best way I know how.

What’s Next?

The first book list drops next week:

✅ Free subscribers see the books and some thoughts.
🔒 Paid subscribers get the deep dive—complete analysis, key insights, and how they connect to politics, power, and money today.

The list will be revealed this coming Monday, February 24, 2025. The first book post is coming next Friday for reading on March 1, 2025. We will be discussing the book throughout the month of March. Each book will take about a month to discuss.

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." - Sir Francis Bacon

If you want complete breakdowns, insights, and more, now’s a great time to join as a paid subscriber. In the future, this will be a paid member bonus.

Either way, stay tuned—this is going to be good.