New posts from jordanlee.life
Tristan Allen - Osni the Flare (RVNG 2026)
I have been spellbound by the new album by puppeteer and composer Tristan Allen, whose delicate instrumentals dance across piano keys, bells, and reeds before dissolving into the air. It reminds me a bit of Ichiko Aoba, another favorite composer of mine.
The Price of Democracy: The Revolutionary Power of Taxation in American History
I was fascinated by historian Heather Cox Richardson’s interview with Vanessa Williamson on her book The Price of Democracy: The Revolutionary Power of Taxation in American History.
In addition to learning about the way attitudes on taxes have shifted over the past 200 years, she lays out the case that taxes are a way to involve accountability to the people in government spending which is why the Trump administration has increasingly turned to alternative things like tariffs, fees, corporate donations, and spoils of war to fund their unpopular agenda.