Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War

 In a bit of irony, I read a Mary Roach book I could potentially read in the quiet car when I'm working from home. Roach's speciality is the absurd side of science, but the framework of Grunt, warfare, tones down the giggles. Gulp discussed intestinal distress; Grunt features a sniper who's experienced diarrhea while on a mission. The life and death implications lead to a more subdued tone. Roach still focuses on the absurd, but approaches the subtopics slightly more clinically.

That's not to say there's no room for humor. The chapter on heat stress (deadly and underestimated) features a series of endurance experiments undergone by Mary and a young Marine and conducted by a medical officer...who happens to be the Marine's mother...and who embarrasses him by "momming" him in front of his colleagues. The chapter on clothing (which must be durable, stain resistant, flame retardant, warm in cold environments and cool in hot environments - and cheap) starts with a scientist throwing condiments at swatches. And of course, the chapter on stink bombs (featuring a custom made stink called Who Me?) has plenty of gross-out humor. 

But there's no humor in battlefield simulations where amputee actors strap on fake wounds an bags of simulated blood so field medics can practice with special effects artillery exploding around them. Or in the surgical science of penile reconstruction. Noise and sleep deprivation threaten soldiers' and sailors's ability to function, and the "push through it" attitude most have doesn't help.

With less humor, I focused on how much of this research will, as emergency medicine did, eventually reach the civilian world. Using maggots to debride wounds already has (I did my Medical Devices paper on leeches on the incorrect assumption that the photos in the medical articles would be less gross than those related to maggots). The stakes are lower for us, but dealing with background sounds and circadian rhythm disruptors could make life easier and more pleasant for everyone as well as cutting down on automobile and industrial accidents. As someone who leans pacifistic, I'm not comfortable with military matters but Grunt was, like all of Roach's books, fascinating and enlightening.

Unholy: How White Christian Nationalists Powered the Trump Presidency, and the Devastating Legacy They Left Behind

I'm still trying to understand how the religious right came to embrace everything I was taught that Jesus was against. Ill treatment of others (particularly the needy), violence, and power for power's sake. Sarah Posner covers much of the same ground as Kristin DuMez's Jesus and John Wayne which in turn builds on Kevin Kruse's One Nation Under God. Posner is a reporter and takes a different track than the two historians, looking less at history and including anti-democratic movements in Brazil and Eastern Europe to show how our current political climate is not unique. 

If Walls Could Talk: An Intimate History of the Home

If Walls Could Talk is ostensibly the book of the series, and I expected it to be essentially the script to Lucy Worsley's TV series of the same name. Instead, Worsley uses the framework of the show to peek into the lives of ordinary people. The bedroom isn't just for sleep but also for sex (and childbirth, breastfeeding, and STDs), praying, and death. The bathroom leads to discussions of hygiene in general, plus makeup and plumbing. The living room is where we relax but also have to deal with housework (and formerly servants). Finally, the kitchen gives her a reason to discuss food fads and alcohol, as well as the political implications of menu choices. If I weren't working from home, this would be the perfect commute book - interesting but in short bites so I wouldn't get so engrossed I risk missing my stop.