About us
Let's read books that meet the moment!
Books that transform our worldview and help us see more clearly what's really going on in today's world. Books that give us insight and share what we can do about it all.
These are highly acclaimed best-selling non-fiction books that are well-written and therefore easy to read, and make us smarter about something happening in the world that affects all our lives in some way.
Books on the list include:
All the Shah's Men, by Stephen Kinzer (Iran & roots of Middle East crisis)
1929, by Andrew Ross Sorkin (financial crisis, maps 1929 to current moment)
Goliath's Curse, by Luke Kemp* (societal collapse)
The Nutmeg's Curse, by Amitav Ghosh* (roots of environmental crisis in colonialism)
Empire of AI, by Karen Hao (debunks current AI hype)
The Devil's Chessboard by David Talbot (CIA & US domination)
The Brothers by Stephen Kinzer (how the Dulles Brothers made the world as it is today)
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine, by Rashid Khalidi (history of Israel-Palestine conflict)
*Luke Kemp and Amitav Ghosh are speaking at the Sydney Writers' Festival in May!
https://www.swf.org.au/program/festival-2026/big-histories
This will be a monthly book club. Come join us for good intellectual discussion on top issues of the day. It's great motivation to read excellent books.
Let's meet this moment together!
Upcoming events
1
May Book Club on Collapse: Goliath's Curse
The ERKO Erskinville Hotel, 102 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville NSW 2043, Sydney, AUWelcome to Meet the Moment Book Club, where we read books that meet the moment and make sense of it all together. Please see our group page for a list of upcoming books!
After a lively inaugural event discussing Iran, our second book club will dive into collapse -- societal collapse, of states and empires -- Goliaths.
It's especially interesting after April's book "All the Shah's Men," which gave insight into how a Goliath operates; now we can explore how and why one collapses, and ask ourselves, are we living through it now?
"Now we live in a single global Goliath. Growth obsessed, extractive institutions like the fossil fuel industry, big tech and military-industrial complexes rule our world and produce new ways of annihilating our species, from climate change to nuclear war. Our systems are now so fast, complex and interconnected that a future collapse will likely be global, swift and irreversible. All of us now face a choice - we must learn to democratically control Goliath, or the next collapse may be our last."
https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/goliaths-curse-a-deep-history-of-societal-collapse-and-what-it-means-for-our-future-9780241741245.doThe author, Luke Kemp, is coming to speak at Sydney Writer's Festival on May 22 & 23 also!
https://www.swf.org.au/program/festival-2026/luke-kemp-goliaths-curse
https://www.swf.org.au/program/festival-2026/big-historiesWe will be meeting at the Erko Hotel, in the open area in the back.
If you have trouble getting the book, message me.
It's okay if you haven't finished the book by the time of the event, but the more the merrier!
There's no fee, but please purchase your own food/drinks from the venue.
If the RSVP list is full, please join the waiting list as there will likely be fluctuations closer to the date.
If you RSVP'ed and can't make it, please edit your RSVP so that others can attend. No-shows will be noted and barred from the book club.
Please try to be on time as we start and end on time.
Look forward to seeing you there!
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