Robert Anton Wilson

   Not much blogging going on here still, but here's my annual list of books read for 2025. Adam Becker, More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of HumanityRutger Bregman, Humankind: A Hopeful History (2019)Samuel D. Brunson, Between the Temple and the Tax Collector: The Intersection of Mormonism and the StateKate Conger and Ryan Mac, Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter (2024)Mark Jonathan Davis, Grateful: 25 Years of Music, Movies, and Medical Emergencies with Richard Cheese & Lounge Against the Machine, Part One: Stranger in a Strange LoungeRenée DiResta, Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies Into Reality (2024)Cory Doctorow, Picks and Shovels: A Martin Hench NovelErle Stanley Gardner (Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh, eds), The Human Zero: The Science Fiction Stories of Erle Stanley Gardner (1981)Brooke Harrington, Offshore: Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism (2024)Gabriel Kennedy, Chapel Perilous: The Life & Thought Crimes of Robert Anton Wilson (2024)Thomas Levenson, So Very Small: How Humans Discovered the Microcosmos, Defeated Germs--and May Still Lose the War Against Infectious DiseaseMary Roach, Replaceable You: Adventures in Human AnatomyOliver Sacks, The Island of the Colorblind (1996)Oliver Sacks, The Mind's Eye (2010)Neil Sheehan, A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam (1988, 2009 edition)Quinn Slobodian, Hayek's Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ, and the Capitalism of the Far RightDana Stevens, Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century (2023)Katherine Stewart, Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American DemocracySpencer Sunshine, Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism: The Origins and Afterlife of James Mason's Siege (2024)Sam Tanenhaus, Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed AmericaMark S. Weiner, The Rule of the Clan: What an Ancient Form of Social Organization Reveals About the Future of Individual Freedom (2013)Tim Weiner, The Mission: The CIA in the 21st CenturyLawrence Wright, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (2006)Sarah Wynn-Williams, Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost IdealismTop for 2025 published in 2025: Tanenhaus, Levenson, Roach, Weiner, Davis, Wynn-Williams, Becker, Doctorow; other top reads for the year: Sheehan, M. Weiner, Sacks A few planned or already (or still) in-progress reads for 2026: Robert Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York (1975)G.A. Cohen, Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality (1995)John Ferris, Behind the Enigma: The Authorised History of GCHQ, Britain's Secret Cyber-Intelligence Agency (2020)Peter H. Wilson, The Holy Roman Empire: A Thousand Years of Europe's History (2017)Arthur M. Melzer, Philosophy Between the Lines: The Lost History of Esoteric Writing (2014)(Previously: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005.)  ...

I’ve begun putting old issues of The Arizona Skeptic online as PDFs, starting with the old Phoenix Skeptics News, edited by Ron Harvey. Volume 2, 1988-1989, is here. An index to all issues by title, author, and subject may be found here. Phoenix Skeptics News vol. 1, no. 1, July/August 1987: Welcome!July MeetingResource Library"Cold Reading" by Jim LippardLocal Radio Talk Show Features PsychicsModem Users Take Note"Foes Turn Up Heat: Fire walking is not so hot, skeptics of seminars say" by Simon Fisher, TribunePostscript by Jim LippardBook ReviewsLocal Conference on Health FraudUpcoming Phoenix Skeptics MeetingsPhoenix Skeptics News vol. 1, no. 2, September/October 1987: August Meeting: Hans Sebald on witchcraftSeptember Meeting: Charles Cazeau on prophecies of NostradamusSurveyor NeededRandi on Faith Healers (interviewed by Jim Lippard and Mike Norton)"Health Fraud isn't 'snake oil' anymore" by Phyllis Gillespie, Arizona Republic"Charlatans can be spotted if you know common clues" (Arizona Republic)"Proper Criticism" by Ray HymanUpcoming MeetingsPhoenix Skeptics News vol. 1, no. 3, November/December 1987: October Meeting: Halloween party at Hans Sebald'sNovember Meeting: James Randi psychic surgery video, Randy Jones on psychic surgeryPapers ignore disclaimer request on astrology columnsFlyers neededPsychic fair"Focus on You" by Jim Lippard"Channeling: Believe It or Not" by Hans Sebald, Ph.D."Book Review: The Faith Healers by James Randi" reviewed by Jim Lippard"On the distinction between nonbelief and disbelief" by Hans Sebald, Ph.D."Book Review: The Psychology of Transcendence by Andrew Neher" reviewed by Jim LippardEditor's RamblingsUpcoming MeetingsPhoenix Skeptics News vol. 1, no. 4, January/February 1988: December Meeting: Jim Speiser and Marge Christenson of MUFONJanuary Meeting: Robert Dietz of ASU on creationismPhilip Klass LectureSkeptics ReorganizedSkeptics subcommittees formed"Peter Popoff Came to Town" by Jim Lippard"Towards a more effective organization" by Bob Guzley"Update on the Radiocarbon Dating of the Shroud of Turin" by Jim LippardNew Phone NumberEditor's RamblingsUpcoming MeetingsPhoenix Skeptics News vol. 1, no. 5, March/April 1988: Important Announcement!February Meeting: Jeff Jacobsen on ScientologyPhilip Klass LectureMarch Meeting: Mike Stackpole on claimed dangers of D&DThe Organization Explained!"Frank Baranowski: Promoter of the Paranormal" by Jim Lippard"Book Review: The New Inquisition by Robert Anton Wilson" reviewed by Jim Lippard"Robert Anton Wilson and the H.E.A.D. Revolution" by Zak WoodruffEditor's RamblingsUpcoming MeetingsPhoenix Skeptics News, vol. 1, no. 6, May/June 1988: April Meeting: James Lowell on Mexican cancer clinicsMay Meeting: Jim Lippard on psychic detectivesPress coverage"Turin Shroud Update" by Jim Lippard"Dr. Stranges Lives Up to His Name" by Mike Stackpole"Near-Death Experiences and TV" by Jim Lippard"An Artistic 'Phenom'" by Ted Karren"Psychic Detectives" by Jim LippardEditor's Ramblings"TUSKS Tips" by Ken MorseUpcoming MeetingsThe last issue of this volume was the first one also distributed to the Tucson Skeptical Society (TUSKS), and prompted a change of name to The Arizona Skeptic beginning with volume 2. This was also about the time I moved to Tucson to attend graduate school at the University of Arizona (August 1988).

Robert Anton Wilson, co-author of the Illuminatus! trilogy (which was the inspiration for my domain name and computer naming scheme on my home network), is now bedridden and under 24-hour care. Some fans on the Internet have helped him raise funds for his continuing care, and you can buy a Robert Anton Wilson T-shirt to help out. UPDATE (January 11, 2007): Robert Anton Wilson died this morning at 4:50 a.m., PST. Jesse Walker reports on his final blog post, and Brian Doherty offers some interesting reflections. Though my only published writing about Robert Anton Wilson was rather critical, I greatly enjoyed and own most of his published work. UPDATE (January 12, 2007): And there’s more from Nick Gillespie here. ...