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https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ixS0zzpAIk5MWcVmbCxB9duwJ5-g5aWJUVKoFbsoJ4A/htmlview

This is the Google doc for all book mentions. I had the link saved from a while ago, but appears the person who made it has been keeping it up to date.

Very very detailed spreadsheet

Moynihan apparently is responsible for roughly 1/2 of all unique book mentions and also about 1/2 of all mentioned in general.

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They also keep the Patreon up to date (so I assume they are here on Substack)

Some extra searching.. the person who runs that spreadsheet is from r/WeTheFifth subreddit. Thank you u/TheKnightLife!!

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hey that's me u/TheKnightLife

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The OG Reading List make lol

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Though I can't take credit for starting the spreadsheet, I have been updating it since around February of this year. I've been a listener since late 2020, heard mention of a listener created book list, and after a quick search found it on a reddit thread as you mentioned. I saw that it had been abandoned around episode 170. Decided it would be a fun project to listen to the entire archive and bring the sheet up to date. Of the roughly 400 episodes (public & patreon/subtack dispatches) a little over 50% have been cataloged. Hope this is a useful resource for others looking for a good read!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ixS0zzpAIk5MWcVmbCxB9duwJ5-g5aWJUVKoFbsoJ4A/edit#gid=0

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So I'm Trey from patreon I picked up the reading list from (Bill) u/TheKnightLifefor little while back in 2019 - 2020 and created a version of it. My version of the reading list has the first 16 Patreon/Subscriber shows that your list is missing. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LWM8QaciZwQNcGGMgD7n_Xk6MtfdfV4d3DFtvpH7DAk/edit#gid=2065028563

I also believe I have some of the regular episodes you are missing I'll look through Evernote to see if I can find them.

If you need any help with the reading list or merging let me know!

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Trey this is great, thanks! I love how this list has survived being picked up and abandoned so many times. No doubt there is someone else out there that has a slew of episodes cataloged that we haven't completed yet. I'm going to work on merging this into the one with the graphs sheet. One day all the gaps will be filled in!

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Oh ok that sounds more in line with my memory!

I remember seeing that it was a bit out of date but saved it anyway bc it was full of books and I thought that I would try to fill it in as I listened to the backlog. I’m lazy though i never made notes as I binged thru the archives (still doing). At least you actually put the work in and have been updating it.

Random but people out there might like this app...There is a podcast app called “Airr” which is amazing for noting spots in a podcast with just a triple press on ur headphones. It has really cool automated export feature to twitter, notion and Readwise among other apps. However, it lacks some features that I like on pocketcasts so I only use it occasionally.

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Thanks so much to those who’ve kept this doc going! For whenever the big merge happens, I heard a title mentioned in special dispatch #2, dated Nov. 24, 2019, at around 59:00 mark-- “Holy Land” by DJ Waldie. Recommended by Welch. Tried finding it in the doc but didn’t see it

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I already like it better here, and late is always preferable to never. Thanks Matt! See you guys soon in NYC

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You guys talked about little known Revolutionary War spots in Brooklyn, gives me a chance to shove the book I’m almost done with in your faces since it’s so well done . “Almost a Miracle” by John Ferling is so good about not just the war but the reactions and fallout with the British Parliament. Think it’s pretty well known but it’s so damn great, and if you’re interested and the war, check it out if you haven’t.

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I, too, have Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, and haven't finished it. I have, however, read the Christopher Hitchens introduction to my Penguin edition two or three times.

I did, however, finish and can recommend Garden, Ashes, by Danilo Kiš, who was born in what is today Serbia. It is bleak but excellent.

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Anytime Sam Power is mentioned, I’m contractually obligated to mention that we went to high school together. She had great parties at her house, which was called the “castle house” because it had these weird turret things going on despite not being particularly ornate inside or out. Many years later, we passed each other on the streets of DC and and did the movie thing where we both stopped, turned around slowly, and caught up for a while.

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Echoing Jeff, it is already better here

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Welcome to the Substack dark side!

For a very small, weird moment in the history of Yugoslavia, this is a fun read (although there have, in fact, been *many* much worse cars). https://www.amazon.ca/Yugo-Rise-Fall-Worst-History/dp/0809098954

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I got cussed out by a nice (looking) Slovakian girl at in a bar in Denmark once for saying that she was from “Eastern Europe”. Her response was basically “look at a map dickhead”.

I was politely informed that the Visegrad 4 and Yugos are “Central Europe”. Eastern Europe means Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, etc. When I told her that Americans think Finland is Western Europe but Estonia is Eastern Europe she had finally heard enough nonsense and walked off.

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You were both right! Though she was being a dick about it.

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What’s the protocol for sending non-post-specific messages? Email? Not missing Patreon at all, but there you could comment on episodes/posts but also send direct messages. What is the equivalent mode of communication on Substack? Seems like email was (deservedly) derided before but the direct message option, unless I’m an idiot (probable), doesn’t exist here.

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We can now email them at : wethefifth@substack.com

Not sure how they will filter out the extra poors from us normals tho now. Besides that, there are so many pros to sending emails for images (😉) and links etc

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Good points all! Thanks

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Your description of your Bosnian roommate reminds me of my time in Yerevan. A medical doctor, employed as a driver, telling me how all Armenians are kings just as a (knockoff?) Jeep blows by the standstill traffic by driving onto the curb and down the sidewalk. The good doctor stops his pro-Armenian lecture, points at the Jeep barreling down the sidewalk (now in the distance) and exclaims “You see! Kings! The man has somewhere to be, he makes his own road!”

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Already getting my money's worth.

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SEE???

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I was never really in doubt. When have any of you ever disappointed?

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Uh....

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We love you jussst the wayyy you arrre...

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Don't answer that!

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Hey I got this started on the subreddit but apparently Trey has kept it going. Cool to see someone taking care of it.

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I'm headed to Serbia at the beginning of June for work, is Balkan Ghost a good flight read?

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Yeah, though you might want to go looking for something more recent! It was basically a 1985-91 type book, which is super helpful, but I think you want to read more about the war & aftermath.

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Categorization of people into rigid groups seems to have this spiral into violent insanity thing, no matter what context it is tried in.

Funny how it is expressed in bars of peaceful cities too. Once had a German in Munich get emotionally offended on the suggestion their name might be Polish. "NEVER call a German Polish!"

Silly Americans and their un-focus on ethnic history... oh nm. Woops.

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Heya! Sorry to go off topic (I love book rec fwiw) but I haven’t seen a link to the Fifth NYC hangout. Did that go live yet? Just want to make sure I don’t get shut out. Thanks and love the Substack!

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Do you have any recommendations on Documentaries that cover this subject? I would like to do some reading on it but feel like I want to start with a documentary that covers this subject to watch with my girlfriend.

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