Fake News Friday, 01/02/2026: Looking back on 2025’s reading list, and more on Christmas Eve code 03s

I have a New Years tradition. On January 1^st, I make an effort to read one book cover-to-cover. It’s rarely a serious book. (Yesterday, I read Brigands & Breadknives.) But I imagine that reading any book in its entirety sets the right tone for the new year. Nowadays, we are confronted with far too many conflicting versions of reality. It’s hard to know what’s true and what’s false. It’s easy to dismiss sources that don’t conform to your preconceived reality. It’s even easier to stop believing in anything. But apathy is never the answer. Instead, I agree with Ada Palmer’s assessment. The only solution is to read more books!

If I had to recommend just one book from last year’s reading list, it would be hers. Inventing the Renaissance may seem like an odd choice, but I found Ada Palmer’s 650-page “history of histories” immediately relevant. Palmer is not interested in advancing any particular history of the Renaissance. Instead, Inventing the Renaissance tells a “history of histories.” Palmer examines how people approach the Renaissance with a limited “palette of questions.” The questions we think to ask are often more influential on our worldview than any objective truth. Throughout Inventing the Renaissance, Palmer develops a framework for understanding how two versions of history can actually be true at the same time. For me, this has made understanding the present moment much easier.

Management only issued Christmas Eve Code 03s to the second shift. This was because the second shift was in the unique position of having to work until Christmas Day. It does not sound like senior management intended for so many people to take advantage of the offer. But once it got out that any second shifter who asked could have a Code 03, word spread fast.

I am glad the second shift benefitted, but this approach was unfair to everyone. Besides being cruel to our members, there are other reasons we should have a formal shutdown. For one, a formal shutdown structures time off around the holidays. It is much easier for managers to plan around Code 14s than last-minute Code 03s. Code 03s also dilute worker power. Code 03s allow managers to excuse time on a case-by-case basis. The union never intended for Code 03s to replace other absence codes. Replacing Codes 14, 7W, and so forth with 03s upsets the balance of power between the union and management.