Paul Cooper traces how civilizations rose and collapsed, focusing on the people who lived through their final years and what their experiences reveal about power, survival, and change.
Beyond the screenGym · road · trail · shelf
- Hikes logged
- 07
- Race days
- 06
What I’m reading, listening to, and watching, alongside training and time outdoors.
- Mt Kilimambogo
- Table Mountain
- Mt Satima
- Ngong Hills
- Mt Kenya
- Mt Longonot
- Elephant Hill
01 / Off the clock73 entries
A few things I’m into.
Books, a good conversation in my headphones, something to watch, and time to move.
The reading shelfHistory, fiction & the occasional detour
Four friends build their lives in New York, with the story gradually centring on Jude and the childhood trauma he carries into adulthood. A novel about friendship, suffering, and the limits of love.
Barrington Walker, a 74-year-old Antiguan man living in London, considers leaving his marriage for Morris, his lifelong secret lover. A funny, tender story about sexuality, family, and the cost of hiding who you are.
Through Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, and No Longer at Ease, Achebe follows Nigerian lives across colonial upheaval and the approach of independence, exploring clashes between tradition, authority, and personal ambition.
Farm animals overthrow their owner in pursuit of equality, only for the pigs to build another oppressive regime. Orwell’s political fable shows how propaganda and unchecked power can betray a revolution’s promises.
A guide to the trade-offs behind reliable data systems, from storage and replication to transactions, distributed systems, and batch and stream processing.
An idealistic teacher, Odili, takes on his former mentor, a charismatic but corrupt politician. Achebe’s satire explores power, patronage, and the uneasy boundary between conviction and personal ambition.
A family saga following the rise of the Blackwell dynasty, from South African diamond wealth to an international business empire. At its centre is Kate Blackwell, whose ambition and control shape generations.
Twenty stories about arguments between partners, where everyday disagreements reveal deeper tensions around love, pride, and expectations. Biko finds humor and vulnerability in the things couples fight about.
A sweeping account of human history, from early hunter-gatherers to agriculture, empires, and modern science. Harari examines how shared beliefs and large-scale cooperation helped shape the world we inhabit.
The final chapter of Follett’s Century Trilogy follows interconnected families through the Cold War, civil rights, and the political upheavals that shaped the late twentieth century.
A reflective guide to the Japanese concept of ikigai, focusing on purpose, habits, community, and daily routines that support a meaningful life.
Past reads 11
- , Hanya Yanagihara
- , Bernardine Evaristo
- , Chinua Achebe
- , George Orwell
- , Martin Kleppmann
- , Chinua Achebe
- , Sidney Sheldon
- , Jackson Biko
- , Yuval Noah Harari
- , Ken Follett
- , Héctor García & Francesc Miralles
Pick a spine to explore · Scroll for more →
In my headphonesEngineering · business · history · wellness
Curiosity, context,
and a better angle.
The lives, ambitions, and abuses of power behind history’s dictators.
Advice on the human side of software: careers, communication, and working with other people.
Global business news and the economic stories shaping everyday life.
Lessons from the biographies of entrepreneurs, exploring how they thought, built, and persevered.
Honest conversations with founders building profitable online businesses.
Python conversations, practical tips, and ideas from the wider developer community.
Inside software engineering at startups and large tech companies, with the people doing the work.
Conversations about programming, developer tools, and the changing work of building software.
Detailed technical interviews on software architecture, tools, and engineering practices.
Candid money stories and conversations that challenge common personal finance assumptions.
Open conversations about wealth, spending, and how money changes the way people live.
Sharp discussion of technology, business, and politics, from industry moves to the people in power.
Stories and behavioral science exploring the unseen patterns behind how we think and act.
Conversations about connection, purpose, and finding optimism in everyday life.
Long conversations with entrepreneurs, experts, and public figures about their work and lives.
Faith-based messages of encouragement, hope, and navigating life’s challenges.
Deep conversations with Jane Street engineers about the systems they build and the choices behind them.
Building a sustainable business through bootstrapping, audience building, and learning in public.
Conversations with founders and finance leaders about the products and ideas changing financial services.
Direct interviews with influential people across technology, politics, business, and culture.
An immersive account of Titanic’s maiden voyage, told through the lives of its passengers and crew.
Neuroscience-backed conversations and practical protocols on sleep, focus, stress, performance, and everyday health.
True-crime cases and forensic medicine stories that look at murder through the lens of evidence, trauma, and the justice system.
Deep dives into internal developer platforms, developer experience, cloud architecture, and the teams shaping how software gets built.
Startup stories, raw founder ideas, and conversations about the habits, bets, and customer insight behind fast-moving businesses.
Big tech talk, product reactions, and the culture behind the biggest launches in consumer electronics and software.
Dark folklore, mythology, and historical stories that turn the eerie corners of human culture into captivating narrative history.
Tales of strange history, oddball folklore, and the unsettling stories that make the past feel a little more haunted.
History episodes exploring how empires, cities, and societies collapsed and what their final chapters reveal about power, error, and survival.
Narrated corporate rivalries and the strategic battles that shaped modern business, from branding to disruption to market domination.
Matirí Ngemi is a podcast discussing, exploring and researching the Agikuyu culture, history and heritage.
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On screenFilms & shows
● NowCurrently watching
MobLand
Recently & previously watched 29
East of Eden
Game of Thrones
David Benioff & D. B. Weiss
House of the Dragon
Ryan Condal
The Lord of the Rings
Peter Jackson
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
David Fincher
Good Will Hunting
Gus Van Sant
The Odyssey
Christopher Nolan
Chernobyl
Craig Mazin
How I Met Your Mother
Carter Bays & Craig Thomas
The Great Gatsby
Baz Luhrmann
Shutter Island
Martin Scorsese
Inception
Christopher Nolan
Dark
Baran bo Odar & Jantje Friese
Predestination
The Spierig Brothers
Ex Machina
Alex Garland
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Michel Gondry
The Truman Show
Peter Weir
Papillon
Franklin J. Schaffner
The Shawshank Redemption
Frank Darabont
Knives Out
Rian Johnson
Mr. Robot
Sam Esmail
The Penguin
Lauren LeFranc
Primal Fear
Gregory Hoblit
The Hateful Eight
Quentin Tarantino
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Quentin Tarantino
Babylon (2022)
Damien Chazelle
The Game (1997)
David Fincher
Basic Instinct
Paul Verhoeven
Se7en (1995)
David Fincher
Keeping movingGym · road · trail
Training & time outdoors
Gym sessions and running are part of my week. I keep a log of the hikes and races here, too.
02 / On the trail07 entries
Hikes
Forest paths, open moorland, and a little altitude.
01
Aberdares, Kenya
Elephant Hill
Forest & moorland18 km
A steep Aberdare climb through forest and bamboo, opening out into high moorland.
02
Rift Valley, Kenya
Mt Longonot
Volcanic ridgesApprox. 13.5 km
A volcanic landscape of steep slopes and a forest-filled crater, with wide views across the Rift Valley. Distance includes the full crater circuit and return to the gate.
03
Kenya
Mt Kenya
Alpine landscape
Forest, open moorland and rugged alpine terrain beneath Kenya’s highest peaks.
04
Kenya
Ngong Hills
Rolling ridgelines
A succession of grassy hills and open ridgelines overlooking the Rift Valley.
05
Aberdares, Kenya
Mt Satima
High moorlandApprox. 14–16 km
Open moorland and rocky outcrops around the highest point in the Aberdare Range. Approximate round-trip distance via Dragon’s Teeth.
06
Aberdares, Kenya
Table Mountain
Plateau & ridgelines
An Aberdare hike known for its broad, table-like summit and views over the surrounding highlands.
07
Ol Donyo Sabuk, Kenya
Mt Kilimambogo
Forested slopesApprox. 18 km
A forested mountain rising above the surrounding plains, with a steady climb towards panoramic views. Distance is the round trip from the park gate to the summit.
03 / On the road06 race days
Runs
Two events. Six race days. A reason to keep moving.
Half marathonNairobi, Kenya
21km
Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon
A city road race bringing runners together on the streets of Nairobi. Four editions of the half-marathon distance.
- October 2021
- October 2022
- October 2023
- October 2025
Half marathonMoshi, Tanzania
21km
Kilimanjaro Marathon
A road race in Moshi at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, with the mountain providing a distinctive backdrop.
- 2024
- 2026