Review: The attack of the killer fridges has begun

The world is ever more connected via the internet, from cars and power grids to home appliances and toys. That means ever more things are dangerously hackable, security expert Bruce Schneier writes in “Click Here to Kill Everybody.” The title is hyperbolic, but not by much. In some ways, the attack of the killer fridges has already begun. Here’s my review.

Review: The other side of Trumpismo

Mexico and the U.S. share complex, ever-deeper ties that contradict Donald Trump’s hostile rhetoric, Andrew Selee writes in “Vanishing Frontiers.” Bicultural businesses, movies and even co-hosting soccer’s 2026 World Cup are better signposts to the future than nationalist rants. Read my review.

Review: The next fight for Latin America’s soul

My review of Michael Reid’s excellent “Forgotten Continent: A History of the New Latin America.”

Dictators and demagogues have come and gone; progress in the region has been impressive. Still, rule of law and effective institutions still lack, Michael Reid writes in “Forgotten Continent.” That makes the next steps toward prosperity harder.

Review: To have and have not, Brazil-style

In “Brazillionaires,” Alex Cuadros explores Latin America’s biggest economy through its wealthiest citizens, whose fortunes he tracked as a reporter. It’s a tale of boom, bust and back-scratching among moguls and politicos that sheds a telling light on the nation’s current woes. Read my review.

Review: A cracking read

“Narconomics” by Tom Wainwright is both an extended black joke and a hard-headed analysis of the drug trade as a business (almost) like any other. A largely persuasive case for legalization, and funny to boot. Read my review.

Review: Dealmaking when lives are at stake

Financiers like to compare their negotiations to military strategy. Yet the art of the deal matters far more when those talking also kill. Jonathan Powell’s “Terrorists at the Table” is a primer like few others, by a worldly ex-diplomat of stubborn hope. It’s also darkly funny. Here’s my review.

Review: Modernizing Mexico, one feud at a time

Two Mexicos coexist, one an insular land of hard-to-kill monopolies in politics and business, the other more outward-looking, embracing modernity and even the United States. In “Amarres perros” pundit-politician Jorge Castañeda recalls a life of trying to change the balance. This is my review.

Review: Choking on digital exhaust

Government and corporate mass surveillance of citizens is an aberration on a par with child labor or environmental pollution, argues security expert Bruce Schneier in “Data and Goliath.” He offers a rousing call for resistance, and hope for change – a few decades hence. Read my review.

Review: Monetizing the moment

The Mad Men are watching you. Here’s my column on privacy and online ads in Mike Smith’s “Targeted.”

Review: Fixing the CIA – a novel approach

Could an outsider best reform the CIA in the wake of torture revelations? In David Ignatius’ novel “The Director,” a pro-privacy tech CEO tries to drag an agency that has lost its way into a new world of tighter rules, leaky secrets and cyberthreats. Good idea, uneven results. Read my review.