4.25 stars This is a nonfiction book by Alexis Madrigal, of the Containers podcast about Oakland and how it's been influenced by the trade in the Pacific Circuit over the last 85ish years. I'd listened to the podcast (it's very good, you should too) and was a little worried that there would be too much overlap, but though the title suggests that the focus will be on trade around the pacific (like the podcast) the book is about Oakland through the lens of the port and trade.

Maybe a focus group said that the pacific thing would sell better, but personally I found it even more interesting than expected because of the depth of information about Oakland through the years. Madrigal adeptly transitions between a first person narration of his research to accounts of individual stories, to discussions of macro conditions in a way that kept me consistently engaged. We follow organizers and developer through the evolution of their careers and see the difference between intent and impact for various programs and projects over the years. The way that policies have damaged the lives of black people, through finances, physical health, education and more is a through line in the book. To make this point, Madrigal does a great job telling stories about individual Oakland events and pulling back to illustrate that these phenomenon were and are repeated throughout the country.

I listened to this on audio, narrated by the author. It's very well done, as you can expect from someone who has had a successful podcast.

Madrigal lost me a bit on the parts of the book that were more contemporary, largely because the information wasn't as new to me as a Bay Area lifer who reads the news. With that said, I still found the book to be worthwhile, educational, and interesting and I recommend it for anyone who is interested in life in diverse cities and how they got that way. (That should be everyone.)

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for an advanced listening copy for unbiased review.