About BMB
At Bare Minimum Books, we follow Einstein’s advice:
Make things as simple as possible, but no simpler.
Each book can be read in a single sitting. Each page contains a single idea.
When you get to the end of a book, something about the world will make sense, where it didn’t before. You will have been both edified, and entertained.
About Ian Underwood
Ian Underwood has been a planetary scientist and artificial intelligence researcher for NASA, the director of the renowned Ask Dr. Math service, co-founder of Bardo Farm and Shaolin Rifleworks, and a popular speaker at liberty-related events. He lives in Croydon, New Hampshire.
About the Celtic Knots
Celtic knots provide a generative theme, so people can spot my books from a dozen paces. I have a vaguely Celtic background, so Celtic knots seemed appropriate. Sometimes they can be suggestive — for example, the knot for Barefoot Learning looks kind of like a pair of sandals, and the knot for XIV looks sort of like it’s ready to eat something. But mainly, Celtic knots seem complicated on the surface, but have an underlying simplicity that you can see once you know to look for it — much like the subjects that I write about.
Selected Podcast Appearances
Free State Live (video, April 25, 2022, 1 hour) with Justin O'Donnell, Jeremy Kauffman, Carla Gericke
Covers the Croydon budget battle, which Ian instigated at Croydon’s 2022 annual district meeting.
Gushing introduction of Ian starts at 01:50.
Podcast: Free State Live #26: "Cutting the Budget" feat with Ian Underwood
Free Talk Live (audio, August 20, 2022, 30 minutes) with Ian Freeman, digest form.
This podcast is partly about the budget battle in Croydon, and partly about Ian’s book XIV: How the Fourteenth Amendment Ate the First Ten. The book explains a technical, arcane subject that affects everyone in a way that’s easy for everyone to understand.
Jump into the beginning of a conversation at 01:15. Ian’s interview goes for about a half hour, until 32:00.
NBC Boston Docuseries on the Free State Project (video, February 20, 2023, 13 minutes)
Episode 5 starts with Ian shooting on our home range and musing about the proper relationship between a citizen and a government, and in particular why we use tax dollars to pay for school.
Podcast: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of New Hampshire, Episode 5 (Croydon, Part 1).
GrokTalk (audio, January 25, 2014; popular with NH conservatives and libertarians, 30 minutes) with Steve MacDonald
This was Ian’s first-ever podcast appearance.
Ian entered public life when he gave testimony on a gun-rights bill. His testimony took an angle on things that no one had ever thought of, and people were amazed by it. He was on the show many times after that.
Ian is introduced at 02:15. He's on the last segment, which starts at 01:30:33.
Podcast: GrokTalk 2014 Jan 25
Girard At Large (video, February 24, 2019, 1 hour) with Jon DiPietro
This presentation became the basis for two of Ian’s books about education and funding, Rethinking Fairness in Education and The Libertarian Case for Public Schools.