Vaclav Smile knows his stuff. I’ve read a few of his popculture oriented books (Making the Modern World, etc.). He is coherent, relatively unbiased, and well researched. When he speaks, important people usually listen. For example: I learned about him because Bill Gates recommended his books…

Also, as a tangent: I suspect that the photo in the article was taken at the Leaf Botanical Gardens in Winnipeg. Half the city has a profile photo taken in those gardens. Great backdrops there haha. E: whoops, it’s at the predecessor to the Leaf, which is now decommissioned…