Live from Philly, where both LeBron & I took our talents this week, here’s my 286th #ScholarSunday thread of great writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, please share widely, & enjoy, all!
Articles:
Starting with a fascinating new resource shared by Eric Falquero of The 51st: a digital collection of historic photos from the District of Columbia Archives.
Speaking of historic images, Danny Robb wrote for JSTOR Daily on the debate among scientists when botanical illustrations were introduced.
Really interesting article from B. Jack Copeland for IEEE Spectrum on Colossus, the computer that cracked Germany’s codes & helped win WWII.
For Ernest Hemingway’s birthday, the folks at the Allen Ginsberg Project shared a piece on the literary & personal connections between those two 20C icons.
I really enjoyed Genna Duplisea’s essay in Contingent magazine on what we can learn from the grave & afterlife of Mercy, a young woman who died of TB in 1892.
& thanks to the folks at NiCHE Canada for resharing Patrick Callaway’s Age of Revolutions essay on American independence as a supply chain crisis in late 18C Nova Scotia.
A number of this thread’s favorite sites featured multiple great pieces this week, including two I’ll share from the Pittsburgh Review of Books: Joseph Kelly on the Jim Crow South & 20C fascism’s American origins; & Andrew H. Lee on the increasing commercialization (literally, in terms of targeted TV ads, as well as ideologically) of the World Cup.
Also a pair of essays from LitHub to share: Oliver Basciano on how leprosy was used as a weapon against Hawaii’s indigenous population; & Apache Chef Nephi Craig with an excerpt from their book on the power & importance of preserving Native cuisines.
Likewise a pair of essays for the History Workshop in this week’s thread: Lucy Clarke with a companion piece to her recent open-access article on arrests as performance in Early Modern England; & Ophélie Siméon on the radical feminist friendship between Anna Doyle Wheeler & Charles Fourier.
& three excellent pieces for Clio & the Contemporary this week: two from Tyler Peterson, including these reflections on Apollo in the age of Artemis, as well as his History of Spaceflight syllabus which he generously shared; while Ted Forsyth offered a guide to submitting Open Records requests in New York State & why it’s important.
Speaking of historic records, David S. Rotenstein wrote for his Pittsburgh City Paper column on what is gained & lost when a county shifts from paper to digital land records.
Thanks to Jack El-Hai for sharing an excellent recent essay that I missed, Alex Burness for Bolts magazine on the recent return of voting rights promises from the post-Civil War Readmission Acts.
& speaking of using historic texts to argue for contemporary rights, check out Antonia Marrero in Money on the Left offering a Shakespearean defense of the NYC Tenants’ Rights Movement.
A trio of columns from Saturday Evening Post colleague to share this week (ahead of my new Considering History column this coming week), including Bill Newcott on the Smithsonian’s new exhibit featuring 50 natural history items from the 50 states.
Robert Annis wrote for the Post on the Marc Adams School of Woodworking, where students are transforming ordinary furniture into generational heirlooms.
& Jeff Nilsson continued the series spotlighting Post stories from 100 years ago with a focus on golf mania, racing pace cars, & productivity.
Three open-access academic publications to share this week, including Nathan Cardon in Modern American History on Fanny Bullock Workman, transimperial travel, & temporal fantasies of European empire (h/t SAGE GRAY).
Also open-access is Byron Hyde in Public Understanding of Science on the political polarization of trust in science.
& likewise open-access is the AAUP’s vital new report Extorted Compliance: A Threat to Institutional Autonomy, Academic Freedom, & Shared Governance.
Current Events:
Gotta start this section with one of my favorite essays in a while, Brian Phillips for The Ringer with an ode to Spain, the competent kings of the World Cup.
Excellent essay from Megan Greenwell for Wired on what the “Mississippi Miracle” really reveals about kids & literacy.
For more in that vein, also check out Trevor Aleo for his Becoming Literary newsletter on why the moral panic machine is misdiagnosing “the end of reading.”
Over at his blog, W. Caleb McDaniel made a compelling case for why we should challenge the closures of regional branches of the National Archives.
I couldn’t agree more with the folks at Home of the Brave on why the disaster that was the Great American State Fair reminds us that Trump will never make beautiful.
Bracing & vital piece from Marianne Dhenin on the FBI’s deputization of local cops & how communities are resisting this overreach.
For the opposite side of that coin, here’s Robert P. Jones for Redeeming Democracy on three charts that reveal white Christian Nationalists’ love of ICE & concentration camps.
Over at Forever Wars, Spencer Ackerman made the case that ICE & the Trump administration’s fascism comprise the final form of the War of Terror.
While for the 239th installment of his One First, Steve Vladeck highlighted the Trump administration’s terrifying activation of the Alien Terrorist Removal Court.
For an inspiring collective challenge to such unfolding histories, check out Sarah Jones for The Daily on NYC’s “Good Trouble” march against ICE.
Over at the Columbia Journalism Review, Grace Benninghoff highlighted another voice of resistance to fascism, the journalist Antonio Sánchez.
While for the Halifax Examiner, Suzanne Rent made the case that believing women is one key ingredient in the fight against these dangerous men.
& for Slate’s Jurisprudence column, Dahlia Lithwick laid out how the American people can reclaim the Constitution & the law from our monarchical Supreme Court.
In a similar vein, for one of his Liberal Currents Editor’s Notes Adam Gurri traced how we could amend the Constitution as the Reconstruction Congress did.
& speaking of Liberal Currents, another favorite piece from the week was Austin Albanese on historical models for the work of pluralism.
Podcasts:
Starting this section with a recent episode that I missed, episode 817 of the History of Literature podcast, featuring Daniel Mendelsohn & Mary Beard helping us get ready for The Odyssey. & for this week’s new episode, Jacke Wilson interviewed James Bailey about his bio of Muriel Spark.
Continuing with the cultural conversations, the latest episode of Emily J. Edwards’ Silver Screen Sleuths podcast features Mindy Carlson on the 1974 film adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express.
For their new TV is Good episode, Alan Sepinwall & Kathryn VanArendonk talked about two Anya Taylor-Joy vehicles, Lucky & The Queen’s Gambit.
The latest episode of Mike Jamison’s Pop Culture Basement podcast is a midsummer mail call, responding to audience feedback & previewing what’s next.
While for the Quest Quest video game history podcast, Jess Morrissette shared a syllabus for a class on Sierra adventure games.
& for the latest episode of her Say It With History podcast, Holley Snaith interviewed Alexandra Phillips about how a historic golf club shared the story of Palm Springs.
Continuing with more historical subjects, episode 447 of Liz Covart’s Ben Franklin’s World podcast features Geoff Benton & Michael Morand on the lesser-known Declaration drafters Robert Livingston & Roger Sherman.
For his America: The Story of the USA podcast, Liam Heffernan interviewed Andrew O’Shaughnessy about why Thomas Jefferson built the University of Virginia.
For her new Civics & Coffee podcast episode, Alycia Asai chatted with James O’Neil Spady about his new book Take Freedom & the history of slave uprisings.
& over at the American History Hit podcast, Christopher McKnight Nichols joined to discuss the early 20C birth of the US as a superpower.
Turning to more global topics, check out the first episode of Jon & Robin Briggs’ new Witches: Truth, Trials, & Terrors podcast, featuring Alison Rowlands on the ancient world’s supernatural beliefs.
Speaking of supernatural beliefs, thanks to the folks at The Blake Society for uploading Jodie Marley’s talk on William Blake’s Mysticism.
For his American Medieval podcast, Matt Gabriele was joined by Sarah Davis-Secord to discuss Medieval Sicily & the Mediterranean.
For his latest Shipwrecks & Sea Dogs podcast, Rich Napolitano discussed the epic WWII search for the German battleship Bismarck. & also check out his latest newsletter, on the 1920s gambling ship SS Johanna Smith that wouldn’t quite sink.
While over at his Holocaust History podcast, Waitman W. Beorn was joined by Elizabeth Hyman to talk about the girl bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto.
The latest episode of John Drabinksi’s Black Studies Podcast features UC Merced professor & scholar Nicosia Shakes.
While over at Qasim Rashid’s Let’s Address This podcast, he interviewed Malcolm X’s daughter Ilyasah Shabazz & Malik Yusef on what we can learn from struggle.
Continuing with current events convos, episode 3 of the Edible Empire podcast features Jonathan Robins, Farwiza Farhan, & Helena Varkkey on the colonial & postcolonial histories of oil palm.
The new episode of David Runciman’s History of Ideas Podcast features Jane Green on the pervasive myth that political leadership is most important at election time.
Over at Bradley Onishi’s Axis Daily Brief, Holly Berkeley Fletcher discussed the SAVE Act & evangelical election denial.
While for their The Oath & the Office podcast, John Fugelsang & Corey Brettschneider were joined by Democracy Forward CEO Skye Perryman to discuss Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund.
I really appreciate Joanne Freeman sharing part two of her conversations with resisters at the President’s House historic site in Philly.
Two new installments of Heather Cox Richardson’s American Conversations this week: this one with journalist Brian Tyler Cohen; & this one with Maryland Governor Wes Moore. & Heather also shared the latest 250 to 250 video shorts, featuring the voices of Joyce White Vance, Liza Donnelly, Jessica Knurick, & many more.
Books:
Thanks to Rachel Gunter for sharing an important recent release that I missed, Joseph L. Locke’s One State Under God: A History of Religion in Texas, out now from the University of Texas Press.
Also out now from the University of Chicago Press is Siri Carpenter’s fascinating edited collection The Best Science Stories & How They Work.
Forthcoming in September & available for pre-order from Princeton University Press is Sara McDougall’s Justice for Jehanne: The Tale of a Medieval Survivor.
& thanks to Nathan Ellstrand for sharing another forthcoming book, Lloyd D. Barba & Sergio M. González’s edited collection Sacred Refuge: New Histories of the US Sanctuary Movement, out in November from NYU Press.
The Pittsburgh Review of Books shared an excerpt from another new book, Steven B. Dolins & Gregory Donald Gay’s Can I Get a Witness! Faith, Family, + Chicago Gospel Music.
Over at her Academic Life newsletter, Christina Gessler talked with Mollie Barnes about her new book Paper Heroines: Women Writers in Conversation Across the Sea Islands, 1838-1902.
For NiCHE Canada, editor Jessica DeWitt interviewed Will Wright about his new book Borders of Biodiversity & rethinking conservation.
While for Public Books, Jacob Bruggeman interviewed Kevin Schultz about his new book Why Everyone Hates White Liberals (Including White Liberals). Also two Public Books reviews this week: Henry Ivry on Susan Zieger’s Logistics & Power: Supply Chains from Slavery to Space; & Ellen Mayock on José Teruel’s Carmen Martín Gaite: Una Biografía.
For the latest USIH book review, Jason Shaffer wrote about Richard Bell’s The American Revolution & the Fate of the World.
For the Pittsburgh Review of Books, Amy Gais reviewed Brandon M. Terry’s Shattered Dreams, Infinite Hope: A Tragic Vision of the Civil Right Movement.
Over at Constitutional Law’s Journal of Things We Like (Lots), Ilya Somin reviewed Anna O. Law’s Migration & the Origins of American Citizenship: African Americans, Native Americans, & Immigrants.
For Liberal Currents, Ivan Hodes reviewed Molly Crabapple’s Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund.
For the Asian Review of Books, Elizabeth Lawrence reviewed Durba Mitra’s The Future That Was: A History of Third World Feminism Against Authoritarianism.
While for NiCHE Canada, Mark McLaughlin reviewed James Murton’s Canadians & Their Natural Environment: A History.
For the 90th anniversary of the start of the Spanish Civil War, Mona Eltahawy shared reviews of two books on anarcho feminism, Martha Ackelsberg’s Free Women of Spain & Mary M. Talbot & Bryan Talbot’s The Red Virgin & the Vision of Utopia.
& check out the 114th installment of Mari Kreizman’s Maris Review, featuring Julie Buntin’s novel Famous Men & Colson Whitehead’s Cool Machine.
Made By History:
Three new pieces for Made By History this week: Jonathan D. Cohen on how prediction markets have shifted gambling lotteries from states to the federal government; Ilan Palacios Avineri on what Latin American history reveals about the effects & contexts of earthquakes; & Thomas DiGiovanni on how surfing came to the Jersey Shore.
Newsletters and Blog Posts:
Starting this concluding section with an important recently started newsletter that I had missed, Asheesh Kapur Siddique’s Cultural Knowledge.
& thanks to Asheesh for sharing another important recent post, Christopher Newfield on how universities must reinvent or die in the age of AI.
Over at his newsletter, Jonathan Burdick looked back at a series of Facebook videos from 2016 featuring historians warning about a Donald Trump presidency.
Two new posts from Karen L. Cox on her America & the Lost Cause newsletter this week: this one previewing Ava Duvernay’s forthcoming documentary 14th; & this one on what happens when a child inherits Lost Cause mythologies.
While Kevin M. Levin shared four new posts on his Civil War Memory newsletter this week, most drawn from a course he was teaching for educators in DC: this one on the Reflecting Pool & the view of America they don’t want us to see; this one on the teachers, rangers, & historians still willing to tell the truth, whatever the cost; this one on lessons from Kate Masur & Frederick Douglass about Reconstruction, contingency, & America; & this one drawn from his Robert Gould Shaw book, on the morning after the 54th’s assault on Fort Wagner.
Over at her History in the Margins blog, Pamela D. Toler dove into the life & legacy of the early 20C activist & journalist Mary Heaton Vorse.
For his Liberating Narratives blog, Bram Hubbell highlighted stories of indigenous resistance to Russian expansion in Siberia.
While for his Looking Through the Past newsletter, George Dillard focused on the 1940s moment when the West almost turned the emerging Cold War hot.
For her Loves Notes newsletter, Jenn M. Jackson wrote about the costs of “compassion fatigue” in Black disabled life.
Over at his Interminable Rambling blog, Matthew Teutch shared lessons from teaching a travel study course in Belfast on how the past impacts the present.
While for her Drafting the Past newsletter, Kate Carpenter offered a glimpse into one of the sources she’s using as she drafts her dissertation.
Gonna end with a bunch of cultural studies pieces as usual, including the latest Verbum Libere post, on the compelling contradictions of Charles Bukowski.
Over at his blog, John Gushue shared some thoughts on opera & the cultural trope of suddenly breaking into song.
For the Bright Wall/Dark Room issue on Summer Blockbusters, AJ McDougall wrote about Back to the Future.
While for his ongoing Summer of 1996 retrospective, Outlaw Vern wrote about the Gulf War drama Courage Under Fire.
Gonna share just three of the many excellent pieces on Nolan’s The Odyssey this week, including Curtis Dozier for the Pittsburgh Review of Books on the constraints of the past.
For her Meditations in an Emergency newsletter, Rebecca Solnit linked The Odyssey to the Tate brothers to think about Cassandras & misogyny, classical & modern.
& Vaughn Joy’s Review Roulette piece on the film, Oppenheimer, & the best & worst of cultural mythologies is one of her best yet!
Over at his Academic Bubble newsletter, Dion Georgiou continued his series on the Ugandan refugee turned Tory politician Ravi Govindia.
& if you want even more public scholarly goodness, check out the 63rd installment of Dion’s Stop, Look, & Listen newsletter.
PS. I’m sure Dion & I missed plenty as usual, so please share more writing, podcasts, books, & more below. Thanks, & once more from Philly, happy reading, listening, & learning, all!
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