It’s Flag Day, & let’s counter the dumpster fire at one of our most historic public sites with all the great public scholarly writing, podcasts, new & forthcoming books in my 280th #ScholarSunday thread! Add more below, share widely, & enjoy, all!
Starting with a shout-out to Doug Sackman, who figured out the most recent Easter Egg hunt! Doug writes, “Let’s highlight two recent pieces, that are strangely linked through Henry Adams and because the proofs and publication of both happened to be on the same days. My essay on legendary Puyallup leader Ramona Bennett Bill’s memoir, and the AHA Perspectives AI piece you already highlighted asking ‘Where are we driving.’”
No new Easter Egg hunt this week, but keep an eye for their return soon!
Articles:
Beginning with a great essay for the ongoing Pride celebrations, Izzy Ramirez for L.A. Taco on why growing up gay in a macho Latino world has lead him to defend this important month.
A pair of excellent essays for the Pittsburgh Review of Books to share, including Timothy Haggerty on the lessons & limitations of an 1899 anti-Andrew Carnegie publication, and Beryl Satter on a pair of 1967 books that model non-exploitative forms of neighborhood revival.
The latter is one of a number of compelling pieces on urban spaces this week, including David S. Rotenstein for his Next Pittsburgh column on the time when mobile grocery trucks filled the city’s streets.
Zehra Betül Atasoy wrote for the Urban History Association’s Metropole on the policing of women in Istanbul’s early 20C fire-ravaged zones.
Speaking of Istanbul, Sophie Fullerton wrote for Türkiye Today on the city’s Ebe Hanim Street, long home of cultural exiles like James Baldwin.
While Abigail Fenton wrote for NiCHE Canada’s Assembling a City project on the 19C politician & journalist William Lyon Mackenzie in the city’s Customs House.
For Public Books, Ria Banerjee put Virginia Woolf in conversation with a MoMA retrospective on the filmmaker Chantal Akerman.
Over at JSTOR Daily, Matthew Wills told the compelling take on the Galileo forgery that was one of the rare-book world’s most audacious scams.
While for the History Workshop, Sam Young wrote about Catholicism & the working class in interwar France. & speaking of the History Workshop, check out Henrike Vellinga on collaborative digital histories of global peace movements.
Two open-access academic publications to share this week, including Alfred L. Martin Jr. for the European Journal of Cultural Studies on how the concept of “matching energy” can end reception studies’ frustrating racial ambivalence.
While Anna Cant wrote for Gender & History on Catholic values & gender politics in the 1970s Colombian mass media.
Four columns from Saturday Evening Post colleagues to share this week, including Caroline Eubanks on the forced Florida exile of Geronimo & fellow Apache warriors.
Firefighter Jordan Thomas wrote for the Post about his experiences fighting an impossible megafire in Sequoia National Forest.
Also for the Post, film reviewer Bill Newcott shared an excerpt from his new book Divided We Stand: A Road Trip in Search of the Ties That Bind Ordinary Americans No Matter What.
& I always enjoy the “From the Archive” Post column, this time featuring a 1946 story on the joke-novelty entrepreneur Sam Adams.
Current Events:
Turning to current events writing & following up a topic from last week’s thread, David Gilbert wrote for Wired on Greg Bovino’s featured role at a far-right conference in Portugal.
For Balls & Strikes, Madiba K. Dennie wrote about how the Delaney Hall anti-ICE strike is exposing a massive Thirteenth Amendment crisis.
I appreciate the Journal of the Early Republic Panorama’s ongoing effort to track federal government erasures of history, this time focusing on the removal of quotes from Boston’s Bunker Hill Monument.
Speaking of those destructive erasures, vital Clint Smith essay in The Atlantic (that’s a gift link) on the experiences of Black military patriots, past & present.
Michael Phillips, Rick Halperin, & Hadi Jawad wrote for the Dallas Observer on the disturbingly familiar racist protests at the Karmelo Anthony trial.
Speaking of Texas, Meredith Conroy wrote for her Gender Gap newsletter on how the “Low-T Talarico” smears are a new spin on an old strategy.
For his Minnesota Star Tribune column (that’s a gift link), David M. Perry shared his family’s experiences to counter the misinformation about Down syndrome spread by an influence couple.
Speaking of must-read columnists, here’s Will Bunch for the Philadelphia Inquirer (also a gift link) on how the establishment is targeting citizens fighting data centers. & Bunch also wrote this week on the horrifying story of a Vietnam War child refugee who died in ICE custody.
For a more positive layer to data center protests, here’s Tressie McMillan Cottom for the New York Times (another gift link) on how they could be a winning issue for Democrats.
While SAGE GRAY (Walter D. Greason) shared an open-access version of his new article on the Pope’s Encyclical & a new sanctuary from the tech of our era.
I really appreciate retired Captain Roger Herbert for the Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute on why academic freedom is a national security imperative.
Four excellent articles for Liberal Currents to share this week: Cathryn Townsend on the eugenics work of Epstein’s gifted scientists; Matthew McManus on how Adrian Woolridge’s book The Revolutionary Center imbodies centrism’s failings; Adam Gurri on how we should reject the petty politics of blood & soil for a more inclusive definition of cities & countries; & also check out the table of contents & a pre-order link for Gurri’s forthcoming edited collection, The Reconstruction Papers.
Gonna end this section with a bracing & beautiful Pittsburgh Review of Books essay, Kathy M. Newman on teaching the late, great Marjane Satrapi in dire times.
Podcasts:
Check out the first episode of a timely new podcast, State of Play (World Cup 26), featuring Jonathan W. Gray, Piara Power of the Fare network, & USMNT veteran Evan Whitfield.
Also new is the Noiser Podcast Network’s Founding Fathers: An American Dream, narrated by the great Clarke Peters & featuring the expertise of Benjamin Carp & many more.
I missed this fascinating City Reporter conversation, with hosts Harry Siegel & Asad Dandia interviewing Alan Mikhail on the contested story of the city’s first free Muslim who might well have helped found New York.
I also missed episode 3 of Alan Sepinwall & Kathryn VanArendonk’s TV is Good podcast, talking Love Island & Lost. & in this week’s episode 4, they discussed the new season of The Vampire Lestat & the complicated legacy of Buffy.
For the latest episode of her Silver Screen Sleuths podcast, Emily J. Edwards was joined by Michelle Kubitz to discuss Knives Out.
While for the new episode of his Pop Culture Basement podcast, Mike Jamison was joined by Bill Bere from the Batpod to talk all things Clue.
The new episode of the Michon Boston Group’s Revolution to Rights podcast features Cassandra Good & Sara Georgini on John & Abigail Adams, both the real figures & those in the 2008 miniseries.
The latest episode of Jerry Landry’s Presidencies of the United States podcast is part two of his series on the Monroe First Ladies.
Episode 103 of Kate Carpenter’s Drafting the Past features Charlotte Brooks on her new book, a group biography of six Chinese American siblings between New York & Shanghai.
Two new episodes of the History of Literature podcast this week, including Marjorie Garber on how literature spoke truth to power during the Red Scare, & Elisabeth Paling Funk on the Dutch roots of Washington Irving.
Speaking of the Cold War, the latest Cold War Conversations episode highlights CIA & MI6 covert action in Communist Albania.
While the new episode of Alycia Asai’s Civics & Coffee podcast traces the 20th century history of the personal computer.
For episode 204 of Axelbank Reports History & Today, Evan interviewed Hampton Sides about The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, & the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook.
For the latest episode of his Shipwrecks & Sea Dogs podcast, Rich Napolitano interviewed Eric Jay Dolin about his book on the wreck of the whaleship Mentor.
Speaking of wrecks, episode 4 of Blair Braverman’s What to Carry, What to Burn tells the story of the shipwrecked 19th century sailor Bob Holding.
I missed last week’s episode of Matt Gabriele’s American Medieval podcast, featuring Michael Livingston on the 100 Years War. & for this week’s episode, Matt was joined by Jennifer Jahner to discuss Roger Bacon & medieval techno-optimism.
Episode 80 of Waitman W. Beorn’s Holocaust History podcast features Laura Jockusch on Jewish revenge & the Holocaust.
Two new episodes this week of Great Political Fictions, a series for David Runciman’s History of Ideas podcast, including this one on Ursula Le Guin’s The Dispossessed, & this one on Graham Greene’s The Human Factor (& also a bonus Le Guin conversation with Luke Kemp).
For Books Ireland magazine’s latest Burning Books podcast, host Ruth McKee interviewed novelist & scholar Niamh Mac Cabe.
While for Public Boo/ks’ Writing Latinos podcast, host Geraldo Cadava interviewed Ada Ferrer about her new book Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter.
Turning to current events conversations, Steven Thrasher joined Democracy Now! to discuss his new book The Overseer Class, Palestine protests, DEI, & much more.
The latest episode of Dana R. Fisher’s Apocalyptic Optimist features Naomi Oreskes on how to challenge climate disinformation.
For the Center of Ballot Freedom’s This Old Democracy, host Micah Sifry interviewed Michael Latner on voting rights & proportional representation.
While for the latest episode of their The Oath & the Office podcast, John Fugelsang & Corey Brettschneider discussed Congressional pushback on Trump.
For her American Conversations podcast, Heather Cox Richardson interviewed Iowa Senate candidate Joshua Turek. & over at her Letters from an American newsletter, Heather launched the second week of short videos for the 250 to 250 Project.
For his America: The Story of the USA podcast, Liam Heffernan interviewed former Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan about the history of the National Archive.
& speaking of Shogan, check out her In Pursuit interview with Greg Jackson about history, storytelling, and what America can overcome.
In a similar vein, for her Say It With History podcast Holley Snaith interviewed Amanda Roper about women’s role in historic preservation efforts.
& for an interview with one of the women doing that work in the podcasting world, check out Unsung History’s Kelly Therese Pollock on Sebastian Arciszewski’s Talk That Pod.
I’ve completed Diamond in the Rough: Baseball, Bigotry, & the Battle for America, Season Two, but it’s some of the work I’m proudest of in my career, so you know I’m gonna keep sharing it! & thanks to Katherine Yngve for sharing a great baseball history piece, Tracey Compton for the Indiana Capital Chronicle on the Negro Leagues team the Indianapolis Clowns.
Books:
A handful of new books published this week, including two from UNC Press: Sharon Wilkins Conrad’s The Trinity: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, & Civil Rights in African American Memory; & Jonathan S. Coley & Golshan Golriz’s edited collection LGBTQ Religious Activism: Rethinking Identity, Faith, & Social Change.
Out this week from the University of Iowa Press is Cara Marta Messina’s Critical Fandom: Representations of Race, Gender, & Sexuality in Fan Fiction (& use code MESSINA40 for 40% off!).
While now out from UCL Press is Adam Crymble, Sarah Fox, Rachel Rich, & Lisa Smith’s The King’s Dinner: Family, Nation, & Identity on the British Table, 1760-1820.
& speaking of UCL Press, out & open-access is Maria Pia Donato, Elaine Leong, & Tillmann Taape’s edited collection Learning to Cut: Surgical Training & Practice, 1450-1800.
Out this coming Monday (June 15) from UNC Press is the Cumberland (North Carolina) County Public Library’s The Voices of Resolve: The Patriots of Liberty Point.
& here are four books out Tuesday (June 16): from Penn Press, Sari Altschuler’s Before Disability: A History of American Citizenship; from Harper Collins, Sarah J. Jackson’s A Second Sight: How the Wonder & Vision of Black Mediamakers Push America Towards Freedom; & two from UNC Press, including Pamela A. Popielarz’s Order of Business: The Golden Age of Fraternity & Its Legacy of Inequality, & Anna Krome-Lukens’ Strong State, Weak Links: Eugenics & the Southern Politics of Welfare.
Yale University Press have published a new excerpt from Ross Brooks’ Darwin & the Queer Origins of Life, forthcoming in September.
While the Pittsburgh Review of Books has an excerpt from another important forthcoming book, Ed Simon’s American Elegy: 250 Years of the Dis-United States of America.
& Public Books have an excerpt from Catherine Gander & Stefania Heim’s edited collection Beyond Ourselves: Contemporary Poets on Muriel Rukeyser.
For NiCHE Canada, Mary Baxter interviewed Stephen Lee Naish about his recent book Post-Catastrophe Film: Cinematic Visions in the Aftermath of Disaster.
Over at the New Republic, Paul Renfro reviewed Dylan Gottlieb’s Yuppies: The Bankers, Lawyers, Joggers, and Gourmands Who Conquered New York.
For the Financial Times, Guy Stagg reviewed The Traveller, Andrea Wulf’s new biography of 18th century author George Forster.
While for her History in the Margins blog, Pamela D. Toler reviewed Maria DiBattista’s Fast-Talking Dames.
& I’ll end this section with a timely book review, Nicolás Campisi for Public Books on Joel Horowitz’s The Creation of Modern Buenos Aires: Football, Civic Associations, Barrios, & Politics, 1912-1943.
Made by History (subscription required but inexpensive & well worth it):
Speaking of the World Cup, two pieces on it for the relaunched Made By History: E. Kyle Romero on the latest chapter in soccer’s American immigrant story; & Mattie Webb on whether the tournament can reduce U.S.-South African tensions.
E. Kyle Romero had a second Made By History post this week as well, on how despite birthright citizenship’s Constitutionality some American have always had to prove themselves worthy.
Also for Made By History, Mallory Hutchings-Tryon argued that The Secret Lives of Mormon Women shines a light on the complex history of Mormon women.
& finally for Made this week, here’s Felicia Angeja Viator on how the 1876 Centennial Exposition revealed a nation in crisis.
Newsletters and Blog Posts:
Gonna end with a bunch of excellent newsletters and blog posts as usual, including one I missed in late May, Ty Cashion for the USIH blog continuing the series on the changing intellectual landscape of Texas history.
Speaking of Texas history, for his newsletter Michael Phillips started a series on the battle over Confederate monuments in Dallas.
For her Good Politics/Bad Politics newsletter, Julia Azari traced lessons from how the American Right became so radicalized.
Over at her newsletter, Sherrilyn Ifill argued that our Constitution is not & has never been colorblind.
For his Civil War Memory newsletter, Kevin M. Levin connected Trump’s triumphal arch to Civil War monuments & the politics of memory.
While for her History Teaches… newsletter, Felicia Kornbluh excerpted & expanded upon her remarks to the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians on how we can rise from these ruins.
For his Hunter in a Farmer’s World newsletter, Thom Hartmann highlighted the buried finding in a new study of kids, ADHD, & screen time.
& for her Love Notes newsletter, Jenn. Jackson wrote about our need to tell the truth about Black women’s & girls’ experiences with community violence.
Turning to more historical subjects, for her newsletter Marianne Dhenin interviewed Ida Jones about how the Black School Movement shaped America.
For his Looking Through the Past newsletter, George Dillard wrote about how the evolution of playground design reveals our evolving ideas about childhood.
While the latest installment of the In Pursuit newsletter featuring the great Annette Gordon-Reed on the awful Andrew Johnson.
I missed my colleague Steve Edwards’ latest newsletter on how we can reclaim the writing life.
While for the third installment of her Feminist Giant Fucking Fabulous series, Mona Eltahawy wrote about the benefits of talking to the trees.
For his Exploring Art History newsletter, Howard Burton argued for embracing uncertainty & taking another look.
Gonna end with a bunch of cultural studies work as ever, including Surekha Davies for her Strange & Wondrous newsletter on reading medieval maps & exhibitions in Paris this summer.
For RogerEbert.com, Marya E. Gates interviewed the legendary John Waters on how humor can be a weapon in times like these.
Two excellent pieces on Backrooms to share, including Colin Dickey for the Oakland Review of Books on how the Bay Area is emerging as a horror setting, & Kathleen Davies for the Pittsburgh Review of Books on the terror of midlife.
For her Vitaphone Zone newsletter, Sophia D’Aurelio wrote about the tragedies & marketing of the parallel deaths of Jean Harlow & Marilyn Monroe. (I also wrote about the responses to Monroe’s death as part of my blog series on her centennial last week.)
& speaking of Monroe, check out Vaughn Joy’s latest fantastic Review Roulette newsletter, on Some Like It Hot.
Can’t get enough public scholarship? Here’s the 57th installment of Dion Georgiou’s Stop, Look, & Listen round-up for his Academic Bubble newsletter.
I have to conclude with some sad in memoriam pieces. First, three of the many thoughtful takes on Gordon Wood’s death: Josh Marshall for his Talking Points Memo; Kaelyn Grace Apple for the Pittsburgh Review of Books; & David Waldstreicher for The New Republic.
& my Fitchburg State University community is deeply saddened by the tragic passing of our colleague Zachary Miner.
PS. I’m sure I missed plenty as ever, so please share more public scholarly writing, podcasts, new & forthcoming books below. Thanks, & happy reading, listening, & learning, all!
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