Happy 250th, America! My gift to you, as is the tradition of course, is all the phenomenal public scholarly writing, podcasts, & books in my 283rd #ScholarSunday thread. Add more below, please share as widely as was the Declaration, & enjoy the intellectual fireworks, all!
First, congrats to SAGE GRAY (Walter D. Greason) for winning last week’s Mel Brooksian Easter Egg hunt. He asks y’all to check out “My new database on Black, immigrant, and Indigenous scientists and the places they lived in North America, 1910-1970. Here’s the link to my new essay on BLACK BRAIN BELT communities.”
No Easter Egg hunt this week, so just enjoy all the great public scholarship in this appropriately super-sized July 4th thread & keep an eye out for future hunts to get you & your work featured!
Articles:
I’ve got to start with just some of the many great essays this week for the 4th & the 250th, including a bunch of fantastic content for the Pittsburgh Review of Books: founder & editor Ed Simon’s piece offering a material culture close reading of the American Flag; Sean Murphy on the messy, beautiful mosaic of American identity at 250; Courtney Novosat on the much less beautiful propaganda of Freedom 250; Kathy M. Newman with a comparative perspective on the bicentennial & the 250th; Brook Wilensky-Lanford highlighting what Christian Nationalists get wrong about our origins; G. Thomas Couser on the Declaration of Independence as a captivity narrative; & Kangkang Kovacs with a thoughtful take on January 6th from an immigrant perspective.
I’m also proud & excited to have a piece of mine amongst all that great PRoB content, my sample syllabus of American critical patriotic texts & figures who have embodied that alternative perspective across our history. I likewise shared a weeklong blog series AmericanStudying the 250th, leading up to a weekend post on how we can respond to our current moment. (And I will also have a piece as part of the forthcoming latest NOTUS Forum, on historical figures we should all better remember—it’s not up as of this writing but I’ll add the link once it is!)
Lots of other great July 4th & 250th content to share as well, including a fully open-access issue of The Public Historian, focused on reconsidering the Revolution & edited by M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska.
For LitHub, Robert S. Levine argued that we should revisit Frederick Douglass’ 1867 speech “Sources of Danger” on this 4th of July.
For Age of Revolutions, Laura June Davis highlighted a collaborative student-faculty project mapping the Marquis de Lafayette’s journey through Georgia.
For his Pittsburgh City Paper column, David S. Rotenstein traced how the British General Braddock left his name & legacy across the state & nation despite his defeat.
While over at The Bulwark, Lindsay M. Chervinsky made the case for an American origin story in which more Americans can see themselves.
Gonna share gift links to four timely New York Times pieces this week, including: Jamelle Bouie’s latest must-read column, on the legacy of five Revolutionary words that changed America; Jason Farago with a close-read of the iconic but hard to really see Statue of Liberty; Lizzie Skurnick & photographer Lucy Lu with a travelogue of sites featuring Black soldiers from the Revolutionary War; & Ezra Klein in conversation with the great Bryan Stevenson about the America that is & the one that is still possible.
Turning to other excellent articles from the week, NiCHE Canada featured the final three pieces in their Queering the Environment—Queer Joy series: Georgina Gifford on sex worker joy; Isaac Thornley making the case for affective infrastructures for the climate-class conjuncture; & Tina Adcock’s conclusion to the series, on being surprised by queer joy.
For Clio & the Contemporary, Samantha Nyakundi wrote for the 50th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising on the Black Consciousness Movement & the politics of student protest in South Africa.
Over at Hyperallergic, Sarah E. Bond highlighted the results of an important study on how long human DNA can survive in cave paintings.
& for Contingent magazine, Anna Snyder argued for the vital (if understandably frustrating at times) work that historians do complicating things.
Three open-access publications to share this week, including an “Illinois & America250” special issue of the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (open-access for the month of July).
Also open-access are a number of the essays (highlighted on the table of contents) in a new “Politics at the Closing of the Cold War” special issue of OAH’s The American Historian.
& likewise open-access is Nichol Allen, Angela Little, Jeffrey T. Manuel, Ben Ostermeier, & Jason Stacy’s article reflecting on a decade of doing county-level digital history with the Madison Historical project.
A handful of columns from Saturday Evening Post colleagues to share this week (before my new Considering History column drops Monday): Teresa Bitler arguing that Will Rogers was the original influencer; Tanya Roth’s latest Women’s Work column, on the early 20C opportunities of the open road; Kristine Esser Sletnz with a July 4th ode to the hot dog’s American origins; Ryan Reft on the Declaration of Independence’s chaotic, collaborative, contentious origins; Einav Rabinovitch-Fox’s latest Common Threads column, on the commercialization of the Bicentennial; & a pair of fascinating pieces from the Post archive, including this 1947 column on the Declaration’s signers & this 1826 (!) one on the interconnected July 4th deaths of Jefferson & Adams.
Current Events:
Turning to current events writing, as you’d expect the week featured a ton of great essays on the Supreme Court’s latest controversial decisions, including Madiba K. Dennie for Balls & Strikes on the hugely frustrating duality of the Slaughter & Cook rulings.
Heba Gowayed wrote for The Guardian on how the Court’s TPS decision puts the lives of 13 million immigrant Americans in danger.
For her blog, Anna O. Law offered her expert perspective on the majority & dissent opinions in the Court’s birthright citizenship case. & Law also shared an excellent July 4th piece on what the Declaration said about migration & citizenship.
Over at The American Prospect, Felicia Kornbluh wrote about the zero-sum perspective behind the Court’s horrifying transgender sports decision.
While for Liberal Currents, Patrick J. Sobkowski argued that these Court rulings are part of an overarching war on Reconstruction.
Lots of current events writing on other issues to share this week as well, including David M. Perry for his Minnesota Star Tribune column (that’s a gift link) on what we can learn from Medieval Venice about how to remember our would-be autocrat once he leaves office.
Powerful stuff from Zeb Larson in Dame magazine tracing the manifold ways that Trumpism is destroying America’s civic morality.
For The American Prospect, former Monticello intern Bridget Gillespie shared chilling details of how the historic site responded to a right-wing smear campaign.
While for the Pittsburgh Review of Books, Rebecca Bratten Weiss argued that “woke” scholars are far more in touch with the western intellectual tradition than MAGAs could ever hope to be.
Speaking of the attacks on scholars & education, bracing & vital newsletter from John Heathershaw on the deepening crisis in Britain’s universities.
On the same crisis, also check out James Dyke for Technosphere Earth on the devastating effects of the cuts at the University of Exeter.
For another layer of those attacks on education & the humanities, here’s Surekha Davies on the “I only use AI for…” fallacy.
That’s a lot of bad news, so I want to end this section with a handful of more inspiring pieces, including Dana R. Fisher for Brookings on how solidarity through intersectionality propels mobilization.
For Liberal Currents, Saul Austerlitz highlighted a number of ways we can rebuild community in the age of Trump.
I loved this NPR All Things Considered report from Marissa J. Lang on how former National Park Rangers are teaching a canceled Black history exhibit at Harper’s Ferry.
For his Prism & Pen newsletter, James Dale offered empathetic words from his own Supreme Court defeat for transgender high schooler Becky Pepper-Jackson.
& for Religion News, Chloe Landen & Ellie Ashby reported on an inspiring pilgrimage to the Dilley detention center from survivors of a WWII Japanese American incarceration camp. (For more on those historical connections, see the Third Inning of my latest podcast season!)
Podcasts:
Speaking of podcasts, lots of excellent July 4th/250th episodes this week, including the latest for Kelly Therese Pollock’s Unsung History, featuring Emily Sneff on her new book on how the Declaration of Independence was publicized.
For the third part of the “How Independence Happened” series for Liz Covart’s Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Jane Calvert & Jonathan Gienapp discussed the Articles of Confederation.
For his America: The Story of the USA podcast, Liam Heffernan was joined by Lindsay M. Chervinsky to discuss the life & legacy of George Washington.
For the first of a monthlong series of America at 250 episodes of her Civics & Coffee podcast, Alycia Asai was joined by Ethan Healey to talk all things Revolutionary Memory.
& a pair of timely new episodes of Evan Axelbank’s Axelbank Reports History & Today podcast this week, including J.D. Dickey on his book Boston, 1776: A Rogue Tour of Revolution City, & Peter S. Onuf on his co-authored book Thomas Jefferson Survives: American Independence in His Time & Ours.
For the latest episode of his Presidencies of the United States podcast, Jerry Landry discussed James Monroe’s 1817 tour & the quest for national unity.
For their War of the Rebellion podcast, Niels Eichhorn & Andrew Houck interviewed Timothy Mason Roberts about his book After Barbary: Algeria’s Roles in the French & American Empires.
While for MSNOW’s Gaslit Nation podcast, Tad Stoermer joined to discuss his new book A Resistance History of the United States.
Turning to pop culture conversations, the latest episode of Mike Jamison’s Pop Culture Basement podcast features a ton of guests paying tribute to the legendary Mel Brooks on his 100th birthday.
For the new episode of her Silver Screen Sleuths podcast, Emily J. Edwards was joined by Cayce Osborne to discuss the 1983 TV pilot Travis McGee.
For the latest episode of the Cold War Cinema podcast, cohost Jason Christian interviewed Whitney Strub about Robert Kramer’s radical cinema.
Over at their TV is Good podcast, Alan Sepinwall & Kathryn VanArendonk discussed the new season of The Bear, paid tribute to James Burrows, & talked with Tatiana Maslany about the TV she loves.
For Ian Saxine & Tiffany Link’s Mainely History podcast, Andrew Holman joined to discuss the infamous 1965 World Heavyweight Championship match between Muhammad Ali & Sonny Liston in Lewiston.
While for the Black Studies Podcast, John Drabinksi interviewed Maurice J. Hobson about community & academic work & how Black Studies shapes writing intellectual & popular history.
I missed the latest recording of a live conversation for Matt Seybold’s American Vandal podcast, part of the Modes of Reading Today Symposium & featuring Yael Segalovitz, David Marno, & many more.
I also missed the latest episode of Rich Napolitano’s Shipwrecks & Sea Dogs podcast, a conversation with historical novelist Julie Gerstenblatt about her new book The Stargazer of Nantucket.
Turning to more global conversations, the Norton Library Podcast kicked off a new series on Apuleius’s The Golden Ass with a conversation with translator Ellen Finkelpearl.
Speaking of translation, for The History of Literature podcast host Jacke Wilson interviewed Daniel Hahn about translating Shakespeare.
The latest episode of Matt Gabriele’s American Medieval podcast features Andrew Albin on medieval plays performed in modern times.
Episode 106 of Kate Carpenter’s Drafting the Past podcast features Dolly Jorgensen on her new book Ghosts Behind Glass: Encountering Extinction in Museums & the environmental humanities.
While episode 81 of Waitman W. Beorn’s Holocaust History podcast features Julie Golding on experiencing vicarious trauma at Holocaust Museums.
Gonna conclude this section with three current events conversations, including the latest for the Scholars Strategy Network’s No Jargon podcast, featuring Katie Gaddini on the Christian women behind MAGA.
For episode 142 of their In Bed with the Right podcast, Moira Donegan & Adrian Daub discussed the troubling story of Nancy Mace.
& for the latest episode of their The Oath & the Office podcast, John Fugelsang & Corey Brettschneider were joined by Joyce Vance to discuss the recent Supreme Court decisions.
Books:
Gonna start with a recent UNC Press publication that I missed (thanks to Koritha Mitchell for highlighting it), Allison S. Curseen’s Minor Moves: Black Girls & Unruly Performance in Antebellum Narratives.
Out this week from Harper Collins is Julia Angwin & Ami Fields-Meyer’s timely On Courage: How to Be a Dissident in an Age of Fear.
A pair of important open-access books out this week as well, including The Reconstruction Papers from Adam Gurri & the folks at Liberal Currents.
Also open-access is Sabina Leonelli, Celso Neto, & Stephan Guttinger’s edited collection Life Beyond Human Boundaries: John Dupré’s Philosophy & the Interdisciplinary Study of the Life Sciences from Springer Nature.
& likewise now out is Michael Erard’s career-spanning The Language Beat: Essays & Reporting on Language & Life (that’s an Amazon link but Michael will share other links soon). Check out Michael’s blog for the book’s Introduction, & this exemplary Arc magazine article from Michael on messages written on ammunition.
Forthcoming in September from Macmillan is Bradley B. Onishi’s American Caesar: How Theocrats & Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy.
Over at the Pittsburgh Review of Books, Fergus M. Bordewich shared an excerpt from his timely new book, Centennial: The Great Fair of 1876 & the Invention of America’s Future.
The folks at Public Books shared a pair of conversations with new authors: Ken Chen’s interview with Lara Norgaard on Indonesian history & translating political fiction; & Ashley D. Dennis’s interview with Crystal Sanders on Black Southerners & “segregation scholarships.”
Over at LitHub, Sarah Schulman interviewed Natalie Adler about her new book on AIDS histories, ACT UP, & queer NYC.
While for the Civil War Monitor, Joel Criswell reviewed James O’Neil Spady’s new book Take Freedom: Recovering the Fugitive History of the Denmark Vesey Affair.
Made By History:
Six excellent essays for the relaunched Made By History this week (subscription required but well worth it), including: Abraham Seda on how immigration, technology, & youth soccer have led the sport to fully take off in the US; Manisha Sinha on what Florida shows us about how not to teach US history; Allen Fletcher on Moms for Liberty & how conservative education warriors have reshaped the GOP; M. Todd Bennett & David McKean on our rich tradition of July 4th protests; Michael D. Hattem on the 250th, the Bicentennial, & the opportunities these complicated commemorations provide; & Amy Gais on Frederick Douglass’s critical lesson for America in our 250th.
Newsletters and Blog Posts:
Gonna end with a bunch of great newsletters & blog posts as ever, including Leah Torres for her Feminist Rising newsletter on what we’re not celebrating on this 4th.
For Defector, David Roth wrote about the abject failure that is the Great American State Fair.
For his Ehlers on Everything blog, Mark Ehlers argued for seeing America through other eyes during these commemorations.
While for his The Way of Improvement Leads Home blog, John Fea shared his contribution to the Religion News Service’s series on what it means to belong in America.
& over at her Imperfect Union newsletter, Lindsay M. Chervinsky made a case for American optimism at 250.
In a far more bracing guest post for Michael Dort’s Dort on Law blog, Neil H. Buchanan wondered why a 250-year-old country has so many people who think like 10-year-olds.
For his Democracy Americana newsletter, Thomas Zimmer argued for better understanding our disruptive moment in history & what it requires.
Over at his Prevail newsletter, Greg Olear argued that the Bible should indeed be read in Texas classrooms—just not in the way a new policy wants it to be.
While for her History Teaches… newsletter, Felicia Kornbluh contextualized both AI’s & political threats to creativity & critique in higher ed.
& for his Campaign Trails newsletter, Kevin M. Kruse linked Trump’s Reflecting Pool nonsense to Nixon’s 1970 “Honor America Day.”
Continuing with more historical subjects, for the latest In Pursuit newsletter C.W. Goodyear wrote about James Garfield & being a “poor hater.”
Four excellent posts from Kevin M. Levin for his Civil War Memory newsletter to share: this one on the Confederate flag at the Great American State Fair; this one reflecting on his week teaching Civil War memory in 2026 Washington; this one on Justice Jackson’s concurrence & the long memory of the 14th Amendment; & this one drawn from his new project, on the 4th of July for enslaved people after the defeat at Gettysburg.
Jenn M. Jackson offered her 14th Love Note newsletter, this one on Pride, Juneteenth, & getting free.
Over at her blog, Theresa Kaminski shared her 19th Dispatch from the Writing Life, on the near collision of her distinct biographical subjects.
A pair of new newsletters from Etienne Toussaint this week, including this one for Freedom Papers on Harriet Tubman & the call to bring others with you, & this one for The Tenure Track on how academia teaches us to avoid ourselves.
Over at her Once More, With Feeling newsletter, Sarah Rose Cavanaugh shared a ton of links on educational debates, cognitive sciences, & much more.
For his latest Liberating Narratives post, Bram Hubbell wrote about the global history of Lisbon.
For his Exploring Art History newsletter, Howard Burton shared his frustrations with modern art.
A pair of new posts for Verbum Libere this week, including this one on what climate research can reveal about the Roman Empire, & this one on how MeToo changed the way we read Coetzee’s Disgrace.
I’ll conclude with a ton of excellent such cultural studies posts, including Mary Fissell for her A is for Abortion: Snapshots from the Past newsletter on Sarah Orne Jewett.
For Nighttide magazine, Sharai Bohannon argued for remembering horror pioneer Bill Gunn’s legacy all year long, including Pride month.
For Bright Wall/Dark Room’s ongoing 1976 issue, Bryan Miller wrote about Carrie’s uneasy legacy.
For his Letterboxd site, Robert Daniels reflected on 25 years of Steven Spielberg’s emotional sci fi film AI.
While for her Boogie-Woogie Rumble of Space-Time newsletter, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein argued that we all need to see the unapologetically political art that is Supergirl.
A trio of thoughtful takes on revisionist Westerns this week, including Hilary Emmett & Thomas Ruys Smith for The Conversation on what Netflix’s Little House of the Prairie remake says about today’s culture wars.
For his ongoing 1996 retrospective series, Outlaw Vern reviewed my favorite film, John Sayles’ Lone Star.
While for the final post in her wonderful Review Roulette series for Mel Brooks’ centennial, Vaughn Joy connected Blazing Saddles to Deadwood, Springsteen’s Western Stars, & more.
Over at his Academic Bubble newsletter, Dion Georgiou started a series on the great Dashiell Hammett by considering his 1920s correspondence. & check out the 60th installment of Dion’s Stop, Look, & Listen newsletter for more public scholarly goodness.
Finally, I once again have to end with a pair of tributes to folks we’ve recently lost, including Nitzan Lebovic in the Pittsburgh Review of Books on reading vertically & horizontally with Carlo Ginzburg.
& Durba Ghosh wrote for The Wire on Thomas R. Metcalf, a historian who reinvented himself again & again.
PS. I’m sure I missed plenty as ever, so please share more writing, podcasts, & books below. Thanks, happy reading, listening, & learning, & may the rest of your holiday weekend be peaceful, all!
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