We come to it at last—the final #ScholarSunday thread before my Fall 2026 semester begins. So here it is, my 291st thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all!
First, here’s the winner of last week’s Easter Egg hunt—Alycia Asai! Alycia is the creator & host of the excellent Civics & Coffee podcast, & also asks folks to check out her most recent newsletter, reflecting on the 30th anniversary of the end of the federal AFDC program.
Articles:
Starting with just a handful of the many great pieces paying tribute to the legendary Dolly Parton, including Natalie Weiner in The New Republic on how Parton never wavered.
For her New York Times column (that’s a gift link), Tressie McMillam Cottom argued that loving Dolly was easy, while understanding her was hard.
For the Saturday Evening Post, editor Troy Brownfield highlighted some of the many ways that Parton contributed immeasurably beyond her music.
For her America & the Lost Cause newsletter, Karen L. Cox argued that Parton represents the best of the Appalachian South.
While Amanda Katz wrote for her Porch Party newsletter on why we were blessed to live on Earth at the same time as Parton.
Finally, I wanted to share a 2014 blog post of mine on one of Parton’s countless groundbreaking & important songs, 2005’s “Travelin’ Thru” (from the soundtrack of the film Transamerica).
Turning to other excellent articles from the week, for his Inverting Vision site Danny Robb shared a visual history of the first photograph of the Earth from the Moon.
For his Pittsburgh City Paper column, David S. Rotenstein wrote about chicken & waffles, a staple in the city’s restaurants since the 1800s.
Over at the History News Network (now hosted by Bunk History), Allison C. Meier highlighted ongoing efforts to recover the names & gravesites of Revolutionary War soldiers.
For the New York Times Magazine (that’s another gift link), Ruth Franklin interviewed dozens of teachers & students about whether & how Twain’s Huck Finn still has a place in our classrooms. (& filial duty & love require me to share this 2011 Virginia magazine piece on my Dad Steve Railton’s Broadview Bookss edition of Huck that engages with those debates directly.)
For Texas Monthly, Cat Cardenas wrote about a new exhibit at the Briscoe Western Art Museum that explores 400 years of Tejano culture.
I really enjoyed Daniel Steinmetz-Jones’ The Nation interview with the great Ned Blackhawk on why & how we need a new approach to American origin stories.
On a similar note, NiCHE Canada’s series The Land is Never Silenced: Ecocritical Perspectives on Indigenous Literature in Canada concluded with reflections from editor Sabrina Schettino.
Two important new pieces for The History Workshop this week: Marral Shamshiri’s introduction to the new series “Radical Horizons,” on global resistance efforts across cultures & eras; & Hel Spandler on mental health survivor zines & the interplay of the personal & political.
& thanks to the folks at AAIHS for sharing info about the newly published Fall 2026 issue of Global Black Thought, featuring a roundtable on Mary Frances Phillips’ new book on Ericka Huggins, & much more.
Speaking of academic publications, a trio of open-access ones to share this week, including Daniel Bodansky & Harro van Asselt for Climate Law on the art & craft of the Paris Agreement.
For Constellations, Nanna Lilletvedt Sæten traced how bitcoin harms politics.
& thanks to Jacob M. Grumbach, Robert Mickey, & Daniel Ziblatt for sharing an open-access preview of their forthcoming Journal of Historical Political Economy article on evidence from the Great Migration for institutional insulation as a response to racial diversity.
Along with the Dolly Parton piece above, three more columns from Saturday Evening Post colleagues to share this week: Jill Robbins on the story of the farm boy who first found Pluto, for the 20th anniversary of its demotion from planetary status; Selina Alipour Tabrizi with a history of frozen foods in America, from fish fillets to TV dinners; & the latest of Jeff Nilsson’s fascinating From the Archive pieces, this one the great Dorothy Parker on “Men I’m Not Married To.”
Current Events:
Starting with another pair of thoughtful pieces on the Jason Arday tragedy (see last week’s thread for more): Steven Thrasher for LitHub on the forces that hounded & killed Arday; & Jem Bartholomew in the Columbia Journalism Review on what the tragedy reveals about the deepening crisis of the British press.
For another follow-up to a story featured in last week’s thread, check out Julian Vasquez Heilig for his Cloaking Inequality site on the truths about race & higher ed that elude Tyler Austin Harper.
Also lots of vital pieces this week on higher ed’s overarching challenges, including Bradford Vivian & Lara Schwartz for Inside Higher Ed on the need for an honest conversation about civic trust & higher ed.
For the final piece in the History of the Present Critical Noise symposium on the Vanderbilt Report, Christopher Newfield reflected on the struggle to face forward.
Bracing & crucial Dissent magazine essay from Jeremy Varon on the deepening, frustratingly telling austerity crisis unfolding at The New School.
While for Tribune magazine, Isobel Armstrong made a powerful case for saving the Humanities in the face of the push for “vocational” higher ed.
& for a much less successful way to defend the Humanities, I’m sad to have to share Adam Rzepka’s Chronicle of Higher Ed exposé on the AHA’s work with a corporate lobbying firm to silence members’ voices on Palestine (h/t Stacy Fahrenthold for sharing that non-paywalled version). [Full disclosure: I have published recently for AHA Perspectives & like a lot of the public scholarly work they support & do. But the details in that article are frustrating & need to be brought to light & engaged.]
For a different but not at all unrelated threat to higher ed, here’s Abigail Boggs for Spectre on the university’s deportable workers.
Speaking of Trump’s deportation machine, Julia Métraux wrote for Mother Jones on how it is depriving deaf Americans of their humanity.
For an important & inspiring response to that machine, check out the first full details about the Minnesota Truth Council (h/t SAGE GRAY).
For another effect of the administration’s white supremacist policies & rhetoric, here’s Ibram X. Kendi for The Emancipator on an averted anti-Muslim terror attack in Florida.
Over at his One First newsletter, Steve Vladeck highlighted on John Roberts’ stay in the White House ballroom case illustrates how standardless this Court’s approach is.
For The American Prospect, Robert Kuttner analyzed the new crop of Christian progressive candidates who are challenging the Religious Right.
While for The Drift magazine, Piper French wrote about the illustrative details of the New York DSA’s unfolding time in office in the city.
& finally, three Liberal Currents articles to share this week: Justin Briley on how the Natalie Harp scandal reveals our republic of excuses; Katherine Alejandra Cross on how becoming Extremely Online is a choice that fewer of us should make; & Adam Gurri following up that article with thoughts on why elites need emotional distance from social media.
Podcasts:
Starting with a recent episode of a favorite podcast that I had missed, Pod Only Knows co-hosts Kelly J. Baker & John Brooks discussing Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
For her latest Silver Screen Sleuths episode, Emily J. Edwards was joined by Olesya Lyuzna to discuss Billy Wilder’s Witness for the Prosecution.
For the new episode of their TV is Good podcast, Alan Sepinwall & Kathryn VanArendonk talked popular teen soaps, examining this summer’s hit Sterling Point through the lens of the OG The OC.
For a very different TV conversation, check out guest host Annika Brockschmidt’s Straight White American Jesus interview with Claire Fallon about purity & Christian Nationalism in The Bachelor.
Turning to more historical subjects, for the latest episode of his Shipwrecks & Sea Dogs podcast Rich Napolitano discussed the fascinating 1880s wreck & rescue of the Annie C. Maguire.
For their War of the Rebellion podcast, Niels Eichhorn & Andrew Houck interviewed David T. Ballantyne about his book Fractured Freedoms: Reconstructing Central Louisiana.
Two new episodes of Easter Egg hunt winner Alycia Asai’s Civics & Coffee podcast this week: a conversation with John McDonough about his book America’s Wrong Turn & the history of healthcare in America; & Alycia’s latest regular Saturday episode, on the myths & realities of Billy the Kid.
For his America: The Story of the USA podcast, Liam Heffernan was joined by Emma Long to talk about the annual rhythm of the Supreme Court term & why it matters.
For episode 836 (!) of his Ipse Dixit legal scholarship podcast, Brian L. Frye interviewed Anna O. Law about her new book & the interconnected histories of migration & citizenship.
The new episode of Jerry Landry’s Presidencies of the United States podcast features James D. Boys on the Cold War Madman Theory & the politics of fear & power.
While the latest episode of The Cold War Podcast traces the period’s rise of commercial air travel.
& over at Holley Snaith’s Say It With History podcast, Kelly Lacroix joined to discuss Joe DiMaggio, fame, & American memory.
Turning to more global subjects, Matt Gabriele’s American Medieval podcast featured its first-ever “Middle Ages in the News” episode, with Matt joined by Thomas Lecaque & David M. Perry.
The latest episode of Lauren Lassabe Shepherd’s American Campus podcast features Chad Wellmon on how a German media panic led to the origins of the modern research university.
Episode 110 of Kate Carpenter’s Drafting the Past podcast features Richard Ivan Jobs & Steven Van Wolputte on their collaborative, multi-genre project In the Land of the Lacandón: A Graphic History of Adventure & Imperialism.
Thanks to the folks at the Digital Repository of Ireland for sharing a recording of Catherine Porter’s webinar “Locating Bench Marks, Preserving Heritage: Heritage at Risk & the Digital Archive.”
Over at Daniel Ford’s Writer’s Bone podcast, Jamie Fisher joined to discuss her debut book Nobody Broke Your Heart: An Intimate Biography of Elliott Smith.
For the Black Studies Podcast, Ashley Newby hosted a roundtable conversation with Janelle Brady, Ezi Odozor, & Njoki Wane.
Speaking of great roundtables, here’s part two of Matt Seybold’s American Vandal conversation at the “Public Budgets, Public Good” workshop.
Continuing with such current events conversations, the latest episode of the Scholars Strategy Network’s No Jargon podcast features Mara Tieken on what happens when schools close.
For her The Academic Life podcast, Christina Gessler interviewed Jennifer Polk about options for folks who are thinking of leaving academia.
For his Speaking Out of Place podcast, David Palumbo-Liu was joined by Adrian Daub to discuss his new book What Tech Calls Governing.
For the New Books Network’s Political Science podcast, Lily Goren interviewed Kathleen J. Frydl about her new book Liberalism & the Reinvention of the Modern Corporation.
For her Strict Scrutiny podcast, Leah Litman interviewed Somil Trivedi about what peak fascism looks like & Jesse Wegman about his book The Lost Founder: James Wilson & the Forgotten Fight for a People’s Constitution.
Over at The Oath & the Office podcast, Corey Brettschneider interviewed Rep. Jared Huffman, the only openly non-believing member of Congress, on the Christian Nationalism behind January 6.
Josh Chafetz joined Samantha Hancox-Li’s Neon Liberalism podcast to discuss how the Supreme Court built Trump’s Imperial Presidency.
For the Center for Ballot Freedom’s This Old Democracy podcast, Micah Sifry was joined by Columbia World Projects’ Tom Asher to discuss the need for “thick” political parties.
For her latest American Conversation, Heather Cox Richardson interviewed prosecutor & auditor turned Iowa gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand. While Heather’s 250 to 250 project featured tons of great new short videos this week, including Charlotte Clymer on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the EJI’s Bryan Stevenson on the Great Migration, Michelle Wu on Boston’s subway system, & more!
Congrats to Bruce Carlson on the 20th anniversary of his My History Can Beat Up Your Politics podcast, which he celebrated by launching a new series on media’s role in creating American political power.
& here’s another new podcast series I’m excited for, Pop Culture Basement’s What About Bill? on the career & legacy of the iconic Bill Murray.
Books:
I have to start this section with a couple of recent UNC Press publications I missed: Michael T. Bernath’s In a Land of Strangers: Northern Teachers in the Slave South; & Céline Carayon’s Eloquence Embodied: Nonverbal Communication among French & Indigenous Peoples in the Americas.
I also missed Ulla D. Berg & Carolina Sánchez Boe’s important recent Rutgers University Press edited collection, Elizabeth Detention Center: A Social History of Immigration Detention in New Jersey & the United States.
Thanks to SAGE GRAY for a sharing a trio of University of Minnesota Press books out this week: Vincent Haddad’s Next Time on Dragon Ball: Playing with a Manga & Anime Franchise; Ellery E. Foutch’s A Perfectionist Impulse: The Art of Stopping Time in the Nineteenth Century; & David Shuang Song’s Multiracial Mandarin: Asian Americans & Impossible Language.
Also published this week was Margaret Waller’s Napoleon’s Closet: The Emperor, the Priest, & the Men Who Invented Modern Fashion from Columbia University Press.
Likewise out this week from Princeton University Press is Kate Clancy’s important Pregnancy Interrupted: The Science & Stories of How Pregnancies Really End.
& speaking of important new publications, congrats to Jenn M. Jackson on her new Penguin edition of Narrative of Sojourner Truth.
Forthcoming this Tuesday (September 1) from Macmillan is Daniel Dockery’s I Am the Night: The Ultimate Unauthorized History of Batman: The Animated Series.
Over at NiCHE Canada, editor Jessica DeWitt interviewed Jennifer de Mooy about her forthcoming book Water, Carbon, Time: Exploring Peatlands in a Warming World, out September 8.
While out in November from Cambridge University Press is Kelly L. Marino’s Daughters of Democracy: The Post-Suffrage Women’s Movement, Youth Activism, & American Campuses Between the Wars.
For the New York Times, Natasha Singer shared an excerpt (that’s a gift link) of her new book Coding Kids: Big Tech’s Battle to Remake Public Schools.
While for Attitude magazine, Ross Brooks shared an excerpt from his new book Darwin & the Queer Origins of Life.
Over at Public Books, Elizabeth Ferry & John Plotz interviewed Ieva Jusionyte about her book Exit Wounds: How America’s Guns Fuel Violence across the Border. & also for PB, Cal Biruk reviewed a trio of birding books: Thomas C. Gannon’s Birding While Indian, Vinciane Despret’s Living as a Bird, & J. Drew Lanham’s Joy is the Justice We Give Ourselves.
For the latest USIH book review, Christopher B. Bean reviewed Kevin M. Burton’s Apocalyptic Abolitionism: How Millennialists Helped Abolish Slavery & Reform America.
While for ASAP Review, Grace Tierney reviewed Francisco Robles’ Coalition Literature: Aesthetics on the Move in Midcentury US Multiethnic Writing.
& for EH.net, I was excited to have the chance to review Marc Egnal’s A Mirror for History: How Novels & Art Reflect the Evolution of Middle-Class America.
A trio of other publishing-related items to share this week as well, including Samantha Green’s The Scholarly Kitchen guest post, making a structural case for rebranding scholarly publishing.
For Women Writers, Women’s Books, Jann Alexander shared some advice on how to write fiction that’s true.
& all writers could benefit from checking out Alyssa Matesic & Patrick McDonald’s new book The Modern Guide to Querying Literary Agents.
Made By History:
Five excellent new pieces for the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Made By History to share this week: Joseph P. Slaughter on the new crop of Democratic candidates putting faith at the forefront; Robert Greene II on the long tradition of Black Democratic voters’ political pragmatism; Stacy Olive Jarvis on the Kennedy Center & how artistic greatness isn’t enough to guarantee stability for orchestras; Jason Heppler on how today’s battles over data centers echo 1950s & 60s conflicts over high-tech industrial campuses; & Udodiri R. Okwandu on the 19th century origins of ideas & myths about postpartum mental illness.
Speaking of those conflicts, here’s a gift link to Will Bunch’s new Inquirer column on why today’s Luddites are the revolutionaries we need.
Newsletters and Blog Posts:
Gonna conclude with a bunch of great newsletters & blog posts as usual, including Karen Attiah for her The Golden Hour on her successful legal battle against The Washington Post.
That’s one of a number of powerfully personal newsletters this week, also including Mona Eltahawy’s latest Feminist Giant love letter to her fifties.
For her The Handbasket newsletter, Marisa Kabas shared a bracing & moving update on her recent miscarriage.
While for his Just Atad newsletter, Corey Atad penned a beautiful tribute to the late Soraya Roberts after her tragic passing.
Turning to other current events newsletters, here’s Joyce Vance for her Civil Discourse on following the money behind the explosion of bad food.
For The Reframe, A.R. Moxon made the case that accepting the framing of leftists as “commies” is no way to resist—but solidarity is.
In a similar vein, Hamilton Nolan argued in his How Things Work newsletter that all rich kids should be socialists.
Over at his newsletter, Rob Hawkes shared how the public money paradigm can change the way we think about everything.
While for her newsletter, Sherrilyn Ifill highlighted how the Supreme Court’s conservative majority showed their hand once more in the mail-in ballot case.
& for her blog, Dana R. Fisher highlighted a new study that illustrates how climate shocks like this summer’s can motivate social change.
Turning to more historical subjects, for her Well, Actually… newsletter Ashley Best kicked off a three-part series on the history (not the myths) of immigration law in the US.
While the latest Verbum Libere newsletter focuses on the ongoing debates over when the Middle Ages began.
Over at her A is for Abortion: Snapshots from the Past newsletter, Mary Fissell highlighted the interconnections of nursing & abortion histories.
& for his Civil War Memory newsletter, Kevin M. Levin argued that unlike the Lost Cause, the Union cause has always had to do more work in the present.
Over at his blog, Secretary of Defense Rock shared his third research update, this one on a monographs series highlighting Japanese WWII sources.
While Brandon Walsh shared the latest installment of his & Katina Rogers’ “Writing Together on Life” correspondence series.
Gonna end with a bunch of great cultural studies pieces as ever, starting with a fascinating post from Matthew Warner Osborn for his One Who Rambles At Night newsletter on the exploits of the early 19C superheroic character The Night-Hawk.
For LitHub, Madeline Zehnder highlighted 18th & 19th century “it-narratives” that imagined the inner lives of objects long before Toy Story.
For his Walking Distance newsletter, Riley Womack wrote movingly about Light in August, endless summer, & going home again.
Unique & compelling Defector magazine essay from Mitch Therieau on the Red Hot Chili Peppers, California, & narratives of good & evil.
Outlaw Vern shared a typically thoughtful review of the new horror film sensation, Teenage Sex & Death at Camp Miasma.
While for RogerEbert.com, Brendan Hodges reflected on lessons we didn’t heed from Terminator 2: Judgment Day on its 35th anniversary.
For Bright Wall/Dark Room’s ongoing Summer Blockbusters issue, Payton McCarty-Simas shared reflections on the subgenre of the failed blockbuster.
For his Some Flowers Soon newsletter, Jeremy Noel-Tod linked The Odyssey to Christopher Logue’s groundbreaking adaptations of Homer.
As usual, I can’t share anything Odyssey-related without highlighting Vaughn Joy’s great Review Roulette piece on the film. & also check out this week’s Review Roulette, a score/sound analysis of the classic Singin’ in the Rain!
Elsewhere on our Black White & Read All Over site, my blog series this week analyzed America Through 70s Rock Bands, concluding with this weekend’s banging crowd-sourced post!
Finally, for his Academic Bubble newsletter Dion Georgiou shared more of his research work in progress on Dashiell Hammett & the personal expertise he claimed for his detective stories.
& if you can’t get enough public scholarly goodness, check out Dion’s 66th Stop, Look, & Listen compilation newsletter!
PS. I’m sure Dion & I both missed plenty as ever, so please share more writing, podcasts, new & forthcoming books below. Thanks, happy reading, listening, & learning, & may Fall 2026 be a great semester for all who celebrate!
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