I know it’s spooky season now, but it’s also always solidarity season—so here’s my 296th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, scare—I mean, share—widely, & enjoy, all!
First, speaking of spooky season, head over to my Bluesky timeline where when I share this thread I’ll feature an October-themed Easter Egg hunt (c’mon, we all know that Bunny is terrifying)—get the answer first & get you & your work a shout-out atop next week’s thread!
On a more serious note, I’m going to continue making a weekly plea to everyone who reads & enjoys these threads that y’all subscribe (for free!) if you haven’t already. Every little bit helps support our work on this independent public scholarly site!
& speaking of this site, this week was its 1-year anniversary, so I blogged all week about why & how we created the site & highlights & takeaways from its first year. Leading up to a weekend post with ways you can join & contribute in year two & beyond!
Articles:
Starting with a quartet of totally different, equally excellent essays, including Maria Popova for The Marginalian on iconic author Herman Hesse’s advice for the key to finding peace.
Here’s Andrew Rihn for The Fight City on what boxing meant for the life, career, & “iceberg theory” of another literary icon, Ernest Hemingway.
Thanks to the folks at Longreads for sharing Mark & Betsy Blondin’s essay reflecting on the twists & turns of an epic 1996 road trip.
& thanks to Kidada E. Williams for sharing Ashley Miller’s Northern Virginia Daily article on a new museum exhibit that highlights African Americans who shaped Virginia.
I’ll share two articles each from four of #ScholarSunday’s favorite sites, starting with a pair for Public Books: Mahika Dhar on the antecedents, origins, & contemporary meanings of & debates over “brainrot”; & Janet Vertesi on why retro gaming isn’t just nostalgia, but also & especially resistance.
Two articles for NiCHE Canada to share this week as well: Rain Scott for the Mountain Voices series on creating a new mountain culture amidst a fraught hiking expedition; & Kelly Black on the fascinating Great Vancouver Island Land Grab project & traveling exhibit.
Likewise two pieces for The History Workshop this week: Mercedes Cristóstomo on Peru in the 1960s-70s & political formation in turbulent times; & James Akpu on a 1930s British officer’s sweet potatoes & botanical imperialism.
& finally, two essays for the Pittsburgh Review of Books to include in this section: Ellen Prentiss Campbell on her foundational experiences with & through the multi-generational artists & writers of the Hetzel family; & Daniel Oppenheimer in conversation with Naomi Kanakia’s recent piece on quantifying the reach & function of the little magazine.
Five open-access academic publications to share this week, starting with Noel Healy, Emily Eaton, Paul Lachapelle, J. Timmons Roberts, Jennie C. Stephens, & Ryan Wishart in Energy Research & Social Science on how decades of corporate capture enable today’s assault on universities.
Also open-access is Joseph C. Locke in Church History on Billy Graham, church membership, & the pursuit of national power.
Likewise open-access is Kevin T. Morris & Ian Shapiro in Political Behavior analyzing how racial resentment primes white Americans to believe fraud accusations.
The week’s final open-access article is Lilliana Mason in the Journal of Democracy on why political polarization is in fact not the problem.
& also thanks to Bryan Edward Stone for sharing that every issue of Southern Jewish History, including the just-published Fall 2026 issue, is available open-access at their Academic page!
Finally, three columns from Saturday Evening Post colleagues to share this week (with my own new Considering History column dropping Tuesday): Larry Bleiberg with a fascinating Keith Haring tour of the graffiti artist’s Pennsylvania hometown; Ryan Reft on how Ruth Bader Ginsburg fought gender discrimination for both men & women in her legal career; & the latest installment of Andy Hollandbeck’s always interesting In a Word column, this one on “rosemary.”
Current Events:
Turning to current events articles, the Pittsburgh Review of Books likewise featured a vital such piece, Beatrice Marovich on Silicon Valley & our new civil religion.
For Wired, Molly Taft argued that the growing data center backlash should also be a climate reckoning, but that we’re not there yet.
While for Grist’s Looking Forward interview series, Claire Elise Thompson talked with Dana R. Fisher about her theory of apocalyptic optimism in response to such climate shocks.
AI continues to inspire some of our best current events writing, including Faine Greenwood for Little Flying Robots on why we can’t let enormous weirdos regulate the technology.
Important piece from Jennifer Sano-Franchini, Maggie Fernandes, & Megan McIntyre for the Refusing Generative AI in Writing Studies project on shame, moral displacement, & tone policing in a time of sycophantic chatbots.
Bracing but equally crucial work from Matt Seybold for his The American Vandal on plans to hyperscale Alpha School’s “AI” tutoring to a “billion kids.”
For a complementary current threat to education, here’s David M. Perry for The Minnesota Star Tribune (that’s a gift link) on what will be lost if the University of Minnesota goes through with massive budget cuts.
Amanda Becker wrote for The 19th News on the manifold ways that Trump’s immigration crackdown is harming U.S. citizens, including children.
Fascinating & terrifying essay from Andrea Grimes for The Flytrap (free subscription required) on the fascist aesthetics that are replacing the “MAGA makeover.”
For the Pittsburgh Review of Books, Soraya Chemaly wrote about the experience of living in a world where men publicly bond over women’s humiliation & pain.
While for her Men Yell at Me newsletter, Lyz Lenz documented the fraught & vital work of raising a boy in Trump’s America.
Finally, a trio of Liberal Currents articles to share this week: WBF on how social media has not brought liberation but instead become a boon to autocratic regimes & their allied movements in democracies; editor Adam Gurri sharing details about the healthcare section in their important new publication The Reconstruction Papers; & an excerpt from that publication, Guillaume A. W. Attia’s chapter on the unfurling of equality in world history.
& if you want more current events writing, thanks to SAGE GRAY (Walter D. Greason) for sharing the New York Times’ weekly Digimentors post, which features tons of gift links.
Podcasts:
Starting with pop culture conversations as usual, including the new episode of Ross Lennon’s History on Film podcast, an update on current music industry trends with Chris Wade.
For their TV is Good podcast, Alan Sepinwall & Kathryn VanArendonk shared a fall TV preview, & then talked with Lynette Rice about her new book ER: The Oral History.
Sepinwall also joined Mike Ryan & Keith Phipps of Ford Focus: A Harrison Ford Podcast to talk all things Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade.
The latest episode of the Be Gay Solve Crimes podcast focuses on 1963’s The Pink Panther.
While the Season One-concluding episode of Emily J. Edwards’ Silver Screen Sleuths podcast features Lawrence Allan on The Nice Guys.
Turning to American historical topics, Liam Heffernan began a series on democracy for his America: The Story of the USA podcast by talking the Revolution & Founding Fathers with Lindsay M. Chervinsky.
Liam also chatted this week with Barbara Perry about how Eleanor Roosevelt & John F. Kennedy became political allies.
For his Presidencies of the United States podcast, Jerry Landry interviewed Christopher & Sharon Leahy about Julia Gardiner Tyler & the power of a First Lady’s public image.
Two new episodes of Alycia Asai’s Civics & Coffee podcast this week: an interview with Keri Leigh Merritt about her important new biography of Lillian Smith, An Inconvenient Woman; & the regular Saturday episode, this week focused on the fascinating histories of Vaudeville.
For his Axelbank Reports History & Today podcast, Evan Axelbank interviewed Marcia Chatelain about her new book How Bright the Path Grows: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the March on Washington.
While episode 115 of Kate Carpenter’s Drafting the Past podcast features bestselling historian Eric Jay Dolin about making a career in popular history.
& over at his American Medieval podcast, Matt Gabriele talked with another bestselling writer, M.T. Anderson, about his new book Stealing Saint Nick.
Continuing with more global historical subjects, for episode 6 of their Witches—Truth, Trials, & Terrors podcast, Jon & Robin Briggs were joined by Julian Goodare to discuss witches’ assemblies.
For their Pod Only Knows podcast, Kelly J. Baker & John Brooks resurrected 19t century labor activist Ned Ludd & his Luddite movement.
Over at his History’s Devils podcast, James Crossland was joined by Tim Wilson for a two-part conversation about WWI assassin Gavrilo Princip.
The latest episode of the Colombia Calling podcast features Gwen Burnyeat on horses, politics, & identity in Colombia.
& for his Shipwrecks & Sea Dogs podcast, Rich Napolitano traced the tragic October 2015 final hours of the cargo ship El Faro.
A trio of conversations for the Black Studies Podcast to share this week: John Drabinski interviewing Samantha Pinto from UT Austin; Ashley Newby talking with Alex Gil from Yale; & John’s conversation with Alessandra Raengo from Georgia State University.
While Mark Anthony Neal joined Marc Lamont Hill’s podcast to discuss Neal’s new book on Black fatherhood & more.
Continuing with current events conversations, the latest episode of the Scholars Strategy Network’s No Jargon podcast features Claire Dunning on the money behind nonprofits.
For the Center for Ballot Freedom’s This Old Democracy podcast, Micah Sifry interviewed United Kansas reformer Scott Morgan about his crusade to fix American politics.
While for his History of Ideas podcast, David Runciman talked with Samuel Moyn about one of our most striking problems, gerontocracy.
For their The Oath & the Office podcast, John Fugelsang & Corey Brettschneider discussed the Supreme Court’s greenlighting of Trump’s illegal “deportations.”
& for their Half the Answer podcast, Caitlin M. Green & Trent R. Nelson interviewed Stephanie Mencimer about the realities on the ground in Trump’s DC.
Finally, two conversations with Heather Cox Richardson to share this week: her latest American Conversation, with David Corn of Mother Jones; & the latest in her Lunch Money series with Paul Krugman, on Trump’s diesel fuel disaster.
Books:
Starting with an important recent publication that I missed, Mical Raz’s Breaking Families, Making Families: Adoption & Child Welfare in the 1990s from UNC Press.
Speaking of UNC Press, also now out is Kevin M. Levin’s long-awaited A Glorious Fate: The Life & Legacy of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw.
Lots more books published this week, including Kristen M. Turner’s The Operatic Kaleidoscope: Voice, Race, & the Ragtime Popular Stage from the University of Illinois Press.
Out this week from Macmillan is Keri Leigh Merritt’s aforementioned An Inconvenient Woman: The Extraordinary Life of Lillian Smith, the Southerner Who Defied Jim Crow America.
Also aforementioned in this thread is Marcia Chatelain’s How Bright the Path Grows: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the March on Washington from Penguin Random House.
Published this week by HarperCollins is Lauren Theisen & Emily St. James’ Every Time a Bell Rings: The Legacy of It’s a Wonderful Life, America’s Most Beloved Holiday Film.
Also out this week is John Fea’s important latest book, In God We Trust: Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?
& thanks to Richard James Johnson for sharing his latest book, A Deweyan Approach to Teaching Literacy Inquiry, out now from Routledge.
I’m really excited to share a new free e-book & accompanying website from the folks at SABR: Baseball at Manzanar: How We Played the Game, 1942-1945. It makes a perfect complement to Diamond in the Rough: Baseball, Bigotry, & the Battle for America, Season Two!
Out next Thursday (10/8) from Oxford is Sarah Marsh’s Novel Constitutions & the Making of Race: A Literary & Legal History of Slavery in the Anglophone Atlantic, 1688-1818.
While out the following Tuesday (10/13) from Rutgers University Press is Helene Meyers’ English Majors at Work: Career & Life Pathways.
For NiCHE Canada, Jeremy Schmidt framed & excerpted his new book, Landlocked: Water, Energy, & Planetary Politics in Alberta.
The San Francisco Gazetteer’s Cydney Hayes talked with Gil Durán about his new book The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism & the War on Democracy.
While over at her History in the Margins blog, Pamela D. Toler interviewed Kimberley Sheeter about her new aviation historical novel Air-Minded.
A trio of Pittsburgh Review of Books pieces to include here: founder Ed Simon on the elegiac radiance of Ayad Akhtar (whom he also interviews about his new novel); Bryant Simon with an excerpt from his new book For Customers Only: Public Bathrooms & the Making of Inequality; & Jay Aronson with a review of the important new co-authored book Ending Isolation: The Case Against Solitary Confinement.
Likewise a trio of Public Books pieces to include here: John Plotz & Yuval Evri reviewing Avi Shlaim’s Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew; Ryan Boyd reviewing Anne Trubek’s edited collection American Made: Stories of Work from the WPA; & Michelle Chan Schmidt reviewing Xiao Hai’s Adrift in the South (translated by Tony Hao).
While the latest USIH book review features Richard Cándida Smith on Will Norman’s Complicity in American Literature after 1945: Liberalism, Race, & Colonialism.
Finally, if you want more reading recs, check out two pieces for Kate Carpenter & Megan Kate Nelson’s Drafting the Past: this one on 12 October releases they want to read; & this one on 12 history book covers they love.
Made By History:
Just one new column for the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Made By History this week, but it’s an important one: Darrell Munsell on the Claremont Institute, the little-known think tank that’s the intellectual engine of Trump’s GOP.
Newsletters and Blog Posts:
For his Ehlers on Everything blog, Mark Ehlers made a great case for the urgent need for Reinhold Niebuhr in 2026.
Over at her History Teaches… newsletter, Felicia Kornbluh argued that from the 1980s to our moment of AI & “End Times Fascism,” love beats fear.
Two new posts from Karen L. Cox on her America & the Lost Cause newsletter this week: this one on how “Made in Dixie” doesn’t always hold up; & this one on the Cornell case & how universities protect themselves & men above all else.
Mona Eltahawy also wrote about that case & trickle-down misogyny for her Feminist Giant newsletter.
Over at her Well, Actually… newsletter, Ashley Best challenged the historically myopic idea that Bill Clinton created due process.
For her latest Imperfect Union newsletter, Lindsay M. Chervinsky highlighted a 1797 idea to split the nation, as wrong now as it was then.
As I’ve said before, I don’t find too much of interest in the pieces on presidents for the In Pursuit newsletter, but I really like the First Lady ones, which this week included Anita B. McBridge on Bess Truman & Marilyn Irvin Holt on Mamie Doud Eisenhower.
The latest installment of Sarah E. Bond’s Pasts Imperfect newsletter features Joel Christensen on new Homer scholarship, & much more.
While the new Verbum Libere newsletter traces the origins of Halloween, from Samhain to All Hallows’ Eve. (But somehow they failed to include this iconic Yo Gabba Gabba! moment, which fortunately for all I’m adding to the conversation.)
Turning to great cultural studies pieces, part two of the Hidden Treasures series for Howard Burton’s Exploring Art History focuses on the Oratorio di Santa Caterina delle Ruote at Bagno a Ripoli.
For the Pittsburgh Review of Books, Christina Fisanick wrote about the experience of watching & reflecting on the sitcom A Different World.
Two great new Outlaw Vern reviews to share this week, both very timely in entirely different ways: Vern’s take on the year’s breakout horror hit Obsession; & the delightful conclusion to his Summer of 1996 series, a revisit of Fly Away Home.
While Vaughn Joy’s Review Roulette is always delightful, but never more so than when she digs into horny Hollywood classics, as she did this week with Ball of Fire.
Gonna end with a pair of beautifully personal yet universal newsletters: Max Perry Mueller for his More, America, linking his mourning of his late wife to the story of legendary scientist Gladys West.
& Jenn M. Jackson wrote for her Love Notes newsletter on coming into herself at 42.
PS. I’m sure I missed plenty as ever, so please share more writing, podcasts, new & forthcoming books below. Thanks, check out the spooooky Easter Egg hunt over on Bluesky, & happy reading, listening, & learning, all!
Leave a Reply