This Presidents’ Day weekend, I cannot tell a lie—my 166th #ScholarSunday thread is full of great public scholarly writing, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Share more below & enjoy the better angels of our twitter nature, all! #twitterstorians
First, a reminder that I’m now also sharing these threads on my newsletter:
Also, if you’ll permit me one more prefatory note, this past week I talked a bit about why I create these threads & how much they depend on you all sharing them (so please do, thanks!):
https://twitter.com/AmericanStudier/status/1757196147746066670?s=20
Starting with some more great work for #BlackHistoryMonth, including @CivilWarJon for @SmithsonianMag on Robert Smalls (& using letters published by @uvapress):
@c_thorsson wrote for the @ColumbiaUP blog on five inspiring women who shaped Black history & literature:
Speaking of influential & inspiring women, here’s @DominiqueJL15 for @brooklynhistory on @Weeksville founder Dr. Joan Maynard:
https://www.bklynlibrary.org/blog/2024/02/15/for-valentine%E2%80%99s-day-love
Great essay from @AustinMcCoy3 for @thebafflermag on the many educations of rap that extend far beyond hip hop:
https://thebaffler.com/salvos/its-bigger-than-hip-hop-mccoy
Just in time for @Beyonce’s new album, check out this great @oxfordamerican resource on Black Country, edited by @danielleamir & others:
https://oxfordamerican.org/web-only/black-country-a-love-letter-and-living-archive
Turning to other great public scholarly writing from the week, @nsvarner wrote movingly for @ElectricLit on her ancestors & all of our fraught histories:
https://electricliterature.com/i-want-my-family-to-be-dislodged-from-the-comfort-of-guilt/
Vital work from @tjbrown399 for @TheMobMuseum’s blog on the 1863 draft riots & the birth of the NYC police:
https://themobmuseum.org/blog/the-1863-draft-riots-and-the-birth-of-the-new-york-city-police/
Fantastic essay from grad student Georgina Blackburn for @CommonplaceJrnl on the propagandistic uses of an Uncle Tom’s Cabin filmstrip (h/t @GordonDFraser):
https://commonplace.online/article/uncle-toms-cabin-in-the-hands-of-the-red-scared/
Couple great pieces this week for Lincoln’s birthday, including @HC_Richardson for her always must-read Letters from an American newsletter:
While @JoshuaMZeitz wrote for @SatEvePost on Lincoln’s faith, excerpted from his new book from @VikingBooks:
https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2024/02/lincolns-faith/
Speaking of @SatEvePost, I’m really excited to welcome @DrEinavRFox as a colleague of mine there, with this #ValentinesDay column on diamond rings:
Turning to current events, @Will_Bunch wrote for his @PhillyInquirer column on “But His Memory” & the slow train wreck of our democracy:
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/biden-memory-trump-supreme-court-20240211.html
While one of @johnastoehr’s latest epic threads is a vital challenge to our media’s election coverage & reminder of the power of our own voices in response:
https://twitter.com/johnastoehr/status/1757374059795394765?s=20
@bleachbred wrote for his @Medium Polis column on Cori Bush & the ongoing demonization of Black women:
While @queenie4rmnola wrote for her @Medium column on why Black Americans are told to forget their & our hardest histories:
Lots of great new podcast episodes this week, including the latest @Unsung__History featuring @CarolynPurnell on the history of blue jeans:
https://www.unsunghistorypodcast.com/blue-jeans/
Episode 40 of @draftingthepast has dropped, featuring @Grace_E_Hale on her multi-genre new book & much more:
https://draftingthepast.com/podcast-episodes/episode-40-grace-elizabeth-hale-is-undisciplined/
For the Black in Boston & Beyond podcast, @DrHettie2017 talked with @HajYazdiha about the struggle for the people’s MLK:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2220518/14475160-the-struggle-for-the-people-s-king
For the latest episode of the @LevineMuseum’s Our New South podcast, @ProfBlackistone & @robgreeneII talked with a number of guests about preserving culture:
While the latest episode of @waitmanb’s @holocaustpod features @rerbelding on the U.S. War Refugee Board & more:
https://twitter.com/waitmanb/status/1757034118913679559?s=20
@BradleyOnishi’s @StraightWhiteJC has dropped part 2 of his conversation with @kelly_j_baker on how we’re still living in the Klan’s America:
The latest episode of @kjavadizadeh’s wonderful Close Readings features @sylviethode talking Tim Dlugos’ “The Far West”:
While @kaskew’s Lost Ladies of Lit features @rrb_writer on her excellent new biography of the forgotten mystery novelist Carolyn Wells:
For the new episode of @pshackel’s @modscholarpod, he interviewed @juliairwin on her new book Catastrophic Diplomacy from @UNC_Press:
The latest episode of @axelbankhistory features an interview with @HaroldHolzer on his new book on Lincoln & immigration:
Two new episodes of @HerbertHistory’s #HATM podcast this week, including guest hosts @DrSarahMyers @LukeTruxal talking Masters of the Air episode 4 with @ColinColbourn:
Also for @HerbertHistory’s #HATM, the host returned to talk with @BrianDeLay about There Will Be Blood & more:
https://twitter.com/HerbertHistory/status/1758133684882862328?s=20
& finally, before we leave the Super Bowl behind, check out @EndofSportPod’s @nkalamb joined by @toates to talk football & masculinity:
https://theendofsport.podbean.com/e/episode-126-football-manliness-and-the-conjuncture/
More good work for @TIMEHistory’s @madebyhistory this week, including @SarahKeyesPhD on the historical predecessors to AI “companions”:
While @grace_easterly wrote for @TIMEHistory’s @madebyhistory on the US Navy & the “freedom of the seas:
Here’s Victoria Cain for @TIMEHistory’s @madebyhistory on the challenges of holding parents responsible for their children’s crimes:
& finally for @TIMEHistory’s @madebyhistory, Lily Lucas Hodges wrote on Mardi Grad traditions & New Orleans’ LGBTQ communities:
Elsewhere for @TIME this week, check out music journalist @taylorcrumpton on how Beyoncé has always been country:
https://time.com/6694806/beyonce-country-music/
Trio of great pieces for @BlkPerspectives as it starts year 11, including phenomenal work from @LorienTinuviel on Mexican freedom & American slavery:
https://www.aaihs.org/mexican-freedom-american-slavery/
@Philadelphian91 wrote for @BlkPerspectives on Philadelphia’s “Black Shining Prince” Octavius Valentine Catto:
https://www.aaihs.org/philadelphias-black-shining-prince/
& check out raggaeton scholar @NinaVzqz23 on the popular musical genre’s too-frequent erasure of Blackness:
https://www.aaihs.org/the-erasure-of-blackness-in-reggaeton/
A trio of great new scholarly books were published this week, including @KeishaBlain’s edited collection Wake Up America from @wwnorton (h/t @reneeygraham):
https://twitter.com/reneeygraham/status/1757391073893134337?s=20
Also newly published this week is @JaredCohen’s Life After Power from @simonschuster (h/t @DrDanaSuskind):
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Life-After-Power/Jared-Cohen/9781982154547
& likewise available this week is @whitstrub’s edited collection Queer Newark from @RutgersUPress:
https://twitter.com/whitstrub/status/1758553295818211335?s=20
Now available for pre-order is @DrMaDMo’s long-awaited Blacksound for @ucpress (use code UCPSAVE30 for 30% off):
https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520390591/blacksound
Also available for pre-order is @SMGonzalezWI’s Strangers No Longer: Latino Belonging & Faith in 20C Wisconsin from @IllinoisPress:
https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p087943
& likewise available for pre-order is @RayBoomhower’s The Ultimate Protest from @UNMPress:
https://www.unmpress.com/9780826365705/the-ultimate-protest/
Speaking of vital new books, @MicHerrmann interviewed @Fisher_DanaR for @DeSmog about her Saving Ourselves:
https://www.desmog.com/2024/02/12/qa-saving-ourselves-from-climate-shocks-to-climate-action/
For @AgeofRevs, @DrSepinwall reviewed Sarah E. Johnson’s Encyclopedie Noire, out now from @UNC_Press:
& check out @Kateisms’ @VanityFair interview with the great Tommy Orange on his new book Wandering Stars:
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/tommy-orange-wandering-stars
Gonna end with a bunch more favorites from the week as usual, including CT State Historian @andydhorowitz advocating for public universities in @insider_ct (h/t @bradleyrsimpson):
https://www.ctinsider.com/opinion/article/opinion-divesting-ct-s-colleges-abandons-hope-18671891.php
A particularly moving @AHAhistorians #AHAPerspectives Member Spotlight this month, featuring James McSpadden on his father’s archives:
Speaking of @AHAhistorians’ #AHAPerspectives, editor @mapper_mundi wrote about “history will judge” & the semantics of outrage:
Beautiful essay from @sreed151 for @lithub on re-learning how to read:
https://lithub.com/less-is-more-shannon-reed-on-re-learning-how-to-read/
For Blazing Saddles’ 50th anniversary, @mattzollerseitz wrote for @ebertvoices on the scene that gives the film its heart:
https://www.rogerebert.com/mzs/the-throwaway-scene-that-gives-blazing-saddles-its-warm-heart
& finally, for a special Valentine’s Day installment of her great Review Roulette newsletter, @gvaughnjoy linked Runaway Bride to her cinematic Valentine, Pretty Woman:
PS. I’m sure I missed plenty as ever, so please share more public scholarly writing, podcasts, new & forthcoming books—including your own!—below. Thanks, happy reading, listening, & learning, & have a restful holiday, all! #twitterstorians
PPS. One more time, a request that if you enjoy these #ScholarSunday threads, you like & share the intro tweet to help get all this work to as many folks as possible. Thanks!