Before we celebrate #EarthDay2024, my 174th #ScholarSunday thread features a world of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Share widely, add more below, & enjoy, all! #twitterstorians
First, a reminder that I’m now also sharing these threads on my newsletter:
Starting with great pieces on historical anniversaries from the week, including American Revolution expert @Boston1775 for @JourAmerRevo on what a crucial informant contributed to Lexington & Concord:
https://allthingsliberty.com/2024/04/dr-warrens-crucial-informant/
While for my AmericanStudies blog this week, I connected #PatriotsDay to the foundational histories & ongoing influence of mythic patriotism in America:
https://americanstudier.blogspot.com/2024/04/april-15-2024-mythic-patriotisms-1776.html
@NewBlackMan wrote for his @Medium column on Jackie Robinson Day & why Robinson’s story & legacy still matter:
https://medium.com/@tnimixtape/why-jackie-robinson-still-matters-by-mark-anthony-neal-df3a67622c63
& here’s @AndreaWillWrite for @Tennessean on why we need to better remember Robinson’s multi-sport successes:
For a far different story on sports in America, check out @jemelehill for @TheAtlantic on reconsidering the OJ verdict:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/oj-simpson-verdict-reconsidered/678065/
Turning to other great public scholarly writing from the week, @HayleyNegrin’s award-winning @EnvHistJournal article is open-access until July 1:
https://twitter.com/EnvHistJournal/status/1780653893103255905
@DrEinavRFox’s second column for @SatEvePost highlights the important roles bicycles have played in women’s fashion & liberation:
https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2024/04/how-bicycles-changed-fashion-and-womens-liberation/
No one better to review the flawed new William F. Buckley documentary than @rickperlstein for his @TheProspect column:
https://prospect.org/politics/2024-04-17-an-implausible-mr-buckley/
Vital essay from @hannahgais in @forummag on race science & the origins of “anti-woke” rhetoric (h/t @BisforBerkshire):
https://forummag.com/2024/04/16/the-origin-of-specious/
& excellent reporting from @SarahDSparks for Ed Week on teachers doing the hard work of curriculum building in this fraught moment (h/t @KidadaEWilliams):
Turning to current events, here are @LaurenHaumesser & @JoannaGrossman for @justiacom on the Arizona abortion law:
@nicolenarea wrote on that same law for @voxdotcom, featuring the scholarship of @skwithycombe & @lmacthompson1:
https://www.vox.com/politics/24128840/arizona-abortion-total-ban-law-roe-court-1864
& here are @samuelmoyn & @rddoerfler for @DissentMag on how we’re already defying the Supreme Court’s judicial dictatorship:
https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/we-are-already-defying-the-supreme-court/
Another great @johnastoehr election year thread & piece, this one on myths & realities of white rural GOP supporters:
https://www.editorialboard.com/why-do-white-rural-voters-vote-for-republicans/
Two excellent new @Will_Bunch columns for @PhillyInquirer this week, including a deep dive on college campuses & free speech (gift link below):
& @Will_Bunch also wrote for @PhillyInquirer on a Pennsylvania school leading the way in alternative energies (likewise a gift link):
For a far more bracing #EarthDay2024 column, here’s @oliverwhang21 for @nybooks on the next mass extinction:
Also for #EarthDay2024, great @ConversationUS piece from @Fisher_DanaR inspired by her new book Saving Ourselves (more from Dana below!):
Lots of great new podcast episodes this week, including the latest @Unsung__History featuring @BethLinker on anxieties over poor posture:
https://www.unsunghistorypodcast.com/posture/
Episode 50 of @realfreedompod features best-selling author Andra Watkins on Christo-Fascism & Project 2025:
While the latest episode of @GregTSargent’s @newrepublic podcast features @drvolts on the ominous climate policy plans behind Trump’s bizarre rants:
https://newrepublic.com/article/180802/trumps-bizarre-rants-wind-power-ominous-think
For @KnowYrEnemyPod, @MatthewSitman & @SamAdlerBell interviewed @RonnieGrinberg on her new book Write like a Man:
https://know-your-enemy-1682b684.simplecast.com/episodes/write-like-a-man-w-ronnie-grinberg-2UtYKRxI
While @workinghistory’s @AndersonDavidM interviewed @LoiselleAim on her new book Beyond Norma Rae:
Episode 2 of @isaac_campos’ History on Drugs podcast features Jeff Zalar on histories & cultures of alcohol as well as his academic journey:
Speaking of histories of alcohol, episode 13 of @waitmanb’s @HolocaustPod features Ed Westermann on alcohol & the Nazis:
@HerbertHistory’s #HATM podcast has kicked off its coverage of Franklin, featuring @kelsapellet & @craigbrucesmith:
Speaking of Franklin expert @kelsapellet, here’s her thoughtful & informative review of the show for @BulwarkOnline:
Finally, two great recorded interviews with @Fisher_DanaR, including for @XRebellionLA on her research into effective activism:
https://www.xrlosangeles.org/xrnow/168
& here’s a recording of @Fisher_DanaR’s book launch for Saving Ourselves at @PoliticsProse, interviewed by @EJinAction:
Lots of great work for @TIMEHistory’s @madebyhistory this week, including @ProfChrisAdams on the dangers of appeasing Putin:
As the NBA playoffs begin, @adamcriblez wrote for @TIMEHistory’s @madebyhistory on how the league came to embrace activism:
Here’s Margaret Rashba for @TIMEHistory’s @madebyhistory on how the return of a fashion icon revives both the 1990s & the 19th century:
& finally for @TIMEHistory’s @madebyhistory, here’s R.E. Fulton on how abortion restrictions always target poor women in particular:
Elsewhere for @TIMEHistory, here’s @esglaude on Trump rallies, MAGA, & the foundational fantasy of a lily-white America:
https://time.com/6966768/fantasy-white-america-eddie-glaude/
Lots of important book publications this week, including @sayburgin’s Organizing Your Own: The White Fight for Black Power in Detroit from @NYUpress:
https://nyupress.org/9781479814145/organizing-your-own/
Also officially out this week is @lheltonian’s Scattered & Fugitive Things: How Black Collectors Created Archives & Remade History from @ColumbiaUP:
https://cup.columbia.edu/book/scattered-and-fugitive-things/9780231559546
Another vital release is @AnaRMinian’s In the Shadow of Liberty: The Invisible History of Immigrant Detention in the US from @VikingBooks (h/t @hidehirota):
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/723672/in-the-shadow-of-liberty-by-ana-raquel-minian/
Also published this week is @randymbrowne’s The Driver’s Story: Labor & Power in the World of Atlantic Slavery from @PennPress:
https://www.pennpress.org/9781512825862/the-drivers-story/
Likewise newly published is Lyle C. May’s Witness: An Insider’s Narrative of the Carceral State from @haymarketbooks (h/t @daniellepurifoy):
https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2102-witness
Now out as well is @BeaconPressBks’ collection Right to Learn: Resisting the Right-Wing Attack o Academic Freedom (h/t @jeremycyoung who has a chapter with @jonfreadom & @JRTtager):
https://www.beacon.org/Right-to-Learn-P2039.aspx
Here’s @_ToniaHill for @TheTRiiBE on @ArionneNettles’ debut book We Are the Culture: Black Chicago’s Influence on Everything:
For @NewBooksNetwork, @Reighangillam interviewed @ievaju on her new book Exit Wounds: How America’s Guns Fuel Violence across the Border from @ucpress:
https://newbooksnetwork.com/exit-wounds
@mfkantor wrote for @PublicBooks on his new book from @UNC_Press on the history of the DARE program:
https://www.publicbooks.org/dare-is-more-than-just-anti-drug-education-it-is-police-propaganda/
& also for @PublicBooks, @kathleen_belew interviewed the legendary Richard Slotkin on his new book on foundational American myths:
https://www.publicbooks.org/a-theory-of-america-mythmaking-with-richard-slotkin/
Finally, for @Salon @PaulHRosenberg interviewed @DavidAstinWalsh on his new book on the historical roots of contemporary conservatism:
Gonna end with a ton of great pop culture studying pieces from the week, including @BellCV for @NPR on Tom Ripley in & beyond the new show:
Also for @NPR, great piece from @elizblair on the 50th anniversary of groundbreaking Indigenous band Redbone’s debut (h/t @Deggans):
https://www.npr.org/2024/04/16/1243733965/redbone-come-and-get-your-love-50-years
Here’s @LuElla_DAmico for @christandpc on fitness guru’s Richard Simmons’ surprisingly unknown ministry work:
@CSMonitor journalist @Steve_Humphries talked with a number of actual poets about T-Swift’s new album:
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Music/2024/0417/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department-lyrics
Great film analysis from @DrDionGeorgiou for his Academic Bubble newsletter as ever, this time on the 2014 film Pride:
& finally, @dbessner’s deep-dive @Harpers essay on the history, evolutions, & current state of Hollywood is a must-read:
https://harpers.org/archive/2024/05/the-life-and-death-of-hollywood-daniel-bessner/
PS. I’m sure I missed plenty as ever, so please share more writing & work, podcasts, new & forthcoming books below. Thanks, happy reading, listening, & learning, & may Earth Day be a moment for reflection & renewed collective commitment: