#ScholarSunday Thread 187

Shared on August 25, 2024

Before we head back to school, here’s my 187^th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Share more below & enjoy, all!

First, a quick note to watch this space for info on my new podcast! Trailer drops in a few days, and weekly episodes start a week from today.

Starting with some favorite pieces from the week, including Greg Laski for Public Source on an important new staging of August Wilson’s Radio Golf:

https://www.publicsource.org/august-wilsons-revamped-radio-golf-explores-race-class-and-gentrification-on-the-hill-pittsburgh/

Smithsonian Magazine’s Mass Media Fellow Rudy Molinek traced the long, strange history of Teflon:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-long-strange-history-of-teflon-the-indestructible-product-nothing-seems-to-stick-to-180984920/

Great U.S. Intellectual History blog guest post from David Weinfeld on what we can learn from an unlikely early 20C friendship ahead of the 2024 election:

https://s-usih.org/2024/08/david-weinfeld-a-century-of-cultural-pluralism-how-an-unlikely-american-friendship-should-inspire-diversity-equity-and-inclusion/

& here’s Evan Friss for LitHub on the Nazis opening a propaganda bookstore in early 1930s Los Angeles:

https://lithub.com/bigoted-bookselling-when-the-nazis-opened-a-propaganda-bookstore-in-los-angeles/

Turning to more current events, Ari Breland wrote for The Atlantic on the return of “race science”:

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/08/race-science-far-right-charlie-kirk/679527/

Here’s Robert Forrant for The Conversation on a more positive return, the Democratic Party’s embrace of organized labor:

https://theconversation.com/democratic-partys-embrace-of-organized-labor-in-2024-elections-has-long-roots-that-had-started-to-wither-237002

Rick Perlstein wrote for his American Prospect column on how the people of Chicago rebuffed Greg Abbott’s DNC stunt with migrants:

https://prospect.org/politics/2024-08-14-neighborliness-option-chicago-migrants-dnc/

& speaking of the DNC, I loved Will Bunch for his Philly Inquirer column on how the convention reclaimed & redefined patriotism:

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/chicago-dnc-democrats-patriotism-diversity-20240823.html

Turning to new podcasts, here’s the latest Unsung History episode, featuring Teri Finneman on Margaret Chase Smith:

https://www.unsunghistorypodcast.com/margaret-chase-smith/

Episode 49 of Drafting the Past features a really interesting twist, an interview with co-authors Robert Alpert, Merle Eisenberg, and Lee Mordechai on writing a book together:

https://draftingthepast.com/podcast-episodes/episode-49-robert-alpert-merle-eisenberg-and-lee-mordechai-survive-writing-a-book-together/

For the Front Porch Book Club podcast, Karen Roggenkamp talked all things mystery:

https://frontporchbookclub.com/podcast/84-dr-karen-roggenkamp/

The latest episode of Axelbank Reports History & Today features an interview with Clara Bingham on her new book on the feminist movement:

Great new episode of Liam Heffernan’s America: A History podcast featuring Jon Mitchell & Vaughn Joy on Barbie’s surprising continued relevance:

& Jessica Calarco stopped by the HATM podcast to chat with Jason Herbert about 9 to 5:

Time magazine’s Made by History featured six excellent DNC-inspired pieces this week, including Kyle Longley on LBJ’s lessons for Biden’s role at the convention:

https://time.com/7008585/lbj-lessons-biden-harris-dnc/

Stacie Taranto & Leandra Zarnow wrote for Made by History on the contexts for Kamala Harris’s “Freedom” campaign theme:

https://time.com/7011213/kamala-harris-campaign-freedom-history/

The awesome Keisha Blain wrote for Made by History on how Fannie Lou Hamer’s 1964 DNC speech foreshadowed Harris:

https://time.com/7012669/hamer-harris-dnc/

Also for Made by History, Brooke Alexis Thomas wrote on the long history of Black sororities mobilizing voters:

https://time.com/7010262/harris-black-sororities/

While Margaret Vigil-Fowler wrote for Made by History on how Harris embodies the ethos of Howard University:

https://time.com/7013323/kamala-harris-hbcu-howard-university/

& finally for Made by History, here’s Cory Haala on the tradition of Midwestern Democratic populism behind Tim Walz:

https://time.com/7013555/tim-walz-democratic-populism/

Important new book publication this week, Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde from Macmillan:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374603274/survivalisapromise

& now available for pre-order is Julia Wallace Bernier’s Freedom’s Currency: Slavery, Capitalism, & Self-Purchase in the United States from Penn Press:

https://www.pennpress.org/9781512826470/freedoms-currency/?fbclid=IwY2xjawE3-idleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHV-qduj5OB4i1o4MmL7er7RRTrGjgUe5AJZr8B2IyPbLox0z-NPDKAhStA_aem_Gdv_BGPIYjf4ZURDs1Q5nA

(NB. Scholarly book publications is one area I haven’t felt like I’ve been able to see enough of for these new #ScholarSunday newsletters, so please share more new & forthcoming books below if you would, thanks!)

Three great columns from Saturday Evening Post colleagues of mine this week, including Jeff Nilsson on the 1924 Democratic convention:

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2024/08/the-democratic-convention-from-hell/

Here’s Tanya Roth for her Women’s Work column on the forgotten story of the early 20^th century’s amazing “Mrs. Sherlock Holmes”:

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2024/08/womens-work-the-story-of-the-murder-solving-peonage-busting-justice-seeking-mrs-sherlock-holmes/

& Josh Eyler wrote for the Post on why grade inflation is a myth that won’t die:

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2024/08/grade-inflation-is-a-myth-heres-why/

Can’t get enough public scholarship? Me neither, which is why I always check out Dion Georgiou’s Stop, Look, & Listen newsletter for a lot more!

Stop, Look, and Listen #30

PS. I’m sure I missed plenty as ever, including new & forthcoming books as I mentioned, so please share more below, & make sure to email me (brailton@fitchburgstate.edu) with suggests every week! Thanks, happy reading, listening, & learning, & enjoy the last days of summer, all!