#ScholarSunday Thread 235

Published on July 27, 2025

Here it is, my 235^th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Add more below, share widely, & enjoy, all!

Starting this week with a bunch of great open-access public scholarly articles, including Liz Hallgren & Sarah J. Jackson in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly on the radical humanism of prison journalism:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10776990251357300

Also open-access is Marnie Howlett & Lauren C. Konken in PS: Political Science & Politics on breaking down the “home-field” dichotomy:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ps-political-science-and-politics/article/finding-the-field-in-our-homes-and-our-homes-in-the-field-a-critique-of-the-homefield-dichotomy/BFC0348F25383372CF8E5B26769E48F4

Likewise open-access is Michael Brown & Joanne Begiato for Historical Research on the Royal Military Exhibition of 1890 & militarism in Victorian Britain:

https://academic.oup.com/histres/advance-article/doi/10.1093/hisres/htaf018/8206438?searchresult=1&login=false

& for a very timely open-access article, check out Evan D. Bernick, Paul Gowder, & Anthony Michael Kreis’s latest in the Cornell Law Review on birthright citizenship:

https://publications.lawschool.cornell.edu/lawreview/2025/07/23/birthright-citizenship-and-the-dunning-school-of-unoriginal-meanings/

Thanks to Walter D Greason for sharing a pair of compelling pieces, including this crucial New Jersey court ruling that reinforces the state AG’s takeover of Paterson’s racist police department:

https://www.njcourts.gov/system/files/court-opinions/2025/a_30_24.pdf

& thanks to Walter as well for sharing this Nature essay from Ananyo Bhattacharya on how we’re getting closer to a grand unified theory of mathematics:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02197-3

Speaking of breakthrough science, here’s Asher Elbein for National Geographic on an interesting & important newly rediscovered prehistoric reptile:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/crested-triassic-reptile

Melanie A. Kiechle wrote for Nursing Clio on the all-too-timely question of what it was like to die before the introduction of germ theory & preventative medicine:

https://nursingclio.org/2025/07/21/dying-before-germ-theory/

Peder Anker argued in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists that it was General Groves, not Oppenheimer, who really invented the atomic bomb:

https://thebulletin.org/2025/07/general-groves-invented-the-atomic-bomb-not-oppenheimer/?utm_source=Bluesky&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=BlueskyPost072025&utm_content=NuclearRisk_GeneralGroves_07212025

& here’s Nicole Donawho for JSTOR Daily on questions instructors can ask ourselves when it comes to choosing assigned readings:

https://daily.jstor.org/assigned-readings-questions-to-ask-yourself/

Three great pieces for the AHA’s Perspectives blog this week, including Allison Isham on how working for the National Parks Service brought her to public history:

https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/from-passion-to-practice/

Also for Perspectives, here’s Alisa Kuzmina on what archival research taught her about loving across borders:

https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/divided-lives-connected-in-the-archive/

& finally for Perspectives, here’s the latest AHA Member Spotlight, featuring University of Kentucky Emeritus historian Jeremy Popkin:

https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/aha-member-spotlight-jeremy-popkin/

Two Saturday Evening Post columns to share this week, including Joel Haas on how whisky distilleries defiled dairy milk in the mid-1800s:

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/07/swill-milk-when-distilleries-defiled-dairy/

While for my own latest Saturday Evening Post Considering History column, I wrote for the US postal system’s 250^th anniversary on Ben Franklin, the mail, & founding American ideals:

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/07/considering-history-ben-franklin-the-u-s-postal-system-and-founding-american-ideals/

Speaking of founding ideals but turning to current events, important piece from Brendon Bordwine in the University of Virginia Cavalier Daily featuring historians Annette Gordon-Reed & Alan Taylor on President Ryan’s resignation & the university’s Jeffersonian origins:

https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025/07/was-ryan-anti-jeffersonian-historians-weigh-in-after-his-resignation

For more on campuses, free speech, & political realities, check out Nicole Hemmer’s vital contribution to the Boston Review’s ongoing Forum:

https://www.bostonreview.net/forum/the-right-to-be-hostile/the-actual-politics-of-free-speech-is-fueled-by-a-right-wing-political-strategy/

For an effect of these right-wing repressions of speech, here’s Olivia Hebert for SFGate on the erasure of history at Muir Woods National Monument:

https://www.sfgate.com/california-parks/article/muir-woods-national-monument-history-erased-20781301.php?link_source=ta_bluesky_link&taid=688046db04821f00011576a9&utm_campaign=trueanthem%2B3984&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky

Vital work from Jamelle Bouie for his New York Times column on how J.D. Vance is claiming one of our worst historical legacies as his own (gift link below):

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/opinion/jd-vance-claremont-american-citizen.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Yk8.klbn.qJ7gbDecGo1x&smid=url-share

Joseph Stieb wrote for Liberal Currents on how a recent Harper’s review reflects a muddled analysis of the Ukraine war, one shaped by Russian propaganda:

https://www.liberalcurrents.com/moyns-muddle-on-ukraine/#/portal/signup

Two bracing & important reports this week, including this one from the Union of Concerned Scientists on the first six months of the Trump administration’s attacks on science & democracy:

https://www.ucs.org/resources/science-and-democracy-under-siege

& also check out this American Immigration Council special report on the administration’s mass deportation regime:

https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/report/mass-deportation-trump-democracy/

I’ll end this section with three more hopeful pieces, including Tashi McQueen for Afro News on how Black museums guard our histories (h/t Kidada E. Williams):

https://afro.com/black-museums-preserve-african-american-history/

Moving reporting from Meghan Holohan for Today on how Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s Cosby Show character helped kids with learning disabilities feel seen:

https://www.today.com/health/news/malcolm-jamal-warner-cosby-show-dyslexia-rcna220260

& fun essay from Jennifer Stavros for Travel Host on where you can visit Pee-wee Herman’s classic bicycle:

https://travelhost.com/news/heres-where-you-can-visit-pee-wee-hermans-classic-bike

Tons of great new podcast episodes this week, including the latest for Mark Anthony Neal’s Left of Black featuring Kali Nicole Gross on Black women’s rage as a means toward justice:

For episode three of the Hollywood or History podcast, host Scott Roberts was joined by Nancy Sardone to discuss Pocohontas:

The latest episode of Dan Show’s History Hit podcast features A. Brad Schwartz on Orson Welles’ alien invasion hoax:

https://shows.acast.com/dansnowshistoryhit/episodes/the-war-of-the-worlds-the-great-alien-invasion-hoax

Brandy Schillace joined host Neil Denny at the Little Atoms podcast to discuss her new book The Intermediaries: A Weimar Story:

https://shows.acast.com/b5fe8d16-7518-4208-861b-e1ec5ce88192/episodes/687f6f3cfd9acfeba474045a?

While over at the Civics & Coffee podcast, Amy Brady joined to discuss her new book Ice: A Cool History of a Hot Commodity:

https://www.civicsandcoffee.com/ice-the-hidden-history-of-a-hot-commodity-with-dr-amy-brady/

For the latest episode of Mainely History, hosts Ian Saxine & Tiffany Link welcomed Seppala sled dog musher & historian Jonathan Hayes:

https://mainelyhistory.podbean.com/e/seppala/

While episode 47 of the Never Mind the Dambusters…It’s the Bomber Command podcast features Paul Woodage on the bombing war in Normandy:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2327200/episodes/17373803-episode-47-remembering-the-bombing-war-in-normandy-with-paul-woodadge

Three episodes of Liam Heffernan’s America: A History podcast this week, including guest Marco Tabellini on the Chinese Exclusion Act:

Liam also shared two new episodes of his In the Making current events conversations, including this one on Elon Musk:

& check out this In the Making conversation on why we must protect universities from government interference:

Continuing with current events podcasts, veteran journalist Mike Sacks joined John Fugelsang & Corey Brettschneider’s The Oath & the Office podcast:

The latest episode of Long Shadow: Breaking the Internet focuses on North Korea & Russia’s cyberattacks on the U.S. in the aftermath of the comedy film The Interview:

For the latest episode of Jennifer van Alstyne’s The Social Academic podcast, Ruth C. White joined to talk about why female academics are experiencing burnout:

& three new episodes of Heather Cox Richardson’s American Conversations dropped this week, including one with Kate Barr & Justice Anita Earls on voter suppression:

Heather also talked with Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow on the whys & hows of getting involved in politics:

& finally, here’s Heather’s conversation with Liza Donnelly on her new documentary Women Laughing about female cartoonists at The New Yorker:

A trio of great new pieces for Time’s Made By History blog this week, including Andrew Morris on the New York Socialist mayor who came 100 years before Mamdani:

https://time.com/7301483/socialist-mayor-before-zohran-mamdani/

Bruce W. Dearstyne argued for Made By History that Democrats need a modern John F. Kennedy moment:

https://time.com/7291890/democrats-john-f-kennedy-moment/

& finally for Made By History, here’s Joseph P. Slaughter on the 200-year history of American virtue capitalism:

https://time.com/7293089/history-of-american-virtue-capitalism/

Three excellent author interviews over at the AAIHS’s Black Perspectives blog this week, including Robert Greene II talking with Martha S. Jones about her book The Trouble of Color:

https://www.aaihs.org/the-trouble-of-color-an-interview-with-martha-s-jones/

Ashley Everson interviewed Joseph Williams about his Global Black Thought article on Black women’s intellectual activism:

https://www.aaihs.org/joseph-williams-on-black-womens-intellectual-activism/

& Ashley also interviewed Christy Garrison Harrison about her Global Black Thought article on Black feminist geographies:

https://www.aaihs.org/christy-garrison-harrison-on-black-feminist-geographies/

Speaking of authors, some important new books to highlight this week, including Stacie Brensilver Berman & Robert Cohen’s Teaching LGBTQ+ History in High Schools: Practical Strategies & Voices of Experience from Routledge:

https://www.routledge.com/Teaching-LGBTQ-History-in-High-Schools-Practical-Strategies-and-Voices-of-Experience/BrensilverBerman-Cohen/p/book/9781032689647

Also out this week is Joseph Lee’s Nothing More of This Land: Community, Power, & the Search for Indigenous Identity from Simon & Schuster:

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Nothing-More-of-This-Land/Joseph-Lee/9781668087251

& a recent book that I missed in these threads is Joseph Darda’s Gift & Grit: Race, Sports, & the Construction of Social Debt from Cambridge UP:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/gift-and-grit/2542BF88E2475A72C71FDF8F863E1997

Forthcoming in August is Jessica M. Lepler’s Canal Dreamers: The Epic Quest to Connect the Atlantic & Pacific in the Age of Revolutions from UNC Press:

https://uncpress.org/book/9781469690551/canal-dreamers/

Check out this NPR Morning Edition interview with Tracy Slater about her new book Together in Manzanar:

https://www.npr.org/2025/07/22/nx-s1-5444029/ww2-family-history-book-together-in-manzanar-tracy-slater

While for Orion magazine, Tajja Isen interviewed Maris Kreizman about her new essay collection I Want to Burn This Place Down:

https://orionmagazine.org/article/after-we-burn-it-all-down/

Over at his History Respawned site, Robert Whitaker offered an importantly & constructively critical review of Tore Olsson’s Red Dead’s History:

https://www.historyrespawned.com/home/2025/7/21/reviewer-2s-review-of-red-deads-history

While for The New Yorker, Margaret Talbot reviewed Sarah Gold McBride’s Whiskerology: The Culture of Hair in Nineteenth-Century America:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/07/28/whiskerology-the-culture-of-hair-in-nineteenth-century-america-sarah-gold-mcbride-book-review

& for the latest USIH book review, here’s DJ Polite on Michael K. Brown’s Unjust Restitution: A Century of Black Struggle for Equality:

https://s-usih.org/2025/07/dj-polite-on-michael-k-browns-unjust-restitution-a-century-of-black-struggle-for-equality/

Speaking of the Society for U.S. Intellectual History, check out the full program for their upcoming 2025 conference in Detroit:

https://s-usih.org/conference/s-usih-2025-conference-detroit/

& for tons more book recommendations, here are contributors to Engelsberg Ideas with summer reading recommendations:

https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/a-summer-of-reading/

Over at their Modern Medieval newsletter, David M. Perry & Matt Gabriele wrote about the new essay collection The Routledge History of the Devil in the Western Tradition:

https://buttondown.com/ModernMedieval/archive/the-devil-in-history/

Gonna end with a ton of other great newsletters & blog posts as usual, including Matthew Teutsch’s latest Interminable Rambling post on what our founding documents tell us about ourselves:

https://interminablerambling.medium.com/what-do-our-founding-documents-tell-us-about-ourselves-23b89a6020ab

Kevin M. Levin wrote for his Civil War Memory newsletter on how Trump’s assault on the NPS is an attack on history itself:

Trump's Assault on the NPS is Not a Disagreement Over History. It is an Attack on History Itself

The Ideas Roadshow newsletter shared highlights from their conversation with political theorist John Dunn on democracy, American-style:

Democracy, American Style

For The Contrarian, Jennifer Rubin wrote about how that democracy is on life support but there is a path to recovery:

Democracy is on Life Support

Over at his Fool’s Gold newsletter, Donald Earl Collins continued his series on mythbusting detention camps, past & present:

Mythbusting, Detention Camps, and Spinning Sage's Gold, II

For her Degenerate Art newsletter, Andrea Pitzer wrote about listening to the voices of those who have been saved from vanishing:

https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/the-voices-of-the-returned

While for his History Can’t Hide newsletter, Kahlil Greene highlighted Netanyahu’s propaganda tour with ignorant influencers:

ICC War Criminal Gets McDonald's Interview While Real Journalists Get Silenced

Wonderful essay from Mona Eltahawy for her Feminist Giant newsletter on Mamdani & being Muslim in New York:

Essay: New York Muslim State of Mind

Over at her Love Notes newsletter, Jenn M. Jackson traced the intersections of disability, gender, & Blackness that comprise ableist misogynoir:

Ableist Misogynoir: The Intersections of Disability, Gender, and Blackness

While for Wonkette, Robyn Pennacchia wrote about the not-shocking news that working class is actually fond of left-wing economic policies:

Shocking: Working Class Actually Quite Fond Of Left-Wing Economic Policies

I really enjoyed Helen Choi for The Important Work on why she’s making her students read Karen Hao’s Empire of AI:

I'm making my students read a book

On a similar note, Armand D’Angour wrote for his newletter on the use of writing in ancient Athens & in the age of AI:

On the Use of Writing

For his A Word About… newsletter, Benjamin Dreyer wrote about the nonbinary pronoun “they” & not taking the bait of hostile responses:

'Tis a gift

Over at her History in the Margins blog, Pamela D. Toler highlighted the journalist-adventurer Richard Harding Davis:

https://www.historyinthemargins.com/2025/07/22/richard-harding-davis-journalist-adventurer/

Two new newsletters from Etienne Toussaint this week, including the conclusion of his Freedom Papers series on moving from guidance to partnership:

Beyond the Shepherd

While over at his The Tenure Track newsletter, Etienne concluded another series, this one on outlining a law review article:

Transforming Outlines into Enduring Scholarship

Gonna end with a trio of great cultural studies pieces, including KM Nelson for Heat Death on whether the antagonist in Nope was really a monster:

https://heat-death.ghost.io/alien-minds/

For Slant magazine, Marshall Shaffer interviewed Charles Burnett on the long, complicated, vital history of Killer of Sheep:

https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/charles-burnett-interview-killer-of-sheep/

& for a special Christmas in July installment of her Review Roulette newsletter, Vaughn Joy wrote about three adaptations of A Christmas Carol:

The Original Scared Straight

& speaking of our best Christmas- & Film Studier, Vaughn’s forthcoming book Selling Out Santa: Hollywood Christmas Films in the Age of McCarthy is available for pre-order from Indie Pubs:

https://indiepubs.com/products/selling-out-santa

PS. I’m sure I missed plenty as ever, so please share more public scholarly writing & work, podcasts, new & forthcoming books (especially yours) below. Thanks, & happy reading, listening, & learning, all!