#ScholarSunday Thread 238

After a week off for birthday celebrations, & a bit belated after moving our son into college, here’s my 238^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!

A reminder that my wife & I are finalizing a new public scholarly website to which we plan to move these threads soon. In the meantime, I hope all this free, great work balances Substack’s undeniable issues (a main reason for our move).

Speaking of moving Kyle into Michigan, on my blog this week I AmericanStudied histories & figures from that university’s long & storied past:

https://americanstudier.blogspot.com/2025/08/august-18-2025-university-of-michigan.html

Starting this week with a handful of great pieces shared by other folks, including Kaitlyn Greenidge on DC’s Black history (h/t Tressie McMillan Cottom):

Here’s Garrett Schumann for NPR on the 150^th birthday of the groundbreaking Black classical composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (h/t Mark Anthony Neal):

https://www.npr.org/2025/08/14/nx-s1-5496512/samuel-coleridge-taylor-150-avril-black-british-classical

Amelia Mavis Christnot wrote for The Big Picture on the Mohawk Skywalkers who built America’s skyscrapers (h/t George Takei):

Vital reporting from Shayla Martin for Condé Nast Traveler on museums at the sites of Indian boarding schools (h/t Kevin M. Levin):

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/museums-at-indian-boarding-schools-are-shining-light-on-their-survivors?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

& thanks to Bluesky user @purpletiger for sharing this excellent Eddie Smith thread on how Major League Baseball became racially segregated:

Turning to other great public scholarly writing from these two weeks, here’s S. Deborah Kang for the Journal of American Constitutional History on anti-Mexican racism & the 1952 McCarran-Walter Act:

https://jach.law.wisc.edu/anti-mexican-racism-and-the-mccarren-walter-act/

Laura Madokoro wrote for The Conversation on Central American refugees & the 1980s birth of sanctuary cities:

https://theconversation.com/sanctuary-cities-in-the-us-were-born-in-the-1980s-as-central-american-refugees-fled-civil-wars-257718?utm_content=buffer36ecb&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Bracing & important work for George Washington’s National Security Archive on the 20^th anniversary of the Guatemalan Historical Archive of the National Police:

https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/news/guatemala/2025-08-20/invisible-silenced-and-all-abandoned-guatemalan-historical-archive

Danny Robb wrote for JSTOR Daily on the 50^th anniversary of Benoit Mandelbrot’s coining of the influential term “fractal”:

https://daily.jstor.org/fifty-years-of-fractals/

For his Historian4Hire blog, David O. Rotenstein celebrated the life & legacy of Pittsburgh Black historian Charlotte Coffield:

https://blog.historian4hire.net/2025/08/12/charlotte-coffield-remembered/

While for the Guild of Medievalist Makers blog, Mary Flannery introduced herself & her work:

https://www.guildmedmak.com/blog/maryflannery

Four great pieces to share from the AHA’s Perspectives blog, including Mark Fiege on Yellowstone’s deep histories:

https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/a-larger-older-richer-greater-yellowstone/

Mike Matejka wrote for Perspectives on how a very different park, Pullman National Historical Park, preserves that company town’s histories:

https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/a-company-town-preserved/

While Mary F. Casey offered the second installment in her series on her pedagogy as a playwright & theater historian:

https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/plays-are-good-to-think-with/

& finally for Perspectives, here’s Alisa Kuzmina on what her archival research taught her about positionality:

https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/the-emotional-textures-of-the-archive/

& speaking of archives, check out the latest iteration of a vital digital resource, SlaveVoyages 3.0:

https://www.slavevoyages.org/blog/slavevoyages-30/192

Half-a-dozen pieces from Saturday Evening Post colleagues to share this week, including Donald Liebenson on the new Americana podcast Fun for All Ages!:

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/08/a-new-podcast-celebrates-amazing-colossal-americana/

Selina Alipour Tabrizi wrote for the Post on Katharine Brush, one of the Jazz Age’s most fascinating literary voices:

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/08/katharine-brush-the-forgotten-literary-influence-of-the-jazz-age/

Speaking of literary giants, here’s Rich Warren for the Post on the 100^th anniversary of Flannery O’Connor’s birth:

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/08/remembering-flannery-oconnor-in-the-100th-year-of-her-birth/

Here’s Jill Robbins for the Post on three Texas sites where Bonnie & Clyde’s legacy lives on:

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/08/texas-still-remembers-bonnie-and-clyde/

While Jeff Nilsson wrote for the Post’s Rockwell Files column on a fascinating March 1949 Norman Rockwell cover painting:

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/08/rockwell-files-trying-on-the-future/

& I really enjoyed this item from the Post’s archives, a 1966 column on the Grand Ole Opry & country music in the age of rock:

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/08/the-grand-ole-opry-and-the-nashville-sound-in-1966/

Turning to current events, WBUR’s Here & Now’s Robin Young interviewed AHA Executive Director Sarah Weicksel on the White House’s attacks on the Smithsonian:

https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2025/08/13/white-house-smithsonian

While for his New York Times column, Jamelle Bouie offered a vital take on what Trump is really up to in DC (gift link below):

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/opinion/trump-washington-national-guard.html?unlocked_article_code=1.fk8.H_R-.lAYebK0CIVmI&smid=url-share

Crucial essay from Jen Manion for The New Republic on how learning history is a righteous form of resistance to these attacks:

https://newrepublic.com/article/198373/learning-history-righteous-form-resistance

Equally inspiring is Eric Foner for The Nation on what his own historical education can teach us about our fragile freedoms:

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/eric-foner-our-fragile-freedom-essay/#

Great piece from Gretchen Goldman & Erica Chenoweth for Science magazine on scientists’ role in defending democracy:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea9328

While for The Editorial Board, Lindsay Beyerstein pushed back on Evan Morris’s op ed claiming that the humanities are a threat to science in higher ed:

https://www.editorialboard.com/the-humanities-dont-threaten-science-trump-does/

& check out Colin J. Carlson & Sean Kennedy in Stat News on why the recent CDC shooting was public health’s January 6^th:

https://www.statnews.com/2025/08/15/cdc-shooting-january-6th-for-public-health/

Lots of great new podcast episodes over these two weeks, including the latest for Kelly Therese Pollock’s Unsung History, featuring Karin Wulf on genealogy in early America:

https://www.unsunghistorypodcast.com/Genealogy/

For episode 418 of Liz Covart’s Ben Franklin’s World, Randy Browne joined to discuss his book The Driver’s Story: Labor & Power in the World of Atlantic Slavery:

https://benfranklinsworld.com/episode-418-the-slave-drivers-story/

Two new episodes of Liam Heffernan’s America: A History podcast to share, including John Lumea on the 19^th century “Emperor Norton of the USA”:

& Liam was also joined by Stephen Tuffnell to discuss the history of the California Gold Rush:

For 19^th century histories interconnected with the Gold Rush, check out this Civics & Coffee episode on the discriminatory 1875 Page Act:

https://www.civicsandcoffee.com/the-page-act-how-america-banned-chinese-women/

& the latest Civics & Coffee episode tells the story of Gilded Age financier Jay Gould:

https://www.civicsandcoffee.com/jay-gould-titan-or-tyrant/

The latest episode of the Shipwrecks & Sea Dogs podcast highlights the tragic story of the Exxon Valdez oil spill:

https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/the-exxon-valdez-disaster/

While the latest episode of The Ivory Attic podcast features Chris Kempshall on Star Wars, WW1, video games, & more:

For episode two of his Sound is Magic podcast, Brian Harnetty dives deeper into his forthcoming book (out Tuesday!) Noisy Memory:

While for the new episode of You’re Missing Out: A National Film Registry podcast, Josh Shepperd joined to discuss the 1930s newsreel series The March of Time:

& speaking of WWII histories, the latest episode of Axelbank Reports History & Today features Iain MacGregor on his book The Hiroshima Men:

Turning to current events, Matthew Facciani joined the New Books in Public Policy podcast to discuss his book Misguided: Where Misinformation Starts, How It Spreads, & What To Do about It:

Episode 282 of SSN’s No Jargon podcast features Farhana Sultana on the unequal costs of climate change:

https://scholars.org/podcast/unequal-costs-climate-change

Over at Brad Onishi’s Straight White American Jesus podcast, Leah Litman joined to discuss the grievance & conspiracy theories that run SCOTUS:

While for the latest episode of their It Could Happen Here podcast, Steven Moancelli & Michael Phillips discussed Elon Musk & the rebirth of company towns:

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-it-could-happen-here-30717896/episode/elon-musk-and-the-rebirth-of-290033118/

Two new episodes of John Fugelsang & Corey Brettschneider’s The Oath & the Office podcast to share, including last week’s on Trump’s hard coup:

& this week John & Corey discussed Trump’s whitewashing attacks on the Smithsonian & American history:

While Annette Gordon-Reed joined Democracy Now! to discuss those attacks:

The latest episode of Mark Anthony Neal’s Left of Black features Meredith D. Clark on Black Twitter & the future of Black journalism:

& for her American Conversations YouTube series, Heather Cox Richardson interviewed Colorado Representative Jason Crow:

Finally, check out a special Civics & Coffee conversation with Zaakir Tameez on his new book Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation:

https://www.civicsandcoffee.com/exploring-conscience-of-a-nation-zaakir-tameez-on-charles-sumners-fight-for-justice/

Speaking of new books, out last week from Oxford UP is Gregory A. Daddis’s Faith & Fear: America’s Relationship with War since 1945:

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/faith-and-fear-9780197804223?q=faith%20and%20fear&lang=en&cc=us

While the UNC Press blog shared two new releases, Amanda Laury Kleintop’s Counting the Cost of Freedom: The Fight Over Compensated Emancipation after the Civil War & Mila Burns’s Dictatorship Across Borders: Brazil, Chile, & the South American Cold War:

https://uncpressblog.com/2025/08/19/new-this-week-august-19th/

Forthcoming this Tuesday from UNC Press is Brian Harnetty’s aforementioned Noisy Memory: Recording Sound, Performing Archives:

https://uncpress.org/9781469691343/noisy-memory/

Also forthcoming from Princeton UP is Julia R. Azari’s Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History:

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691246956/backlash-presidents?srsltid=AfmBOopnvi3_fS-Hph47rXKqlV_I9m1qYdKxH5OzSzjbFGGszvEfmLUK

& I’m really excited for Jelani Cobb’s forthcoming collection Three or More is a Riot: Notes on How We Got Here from Penguin Random House:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/779593/three-or-more-is-a-riot-by-jelani-cobb/

For a fascinating conversation about another forthcoming book, check out Pamela D. Toler’s interview with Tim Brady on his A Light in the Northern Sea: Denmark’s Incredible Rescue of Their Jewish Citizens During WWII:

https://www.historyinthemargins.com/2025/08/12/a-light-in-the-northern-sea-a-q-a-with-tim-brady/

Three new USIH book reviews to share this week, including Jonathan Sperber on Andrew Hartman’s Karl Marx in America:

https://s-usih.org/2025/08/jonathan-sperber-on-andrew-hartmans-karl-marx-in-america/

Also for USIH, Alex Sayf Cummings reviewed Dana Simmons’s On Hunger: Violence & Craving in America, from Starvation to Ozempic:

https://s-usih.org/2025/08/i-govy-you-govy-we-all-govy-for-wegovy-dana-simmons-on-the-dark-history-of-hunger-in-america-alex-sayf-cummings-on-simmonss-on-hunger/

Finally for USIH, Robin Marie Averbeck reviewed Kevil Schultz’s Why Everyone Hates White Liberals (Including White Liberals):

https://s-usih.org/2025/08/robin-marie-averbeck-on-kevin-schultzs-why-everyone-hates-white-liberals-including-white-liberals/

Over at Contingent magazine, Marc Reyes reviewed Paul M. McGarr’s Spying in South Asia: Britain, the United States, & India’s Secret Cold War:

https://contingentmagazine.org/2025/08/12/the-search-for-intelligence/

While for Public Books, Noah Cohan reviewed Nathan Kalman-Lamb & Derek Silva’s The End of College Football:

https://www.publicbooks.org/what-future-for-college-football/

For her Beyond Curie newsletter, Olivia Campbell shared for recent & forthcoming books about women & science:

& for the latest installment of her Black Feminist Book Club, Jenn M. Jackson wrote about Saidiya Hartman’s Lose Your Mother:

Gonna end with a bunch of great newsletters & blog posts as usual, including the return of Pasts Imperfect at its new Ghost host:

https://pasts-imperfect.ghost.io/pasts-imperfect-8-14-25/

For the Work in Progress segment on his Campaign Trails newsletter, Kevin M. Kruse continued to dive into the history of 1960s battles for voting rights:

https://campaign-trails.ghost.io/work-in-progress-registered/

While Lindsay M. Chervinsky also wrote about the 60^th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act for her Imperfect Union newsletter:

Over at his One First newsletter, Steve Vladeck wrote about Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh’s destructive inconsistencies:

For his Democracy Americana newsletter, Thomas Zimmer traced why & how extremists took over the American Right:

For her latest newsletter, Sherrilyn Ifill wrote about Washington DC & the summer of our discontent:

For her Organizing My Thoughts blog, here’s Kelly Hayes on why we must protect anyone chased by these fascists:

https://organizingmythoughts.org/you-must-protect-anyone-chased-by-the-fascists/

For his Public Notice newsletter, here’s Noah Berlatsky on America’s slide toward “competitive authoritarianism”:

While Kevin M. Levin wrote for his Civil War Memory newsletter on Trump’s whitewashing review of the Smithsonian:

For an antidote to these current trends, check out this Ideas Roadshow interview with the late historian John Elliott:

Over at his blog, Daniel Laurison wrote thoughtfully about the state of sociology in August 2025:

https://daniellaurison.com/519-2/

Looking forward to Mona Eltahawy’s upcoming online course on her book The Seven Necessary Sins for Women & Girls:

Three newsletters from Etienne Toussaint to share this week, including for his Freedom Papers on embracing the challenges that shape us:

& two pieces for Toussaint’s Tenure Track newsletter, including five strategies for navigating student demands:

& for his latest Tenure Track newsletter, Toussaint wrote about how stress can sabotage productivity & mental health:

Over at her History in the Margins blog, Pamela D. Toler wrote about Lucile, AKA Lady Duff Gordon, on her groundbreaking fashion designs:

https://www.historyinthemargins.com/2025/08/15/lady-duff-gordon-aka-lucile/

For his Looking Through the Past newsletter, George Dillard wrote about the 18^th century gin craze & the birth of the modern moral panic:

While for his History Can’t Hide newsletter, Kahlil Greene traced the story of the enslaved African who saved Boston from smallpox:

I always enjoy Heather Cox Richardson’s pieces on Frances Perkins, including her August 13^th installment of Letters from an American:

For his newsletter, my FSU colleague Steve Edwards penned a beautiful snapshot on his father & himself:

While for his Interminable Rambling Medium column, Matthew Teutsch wondered how we can move beyond our “little postage stamp of native soil”:

https://interminablerambling.medium.com/how-do-we-move-beyond-our-little-postage-stamp-of-native-soil-9e6494b58d35

Gonna end with a bunch of cultural studies pieces as usual, including Liza Donnelly’s latest profile of a woman New Yorker cartoonist featured in her documentary:

For Women’s Wear Daily Julia Teti wrote about women’s Gilded Age fashions, featuring contributions from Einav Rabinovitch-Fox:

https://wwd.com/pop-culture/culture-news/feature/gilded-age-sashes-ribbons-fabric-status-1238035476/

Fascinating essay from Ben Schwartz in The Nation on Billy Wilder’s battles with the legacies of the Holocaust & the paradoxes of Zionism:

https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/billy-wilder-hollywood-zionism-holocaust/

For Bright Wall/Dark Room, Frank Falisi wrote about Dog Day Afternoon on its 50^th anniversary:

https://www.brightwalldarkroom.com/2023/08/26/and-when-it-rains-the-rain-falls-down/

Speaking of 50^th anniversaries, here’s Jennifer Ouellette for Ars Technica on The Rocky Horror Picture Show:

https://arstechnica.com/culture/2025/08/celebrating-50-years-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/

Two new pieces for Vaughn Joy’s Review Roulette to share this week, including a wonderful take on the new Naked Gun to wrap up her series on that series:

& Joy’s new column is a back-to-school compilation of a number of her great reviews:

Finally, three posts from Dion Georgiou for his Academic Bubble newsletter, including this one on the BBC’s re-adaptation of Postman Pat:

Georgiou also offered a thoughtful review of the new Superman:

& if you need even more public scholarly goodness, check out the 49^th installment of Georgiou’s Stop, Look, & Listen newsletter:

PS. I’m sure I missed even more than usual over these two weeks, so please add more writing, podcasts, new & forthcoming books below! Thanks, & happy reading, listening, & learning, all!