"All good #writing is swimming under water and holding your breath." – F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Grisly remains." Today's #history article pick from Damn History, my free newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to @liviagershon.bsky.social & @jstordaily.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe daily.jstor.org/how-a-murder...

How a Murder Fueled Racial Terror in Florida - JSTOR Daily

The hunt for Charlie Wright exposed how convict leasing, labor tensions, and white supremacy shaped rural life in the Jim Crow South.

daily.jstor.org

"Misunderstood." Today's forthcoming #history book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author @robinwigglesworth.ft.com & @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

How to read like a scientist. (It's a good thing, like thinking critically as you read.) nesslabs.com/newsletter/r...

How to Read Like a Scientist • Ness Labs

The Ness Letters are a weekly newsletter by Ness Labs, exploring how we can think better, work smarter, and live happier.

nesslabs.com

"Politicize the #Smithsonian." Today's #history article pick from Damn History, my free newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to @civilwarmemory.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe kevinmlevin.substack.com/p/trumps-war...

Trump's War on the Museum of American History Continues

The White House's new Smithsonian report has no authors, no methodology, and no historians. What it has is an agenda.

kevinmlevin.substack.com

"Secrets, scandals." Today's upcoming #history book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author @theresamusgrove.bsky.social & @penandswordbooks.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

#Writing: "Someone said: ‘The dead writers are remote from us because we know so much more than they did.’ Precisely, and they are that which we know." – T. S. Eliot

Today's #history article pick from Damn History, my free newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to @americanstudier.bsky.social & @satevepost.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2026/07/cons...

Considering History: Does Remembering Injustice Erase America’s True Story…or Help Us Better Understand It? | The Saturday Evening Post

The Chinese Exclusion Act was the culmination of decades of racist narratives, white supremacist hate, and exclusionary laws. Should we include this narrative when telling the story of America?

saturdayeveningpost.com

"Women’s vital place within punk." Today's #history book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author @mollytie.bsky.social & @omnibuspress.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Now out: the August issue of DAMN HISTORY, my free monthly newsletter for #history readers and writers. Mac & cheese and history, 131-year-old movie rediscovered, forgotten cold case, voting rights betrayed, leprosy weaponized, + more. Read/subscribe: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Now out: the August issue of DAMN HISTORY, my free monthly newsletter for #history readers and writers. Mac & cheese and history, 131-year-old movie rediscovered, forgotten cold case, voting rights betrayed, leprosy weaponized, + more. Read/subscribe: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

#Writing: "The writer cuts himself off from all others and confronts his subject alone. He moves into a realm where he has never been before — perhaps where no one has ever been. It is a lonely place, even a little frightening." – Rachel Carson

"A dirty man." Today's #history article pick from Damn History, my free newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @olibasciano.bsky.social & @literaryhub.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe lithub.com/how-leprosy-...

How Leprosy Was Used as a Weapon Against Hawaii’s Indigenous Population

Father Damien was a dirty man. Everyone agreed on that. Dirt would accumulate under his fingernails; he rarely washed his hands. His clothes—his habitual cassock and wide-brimmed hat—were worn for …

lithub.com

"His family isolated Agnes in the attic." Today's #history book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author @busypencil.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

"If you can't annoy somebody with what you write, I think there's little point in #writing." – Kingsley Amis

"The tragic effect." Today's #history article pick from Damn History, my free newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @joyurcaba.bsky.social & @nbcnews.com! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Idaho pushed anti-trans laws for years. Then a teen died.

The life and death of May Pollard, 16, provides a window into the tragic effect that legislation and political rhetoric have had on trans people in America.

nbcnews.com

"Led Haiti's fight for independence." Today's #history book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author @juliagaffield.bsky.social & @yalepress.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

"Christopher Nolan's casting in The Odyssey has sparked controversy. Let's talk about it." www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG1M...

Christopher Nolan Was Right about The Odyssey Casting | History Can’t Hide

Can (or perhaps should) a Black actress play Helen of Troy? Did race exist in ancient Greece? Welcome to History Can't Hide. In this episode, I interview several historians: Dr. Joel Christensen,…

youtube.com

Remember this name: Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja. www.smithsonianmag.com/history/this...

This Indian Maharaja Saved Hundreds of Polish Orphans During World War II, Offering Them Refuge When No One Else Would

Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, ruler of the princely state of Nawanagar, opened his realm to young Poles who had been detained in Soviet labor camps as the children of the intelligentsia

smithsonianmag.com

#Writing characters: "Change rarely happens because we push harder. More often, it happens because we build a bridge strong enough for someone to cross, and then we get out of the way and let them walk." – Malynnda Stewart

"Firmly in place." Today's #history article pick from Damn History, my free newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @drkarenlcox.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe karencoxhistorian.substack.com/p/where-have...

Where have all the Confederate monuments gone?

Most of them never left.

karencoxhistorian.substack.com

"Thinking about how to live well." Today's #history book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author @katherineharvey.bsky.social & @reaktionbooks.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Nerdy and helpful: "A targeted, organized, yet still interestingly randomized sampling of good books." resobscura.substack.com/p/quality-no...

Quality non-fiction books are the antithesis of AI slop

...so I vibe-coded a tool for finding more of them

resobscura.substack.com

#Writing: "I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong." - Bertrand Russell

Today's #history article pick from Damn History, my free newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @historicbeaman.bsky.social & @alexandriatimes.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe alextimes.com/lifestyle/ou...

Out of the Attic: The Gibson family in slavery and freedom

By Greg Beaman, Ph.D Nestled neatly in an archival folder in the Alexandria Library Special Collection, a slip of paper dated Oct. 31, 1831, reads, “To Gusty Gibson, To one Qtr. Sallery [Salary] for c...

alextimes.com

"A murder he did not commit." Today's #history book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author @pamelacolloff.bsky.social & @aaknopf.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

“‘AI company destroys two million books’ is not a headline that generates sympathy.” www.404media.co/ai-companies...

AI Companies Are Buying Tons of Old Books Because They're Free of AI Slop

ISBNdb, a company that sources printed books for AI companies to turn into training data, tells clients “the optics problem is real.”

404media.co

Few people are still alive who witnessed the spectacle of a log drive. This is a newly digitized #documentary. #history www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H1v...

The Last Log Drive In Minnesota

The last log drive in Minnesota was filmed on the Little Fork River during the spring of 1937. These scenes were captured by Carl H. Henrikson Jr. during the drive. In the mid-1970s, the Minnesota…

youtube.com

"Soon ignored the rules." Today's #history article pick from Damn History, my free newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @burness.bsky.social & @boltsmag.org! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe boltsmag.org/readmission-...

A Voting Rights Promise, Betrayed for 156 Years - Bolts

After the Civil War, Congress readmitted Southern states on the condition they not expand felony disenfranchisement—but they quickly ignored the restriction. It has finally caught up with one state, w...

boltsmag.org

"A tale of privilege, beauty, and betrayal." Today's #history book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author Catherine Ostler & @atriabooks.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe