Nicholas Scott Baker
@renhistorian.bsky.social
Historian of Renaissance Italy and other things; latest book: In Fortune's Theater: Financial Risk and the Future in Renaissance Italy; Australian football tragic.
My latest paper "Commercial Networks, Colonialism, and Acculturation: The Genoese Lomellini Family in Lisbon, Madeira and the Canary Islands, 1420s–1550s" was published earlier this year in "Atlantic Italies: Economic Entanglements between the Americas, Africa, and the Mediterranean" #earlymodern
Hearty congratulations to Rebecca Howard on the publication of her new book! Portraiture and Mnemonics in the Renaissance Modes of Connecting and Remembering in Central and Northern Italy www.routledge.com/Portraiture-... The study is published in the series Visual and Material Culture, 1300-1700.
I'm looking for to reading this! As my students can attest, one of my most frequent comments on papers is "Be specific. History is in the details!"
Royal Historical Society@royalhistsoc.org · 6d ago"Details, in their singularity and idiosyncrasy, point to the capaciousness of human experience." New today in the Society's journal 'Transactions': Joe Moran 'On Detail in Historical Writing': bit.ly/44UMi8C Now available OA @joemoransblog.bsky.social @massobsarchive.bsky.social #Skystorians 1/2
Those in the know, know that the best Spritz is a Campari Spritz. All the others are just pale imitations. I will not be taking questions.
The New York Times@nytimes.com · 5d agoThe Hugo spritz is the new king of breezy summer drinking. nyti.ms/4pJqrur
Today (31 July) is my last official day at Macquarie University. Thanks to the generosity of Classical Studies and the College of Arts & Sciences at the U. of Richmond, I have employment for the 26-27 academic year. After that, if anyone has need of a historian of Renaissance Italy, let me know!
Half the planet is having a massive fight about how to correctly interpret an Ancient Greek poem but go ahead, close some more humanities departments.
Everything is awful these days but one great thing: public discourse about Homer in the midst of the Bonfire of the Humanities.
This adaptation of The Iliad and The Odyssey was my first introduction to Homer.
Jessica Ritchey@jmritchey.bsky.social · 2w agoWorth pointing out that in 1956, a children's book adaptation of Homer was doing "woke" casting.
A smart, insightful take on Nolan's Odyssey as a work of reception that is (inevitably) about the contemporary moment.
"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux@bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 2w agoI wrote a thing! My take on Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is up at @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/23/o...
Some thoughts on Nolan's Odyssey. Most of the structural changes he made were thoughtful and explicable in Nolan's oeuvre (aiming for realism not fantasy). I liked the framing around the Bronze Age collapse (ditto). I liked that he preserved the core theme of xenia (although he belabors it). 1/2
We've extended the deadline, so there are four more days to submit proposals for The Sack of Rome at 500 sessions at @rsaorg.bsky.social 2027 in Philadelphia! www.rsa.org/forms/FormRe...
Renaissance Society of America
rsa.org
📢 Job vacancy - Chair in Intellectual History We welcome applications from scholars working across a broad range of fields, including: 💠 History of political theory, political economy 💠 Knowledge systems and IT 💠 Postcolonial and intersectional thought 💠 Humanist, post-human, and planetary history
#CfP: “Crossing Boundaries, Fostering Dialogue: Humanities, Academia and the City of Rome”, 19-20 October 2026, Notre Dame Rome Via Ostilia 15, 00184 Roma (RM), Italy. Abstracts by 30 July 2026 #Skystorians rensoc.org.uk/announcement...
I've just finished In Fortune's Theatre, an impressive work by @renhistorian.bsky.social . The study examines the emergence of new ways of conceptualuzing the future in 15th and 16th century Italy through the transformation of the concept of "fortuna" #medievalsky ##earlymodern
CFP deadline today for some great sponsored sessions at @rsaorg.bsky.social 2027 in Philly: The Sack of Rome at 500 www.rsa.org/forms/FormRe... The "Last Florentine Republic" at 500 www.rsa.org/forms/FormRe... Global Cities in the Early Modern World www.rsa.org/forms/FormRe...
Renaissance Society of America
rsa.org
This: The majority of people really do not seem to understand how dark it will be on winter mornings if DLST is made permanent. If you want one time, make it standard time.
Holland Oates@phinsphan.bsky.social · 3w agoPeople are gonna fucking hate this if it actually happens. Enjoy all these post 8am sunrises
CFP deadline today for some great sponsored sessions at @rsaorg.bsky.social 2027 in Philly: The Sack of Rome at 500 www.rsa.org/forms/FormRe... The "Last Florentine Republic" at 500 www.rsa.org/forms/FormRe... Global Cities in the Early Modern World www.rsa.org/forms/FormRe...
Renaissance Society of America
rsa.org
Rome Chicago Sydney Madrid New York *Leaving off a couple of smaller place that I love in favor of those that are inarguably cities. **This is harder than it first seems.
Brent Toderian@brenttoderian.bsky.social · 3w agoQUESTION: What are your FIVE favourite cities anywhere in the world? Bonus points for persuasive explanations why your choices are “right.” Mine (in no order) are: Paris Barcelona New York Montreal Vancouver
Job Opportunity! Lecturer in Medieval History (Research & Teaching Track) University of Glasgow The postholder will undertake research in European medieval history (c.800 CE to 1500CE), ideally through either a comparative transnational perspective. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSF052/l...
Lecturer in Medieval History (Research & Teaching Track) at University of Glasgow
Recruiting now: Lecturer in Medieval History (Research & Teaching Track) on jobs.ac.uk. Click for details and explore more academic job opportunities on the top job board
jobs.ac.uk
DeGruyter / Brill welcomes book proposals to this new series of peer-reviewed books - Early Modern Visual and Material Cultures Series Editor: Allison Levy, Brown University brill.com/page/forthco... Pls contact me with any questions - by DM or by email at Erika.Gaffney@degruyterbrill.com
We've had the Star Wars films since the 1970s, plus all the recent series - and STILL some of you are falling for fascism.
New book cover alert! The second, expanded edition of the Science of Demons is coming out at the end of this month! It features two new chapters and an epilogue, as well as corrected and updated content. Preorder (with a discount!) at www.routledge.com/The-Science-... #earlymodern #hextag
The Piano, Jurassic Park, My Brilliant Career, sure; but for me, Sam Neill's memory will always shine most brightly in Death in Brunswick and Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
"The Republican senator from South Carolina was the epitome, the poster child, the quintessence of our era." - @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
The Quintessential Politician of This Era
The late South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham made a mid-career turn to MAGA.
theatlantic.com
Quite extraordinary that in the global 21st century an epic poem composed in Homeric Greek in the 8th or the 7th century BCE still moves us & provokes yet more reinterpretations. That's not the full value of the Humanities, but if you're struggling to value them, it might be a good starting point.
It's tragically appropriate that we spent a whole generation telling students that the humanities were moribund, and they should all study STEM, only for the greatest innovations in STEM to prove why the humanities were so essential all along.
Lauri Donahue@lauridonahue.bsky.social · last mo.futurism.com/future-socie... lol
