Thomas Ruys Smith
@thomasruyssmith.com
Prof of Lit and Culture, mostly nineteenth century. Coming soon: 🎅 🔎 Searching for Santa Claus: An Anthology of the Poems, Stories and Illustrations That Shaped an American Icon. Writing a book about Mark Twain & London. http://www.thomasruyssmith.com
Good piece from @hilaryemmett.bsky.social & @thomasruyssmith.com: theconversation.com/what-netflix...
What Netflix’s Little House On The Prairie remake says about today’s culture wars
How will a new generation of viewers respond to the Ingalls family and their experiences of life in an America that was still taking shape?
theconversation.com
Happy 250th, America! My gift to you, as is the tradition of course, is all the phenomenal public scholarly writing, podcasts, & books in my 283rd #ScholarSunday thread. Add more below, please share as widely as was the Declaration, & enjoy the intellectual fireworks, all! 🗃️ +
#ScholarSunday Thread 283 (7/5/26) – Black and White and Read All Over
Happy 250th, America! My gift to you, as is the tradition of course, is all the phenomenal public scholarly writing, podcasts, & books in my 283rd #ScholarSunday thread. Add more below, please share a...
blackwhiteandread.com
How will a new generation of viewers respond to the Ingalls family and their experiences of life in an America that was still taking shape?
What Netflix’s Little House On The Prairie remake says about today’s culture wars
How will a new generation of viewers respond to the Ingalls family and their experiences of life in an America that was still taking shape?
tcnv.link
Write about the new Little House on the Prairie with @hilaryemmett.bsky.social for @uk.theconversation.com:
What Netflix’s Little House On The Prairie remake says about today’s culture wars
How will a new generation of viewers respond to the Ingalls family and their experiences of life in an America that was still taking shape?
theconversation.com
We did it! LINGERING INLAND won a Midwest Book Award! Thanks to contributors Olga Herrera and Liz Wilkinson for accepting on behalf of all our contributors!
Lingering Inland has won a Midwest Book Award for 2026!!! Many thanks to @andyoler.bsky.social for creating the Literary Landscapes series and this book. Lots of great pieces in here by myself and others. Also a great Father’s Day gift for a Midwest Dad. bookshop.org/p/books/ling...
What's it actually feel like to live through the decline and fall of mass Higher Education in Britain? Today I've written about this from the inside here... Hope you like it, and hope you find it useful. isrf.org/blog/what-do...
What Does It Feel Like to Live Under the Threat of Redundancy?
isrf.org
This has been something I've been meaning to write for quite some time and the Homer contretemps gave it the opportunity. The thing I most wanted to draw out is that it isn't one fool on Twitter with a helmet, but a radicalization pipeline designed to lead antiquity-curious young men into fascism.
The Bulwark@thebulwark.com · 2mo ago"It’s unfortunate that almost none of the people behind these accounts know very much about the ancient world." Unfortunately, ignorance is not the only thing wrong with them. @bretdevereaux.bsky.social on Elon Musk's X and the fascist statue accounts: www.thebulwark.com/p/why-stone-...
Delighted that with @norfolkmuseums.bsky.social & @benjaminredding.bsky.social we are going to create digitally-enhanced heritage walks in Great Yarmouth on #Gloucesterwreck - BBC News share.google/i5WilySD8F1A... So grateful to @nationallottery.bsky.social for funding the project #norfolk ⚓️🚶♀️⚓️🚶♂️
Digitally-enhanced walks to be created of Great Yarmouth wreck
People will be able to experience the town as major 17th Century port and the Gloucester shipwreck.
share.google
Congrats to @thomasruyssmith.com & the horsetastic @redwingsuk.bsky.social in winning Partnership of the Year in @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social Innovation & Impact Awards 2026 for their work on the legacies of Anna Sewell on animal welfare & childrens' education 👏👏👏
Whether you’re most excited for the Super Bowl, the Puppy Bowl, or the Superb Owl, tailgate with my 262nd #ScholarSunday thread of public scholarly writing, podcasts, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share widely, & enjoy, team! 🗃️ blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...
#ScholarSunday Thread 262 (2/8/26) – Black and White and Read All Over
Whether you’re most excited for the Super Bowl, the Puppy Bowl, or the Superb Owl, start tailgating early with my 262nd #ScholarSunday thread of public scholarly writing, podcasts, new & forthcoming b...
blackwhiteandread.com
Zeke gives our student-edited edition of Hawthorne’s Wonder-Book for All Very Good Boys and Girls 47/10 and recommends that you trot over to Children’s Corner Critical Editions to get a copy for pedagogy or pleasure today! @thomasruyssmith.com @jordanstein.bsky.social @officialbaas.bsky.social
I know I said last week’s #ScholarSunday thread was the year’s final one, but y’all did too much good work this week to ignore—so here’s a Christmas bonus, my 256th thread of public scholarly goodness from the past week! Add more below, share widely, & enjoy! 🗃️ blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...
#ScholarSunday Thread 256 (12/28/25) – Black and White and Read All Over
I know I said that last week’s #ScholarSunday thread was the final regular one of the year, but y’all did too much good work this week to ignore—so here’s a Christmas bonus, my 256th thread of public ...
blackwhiteandread.com
Did medieval people buy each other Christmas gifts? New Year's Day was the main gifting day, but little is known about everyday people's present giving. Our project on London's customs records has uncovered a wealth of affordable items imported around this time: gloves and hats to toys and rattles🧵
Medieval Londoners’ cheaply imported mass-produced Christmas gifts look surprisingly familiar
We often imagine medieval life as dull, dirty and short, with little in the way of material comfort or decoration. However, medieval Londoners were importing toys, treats and trinkets by the boatload ...
theconversation.com
For @thisistheheff.bsky.social's America: A History Podcast, @thomasruyssmith.com and I talked about how the American Santa came into being and the many lives he has lived since.
Why is Santa So American?
Podcast Episode · America: A History · 12/16/2025 · 47m
podcasts.apple.com
Here it is, the final regular #ScholarSunday thread of 2025, my 255th thread of great public scholarly writing, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, please share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...
#ScholarSunday Thread 255 (12/21/25) – Black and White and Read All Over
Here it is, the final regular #ScholarSunday thread of 2025, my 255th thread of great public scholarly writing, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, please sha...
blackwhiteandread.com
I had a great chat with Luis Andres Henao for this fun @apnews.com Christmas explainer:
Everything you need to know about Christmas, and how it has evolved into a global holiday
Originally a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus, Christmas has evolved into a global cultural event.
apnews.com
Mark Twain & Dollis Hill—a ruined corner of London that will always be a little paradise for Twain’s ghost. #LiteraryLandscapes by @thomasruyssmith.com. #MarkTwain #DollisHill #GladstonePark #London newterritorymag.com/literary-lan...
Mark Twain – London, England - The New Territory Magazine
A ruined corner of London that will always be a little paradise for Twain’s ghost. Literary Landscapes by Thomas Ruys Smith.
newterritorymag.com
If you’re looking for some gift ideas, please allow me to suggest STARTLING TALES OF SANTA CLAUS. 80 pages, self-contained, no ads, great for new comics readers, good for like ages 13+
Benito Cereno@benitocereno.bsky.social · 8mo ago"These stories are tales of light in the darkness, of hope amid the dying light of winter cold ... thrilling, heartwarming, and truly timeless. It’s a must buy, and Cereno’s Santaverse deserves to be an annual comic shop tradition." @comicsbeat.bsky.social www.comicsbeat.com/wednesday-co...
Enjoyed writing about Mark Twain’s time at Dollis Hill in London for #LiteraryLandscapes 👉 newterritorymag.com/literary-lan...
Mark Twain – London, England - The New Territory Magazine
A ruined corner of London that will always be a little paradise for Twain’s ghost. Literary Landscapes by Thomas Ruys Smith.
newterritorymag.com
Andy Oler@andyoler.bsky.social · 8mo agoWe've got a brand-new volume of #LiteraryLandscapes for you to peruse, this time on Mark Twain! Even before you click the link below, check out these portraits—they make me wonder if *anyone* at the turn of the 19-20c was photographed more.
I do actually have a podcast that goes beyond the story contest. It's just kinda been dead for a year. But I'm trying to bring it back. ;) Starting with some weird Xmas Baking and Linda Raedisch whose Secret History of Christmas Baking is awesome. weirdchristmas.com/2025/12/14/p...
Podcast! Weird Christmas Baking with Linda Raedisch
Or listen at the Podbean site. Craig talks with Linda Raedisch about her new (ahem, 2023) book The Secret History of Christmas Baking: Recipes & Stories from Tomb Offerings to Gingerbread Boys.…
weirdchristmas.com
So the best new Christmas film so far this year is… ummm…. the Jonas Brothers Christmas movie. Jingle Bell Heist was pretty charming too.
Wrote about the 40th anniversary of 🎅 Santa Claus: The Movie for @theconversation.com: theconversation.com/santa-claus-...
Santa Claus: The Movie at 40 – how a box office flop became a ‘pure panto’ British Christmas staple
In the US, Santa Claus: The Movie became an infamous flop, failing to make back its hefty production budget.
theconversation.com
Also available on my shop: a new translation by me of 25 Medieval Latin miracles of St Nicholas www.patreon.com/benitocereno...
Buy “Miracles of Saint Nicholas: A New Translation” on Patreon | Benito Cereno
Check out Benito Cereno’s shop on Patreon
patreon.com
Benito Cereno@benitocereno.bsky.social · 8mo agoNow available in my shop -- a PDF of Book I of my expansive new mythology of Christmas, encompassing the life, death, and rebirth of St Nicholas! If you've heard me mention my "Silmarillion of Christmas," this is it (NB they are only similar in scope, not tone) www.patreon.com/posts/new-yu...
Five years on, @benitocereno.bsky.social's video lecture series THE MAGIC AND LEGENDS OF OLD CHRISTMAS is still the best and most accessible general survey of Christmas-adjacent holiday traditions and characters from around the world (predominantly central Europe). www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO9E...
Magic and Legends of Old Christmas part 01: Christmas starts earlier than you think
YouTube video by Benito Cereno
youtube.com
A pleasant early Christmas book gift left at the door courtesy of @thomasruyssmith.com and it looks great! A small handful of pieces and names I recognize, but I expect the majority to be completely new to me, so should be a fun voyage of discovery.
