#Prometheus didn't just steal fire, he gave humanity knowledge, progress, and an ethical dilemma that still shapes our world. From Greek myth to #Frankenstein, why does Prometheus’s story remain timeless? 🔥 #Skystorians #Mythology #History #Literature #AncientHistory #Antiquity #BookSky

Beyond the Stolen Fire: The Evolution of the Prometheus Myth

Discover the fluid nature of the Prometheus myth. From ancient satire to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and modern digital art, explore how the Promethean man shapes high technology, progress, and moral ...

verbumlibere.com

Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland' illustration, 1959 by Finnish artist and Moomins creator Tove Jansson #WomensArt

The best known factotum said, to paraphrase: it's always better if the writer actually experiences the material for his texts. Some thoughts on America's misfit writer. #skystorians #booksky #academicsky #review #litsky #literature

Charles Bukowski: Writing from the Gutter, Not the Ivory Tower

The younger Bukowski wrote, to paraphrase, that it's always better if the writer actually experiences the material for his texts. Later, he admitted: “To not to have entirely wasted one's life seems t...

verbumlibere.com

Greek colonisation involved more than trade. The story of Pharos shows that conflict and military force could also shape colonial foundations in the #Adriatic and elsewhere in the Mediterranean. #Skystorians #Archaeology #History New articles and essays will now be published every Thursday.

Greek Colonisation of the Adriatic

Greek colonisation of the Adriatic was far more complex than peaceful expansion. Discover how colonies such as Pharos, Issa and Corcyra reshaped the eastern Adriatic through migration, conflict, trade...

verbumlibere.com

Here it is, my 284th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ + blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

#ScholarSunday Thread 284 (7/12/26) – Black and White and Read All Over

Here it is, my 284th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share as widely as possible, & enjoy,...

blackwhiteandread.com

OTD in 1930, the first FIFA World Cup began in Uruguay. In this article from the archives, Richard Mills explores how football fixtures created meaningful ties between Yugoslavia and its African and Asian allies.

Scoring for the Non-Aligned Movement: Yugoslavia, Football and the Third World

Continuing our History Workshop World Cup series, Richard Mills explores the role football played in establishing diplomatic ties between Tito’s […]

historyworkshop.org.uk

Ancient Greek bronze Corinthian helmet, dated to about 460 BCE. From Olympia, Greece. The inscription states that the Argives dedicated the helmet to Zeus as spoil won in battle against the Corinthians (info from museum caption). The British Museum. 📷 me.

Yesterday, we published the sequel on #Greekcolonization, this time covering the geographical extent of the #colonization and the colonizers' relations with the indigenous population in greater detail. #skystorians #history #archaeology

Greek Colonies in the Mediterranean

From Sicily to the Black Sea, Greek colonisation reshaped the ancient Mediterranean. But how did it actually work, and who was behind it? The story is more organised, and more political. To find out m...

verbumlibere.com

Love the metaphor

Inner Structure@innerstructure.bsky.social · 4w ago

The US is 250. San Marino is 1,725. What does longevity actually teach us about building organizations that last? Read the story: www.theinnerstructure.com/from-the-uni... #Academicsky #WomeninBusiness #skystorians #Leadership #OrganizationalCulture #BusinessStrategy #History #Management

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) — Corfu Lights and Shadows.

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

#Greekcolonisation reshaped the Mediterranean through trade, migration, and new settlements. From the 8th to the 6th century BC, it connected peoples, goods, and ideas across the #ancient world. 🏛️👇 #skystorians #history #archaeology www.verbumlibere.com/the-beginnings-of-greek-colonisation

The Beginnings of Greek Colonisation

Greek colonisation was a long process shaped by trade, migration, and contact across the Mediterranean. From the 8th to the 6th century BC, Greeks founded new settlements that transformed the ancient ...

verbumlibere.com

Hermann Hesse (July 2, 1877 — August 9, 1962) worked in bookshops before becoming famous. During his bookshop years, he educated himself by reading literature and philosophy. One central theme of his books is the search for the true self. ⏰📚💙 #books #writers #literature #HermannHesse #Hesse

I remember watching westerns with my grandpa as a kid; I don't recall much multiculturalism in them. I'll definitely watch the two reviewed in the essay below.

Dr. Vaughn Joy@gvaughnjoy.bsky.social · last mo.

Mel Brooks's Blazing Saddles (1974) is a phenomenal film that fits into a much larger tradition of cultural works that challenge Hollywood and vaudevillian whitewashing of the American West This week I reviewed it in conversation with Deadwood (2004-2006; 2019) and Springsteen's album Western Stars

Early reviewers called what David Lurie did to Melanie a "seduction." My own 2004 edition even blurbed it as an "affair." After #MeToo, the same act became "coercion" and "abuse of power." The interpretation changed, which says much about us. #booksky #review #litsky #academicsky #edusky #culture

How MeToo Changed the Way We Read Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

Published in 1999, Disgrace is a novel that leaves a nauseating sensation from the first page to the last – and a question that lingers long after: what does it mean to read it today, after MeToo?

verbumlibere.com

The case of mistaken identity in the Battle of Bear Valley draws a parallel to European history. Multietnic borderlands, much like the Croatian Military Frontier during the Ottoman wars, frequently saw imperial forces clash with local allies due to uniform similarities and linguistic chaos. 👇 1/2

June 26, 2026: AmericanStudying “Indian Wars”: The Battle of Bear Valley (1918) – Black and White and Read All Over

[June 25th marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Little Big Horn, one of countless fraught moments across the long history of the so-called “Indian Wars.” There are few more frustrating, more t...

blackwhiteandread.com

I wrote about this in my review of The Producers a couple months back, and how he hired people who could make powerful statements just by being present, as with Zero Mostel whose blacklisting and principled testimony to HUAC add an extra level of defiance through comedy. Brooks is beyond comparison.

Don't be Stupid, Be a Smarty. Come and Join the Mel Brooks Party – Black and White and Read All Over

An Auteur Approach to The Producers (1967)

blackwhiteandread.com

Joanne Freeman@jbf1755.bsky.social · last mo.

Mel Brooks has always understood that the best way to disempower fascists is to laugh at them. Their power is fear. “Springtime for Hitler,” anyone? Happy Birthday, Mel Brooks!

We imagine #Rome bathed in sunshine, but was that image closer to reality than we think? #Climate research suggests that warm temperatures helped the Empire flourish, while cooling, famine and plague reshaped the ancient #Mediterranean and the world that followed. #skystorians #history #academicsky

Why Do We Keep Imagining the Roman Period as Warm, and What Did That Mean for the Romans?

Was the Roman Empire built not only by armies and politics, but also by climate? Climate research reveals how a warmer Mediterranean supported Rome's rise and how changing temperatures, famine and pl...

verbumlibere.com

Thanks! & check out @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social’s review! blackwhiteandread.com/unlike-some-...

Unlike Some Other Robin Hoods, He Can Break the 5th Wall – Black and White and Read All Over

An Environmental Approach to Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)

blackwhiteandread.com

"The best team is not the one where everyone thinks alike. The best team is the one where every person brings something that the others lack." -> Love the sociological and anthropological perspective on organizational culture. It's very important to have diversity on a team. #edusky #skystorians

Inner Structure@innerstructure.bsky.social · last mo.

"If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking." Avoid groupthink. The best teams are like a jigsaw puzzle - different shapes that fit together perfectly to create the whole picture. Read the Story: www.theinnerstructure.com/i-thought-hi... #AcademicSky #WomeninBusiness #KetsuekiGata

‘The antisemitism of the late 19th century was born out of economic and social instability. It had little to do with Jews, and even less with the tenets of Judaism.’ David Todd on France’s ‘first fascist’. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

David Todd · The Vile and the Louche: France’s First Fascist

The Marquis de Morès was an extraordinary villain in an epoch crowded with the vile and the louche. After he killed a...

lrb.co.uk

Yesterday, for Mel Brooks' 100th birthday, 7,000 fans gathered in the main square of Bologna, Italy, to sing “Happy Birthday” to him. Mel himself replied with a video message, and then the crowd watched Young Frankenstein together. ❤️ #Filmsky 📽️

Late birthday wishes to Mel Brooks! His Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) remains an unforgettable masterclass in cinematic satire. Speaking of great storytelling and cultural analysis, Scholar Sunday never disappoints. Read #ScholarSunday Thread 282 below! 🧵👇

Ben Railton@americanstudier.bsky.social · last mo.

Then is finally now—it’s Mel Brooks’ 100th birthday! I think the maestro of mensches would agree that there’s no better way to celebrate this momentous occasion than with a thread of phenomenal public scholarship, so excuse me while I whip this out: +

+ My 282nd #ScholarSunday thread of public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ + blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

#ScholarSunday Thread 282 (6/28/26) – Black and White and Read All Over

Then is finally now—it’s Mel Brooks’ 100th birthday! I think the maestro of mensches would agree that there’s no better way to celebrate this momentous occasion than with a thread of phenomenal public...

blackwhiteandread.com

Claude Monet by Pierre-Auguste Renoir Renoir and Monet studied painting together at the atelier of Charles Gler in Paris. Renoir submitted this painting to the first Impressionist exhibition in Paris in 1874 ⏰📚💙 #reading #book #art #painting

This is a great text on how the #Romans coped with the #summer #heat. We could use some of their knowledge today. For example, we could fill ceramic bowls with cold water (works in dry climates, not humid ones) and hang wet fabrics to cool the air a bit, and put shades on the windows.

How the Romans Kept Cool: Surviving a Heatwave with Ancient Strategies

From shaded courtyards to the cooling splash of impluviums, Romans designed their homes to fight the summer heat. Long before air conditioning, they used architecture to live with the sun—not against ...

romanempiretimes.com

Today we remember George Orwell, born in 1903, and his 1984 - a novel in which surveillance and rewritten history feel less like fiction and more like a forecast, which we thanked him for by proving almost entirely correct.

Readit Club@readit.club · last mo.

Orwell once explained his mission very simply: he wrote because there was “some lie” he wanted to expose and “some fact” he wanted people to see. Happy Birthday George Orwell! ⏰📚💙 #reading #GeorgeOrwell #books #Orwell #writers #literature #book #readingcommunity #bookstagram #BookTok #bookish

Beautiful. More of these, less AI generated art. #HumanArt #SupportArtists

Long_Painter@longpainter.bsky.social · last mo.

Harbor Study No.18 10”x8” oil

Today's read: #LightAcademia is a social media subculture built on an idealized academic life. It romaticises #learning, light-toned fashion, and museums. However, it often erases #student stress, financial privilege, and cultural #eurocentrism. #skystorians #academicsky #books #essay

Light Academia: The Aesthetics of a Life Most Students Never Had

Light Academia is an internet subculture built around an idealized academic life. It focuses on the joy of learning, friendships, and light aesthetics. However, its romanticized view erases the harsh ...

verbumlibere.com

Three days ago, both #Croatia and #Europe lost one of the strongest voices of Croatian #literature. Through #essays, reportage and #fiction, Slavenka Drakulić chronicled the experience of the Eastern Bloc with rare intelligence, honesty and empathy. Rest in peace. #communism #skystorians #booksky

In Remembrance of Slavenka Drakulić. A Reading

Croatia has lost one of its strongest literary voices. Slavenka Drakulić - dissident, feminist, exile - left behind a body of work that reads less like history and more like a mirror held up to the pr...

verbumlibere.com