A great political imbalance in higher ed: Conservative center fires guy for political reasons, and he keeps his mouth shut for the core mission Lib Arts guy gets sabattical and parental leave and uses that time to build a new career by trashing the school: www.theassemblync.com/news/educati...

Fired UNC Civics Associate Dean Breaks His Silence on Investigation

David Decosimo objected to a Wall Street Journal editorial. The paper didn’t publish his response—which he says is part of the problem.

theassemblync.com

The perfection of this.

James McLeod@jamespmcleod.ca · 2d ago

Ingrid Carlberg, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, said the author was in Iceland “listening to the wind” when the academy reached her to notify her of the win. apnews.com/article/nobe...

She looks like Eve Marie Saint in “On the Waterfront ” As she reads Simone de Beauvoir in her American circumstance Her heart, heart's like crazy paving Upside down and back to front She says "ooh, it's so hard to love When love was your great disappointment. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/06/m...

Eva Marie Saint, Oscar Winner for ‘On the Waterfront,’ Is Dead at 102

A luminous beauty with dramatic depth, she brought a layered intensity to harrowing roles and seduced Cary Grant in the romantic thriller “North by Northwest.”

nytimes.com

Proud to be a designated spokesperson for the anti-AI humanist movement in this excellent @newyorker.com piece. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

I’m a College Professor. And I believe THIS college professor should be ashamed of himself. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/o...

Opinion | I’m a College Professor. Writing Isn’t as Important as We Think.

If I do not treat writing as essential for achieving thought, it is not clear why I should force my students to.

nytimes.com

“I didn’t understand that I was absorbing a Southern mythology, however well meaning and high minded Nash Buckingham may have been in perpetuating it.” My dear friend Patrick tells a moving story of his personal reckoning with the myths of the Mississippi Delta. southlandsmag.com/hunting-stor...

Hunting Stories (and a Self)

In a traumatic time, Nash Buckingham’s classic sporting tales helped me reconcile with the Mississippi Delta—at least for a while.

southlandsmag.com

I’m happy to be sharing the stage with @robertpjones.bsky.social at the Mississippi Book Festival this weekend! www.redeemingdemocracy.net/p/the-backsl...

The BACKSLIDE Book Tour: This Week, Chicago-Jackson-New York

PLUS, a limited number of personalized signed copies of BACKSLIDE still available.

redeemingdemocracy.net

Back when I was doing on-air commentary and book reviews for @npr.org , I had the great privilege of working with Rose Friedman as my editor. She taught me what would and would not work on the radio. I was so lucky to work with her. She will be missed. www.npr.org/2026/09/18/n...

Editor Rose Friedman, who helped shape NPR's cultural coverage, dies at 38

Friedman was in her early 20s when she landed her first position as an editorial assistant at NPR. She became an editor and reporter, and a co-creator of the annual Books We Love reading guide.

npr.org

Why Academic Freedom Matters Now @aaup.org

Why Academic Freedom Matters Now

Published September 2026.The following statement was approved by the Association’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure in August 2026.

aaup.org

The Mississippi Book Festival is just two weeks away. It has A great line up of writers, and I am happy to be a part of it. www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/...

The Mississippi Book Festival is coming up. Here are 10 authors to look forward to.

Most writers have ties to the Magnolia State, utilized Mississippi and other Southern locals in their works, or have examined Southern topics.

theadvocate.com

If you're in Jackson, Mississippi, tomorrow, stop by for my "History is Lunch" talk at the Two Mississippi Museums at noon. www.wralpheubanks.com/new-events/h...

History Is Lunch: W. Ralph Eubanks, "The Mississippi Delta: Rich Soil and Poor Land" — W. Ralph Eubanks

At noon on Wednesday, September 9, Ralph Eubanks, author of When It’s Darkness on the Delta: How America’s Richest Soil Became Its Poorest Land, will examine the history and economy of the Mississippi...

wralpheubanks.com

Losing Cassandra Wilson for me is personal. It was her version of "When It's Darkness on the Delta" that inspired the title of my most recent book. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/02/a...

Cassandra Wilson, Star Jazz Singer, Dies at 70 (Gift Article)

With a low and smoky voice, she conjured the blues tradition of her native Mississippi in both her own songs and in covers.

nytimes.com

“A World Lost was the first Wendell Berry book I read. The dedication page: ‘The dead rise and walk about // The timeless fields of thought.’ He hooked me there. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/u...

Wendell Berry, Writer Who Extolled America’s Agrarian Past, Dies at 92 (Gift Article)

A Kentucky farmer, he railed against agribusiness and championed small family farms and the environment, winning widespread acclaim.

nytimes.com

🎉Congratulations are in order!🎊 After 18 years of working at Beacon, Caitlin Meyer has been promoted as our director of publicity! 🎈

Caitlin Meyer Up at Beacon

The longtime publicist at the Boston-based press has been named director of publicity following the retirement of Pamela MacColl at the end of this summer.

publishersweekly.com

An update on the Mississippi Book Festival. I'll be part of a panel titled "The Soul of America" along with Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. and Robert P. Jones. It will be held in the Supreme Court room of the Mississippi State Capitol at 10:45AM, September 26, 2026. www.wralpheubanks.com/new-events/1...

Mississippi Book Festival — W. Ralph Eubanks

W. Ralph Eubanks is an official panelist at the 2026 Mississippi Book Festival. He will be discussing his most recent book "When It's Darkness on the Delta."

wralpheubanks.com

I just can't make it one day without you Unless I pretend that the opposite's true. Rivers flow backwards, valleys are high Mountains are level, truth is a lie I'm perfectly fine and I don't miss you The sky is green and the grass is blue. We'll all miss you, Dolly. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/a...

Dolly Parton, Country Music Superstar Whose Songs Spoke to Millions, Dies at 80 (Gift Article)

Known for her outsize persona, appearance and talent, she rose from rural poverty to become a top-selling singer, songwriter and entrepreneur.

nytimes.com

I'm happy to have my essay "Searching for Soul Food in the Once Chocolate City" reprinted in the 100th issue of "Gravy" at the Southern Foodways Alliance, along with an author's note as an update. Yes, DC will always be a part of me, whether I am in Chicago, Athens, or anywhere in the world.

This guy lived through “peak woke,” a “McCarthyite experience.” This piece has no center that holds, nor does it say anything substantive. I’m not even sure what he believes in. Well, that’s been true for quite awhile . www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/o...

Opinion | Who Are the Good Guys and the Bad Guys? I’m No Longer Sure.

Where does the side of the angels really lie?

nytimes.com

At noon on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, I will talk about my book "When It's Darkness on the Delta" as part of the History Is Lunch series.This free event will take place in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Two Mississippi Museums. www.wralpheubanks.com/new-events/h...

History Is Lunch: W. Ralph Eubanks, "The Mississippi Delta: Rich Soil and Poor Land" — W. Ralph Eubanks

At noon on Wednesday, September 9, Ralph Eubanks, author of When It’s Darkness on the Delta: How America’s Richest Soil Became Its Poorest Land, will examine the history and economy of the Mississippi...

wralpheubanks.com

For the Marcie Cohen Ferris’s Russian Jewish grandparents, America offered an escape from fascism. That promise doesn’t seem so certain today. A must read on immigration, the South, and Americaness. bittersoutherner.com/issue-no-14/...

This is important testimony by one our great American historians.

Sonja Drimmer@sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 3mo ago

“If we’re not careful we will end up with what the great writer Toni Morrison called ‘statist history.’ And it will creat what she called ‘sanctioned ignorance.’” A righteous defense of the craft and the profession of history. Watch it. youtube.com/watch?v=mbz2...

Gravy 100 is coming!! Subscribers will get this "best of" the last decade issue at no extra cost. Head over to hubcity.org/books/gravy to subscribe today or preorder the individual issue. Reply with your favorite emoji below to entered to win a free copy of the issue!

I’m thrilled this is airing. I am eager to hear how they edited Bobby Rush for the Thacker Mountain Radio Hour, since he went over time and used a word banned by the FCC! www.thackermountain.com/upcoming-sho...

2026 Juke Joint Festival with Bobby Rush! - Thacker Mountain Radio Hour

thackermountain.com

Libraries named for Mississippi writers--Richard Wright and Willie Morris--are in disrepair. What was once the site of the Eudora Welty Library is a pile of rubble about to become a park. Mississippi, we have to do something about the state of our libraries. mississippitoday.org/2026/07/09/j...

Jackson/Hinds Library System overrun with repair needs - Mississippi Today

With limited resources, branches across the Jackson/Hinds Library System are facing multiple repair issues often resulting in closures or reduced hours.

mississippitoday.org

And this on-air mention today! one.npr.org?sharedMediaI...

🔊 Listen Now: NPR's Books We Love Staff highlights captivating non-fiction books to read next

Weekend Edition Saturday on NPR One | 3:46

one.npr.org

Beacon Press@beaconpress.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Yes, nonfiction makes for good summer reading, too! Just ask @npr.org! They included @wralpheubanks.bsky.social’s WHEN IT’S DARKNESS ON THE DELTA in their roundup.

I am grateful to Debbie Elliott at National Public Radio for this mention of “When It’s Darkness on the Delta” on Weekend Edition Saturday today. one.npr.org?sharedMediaI...

🔊 Listen Now: NPR's Books We Love Staff highlights captivating non-fiction books to read next

Weekend Edition Saturday on NPR One | 3:46

one.npr.org

Today would have been the 90th birthday of poet and essayist June Jordan, my unexpected muse for my book “When It’s Darkness on the Delta.” As Jordan wrote about the Delta, “my purpose is partly to demythologize that place by going there.” I tried to do the same. www.wralpheubanks.com/interview

Q&A — W. Ralph Eubanks

wralpheubanks.com

I’m so honored to deliver the keynote for the 2026 @weltysymposium.bsky.social .

Welty Symposium@weltysymposium.bsky.social · 3mo ago

We've posted a preliminary list of authors, so those who want to can start reading early. As always, we encourage you to buy through your local bookstore or check out from a library. We're excited about our list so far, and look forward to adding to it soon! www.muw.edu/welty/news/2...

It’s a once in a lifetime experience to attend a concert in the shadow of the Acropolis. Last night we heard Mahler’s symphony No. 8 at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. The internationally acclaimed Polish conductor Michał Nesterowicz lead the Athens State Orchestra.

Ah, my favorite haberdasher! airmail.news/dress-code/s...

The High-Stepping Haberdasher of Harvard Square

At the Andover Shop, Charlie Davidson sold tweeds, button-downs, and something harder to define: a style that drew together university grandees, jazz gods, and literary legends.

airmail.news