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davulis.bsky.social
History editor, JHU Press. Got a book idea? Get in touch: [email protected]. No DMs, please. (I do not speak for my employer here, etc etc.)
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Me, 2015: lol imagine trusting this clown with the nuclear codes Me, 2016: how the fuck are so many people okay with actually giving this actual maniac the actual nuclear codes, for real Me, 2025: is my nuclear crisis post funny enough or do i need a rewrite

It is also really, really hard to get long books peer reviewed (and yes I do offer more money; the answer is usually still no or no response) — generally takes 3-4x as many queries to secure readers.

Alternate framing: grieving people are vulnerable and often isolated, and there’s a lot of money to be made off of vulnerable and isolated people.

This is like, half the crowd at the Owings Mills Costco on a Saturday morning

Even before I heard the devastating, horrific news of political assassination in Minnesota, I woke up this morning thinking about Emily Dickinson's great poem "'Hope' is the thing with feathers -" Lots of people know this beautiful little poem, but fewer, I think(?) realize when it was written. /1

[Exit King.]

USMC Ret. Lt. Colonel Joe Plenzler deployed with the same Marine battalion now heading to Los Angeles. Marines training for war are now being deployed against American citizens. This crosses a dangerous line. Brothers, remember your ethos, #RememberYourOath.

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Tyra Banks once complimented my extremely yellow cardigan and I’ve worn yellow without fear ever since. (There is a corroborating witness to this event, I promise I’m not making it up.)

Which leads to the usual, rhetorical, unanswerable for the lack of an answer but still essential question I have been asking for years: "And then what?"

“This is just like 1858” is uh, concerning

A thing that I think about almost every day is Caro’s line about LBJ was “the man who broke the presidency.” Before LBJ, when polled, voters generally trusted that the president was telling the truth. That craters in the late 60s and never, ever recovers.

It should go without saying, but apparently it needs to be said: if you are peer reviewing a ms for a scholarly press, DO NOT feed that ms into an AI machine to write your reader report for you. DO NOT.

Many people who write about publishing--academics, newsletter writers, etc.--might spend more time *interviewing publishing workers*! I read so much that is just...factually wrong? Talking to ppl in the industry isn't hard.

A reminder, because apparently that’s needed today: tarring and feathering is an act of physical violence against someone. During the Revolutionary era, it was employed specifically as an act of terror to intimidate officials, merchants, and others who opposed the Sons of Liberty.

my main takeaway after spending the afternoon at the national history day competition is that the kids are pretty alright. also, that reactionaries are right to fear the consequences of kids learning the truth.

Had reason to google the John Foster Dulles Book of Humor today and google’s AI confidently asserted “It is unlikely that there is a book titled John Foster Dulles Book of Humor” which is wrong (this book does exist, published 1996) but is also, actually, 100% correct

Interestingly, the headline and article use the word “seize” which I would argue is more correct. “Divert” implies less active control (even a sort of passivity) than “seize.” Words mean things!

As a former resident of Connecticut, I cannot express in words how delighted I am to see this

Is there more info on this out there? Any articles on this new ownership?

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Every communications professional right now is trying to decide if they drop the bad news now or bet on this going on for another 24 hours so they can double-bury it tomorrow at 5pm

This is more or less like the Lincoln Douglas debates?

Historians, you are great, but you gotta write shorter books. Your colleagues don’t want to read the long ones. They won’t tell you this but they do tell me, all the time. I say all this with love.

I cannot stress enough: this is the most delicious thing in the world