Jeff Manuel

I wrote about the strangeness of following events in Minneapolis—where I'm from—and watching a citizenship naturalization ceremony in St. Louis, which is my home now. Not sure if anyone wants or needs more words about these things, but here are mine.
jeffmanuel.com/blog-1/2026/...

co-authoring: it's not for everybody

Moving closer to the joke that financial markets are just astrology for men

The cover of a book titled Wolf Willow by Wallace Stegner

A page of text from a book titled "Genesis"

If you need a reading recommendation while hunkered down for a winter storm, this is the best one, bar none

It's free and online. Registration here view.ecommunications2.umn.edu?qs=baa334565...

If you'd like some Minnesota-related news that's not terrible, Tom Rogers and I will be talking about our book, _Ethanol: A Hemispheric History for the Future of Biofuels_, as part of the University of Minnesota History Department's book club on Wednesday, February 11, from 6-7 pm.

Both look great, thank you!

Thanks!

Thank you!

Historians: is there a good book or article on the history of the League of Women Voters? A student will be processing an archival collection of local LWV records and I'm looking for relevant background readings. Thanks!
🗃️

‘Shaped By Its Past’ | Ethanol Producer Magazine Multiple themes emerge as historians compare the historic development of ethanol production and policy in Brazil and the U.S.

Thanks to Ethanol Producer Magazine (the trade magazine for biofuels, in case you're not a subscriber) for featuring _Ethanol: A Hemispheric History_ in the current issue.
ethanolproducer.com/articles/sha...

In the 2000s, I met a t-shirt buyer for Target. According to him, he tried to revive Vaurnet as an ironic retro brand but couldn’t pull it off for some reason.

This is like a Cory Arcangel installation piece

Opinion | When A.I. Took My Job, I Bought a Chain Saw

This is a rare example of doing two type of opeds often done poorly well (AI & Rust Belt op-eds)

Photo of a plastic manatee tea infuser on the side of a white Christmas mug

This mana-tea infuser is a favorite gift this year. But pouring hot water on this guy feels like a sad metaphor for climate change.

Which do you find more annoying: bad handwriting or doing tech support?

So long as you’re okay assessing content knowledge rather than the structure of an argument, bluebooks.

Whoa. Didn’t know about this. Thanks for sharing.

Agreed. This is an issue of priorities. Madison and St. Clair counties in Illinois maintain hundreds of miles of incredible dedicated bike trails. There's no reason the riverfront trail couldn't be just a nice (except for after a flood 😅)

I was just talking about what kind of bicycle you can ride while wearing a blazer without looking silly. The answer is
(a) a classic roadster, or
(b) anything if you’re Humphrey Bogart.

Ethanol - University of Oklahoma Press Though ethanol, a liquid fuel made from agricultural byproducts, has generated controversy in recent years—good or bad for the environment? a big-ag boon o...

In our recent book, Tom Rogers and I tell the story of how a state-level regulator in Maine, of all places, uncovered the MTBE water pollution crisis. One of my favorite stories from the book.
www.oupress.com/978080619601...

What Caused the U.S. Ethanol Boom? - farmdoc daily Scott Irwin -

On FarmDoc daily, Scott Irwin has a nice analysis of the timing of US corn ethanol investments and the Renewable Fuel Standards. In short, banning MTBE as a fuel additive *before* RFS was a causal factor.
farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/2025/12/what...

Looking forward to a brave new future where AI plays the Costello to my Abbott

Screenshot of an AI summary that confuses NCAR for NASCAR

Trying to understand why the Trump administration is dismantling NCAR, so I asked for an AI summary. But now I'm more confused than ever

creating new blind spots. Microfilm did the same two generations prior. Seems like we historians should channel a bit more of our customary sanguinary at this moment.

We historians are often strangely disinterested in the technologies of scholarship and how they affect our work. People are rightly mad at the plagiarism machine in the classroom.
But we all rely on digitized, OCRed, and keyword searchable texts. They’ve revolutionized source access while

6. Log in to ClassDojo to send the teacher a message that the missing homework is done.
7. Despair at how we’ve let EdTech eat education

4. Log in to Epic reading software to access the e-book. Epic is freely available during school hours but if you want to use it at home it requires a $7.99 monthly subscription.
5. Show kid how to find an online pdf version of the book to avoid the subscription.

Steps for to help a 5th grader finish their homework before break:
1. Log in to PowerSchool to see what the assignment are
2. Log in to the parent side of Schoology to see the instructions for each assignment
3. Help with logging in to Canva to complete the assignment

White’s Railroaded?