John Penniman

Over the next year, I’ll be transitioning into the role of editor-in-chief for the journal Biblical Interpretation. So a reminder to all you who work on biblical and adjacent materials to consider submitting. brill.com/view/journal...

Didn't know you were a "brawler", Marie!

Ellen Muehlberger, "Things Unseen: Essays on Evidence, Knowledge, and the Late Ancient World" (U California Press, 2025)

A compelling interview with the brilliant Ellen Muehlberger about her new book. So many great insights!!

Image with the logo of the new series that says THEORIA: SIGHTLINES INTO LATE ANCIENT RELIGION below a ceramic eye with bronze eyelashes that would have been used in ancient statues.

We are launching a series with Fordham Press, creating a new space for scholars of late antiquity to investigate the religious worlds of that broad temporal & geographic frame. If you have a project that might fit, send us a note. We would be happy to meet at AAR/SBL too! fordhampress.com/theoria

well, what the heck. it's the tuesday before thanksgiving, and whoever is on here deserves a treat: the first new translation I've posted in a long while: the Life and Martyrdom of Susanna:

andrewjacobs.org/translations...

Traveling to Boston for SBL on Friday? Join Models of Piety (an association of scholars for religion in late antiquity) at an informal happy hour at the Lenox hotel from 5-6pm.

Image with the logo of the new series that says THEORIA: SIGHTLINES INTO LATE ANCIENT RELIGION below a ceramic eye with bronze eyelashes that would have been used in ancient statues.

We are launching a series with Fordham Press, creating a new space for scholars of late antiquity to investigate the religious worlds of that broad temporal & geographic frame. If you have a project that might fit, send us a note. We would be happy to meet at AAR/SBL too! fordhampress.com/theoria

Send us your work. We are excited to read it!

Davis Colloquium: Christianity and Healing We invite you to join us for the annual Don and Barbara Davis Colloquium on Christianity on Friday, October 24 in the OSU Thompson Library. This year's topic is "Christianity and Healing."Six speakers...

It has been an energizing day in the Davis Colloquium on Christianity and healing at the Center for the Study of Religion at Ohio State. I'm grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this discussion and learn from the other panelists: religion.osu.edu/events/davis...

Check out the @ancientjewreview.bsky.social podcast!

AJR is kicking off its new leadership of Models of Piety with a happy hour meetup in Boston. Hope to see you there!

Entering my Bartleby, the Scrivener era.

Mezcaletti Cocktail Recipe | PUNCH The ingredients of the Mezcaletti cocktail recipe are telegraphed in the name: mezcal and Amaro Meletti, built in a rocks glass over ice.

Good pairing with Oaxaca Old Fashioned is my current favorite cocktail: the Mezcaletti -- summery with the mezcal, but Manhattan-y with the Meletti. Simple to make and very satisfying. And then you also have a bottle of Meletti on hand for digestif'ing.

punchdrink.com/recipes/mezc...

My friend @thejeremybjones.bsky.social has a new memoir about an ancestor's encrypted diary and what he learned when he cracked the code. CIPHER offers an unflinching reckoning with a complex, hidden family history and how that history shapes Jeremy's own self-understanding. Highly recommend!

wttffffffff :/

Send Ancient Jew Review your pedagogy pitches! Or, really, any of your pitches!

The use of that song in SHREK really deflated its affective impact for me 😂

Attempting to channel the energy of this cafe placemat today.

May 2025

My review of Fredriksen's Ancient Christianities out now in @commonweal.bsky.social

More important topics covered in the issue: US deportation violences, the natural-birth movement, environmental justice

www.commonwealmagazine.org/issues/2025-...

Paywall free version here: drive.google.com/file/d/1sbW4...

Ok you KNOW I am here for this and am tickled to find that my research is converging with the Chatner.

People love Israel and its Heirs in Late Antiquity. They especially love Heirs.

Is your university suddenly talking A LOT about "talent optimization"? Asking for a colleague.

Thanks, Laurence! We were fortunate to be in the final months of the grant. Still a blow and a depressing way to conclude 4 years of work.

For sure. It was that office that informed me of the demand :/

My reply: "I would prefer not to."

It is wild. No one is going to read any of this!

DOGE is now demanding a full summary of our NEH-funded grant activities including an itemized expense report of how every dollar has been spent. They are giving a two-week turnaround. Of course, we faithfully submitted annual reports each year of the grant. So this is an absurd waste of time.

So excited about this next chapter for y'all!

The NEH grant I am PI on got cancelled effective immediately as of yesterday. The letter was found in the spam box of our Office of Sponsored Projects email account. We were in the final 2 months, with four summer curriculum development grants just awarded last week. What an end to 4 years of work.