Spencer W. McBride

Saturday vibes at the McBride home.

Please stop using “revisionist history” as a stand-in for falsehoods.

Any worthwhile work of history uses untapped sources, novel methodologies and/or new connections across fields to improve, alter and, yes, revise our understanding of history.

Truly revisionist history is a *good* thing.

Terrific thread:

The number of folks liking this article despite it being "old"--published in 2019--is making us happy. But if you think this article is old, wait till you learn about the stuff in the archives!

Great choice! That’s one of my favorites, too.

It would be fun to have sideline reporters at academic conferences.

Reporter: "Prof. Rothman, how do you come back from such a devastating Q&A? They really hammered you out there."

Me: "All we can do is go back to the archives, find more evidence, and then just trust the process, Helen."

What is your favorite opening sentence of a book?

#booksky #books #writing #reading

Singin' in the Public Domain event tile, featuring the Lockette, expressing open content.

When the clock strikes midnight on January 1, creative works from 1929 & sound recordings from 1924 will enter the public domain in the US, like:

⚓️ Popeye
🕵️ The Maltese Falcon
📖 The Sound and the Fury
🇮🇹 A Farewell to Arms
🏠️ A Room of One's Own
🙌 Hallelujah
🎺 Bolero
and many more!

🧵👇

It’s a great read! The author made his trip in 1980. I bet your grandfather had some cool stories from his train rides.

Another re-read for me this year was Ted Conover’s Rolling Nowhere. I have never hopped a freight train, although as a teenager I often dreamed about doing so just to see where it took me. Looking back, I’m glad I never did it. But I enjoy reading about it!

Agreed. I love hearing from readers of my books that they borrowed a copy from their local library!

😁😆🤣

I’m old enough to remember when episode 1 of Ben Franklin’s World was released. Now the incomparable @lizcovart.bsky.social & her team are celebrating EPISODE 400! Congratulations, Liz!

same energy

🤣🤣🤣

Another book that I re-read just about every year is 84, Charring Cross Road. It’s charming and the same passages touch my heart every time.

Here was a recent attempt to pose Atticus as we were decorating our tree. It did not work out…😆

An illustration of the ghost of Jacob Marley appearing to Ebenezer Scrooge.

“Business!” cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!” #AChristmasCarol

I can’t imagine anyone reading this book and not thinking about it regularly.

Yes!

A photograph of the book, Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary.

I re-read Dear Mr. Henshaw every year. It’s among my favorites. It reminds me of the importance of community for the sake of our children, of them knowing that there are adults in their lives who are cheering them on, ready to help them. It inspires me to be such a person. #books #amreading

Throwback to my high school cross country days (Ramona High School in the San Diego area). My running some 20 years later looks different (in Utah, mostly on mountain trails, & quite a bit slower 😁) but it remains a source of joy for me. #running

I’m here for everyone’s Spotify wrapped. Here’s mine.

Amazed to find that Harvard Library has the signatures of some of the 650 Bostonians who signed the non-consumption agreement on 28 October 1767 to protest the Townshend Duties.

We're featuring it in Worlds: Episode 12: "The Conspiracy." Coming soon!

iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/vi...

Here’s my thinking on Blue Sky: back on the bird site, I posted mostly about history, writing, & books. I’ll still do that here, but I plan to post more about my hobbies than I previously did (gardening, trail running, backpacking, & more). I hope you will enjoy (or at least tolerate) that as well.

It was! The rangers say they go months without visitors after Memorial Day. Finding water in The Maze was harder than we had anticipated. Also, the drive to get there was no picnic. But totally worth it!

The Maze District of Canyonlands National Park.

The Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, April 2024. (One of the coolest/hardest backpacking trips of my life.)

I am excited to dive into this new book from @markcheathem.bsky.social, the latest release in an excellent series on U.S. presidential elections. (You all may know that I have a special interest in the election of 1844.) Congratulations, Mark!

I am so excited to share the cover of my upcoming book MAKING THE PRESIDENCY: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic. The book is out August 2024, and is available now for preorder!
Amazon: lindsaychervinsky.pub/amazon
B&N: lindsaychervinsky.pub/bn

If you’re interested in the politics of the early American Republic, you are going to want to read this book. Congratulations, Mark!