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Ada Palmer

@adapalmer.bsky.social

Daily #ShareGoodNewsToo Novelist (SF fantasy), historian (UChicago Renaissance, Enlightenment, Italy, classical reception), composer (filk, Norse myth), disability (chronic pain), manga/anime (Tezuka), food, history pics #SomethingBeautiful Blog exurbe.com

30,655 Followers  |  4,671 Following  |  9,137 Posts  |  Joined: 03.07.2023
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Posts by Ada Palmer (@adapalmer.bsky.social)

A pelican in flight looking at the camera, with a morning glow sky behind them

A pelican in flight looking at the camera, with a morning glow sky behind them

What? πŸͺΆ

10.03.2026 03:29 β€” πŸ‘ 147    πŸ” 15    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 4
Psychosocial Wellbeing and Parenting Responses during Intensified ICE in Minnesota The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.

Some professors at the University of St. Thomas are doing a research project on the effects of the ICE occupation on Twin Cities parents. They're looking for parents who are US citizens, who live in the Twin Cities metro area, and who have kids ages 5-10.

stthomas.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

09.03.2026 21:06 β€” πŸ‘ 213    πŸ” 219    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 7

Not many Youtube videos are worth 2 hours of your time - this one definitely is.

10.03.2026 00:34 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
A headline reading β€œCamel pageant thrown into chaos after 20 competitors disqualified for using hump-plumping injectables”

A headline reading β€œCamel pageant thrown into chaos after 20 competitors disqualified for using hump-plumping injectables”

Yes everything is terrible but let’s not lose sight of the fact that someone has written the Headline to End All Headlines.

09.03.2026 12:44 β€” πŸ‘ 1647    πŸ” 493    πŸ’¬ 55    πŸ“Œ 137
Good, Fast, Cheap Venn diagram

Good, Fast, Cheap Venn diagram

The only way to survive in comics, at least as I see it, is absolutely to embody the middle of this Venn diagram, you know… where it says β€œthis doesn’t exist”

09.03.2026 21:40 β€” πŸ‘ 194    πŸ” 25    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 1
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I can't compete with this.

09.03.2026 16:20 β€” πŸ‘ 9459    πŸ” 1625    πŸ’¬ 215    πŸ“Œ 389

Banger. Writing SF/F taught me more academic skills than academia itself

09.03.2026 18:16 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I've been pitching Palmer's excellent Inventing the Renaissance to friends as, essentially, "Baby's First Historiography."

This essay does an unsurprisingly spectacular job of more clearly articulating that pitch.

09.03.2026 16:47 β€” πŸ‘ 18    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Spring skies over the majestic and historic York Minster at lunchtime today #medievalsky

09.03.2026 16:20 β€” πŸ‘ 35    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

<bump>

09.03.2026 15:23 β€” πŸ‘ 47    πŸ” 18    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

So because of snowstorm this talk is now TOMORROW Tuesday 3/10. See you there? #medievalsky

09.03.2026 16:52 β€” πŸ‘ 26    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

An absolute banger of an article, and how we as a society come to envision history in all its variable possibilities.

09.03.2026 00:12 β€” πŸ‘ 14    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Cover of The Caretakers: War Graves Gardeners and the Secret Battle to Rescue Allied Airmen in World War II
by Caitlin Galante DeAngelis

sepia cover with black and white images of gardeners' mugshots and a cemetery decorated with flowers

Cover of The Caretakers: War Graves Gardeners and the Secret Battle to Rescue Allied Airmen in World War II by Caitlin Galante DeAngelis sepia cover with black and white images of gardeners' mugshots and a cemetery decorated with flowers

Happy birthday to my book, which is out today in the US!

rowman.com/ISBN/9781633...

16.01.2024 20:38 β€” πŸ‘ 377    πŸ” 67    πŸ’¬ 22    πŸ“Œ 8

Fascinating. Especially, for me, the Gutenberg bookselling bit (from 58m approx). I was an info science researcher just before the turn of the century, which was maybe what Dr Palmer calls the 'Venice Hub' moment for web bookselling, but I'd not thought of it that way. I saw it as new.
1/2

09.03.2026 07:31 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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Why All Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Are Historians SFF authors are the front-line practitioners who put the fruits of history’s craft into daily practice, sharing it in doses the public can consume, combining, treating, administering, customizing, …

Why All Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Are Historians

We loved this essay from @adapalmer.bsky.social

09.03.2026 09:57 β€” πŸ‘ 23    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
How cosplaying Ancient Rome led to the Renaissance – Ada Palmer
YouTube video by Dwarkesh Patel How cosplaying Ancient Rome led to the Renaissance – Ada Palmer

New interview with me & Dwarkesh Patel. Deliberately misleading start quote there, but I think it’s to draw people in. youtu.be/PAIhVfGbREA?...

06.03.2026 23:33 β€” πŸ‘ 88    πŸ” 17    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 7
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South Africa reports 16% drop in rhino poaching for 2025 | Africanews South Africa has announced a significant 16% national decline in rhino poaching for 2025, crediting intensified anti-trafficking efforts and integrated strategies, even as certain regions faced…

South Africa recorded a 16% national decline in rhino poaching in 2025, with 352 rhinos killed compared to 420 in 2024, reflecting continued reductions in illegal hunting driven by enforcement and anti-trafficking efforts. Africa News buff.ly/d0i7iet
#ShareGoodNewsToo

09.03.2026 12:50 β€” πŸ‘ 43    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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hellloooooo spring! #boston

08.03.2026 23:04 β€” πŸ‘ 101    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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holy shit

09.03.2026 01:20 β€” πŸ‘ 13801    πŸ” 3010    πŸ’¬ 231    πŸ“Œ 588
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i had to know why someone gave this nearby island one star and i'm not disappointed by what i found

03.04.2024 00:44 β€” πŸ‘ 1220    πŸ” 186    πŸ’¬ 10    πŸ“Œ 7
In a hotel room, a brick wall that has obviously had a huge hole repaired

In a hotel room, a brick wall that has obviously had a huge hole repaired

Pretty sure the Kool-Aid man stayed in this hotel room once

09.03.2026 02:26 β€” πŸ‘ 10693    πŸ” 872    πŸ’¬ 364    πŸ“Œ 187

With alt text

09.03.2026 03:39 β€” πŸ‘ 92    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

ELIZA's creator was so alarmed by the fact that people mistook the chatbot for a sentient being that he wrote an entire book about why this implementation of computer technology was a huge problem and it is a staggering achievement

09.03.2026 02:51 β€” πŸ‘ 185    πŸ” 84    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Has #HATM done the obscure 2008 Conclave movie, the one about the 1450s papal election starring Brian Blessed?

09.03.2026 02:10 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Happy International Women’s Day! As the youngest woman to ever serve on the NC Supreme Court (and only 10th woman ever), I honor the women who came before me and commit to ensuring there are many more after me. #persist #iwd2026

08.03.2026 22:24 β€” πŸ‘ 119    πŸ” 22    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2

I became a historian because of sf/f: LEST DARKNESS FALL. Then, when I couldn't make a living at it, I poured what I'd learned back into sf/f. The river of branching and intersecting streams...

08.03.2026 22:09 β€” πŸ‘ 62    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0

Exactly! I became a historian for the same reasons. Mostly Bester & Gene Wolfe in my case.

08.03.2026 22:36 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Absolute bangers:
"Most people today get our ideas about how history works and changes primarily by consuming SFF and historical fiction. We in the SFF genre are not only historians, we are the most influential historians practicing today."

08.03.2026 22:14 β€” πŸ‘ 24    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

There are tremendous mutual aid projects here and in your communities that make amazing impact. Focus on those too.

08.03.2026 22:04 β€” πŸ‘ 67    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Good stuff for historians and sf writers (or both, I know there are more of us out there!) on how change happens and why what we all do matters.

08.03.2026 16:34 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0