alyssa sanford
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alyssasanford.bsky.social
alyssa sanford
@alyssasanford.bsky.social
senior publicist at ‪princeton up // just here for the coffee
Reposted by alyssa sanford
Can a mountain really be cursed? @amayor.bsky.social explores the folklore behind natural history.
Cursed Mountains and Deathly Lakes: When Nature Is Explained By Myth
The drive to explain perplexing things in nature, and the desire to understand earthshaking events of unfathomable scale are timeless human impulses. Found in cultures around the world, geomyths at…
buff.ly
October 22, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by alyssa sanford
Even as gender norms have evolved, the history of advice columns shows that people have always found love confusing and anxiety-inducing, writes @sophiastewart.bsky.social:
What Kind of Questions Did 17th-Century Daters Have?
A 17th-century column shows that dating has always been an anxiety-riddled endeavor.
bit.ly
May 7, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by alyssa sanford
“Rare Tongues is at heart a personal journey. . . . Gibb navigates complex and sensitive terrain—technical and politically charged—with both scholarly rigor and warmth.”

Read the full review of @drlornagibb.bsky.social’s global tour of endangered languages at @wsj.com:

www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
May 2, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by alyssa sanford
“In ‘I Humbly Beg Your Speedy Answer,’ Norton . . . brilliantly selects the most compelling—or bizarre examples” from the world’s first advice column, delivering “[a] delightful compendium of 17th-century advice to the lovelorn.”

Read the full @wsj.com review: www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
‘“I Humbly Beg Your Speedy Answer”’ Review: Instruction Fit to Print
The first advice column was published in 17th-century London. Correspondents were especially interested in the topic of sex.
www.wsj.com
May 2, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by alyssa sanford
The responsibility of supporting press freedom cannot and should not fall on one person — or even the entire press corps.

Here are steps anyone can take to support press freedom:

www.poynter.org/reporting-ed...
Concerned about press freedom? Here are some things you can do about it. - Poynter
Poynter spoke with several people to see what everyday folks can do to support press freedom organizations and press freedom.
www.poynter.org
April 1, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Reposted by alyssa sanford
I woke Papi up from his long nap to answer a letter from a concerned reader who says they feel scared and small in the wake of everything these days johnpaulbrammer.substack.com/p/what-am-i-...
What Am I Supposed to Do?
On feeling small in turbulent times
johnpaulbrammer.substack.com
March 26, 2025 at 2:38 PM
one of the easiest ways to show support for your local library branch: sending an email to your congressional representatives & us senators that urges them to overturn the executive order that would cut off federal funding to museums and libraries. only takes one click!

www.ala.org/faq-executiv...
FAQ: Executive Order Targeting IMLS
This set of frequently asked questions is intended to help library workers, library advocates, and library users understand this Executive Order.
www.ala.org
March 21, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by alyssa sanford
Princeton president Christopher L. Eisgruber: “The attack on Columbia is a radical threat to scholarly excellence and to America’s leadership in research. Universities and their leaders should speak up and litigate forcefully to protect their rights.” theatln.tc/9MMrKDHy
March 19, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by alyssa sanford
I found the book angle on much of my discontent with my elected officials, and I went off. lithub.com/shilling-boo...
Shilling Books While Rome Burns: Why Politicians Need to Focus on Their Day Jobs
To some of his constituents, it may seem as though Chuck Schumer, the Minority Leader of the US Senate, has spent a bunch of time pontificating on Bluesky lately and not enough time taking decisive…
lithub.com
March 13, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by alyssa sanford
“Brevity is the soul of politeness. In an industry that traffics in words, it can feel like rudeness.” Sloane Crosley on the art of saying “no.”
Sloane Crosley: On the Fine Art of Saying “No”
Many years ago, right before I quit my job as a book publicist, a coworker knocked on my office door and asked me if I wanted to accompany her to a reading. Stressed, distracted and with one tote b…
lithub.com
March 12, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by alyssa sanford
Read Natural Magic author Renée Bergland's guest essay on finding hope in an uncertain ecological future, via @nytopinion.nytimes.com:
bsky.app/profile/nyto...
"What the dodo symbolizes has changed over time. It has been, variously, a parable, a joke and a warning," writes Renée Bergland, a professor and author. "But the morphing message of the dodo might also call us toward hope."
Opinion | The Dodo Is Extinct Because of Humans. Now We Can Learn From It.
The dodo is both a victim of humans and a symbol of our own power, carelessness and avarice.
www.nytimes.com
March 10, 2025 at 4:21 PM
coming to a bookstore near you on April 22!
“Once a language is lost, important knowledge disappears with it.” Rare Tongues author @drlornagibb.bsky.social takes readers on “a thought-provoking tour of the diversity within the world’s languages—and [makes] a strong case for their preservation." Read more: www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...
RARE TONGUES | Kirkus Reviews
Speaking up for vanishing languages.
www.kirkusreviews.com
March 4, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Reposted by alyssa sanford
Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos's changes to the opinion pages have led subscribers to cancel in droves. It's the third wave of mass cancellations at the Post in just a few months.
Bezos' changes at 'Washington Post' lead to mass subscription cancellations — again
Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos's changes to the opinion pages have led subscribers to cancel in droves. It's the third wave of mass cancellations at the Post in just a few months.
www.npr.org
February 28, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by alyssa sanford
Today @thesicktimes.bsky.social: I spoke to several federal workers with Long COVID who are deeply concerned about their future employment under the Trump administration. thesicktimes.org/2025/03/03/f...
Federal workers with Long COVID face firings, loss of accommodations, and more challenges under Trump - The Sick Times
Many federal government employees with Long COVID and other chronic diseases and disabilities are deeply concerned about their future under the Trump administration. The Sick Times spoke to several fe...
thesicktimes.org
March 3, 2025 at 6:02 PM
"The White House is limiting the AP’s press access because they think the AP is pushing a 'partisan agenda.' Believe it or not, pushing a partisan agenda is generally protected by the 1st Amendment, so retaliating against the AP on that basis is as clear cut a violation as you’re ever going to get."
my latest newsletter is about trump's takeover of the white house press pool, free speech discourse, and what the first amendment has to say about it
Trump Seizes the Press Pool
The Trump administration is flexing its control over the White House press pool and testing the boundaries of the First Amendment
stringinamaze.net
February 27, 2025 at 3:14 PM
it's a great day to cancel any active amazon prime subscriptions (and to support your local news media)!
February 26, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by alyssa sanford
The "campus free speech" and "cancel culture" panics were obvious efforts to seed the ground for a huge expansion of left-wing censorship and right-wing propaganda. That effort appears to have worked.
SCOOP: WaPo Opinion editor David Shipley is out. Jeff Bezos emails staff about a change to Post Opinions: "We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets."
February 26, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Reposted by alyssa sanford
We join with publishers, authors, booksellers & librarians to affirm that the White House executive order recognizing only two sexes constitutes censorship and has no place in a free society.

University presses strive to give voice to the breadth of human knowledge & experience.

1/2
February 12, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by alyssa sanford
We stand with @americanbookseller.bsky.social in asserting that the “erosion of the right to read anywhere threatens the right to read everywhere.”
Industry organizations and publishers are condemning the detention of two Palestinian booksellers by Israeli police, who raided the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem on February 9, seizing books that they alleged incited terrorism. The booksellers were confined to house arrest this morning.
The Publishing Industry Condemns Israel's Treatment of Jerusalem Booksellers
Industry organizations and publishers are condemning the detention of two Palestinian booksellers by Israeli police, who raided the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem on February 9, seizing books…
buff.ly
February 11, 2025 at 9:26 PM