Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 4h

Here’s today’s thread to accompany your Fall brunching. Please share widely & enjoy, all! 🗃️ @kevinmkruse.bsky.social

Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 7h

Here it is, my 245th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Add more in comments below, please share widely, & enjoy, all! 🗃️

blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

#ScholarSunday Thread 245 (10/12/25) – Black and White and Read All Over

Here it is, my 245th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Add more in comments below, please share widely, & en...

blackwhiteandread.com

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 6h

Thanks, and love to hear it!

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 7h

+ @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social @civilwarmemory.bsky.social @hcrichardson.bsky.social @silaslapham.bsky.social @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social @contingent-mag.bsky.social & many more. Please share this thread widely to get all this great public scholarship to all the folks, & thanks!

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 7h

+ @nathankhensley.bsky.social @johnfea1.bsky.social @thomaszimmer.bsky.social @nadinesmith.bsky.social @stevenbeschloss.bsky.social @monaeltahawy.bsky.social @etiennetoussaint.bsky.social @willpooley.bsky.social @markehlers.bsky.social +

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 7h

+ @jonathansjones.bsky.social & @uncpress.bsky.social @shirleyinithaca.bsky.social & @princetonupress.bsky.social @physcstudy.bsky.social @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social & @dgb-history.bsky.social @elizabethresnick.bsky.social @robgreeneii.bsky.social & @susih.bsky.social +

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 7h

+ @democracyprof.bsky.social & @jaketapper.bsky.social @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social & @janefonda.com @ajbauer.bsky.social @publicbooks.bsky.social @dennismhogan.bsky.social & @ccollins330.bsky.social @oupress.bsky.social @yalepress.bsky.social @truthdig.com @randolphjustin.bsky.social +

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 7h

+ @sethrockman.bsky.social @nielseichhorn.bsky.social & @ahouckinfrance.bsky.social @civicspod.bsky.social @shipwreckspod.bsky.social @waitmanwbeorn.com @thisistheheff.bsky.social @scholars.org @ernestoverdeja.bsky.social @freedomoverfascism.bsky.social @johnfugelsang.bsky.social +

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 7h

+ @chrisyogerst.com @draftingthepast.bsky.social & @andrewhartman.bsky.social @feministkelly.bsky.social l @bethanyqualls.bsky.social @historyonfilm.bsky.social & @chrisxmorgan.bsky.social @infinite-women.com & @hennefem.bsky.social @christmascousins.bsky.social & @christmaspast.bsky.social +

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 7h

+ @contingent-mag.bsky.social @lizcovart.bsky.social @wakerevolt.bsky.social @troybrownfield.bsky.social & @satevepost.bsky.social @michaelleroyoberg.bsky.social @feelingtheory.bsky.social @elierlick.bsky.social @jamellebouie.net @mwilsonkimber.bsky.social +

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 7h

+ featuring contributions from @zeblarson.bsky.social @davidrotenstein.bsky.social @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social @myhnn.bsky.social @urbanhistorya.bsky.social & @drgenacarpio.bsky.social @markhailwood.bsky.social @lsangha.bsky.social @deannahagman.bsky.social & @historians.org +

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 7h

First, a reminder that these threads are now shared on my wife @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social & my new public scholarly website, Black & White & Read All Over. Check it out & make sure to subscribe to keep up with the threads & more!

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 7h

Here it is, my 245th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Add more in comments below, please share widely, & enjoy, all! 🗃️

blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

#ScholarSunday Thread 245 (10/12/25) – Black and White and Read All Over

Here it is, my 245th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Add more in comments below, please share widely, & en...

blackwhiteandread.com

2 18 26

Reposted by Ben Railton

Dr. Vaughn Joy @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social · 1d

And my book, Selling Out Santa, for the history and film lovers looking for the cross over event of the season, explores the tumultuous 1946-1961 post-war, early Cold War period in Hollywood via a case study exploring the political, and cultural changes in the Christmas films of the long 1950s:

Selling Out Santa

Christmas is not just a day or a frame of mind as Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) imparts in Miracle on 34 th Street (1947); Christmas is also a vehicle for national mythmaking as an idealising mirror for...

www.degruyterbrill.com

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Reposted by Ben Railton

Dr. Vaughn Joy @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social · 1d

Hey guess what!!?

🎄🎄🎄 It's 75 days til Christmas 🎄🎄🎄

And I just so happen to have the perfect gift right here in a Christmassy book bundle for the readers in your life:

My book, @aduralde.bsky.social's Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas, and @thomasruyssmith.com's Searching for Santa Claus ↓↓

Dr. Vaughn Joy @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social · Aug 28

Everything is terrible right now in general, but in personal good news, my book has a cover and I'm so excited to share it!!!

Selling Out Santa is about Hollywood's manipulation of the Christmas holiday for socially conservative ends in the early Cold War 🗃️
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/selling-ou...

A book cover from De Gruyter. A faded American flag's red and white stripes sets the background. In the foreground are three Christmas baubles: a darker red ball is in front coming in from the left, a white ball is behind it, and a light navy blue ball hangs behind that. White text reads the title: Selling out Santa Hollywood Christmas Films in the Age of McCarthy. On the blue ball white text reads Vaughn Joy and the series name pop culture in context

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Reposted by Ben Railton

Dr. Vaughn Joy @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social · 1d

Would anyone be interested in either a couple-hour writing club or a reading group (academic article or book)? Maybe once a week or every two or once a month?

Full disclosure: I am sad about being unemployed and I am in need of academic community and conversation to feel like me again.

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 1d

So to conclude the American Crime Fiction blog series, AmericanStudying five Elmore Leonard adaptations, from 3:10 to Yuma (1957) & The Big Bounce (1969) to Get Shorty (1995) & Touch (1997) to, of course, Justified!

blackwhiteandread.com/october-11-1...

October 11-12, 2025: American Crime Fiction: Elmore Leonard – Black and White and Read All Over

[This weekend marks the 100th birthday of the great crime novelist Elmore Leonard. So this week I’ve AmericanStudied a handful of phenomenal crime and mystery writers, leading up this weekend post on ...

blackwhiteandread.com

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 1d

One of the highest cultural compliments an author can receive is for their works to be adapted for other media, & few American writers have been adapted as frequently as Elmore Leonard. So for his centennial, I wanted to offer some AmericanStudies takeaways from a handful of those adaptations.

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 1d

I really love the story of her flight with the Tuskegee Airmen:

americanstudier.blogspot.com/2022/05/may-...

May 18, 2022: Aviation Histories: Eleanor Roosevelt and Tuskegee

[On May 20-21, 1932 , Amelia Earhart became the second person, and the first woman, to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic . So for the 90 ...

americanstudier.blogspot.com

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 1d

Happy Eleanor Roosevelt Day!

memorydaycalendar.blogspot.com/p/october-no...

October Nominees

October 1: Daniel Boorstin , the towering historian and Librarian of Congress whose pioneering and influential scholarly works include T...

memorydaycalendar.blogspot.com

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Reposted by Ben Railton

Dr. Vaughn Joy @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social · 1d

This week's review is a monster in itself, winding through my thoughts of a crystalline structure of the cultural lives of ideas. So, if any of you feel that you do not care to subject your nerves to such a strain, now's your chance to uh, well, — I warned you!
blackwhiteandread.com/monster-mash...

Poster for James Whale's 1931 Frankenstein, tagline The Man Who Made A Monster
Down the left side and across to the right are illustrated headshots of characters in the film including Boris Karloff as the creature and Mae Clarke illustrated in a full body pose in a wedding dress

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 1d

a man in a suit and tie is smiling and holding a piece of paper with the word oui written on it .

ALT: a man in a suit and tie is smiling and holding a piece of paper with the word oui written on it .

media.tenor.com

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 1d

L’etat, c’est monstrous.

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 1d

His slip of the tongue reveals who’s really in charge. trib.al/mIvP0yE

“Illinois governor says we’re provoking actions that are unlawful,” Miller said on CNN. “If I put federal law enforcement and National Guard into a nice sleepy Southern town, is anyone gonna riot?”

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Reposted by Ben Railton

Dr. Vaughn Joy @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social · 2d

Please check out our Announcements on Black & White & Read All Over for a CfP from @contingent-mag.bsky.social, a podcast series from @melusinagr.bsky.social, and praise to @tdtherrien.bsky.social and @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social for new book deals!

Please send your news/calls with us to share!

Announcements – Black and White and Read All Over

This space is reserved for you! If you have a talk coming up, a book on its way, a podcast trailer to drop, or an accomplishment to celebrate, we want to help you share it! Please contact us to share ...

blackwhiteandread.com

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 2d

Solidarity & all good thoughts y'all's way. We lost my Dad in March & all this resonates so deeply.

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 2d

So for the final post in my American Crime Fiction blog series, on the multiple layers of revelations built into Scott Turow's excellent Presumed Innocent & all of the best mystery fiction (SPOILERS for that novel & its multiple adaptations in the post)!

blackwhiteandread.com/october-10-2...

October 10, 2025: American Crime Fiction: Presumed Innocent – Black and White and Read All Over

[This coming weekend marks the 100th birthday of the great crime novelist Elmore Leonard. So this week I’ll AmericanStudy a handful of phenomenal crime and mystery writers, leading up a weekend post o...

blackwhiteandread.com

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