the Japanese edition arrived! it's a family :)

in one week: to celebrate the paperback of The Other Olympians, @leahtigers.bsky.social, @hughryan.bsky.social, @sabs.bsky.social, and I are presenting on our research obsessions

hear about historical love affairs, sexually active popes, and much more

June 3 @ 7 pm! register here: lu.ma/lnnvrmoh

the vibes will be good i promise

The Other Olympians is coming out in paperback on June 3, and to celebrate, @leahtigers.bsky.social, @hughryan.bsky.social, @sabs.bsky.social, and I are presenting on research obsessions that never made it to print

come for wine and light debauchery, and maybe even a photo-op

RSVP: lu.ma/lnnvrmoh

in the early 1900s, American border officials deported anyone whose bodies didn’t conform to their strict definitions of male and female

intersex and gender nonconforming people were labeled economic risks who couldn't assimilate to the gendered labor system

thebaffler.com/latest/testi...

truly had the time of my life losing the LA Times Book Prize

one of my favorite anecdotes is that, in 1971, when Irvine incorporated as a city, the company was so powerful that an official accidentally called the city itself "Irvine Co"

the CEO of the Irvine Company, Donald Bren, is the richest real estate magnate in America

but he has worked to keep a low profile for himself and his wealth

even the former mayor of Irvine never met him, except for one memorable interaction:

the Irvine Company owns 75% of the apartments in Irvine, along with most of the city’s commercial and office real estate — giving it a nearly unprecedented amount of control over a mid-sized city

it is also behind iconic properties like the MetLife Building in New York

this takes us back 100 years, when sex surveillance was a violent staple of immigration enforcement

in the 1910s, US immigration officials explicitly strip-tested new immigrants (esp immigrants of color) in order to expel people who might fit a definition of trans or intersex

must-read piece from @sabs.bsky.social on the news coverage of Sam Nordquist and the meaning of a hate crime:

defector.com/who-gets-to-...

so so thrilled to share that THE OTHER OLYMPIANS is a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize!!!!! and alongside so many brilliant historians!

(everyone join me in praying I get a Getty Image watermark out of the ceremony)

unfortunately they don't make graves like they used to

tellingly, states that have passed these sports laws have followed them up with legislation to redefine what it means to be a man and a woman along purely natalist lines

banning trans kids from sports is step 1

it's also striking to compare this bill to the original 1936 debates about medical exams in women's sports — the idea was not even popular in the 1930s!

here’s a telling statistic: in general, you can’t get a credit card until you’re 21, unless you have a co-signer

yet racial disparities in credit scores are already present among people in their late teens

There’s a whole industry of companies buying and selling the rights to license a dead celebrity’s voice and image — and it involves retailers, private equity, and more:

today is a perfect mail day: the meeting minutes from a radical 1930s debt resistance group (that is almost entirely forgotten today) have finally arrived

hi friends, making my debut on this website with an announcement: I’m writing another book!!!!

it’s a story about the history of financial surveillance — from private detectives to Black Power activists to, ofc, the invention of a credit scoring system that mediates our access to jobs, housing, etc