Dr. M.A. Davis
@mikedavis.bsky.social
Historian in WNC
working on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW
author of the first chapter of https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/wars-we-never-fought-9798765121535/
teaching part-time at Lees-McRae College
opinions my own
listen to me at https://tinyurl.com/meonnprwow
working on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW
author of the first chapter of https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/wars-we-never-fought-9798765121535/
teaching part-time at Lees-McRae College
opinions my own
listen to me at https://tinyurl.com/meonnprwow
Pinned
Dr. M.A. Davis
@mikedavis.bsky.social
· Jun 6
I do not think what that man says is true
I could not talk my son into writing "None! Long live the Mamluke Sultanate!" in his history question about the benefits of the Mongol Empire but by god he knows why that's funny. or why I claim it is, anyway.
November 13, 2025 at 12:39 AM
I could not talk my son into writing "None! Long live the Mamluke Sultanate!" in his history question about the benefits of the Mongol Empire but by god he knows why that's funny. or why I claim it is, anyway.
THOMAS MORE AND THE GARDEN OF PAIN
yes, good, this is why you read history.
yes, good, this is why you read history.
November 12, 2025 at 9:31 PM
THOMAS MORE AND THE GARDEN OF PAIN
yes, good, this is why you read history.
yes, good, this is why you read history.
Calls for Papers | The Society for Military History
www.smh-hq.org
November 12, 2025 at 8:22 PM
okay.
1. doughface. a sad case. a drunk who fell off the wagon after a horrific family tragedy, completely unable to apply whatever firmness he might have had to the Presidency at a time when _some_ kind of leadership was necessary. friend of Hawthorne, if you know what I mean. Kansas-Nebraska.
1. doughface. a sad case. a drunk who fell off the wagon after a horrific family tragedy, completely unable to apply whatever firmness he might have had to the Presidency at a time when _some_ kind of leadership was necessary. friend of Hawthorne, if you know what I mean. Kansas-Nebraska.
Snap quiz: Tell me everything you remember about Franklin Pierce, Millard Filmore, and Chester Arthur.
November 12, 2025 at 5:25 PM
okay.
1. doughface. a sad case. a drunk who fell off the wagon after a horrific family tragedy, completely unable to apply whatever firmness he might have had to the Presidency at a time when _some_ kind of leadership was necessary. friend of Hawthorne, if you know what I mean. Kansas-Nebraska.
1. doughface. a sad case. a drunk who fell off the wagon after a horrific family tragedy, completely unable to apply whatever firmness he might have had to the Presidency at a time when _some_ kind of leadership was necessary. friend of Hawthorne, if you know what I mean. Kansas-Nebraska.
but seriously, NIGHT OF CAMP DAVID has been a subject of some recent discussion because of how accidentally on-the-nose it is.
SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, woof. obviously if someone was threatening American democracy, it would have to be a universally beloved war hero. who else could do it?
SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, woof. obviously if someone was threatening American democracy, it would have to be a universally beloved war hero. who else could do it?
more interesting than a remake of SEVEN DAYS IN MAY (about a Deep State conspiracy against the heroic POTUS and his new treaty with Russia) or NIGHT OF CAMP DAVID, (about a POTUS who has descended into madness, threatening war against our allies in Scandinavia while cozying up to Russia), anyway.
November 12, 2025 at 5:03 PM
but seriously, NIGHT OF CAMP DAVID has been a subject of some recent discussion because of how accidentally on-the-nose it is.
SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, woof. obviously if someone was threatening American democracy, it would have to be a universally beloved war hero. who else could do it?
SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, woof. obviously if someone was threatening American democracy, it would have to be a universally beloved war hero. who else could do it?
the career of Sarah McBride makes me badly want a remake of the 1972 film THE MAN with an LGBT (probably trans) lead actress and character. (probably need to change the title, obviously).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man...
The Man (1972 film) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 12, 2025 at 4:52 PM
the career of Sarah McBride makes me badly want a remake of the 1972 film THE MAN with an LGBT (probably trans) lead actress and character. (probably need to change the title, obviously).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man...
watched INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS with my son last night:
1. the brainiac male scientists are the ones who get suckered, it's the women and kids who can spot the imposters
2. having to explain what a trip to Reno meant to a film audience in the late 50s
1. the brainiac male scientists are the ones who get suckered, it's the women and kids who can spot the imposters
2. having to explain what a trip to Reno meant to a film audience in the late 50s
November 12, 2025 at 12:41 PM
watched INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS with my son last night:
1. the brainiac male scientists are the ones who get suckered, it's the women and kids who can spot the imposters
2. having to explain what a trip to Reno meant to a film audience in the late 50s
1. the brainiac male scientists are the ones who get suckered, it's the women and kids who can spot the imposters
2. having to explain what a trip to Reno meant to a film audience in the late 50s
I inherited a house in the semi-rural South from my parents and I am as liberal I ever was. (of course, so were they.)
November 10, 2025 at 6:37 PM
I inherited a house in the semi-rural South from my parents and I am as liberal I ever was. (of course, so were they.)
perhaps the most famous person to share my birthday (November 10) was Winston Churchill. "But wait," I see you saying, "wasn't he born November 30?"
GUESS AGAIN.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston...
GUESS AGAIN.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston...
Winston Churchill (novelist) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 10, 2025 at 12:30 PM
perhaps the most famous person to share my birthday (November 10) was Winston Churchill. "But wait," I see you saying, "wasn't he born November 30?"
GUESS AGAIN.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston...
GUESS AGAIN.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston...
so anyway, tomorrow's my birthday! there will be cake, and breakfast in bed, and new books. big fun!
November 10, 2025 at 1:18 AM
so anyway, tomorrow's my birthday! there will be cake, and breakfast in bed, and new books. big fun!
made curry pork fried rice; wound up with what was essentially curry carnitas in rice and cauliflower, would make again.
November 9, 2025 at 4:10 PM
made curry pork fried rice; wound up with what was essentially curry carnitas in rice and cauliflower, would make again.
an elderly lady working at the Tractor Supply Company in exurban North Carolina blamed the shutdown on Trump.
November 9, 2025 at 3:01 AM
an elderly lady working at the Tractor Supply Company in exurban North Carolina blamed the shutdown on Trump.
I don't know about that and neither do you.
November 9, 2025 at 1:55 AM
I don't know about that and neither do you.
enjoyed the way everyone looked up when I started my talk. some people read from papers, some people invite you to the exciting and only somewhat more radioactive world of 1960, where the giant craters in Russia's cities have been plowed over and turned into gardens, everything's fine.
November 9, 2025 at 12:39 AM
enjoyed the way everyone looked up when I started my talk. some people read from papers, some people invite you to the exciting and only somewhat more radioactive world of 1960, where the giant craters in Russia's cities have been plowed over and turned into gardens, everything's fine.
Pete Buttigieg is still, by far, the most successful Presidential candidate of 2020 who did not become POTUS or VPOTUS. (no your favorite Senator becoming a chair of something is not the same.)
November 8, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Pete Buttigieg is still, by far, the most successful Presidential candidate of 2020 who did not become POTUS or VPOTUS. (no your favorite Senator becoming a chair of something is not the same.)
This got an audible “oh my God” at the conference, which delighted me to no end
November 8, 2025 at 8:04 PM
This got an audible “oh my God” at the conference, which delighted me to no end
www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/... while it's now out of date (and has some inaccuracies) this is an incredibly valuable resource for historians of Presidential politics.
AllPolitics - 1996 GOP NRC - All The Votes...Really
www.cnn.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:23 AM
www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/... while it's now out of date (and has some inaccuracies) this is an incredibly valuable resource for historians of Presidential politics.
romegeorgia.org/attraction/a... this was fun. he has a little fleet of aircraft carrier benches!
Admiral Towers Plaza - Rome, Ga. - Georgia's Rome Office of Tourism
Admiral Towers Memorial Plaza is dedicated to the memory of Admiral John Henry Towers, native Roman and “the Father of Naval Aviation.”
romegeorgia.org
November 7, 2025 at 11:52 PM
romegeorgia.org/attraction/a... this was fun. he has a little fleet of aircraft carrier benches!
liked seeing a big Hate Has No Home Here shopfront here in Rome. one of those areas where you have a liberal arts college town and then a very deep red county around it.
November 7, 2025 at 11:50 PM
liked seeing a big Hate Has No Home Here shopfront here in Rome. one of those areas where you have a liberal arts college town and then a very deep red county around it.
lots of fun at the Peace History Conference, everyone loves "people get mad when you say nuclear war is winnable, circa 1951", and I had a fine old time taking pictures of the (much smaller than I expected) Rome, GA Capitoline Wolf.
(it's about as big as an actual wolf with actual babies)
(it's about as big as an actual wolf with actual babies)
November 7, 2025 at 10:19 PM
lots of fun at the Peace History Conference, everyone loves "people get mad when you say nuclear war is winnable, circa 1951", and I had a fine old time taking pictures of the (much smaller than I expected) Rome, GA Capitoline Wolf.
(it's about as big as an actual wolf with actual babies)
(it's about as big as an actual wolf with actual babies)
this looks great and I want more biopics of First and Second Great Awakening figures.
November 6, 2025 at 9:19 PM
this looks great and I want more biopics of First and Second Great Awakening figures.
I don't really care for those jokes about Nancy Reagan. You know the ones.
November 5, 2025 at 6:57 PM
I don't really care for those jokes about Nancy Reagan. You know the ones.
a guilty pleasure - the radio adaptation of I WAS A COMMUNIST FOR THE FBI.
November 5, 2025 at 2:43 PM
a guilty pleasure - the radio adaptation of I WAS A COMMUNIST FOR THE FBI.
here's a fun scenario a late friend of mine came up with:
1978 - A youthful George W. Bush wins election to the US House of Representatives, defeating Democrat Kent Hance. He is re-elected in 1980 (when his father is elected VP) and again in 1982 from the Lubbock-centric district. /1
1978 - A youthful George W. Bush wins election to the US House of Representatives, defeating Democrat Kent Hance. He is re-elected in 1980 (when his father is elected VP) and again in 1982 from the Lubbock-centric district. /1
November 5, 2025 at 2:20 PM
here's a fun scenario a late friend of mine came up with:
1978 - A youthful George W. Bush wins election to the US House of Representatives, defeating Democrat Kent Hance. He is re-elected in 1980 (when his father is elected VP) and again in 1982 from the Lubbock-centric district. /1
1978 - A youthful George W. Bush wins election to the US House of Representatives, defeating Democrat Kent Hance. He is re-elected in 1980 (when his father is elected VP) and again in 1982 from the Lubbock-centric district. /1