History prof deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Wrote a book about trains (and capitalism): https://xitter.cf/t.co/9dFdbc2zNq
Beech Mountain, NC
Joined May 2009
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Excited to share that my new book is available for preorder via UNC Press (coming out March 2027). Use code 01SOCIAL30 at checkout to save 30%! uncpress.org/9798890887993/c…
twas a foggy morning in the nooks and crannies of the NC Piedmont (Catawba County). Snapped this one before driving up to the mountains for class
Fun fact from indexing the Casey Jones book: the Lincoln assassination shows up twice. First in a Gillian Welch song…and then as part of a Robert Hunter acid trip
the downsides of life in rural appalachia...the closest early voting site in my county is about a 45 minute drive from my house
As I researched and wrote this book, I had a blast following the legend of Casey Jones at it moved from roundhouses to labor battles to folklorists to bluesmen to hillbilly fiddlers to Deadheads and beyond.
all in all I can’t complain as there are plenty of things in my life that bring me joy and pleasure, but penn state football is definitely not one of those things
last night had a dream that I was trying to explain my dissertation to the anthropic CEO, which is especially ironic given that anthropic has already stolen my book for training data
this proposal just totally rips out the beating heart of the sport - those fall saturdays in Sept to Nov w/ meaningful slates of games on college campuses - and replaces it with slop. 12 teams is more than enough for the playoff...
NEW: College Football Playoff 24-team expansion talks will continue this week with meetings in Chicago, @PeteNakos reports.
Momentum is building for a 24-team field, with the ACC, Big 12 and Notre Dame supporting it and the SEC open to it.
on3.com/news/college-footbal…
2 years ago today I was drinking sazeracs on a deck watching the torrential rainfall/fog and trying not to freak out about the incoming Helene. Didn’t sleep much that night…
last time I taught cholera in my history of epidemics course I said that in modern times this would only spread in the context of a disaster that destroyed a town's water/sewer systems...then days later Helene hit and did precisely that to banner elk
may be a decent time to point out that my town (Beech Mountain) still has destroyed roads/trails and a damaged reservoir/water source (and the town is still waiting on at least $20 million in promised FEMA funds)
I teach at a v small college with a campus that's not exactly sprawling large...and a student just told me they had to use AI to find my office?
as a history prof in the age of AI I find myself feeling like John Henry a whole damn lot these days…
In honor of Labor Day: Jason Isbell - The Day John Henry Died youtu.be/Oy1Cm_QLFCQ?is=eQm1…
In honor of Labor Day: Jason Isbell - The Day John Henry Died youtu.be/Oy1Cm_QLFCQ?is=eQm1…
just heard Paul Finebaum compare LSY fans under Kiffin to Custer’s doomed men before Little Bighorn…hell yeah college football is so back