Let's be honest, Bluesky is mostly Brompton energy

[unpopular opinion forthcoming] Humanities professors: normalize giving your students recommendations on LinkedIn

Better Off in Brazil? With diminishing opportunities at home, some U.S. soybean farmers have relocated thousands of miles South. A new book considers the impact.

Glad to see @alofstehage.bsky.social's book on US farmers in Brazil featured in Offrange magazine. I'm biased, but the global agribusiness links between the US and Brazil are such an important and little-understood story.
ambrook.com/offrange/boo...

Containers Technology Podcast · Containers is an 8-part audio documentary about how global trade has transformed the economy and ourselves. Host and correspondent Alexis Madrigal leads you through the world of s...

A few years old now, but the incomparable @alexis-madrigal.bsky.social did an 8-part podcast on west coast container shipping that I thought was really good. Definitely serialized offbeat history.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Board of Trustees Meeting 4/16/26 YouTube video by SIU Board of Trustees Meeting

At yesterday's Southern Illinois Univ board meeting, faculty were angry about a proposed contract with Risepoint, an online program manager (OPM). As @tressiemcphd.bsky.social has written over and over, OPMs are bringing the for-profit model inside public higher ed.
www.youtube.com/live/U8B5b0Z...

Solidarity from Edwardsville!

I wish the horse_ebooks account was still alive and on Bsky at moments like this

Counterpoint: before you could send someone information in the old system, you had to lick it

I no longer understand what the scholarly publishing and reviewing ecosystem is for history or if it still exists, but I agree it deserves more attention. Tooze reviewed it for the LRB. I wonder if it's a case where the book is slowly making its way to US readers?

Dark message, but very good

Frank Uekötter's _The Vortex: An Environmental History of the Modern World_ is full of chapters that work as standalone readings suitable for undergrads (also freely available as an open-access book).

To illustrate just how long this tax break has been up for debate, back in 2024 I wrote about a conference on sustainable aviation fuels that mainly discussed these issues
jeffmanuel.com/blog-1/2025/...

An update on the saga of 45Z, the Clean Fuels Production credit that *might* pay farmers for regenerative practices. This one's had a lot of twists and turns since it was created by the Inflation Reduction Act.

What's the tariff rate for an imported Canadian tweet?

Really interesting website by @remiwnd.bsky.social, an engineer and historian, that documents the origins of "wind and site engineering" for wind energy projects.

"Well written, thoroughly researched, and deeply informative... The authors successfully demonstrate how ethanol’s long, complex history informs its future."

New review of "Ethanol: A Hemispheric History for the Future of Biofuels" by @jeffmanuel.bsky.social & Tom Rogers from @oupress.bsky.social

"In addition to ethanol, these vessels will be capable of using methanol and heavy fuel oil, and their design also allows for conversion to use liquefied natural gas (LNG) or ammonia." So, basically the flex-fuel vehicle of shipping. Also will have five rotor sails.

As a scholar of esoteric topics, I rarely see direct connections among my projects. But today's inbox has one—an ethanol-powered ship for transporting iron ore
www.marinelog.com/news/vale-an...

"Well written, thoroughly researched, and deeply informative"

Thanks to Elizabeth Bennett for a thorough (and positive!) review of _Ethanol: A Hemispheric History for the Future of Biofuels_
networks.h-net.org/group/review...
🗃️

My favorite Manitoba tidbit is that North Dakota college kids would go to Winnipeg for spring break to take advantage of the legal drinking age of 19

More info on the position:
- Salary range: $55,000-60,000 per year
- Benefit information: www.siue.edu/human-resour...
- Official application link: apply.interfolio.com/184021

Job alert!
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is hiring a tenure-track digital archivist. I'm on the search committee and happy to answer questions. Please share widely!
This is a great collection, full of hidden gems, in an academic library committed to students.
apply.interfolio.com/184021

The Extractive Midwest CFP The Extractive Midwest Call for Proposals for Edited Volume Description: Typically defined as a fertile, renewable, and nurturing region, the Midwest has also experienced a long history of extractio...

Call for Proposals! I’m co-editing a collection on “The Extractive Midwest” with @brianleechphd.bsky.social, Jeff Schramm, and Sarah Mittlefehldt. We seek 300-500 word abstracts for book chapters between 6,000-8,000 words (not including notes). Send us your submissions before August 30, 2026!

Ethanol - University of Oklahoma Press Though ethanol, a liquid fuel made from agricultural byproducts, has generated controversy in recent years—good or bad for the environment? a big-ag boon o...

Totally agree about considering all options. If you want to make sure every dollar supports scholarly publishing, you can also buy direct from @oupress.bsky.social
www.oupress.com/978080619601...

It's a lot of energy history for less than the price of five gallons of gasoline in California!

Ethanol: A Hemispheric History for the Future of Biofuels Ethanol: A Hemispheric History for the Future of Biofuels [Manuel, Jeffrey T., Rogers, Thomas D.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Ethanol: A Hemispheric History for the Future of Biofuels

I have no clue how or why Amazon's algorithms do what they do, but the hardcover of _Ethanol: A Hemispheric History for the Future of Biofuels_ is currently on sale for 20 percent off.
www.amazon.com/Ethanol-Hemi...

If you don't already have it on the list, @gabriellehecht.bsky.social's _The Radiance of France_

February 2026 History Book Club | Ethanol YouTube video by DepartmentHistory

Last month, Tom Rogers and I had the pleasure of joining the University of Minnesota's History Department book club to talk about _Ethanol: A Hemispheric History for the Future of Biofuels_. The recording is now up on YouTube! youtu.be/eGcHlh7t-lc?...

Flashback, 1979: What the Previous Cliff Might Tell Us About the Potential One Ahead - farmdoc daily Jonathan Coppess -

Lots of historical comparisons to the 1970s in the news lately, but Jonathan Coppess has a good one comparing the situation facing US farmers' then versus now.
farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/2026/03/flas...

JOB: Ruth Wynn Woodward Junior Chair in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies (Assistant Professor, 2-year Term), Simon Fraser University
universityaffairs.ca/search-jobs/...