If you're interested in the environment and Oral History, you do not want to miss this conversation with authors Stephen Sloan and Mark Cave on Thursday, April 23 at 3:30 eastern, presented by the Oral History Association's Publications Committee. Register below: oralhistory.org/2026/03/17/o...
Happy voting day in Virginia, aka a temporary moratorium on the endless mail and media propaganda.
The bicentennial in 1976 was a golden age for investment in U.S. public history projects and the humanities. The federal government provided generous funding to do the work of American history. Today, on the 250th, the humanities are being gutted and history censored. #talkabouthumanities
This week: US foreign policy and imperial violence in the Cold War. The discussion will be imformed by @kimatiwagner.bsky.social's critiques as well as that of other southeast and east Asian scholars. To be paired with @jasonhiggins.bsky.social's brilliant history.
That would be amazing! I’d also like to do an audio book version.
Images show the cover of Prisoners after War and text reads,”Winner of the Albert L. Sturm Research Excellence Award”
I am honored that #PrisonersAfterWar won the Sturm Research Excellence Award, from the Kappa Phi Beta, Mu Chapter of Virginia. This is a university-wide award at Virginia Tech that encourages and rewards scholarship with a significant appeal to an educated audience beyond a narrow scholarly field.
Dissidents: Veterans Speak Out for Justice, an oral history collection by Jason A. Higgins. The cover shows a photo taken during Black Lives Matter protests in June 2020 with the "wall of vets."
#CoverReveal Coming soon from Virginia Tech Publishing, "Dissidents" is a peer-reviewed digital humanities project that features the stories of veterans who spoke out for justice. Through oral histories, it explores the anti-war movement and the experiences of Black, queer, and women veterans.
art002e009284 (April 6, 2026) – Earth appears tiny as the Moon looms large in this photo taken by the Artemis II crew during their lunar flyby on April 6, 2026. Taken 36 minutes before Earthset, our home planet is visible in the blackness of space off the limb of the illuminated Moon. Earth is in a crescent phase, with sunlight coming from the right. Orientale mare basin, with its dark floor of cooled lava and outer rings of mountains, covers nearly the lower third of the imaged lunar surface. Different colors in the mare hint at its mineral composition. The lines of small indentations above Orientale are secondary crater chains, formed by material ejected during a violent primary impact. Both of the new craters that the Artemis II crew has suggested names for – Integrity and Carroll – are in full view. The edge of the visible surface of the Moon is called the “lunar limb.” Seen from afar, it almost looks like a circular arc – except when backlit, as in other images captured by the Artemis II crew.
art002e009288 (April 6, 2026) – Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon. A muted blue Earth with bright white clouds sets behind the cratered lunar surface. The dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime. On Earth’s day side, swirling clouds are visible over the Australia and Oceania region. In the foreground, Ohm crater has terraced edges and a flat floor interrupted by central peaks. Central peaks form in complex craters when the lunar surface, liquefied on impact, splashes upwards during the crater’s formation.
art002e009289 (April 6, 2026) – The lunar surface fills the frame in sharp detail, as seen during the Artemis II lunar flyby, while a distant Earth sets in the background. This image was captured at 6:41 p.m. EDT, on April 6, 2026, just three minutes before the Orion spacecraft and its crew went behind the Moon and lost contact with Earth for 40 minutes before emerging on the other side. In this image, the dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime, while on its day side, swirling clouds are visible over the Australia and Oceania region. In the foreground, Ohm crater shows terraced edges and a relatively flat floor marked by central peaks — formed when the surface rebounded upward during the impact that created the crater.
art002e009301 (April 6, 2026) – Captured by the Artemis II crew during their lunar flyby on April 6, 2026, this image shows the Moon fully eclipsing the Sun. From the crew’s perspective, the Moon appears large enough to completely block the Sun, creating nearly 54 minutes of totality and extending the view far beyond what is possible from Earth. The corona forms a glowing halo around the dark lunar disk, revealing details of the Sun’s outer atmosphere typically hidden by its brightness. Also visible are stars, typically too faint to see when imaging the Moon, but with the Moon in darkness stars are readily imaged. This unique vantage point provides both a striking visual and a valuable opportunity for astronauts to document and describe the corona during humanity’s return to deep space. The faint glow of the nearside of the Moon is visible in this image, having been illuminated by light reflected off the Earth.
Wow, just wow! Awe-inspiring beauty!
Image credits: NASA www.nasa.gov/gallery/luna...
When presidents order war crimes, threaten genocide, wage war without Congressional approval, and act with impunity of international law, it erodes democracy and human rights, and causes innumerable consequences.
But historians and other experts are being fired for teaching the truth.
When he expanded the war into Cambodia, it led to mass protests across the US, including at Kent State where national guardsmen opened fire on students, killing 4 and wounding 9.
Madman tactics do not force enemies to capitulate. But it has unforeseen consequences abroad and at home.
The secret bombings of Cambodia were leaked to the NYT. The White House had a plan: deny, deny, deny! And stop the leakers! He orders illegal wiretaps on his own staff, including Kissinger. This is the "tricky dick" stuff that eventually led to his resignation.
When that didn't work, Nixon decided to bomb Cambodian sanctuaries to send a message to Vietnam. (The bombing of Cambodia created rippling effects, destabilizing the gov't, enabling the Khmer Rouge to take power and commit genocide.)
Guess what? That did not work either.
For ex. Operation Giant Lance (phallic much?)-- October 27-30, 1969, Nixon orders 18 B-52s armed with hydrogen bombs to fly along Soviet Union border. He believed he could threaten the Soviets to force N. Vietnam to surrender (as if the Vietnamese were under control of the Soviets)
It did not work.
Nixon said, "I call it the Madman Theory. I want the North Vietnamese to believe...I might do anything to stop the war. We’ll just slip the word: “We can’t restrain him when he’s angry—and he has his hand on the nuclear button”—Ho Chi Minh himself will be in Paris in two days begging for peace.”
This guy steals all Nixon’s ideas. His threats are straight out of the Nixon’s “Madman Theory.” It did not work with Vietnam. It will not work with Iran. It’s like none of the lessons from the past 60 years of American war are ever learned.
Author interview with Jason Higgins, "Prisoners after War," by Jacey Anderson for the OHR Extra!
youtu.be/OcNxWR53nVc
It was a great pleasure to speak with Jacey Anderson, book review editor for the Oral History Review for OHR Extra! We discuss oral history, my book Prisoners after War, and forthcoming projects. (@umasspress.bsky.social) If you're interested check it out. oralhistory.org/2026/03/24/a...
Glad to see this is "official."
I look forward to accepting the award in Arlington, VA. Hope to see you there.
They’re calling for articles to promote the collection. Thinking about it!
I wish I had access to these while writing my book. It’s a wealth of sources and knowledge.
An incredible digital #OpenAcess collection of newspapers published by incarcerated writers within the U.S. prison system.
youtu.be/LQM2zWlYQuY
Recently, I sat down for an interview with my hometown friend and high school classmate, Tercero Munoz with Suite P Productions out of Hot Springs Arkansas. We talk about veterans, history, mass incarceration, and System of a Down. Check it out in the link in the comments.
And journal editors should never invite comment again from someone who submits an AI-generated peer review.
The War within a War: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home book on a shelf of Vietnam War books. Pp
Added a new title to the reading list by journalist Wil Haygood. It joins a very short but excellent list of books on African American experiences during the Vietnam War.
I am humbled to announce that "World War Zoos" won the 2026 Distinguished Book Award from the Society of Military History. Thanks to everyone who believed in the book! share.google/G2gxOFSy2ZcF...
@elisecapron.bsky.social @uchicagopress.bsky.social @tmennel.bsky.social
Rest in peace, Country Joe McDonald. youtu.be/CXuSQcyuPU8?...
$$ is always a concern. Hope you can make it.
