Image of book cover

Photo of author on a rooftop holding livestream video via cell phone

Text from LA Times article: award in the history category for "Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and theRemaking of the American City," which exposes a pattern of landlords setting residential fires to collect insurance payouts, they said, "It's a scary time to be a historian in the United States." "Our field, like so many other fields, is under attack," Ansfield said. "To understand the crises in front of us, we have to understand our history."

What a week🫨 Last night in Philly I got to watch the livestream of the @latimesfob awards, where Born in Flames won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History. It was announced Oscars-style—really gets the heart racing. I was grateful to be with dear friends who know how to shriek.

Aw thank you!!

Thank you Nate!

Thanks, Ian!

Thanks Laura!

Book cover for Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking and the American City

I know our names basically sound the same, but I could never have imagined this. Born in Flames has won the 2026 Anisfield-Wolf Award in Nonfiction. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more honored.

Til housing stability is not a luxury.

@wwnorton.com

Text image with information about conference Book Talk: New Books on Race and Capitalism in the US and the World

If you’re @oah.org in Philly come hear @benchansfield.bsky.social @rbatzell.bsky.social @danielle-wiggins.bsky.social Patrick Chung and I discuss our new books on race and capitalism in the US and the world this afternoon (1:30-3pm)

The Warehouse, in Plain Sight That concrete box off the freeway wasn’t designed for storage so much as capture. It’s a disappearing machine. We need to see it clearly.

Please read @charmainechua.bsky.social on the warehouse as not so much a space of storage as it is a switch (turning off and on movement of capital and goods) and a trap (for low wage workers) and, now, a space of literal DHS incarceration. placesjournal.org/article/the-...

SOLD OUT

Map by Jenna Peters-Golden

Columbia Avenue Rebellion '64 Walking Tour Student-led walking tour of the Columbia Avenue uprising, which coursed through North Philadelphia in 1964 in response to police violence.

RSVP here: www.eventbrite.com/e/columbia-a...

Please join us for a *free* student-led walking tour of the Columbia Ave uprising, which coursed through North Philly in Aug 1964 in response to police violence

April 20th at noon
RSVP and details at link below

Just read a great passage last night about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in Bench Ansfield's @benchansfield.bsky.social "Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City."

Who is talking to the 2 million people who have lost their insurance because the subsidies weren't renewed?

PDF of book proofs: SEEING LIKE A SUPPLY CHAIN The Hidden Life of Logistics MIRIAM POSNER Yale University Press New Haven and London

*breathing into a paper bag*

I'm out of words here

Tonight at IPK: @benchansfield.bsky.social discusses their book, Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City, with Ingrid Gould Ellen and
@tomsugrue.bsky.social.

Bench Ansfield, Ingrid Gould Ellen, and Tom Sugrue with a microphone at an IPK table, and Bench—with fabulous nails—inscribing a copy of BORN IN FLAMES to me!

Fantastic @ipk.bsky.social talk & discussion tonight on @benchansfield.bsky.social's BORN IN FLAMES, with @tomsugrue.bsky.social & Ingrid Gould Ellen, hosted by @ericklinenberg.bsky.social. Looking forward to reading!

NYC! Tomorrow night @ipk.bsky.social!!

Join IPK on March 4 for an event with @benchansfield.bsky.social. They will discuss their book, Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City, with Ingrid Gould Ellen and @tomsugrue.bsky.social.

ipk.nyu.edu/events/book-...

Poster which shows color photo scene of moving, a room with boxes and clothes sitting on the floor, a chair, and the end of a bed (white rails forming a headrest and a mattress with a red cover). The text of the poster is: "Impact (small logo top left)," "According to a new survey by the Movement Advancement Project, approximately 401,000 transgender people have relocated from one U.S. state to another since the 2024 presidential election." "The mass relocations in 2025 due to safety concerns, political conditions, and anti-trans laws nd policies have largely impacted conservative states across the country."

www.mapresearch.org/2025-norc-su...

NYC! I’ll be discussing BORN IN FLAMES with these two legends on 3/4

Join IPK on March 4 for an event with @benchansfield.bsky.social. They will discuss their book, Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City, with @jfernandez1202.bsky.social and @tomsugrue.bsky.social.

ipk.nyu.edu/events/book-...

I'm looking forward to this Zoom book event next week with @marksouther.bsky.social and @benchansfield.bsky.social. Would love to see some of you there!
Registration link here: princeton.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

🏆 Columbia Journalism School and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard (@niemanfoundation.bsky.social) have announced the 2026 shortlists for the J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project, honoring outstanding works of American nonfiction in progress and in print.

Thanks Mariame!

Not sure why I was unable to tag Bench above, but everyone should buy and read their brilliant book.

Thanks Eileen!

Image shows 5 nominees for the LA Times Book Prize in History, including OP's book Born in Flames.

Good news in ghastly times

i think this more than anything is what miller wants. vast detention camps with all of the suffering and death that means.