Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 13h

Before you watch the Eagles on #TNF, check out my new column on Philly's worst moment--& a vitally important one for thinking about 2025 America. 🗃️ @hcrichardson.bsky.social

Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 19h

40 years ago, Philadelphia police & authorities waged war on a local community, including dropping a bomb that started a fire that destroyed an entire neighborhood. Remembering that tragedy reminds us of the eternal cost of "war from within."🗃️

www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/10/cons...

Considering History: The MOVE Bombing and “the War from Within” | The Saturday Evening Post

The 1985 MOVE bombing in Philadelphia lays bare the horrific and inevitable tragedies whenever we wage war from within.

www.saturdayeveningpost.com

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 14h

PS. Also featuring to shout-out to @karltaro.bsky.social & his wonderful short story "Horned Men"!

sloopie72.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/b...

BASS 2013: Karl Taro Greenfeld, “Horned Men” from ZYZZYVA, Fall 2012

Becca once asked her father if he felt guilty about all the people who had lost their homes. … Bob had told her no, he didn’t feel guilty, not at all. He said that he had been making pe…

sloopie72.wordpress.com

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 14h

So for the next post in my American Crime Fiction blog series, two ways to AmericanStudy Tana French's wonderful Irish mysteries!

blackwhiteandread.com/october-9-20...

October 9, 2025: American Crime Fiction: Tana French – Black and White and Read All Over

[This coming weekend marks the 100th birthday of the great crime novelist Elmore Leonard. So this week I’ll AmericanStudy a handful of phenomenal crime and mystery writers, leading up a weekend post o...

blackwhiteandread.com

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 14h

Tana French was born in Vermont (a fact I only learned while researching her for the post below), but I'm not gonna pretend that her phenomenal series of mysteries about the Dublin Murder Squad aren't deeply Irish. Yet like all great literature, they still have a ton of echoes with our stories.

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Reposted by Ben Railton

Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 19h

As always, I hope if you find value in my Considering History columns like this one that you'll share it widely, to help us engage with these histories & legacies, & to fight against them in our entirely interconnected present. @hcrichardson.bsky.social

www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/10/cons...

Considering History: The MOVE Bombing and “the War from Within” | The Saturday Evening Post

The 1985 MOVE bombing in Philadelphia lays bare the horrific and inevitable tragedies whenever we wage war from within.

www.saturdayeveningpost.com

3 6

Reposted by Ben Railton

Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 19h

40 years ago, Philadelphia police & authorities waged war on a local community, including dropping a bomb that started a fire that destroyed an entire neighborhood. Remembering that tragedy reminds us of the eternal cost of "war from within."🗃️

www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/10/cons...

Considering History: The MOVE Bombing and “the War from Within” | The Saturday Evening Post

The 1985 MOVE bombing in Philadelphia lays bare the horrific and inevitable tragedies whenever we wage war from within.

www.saturdayeveningpost.com

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Reposted by Ben Railton

The Gray Sage @walterdgreason.bsky.social · 20h

Welcome to everyone who just connect on BlueSky over the last week!

I’m SAGE GRAY aka Walter Greason, historian, educator, economist, advocate, and mediator.

My content focuses on US and world politics, specifically based on my research about housing, schools, banks, museums, and libraries.

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 19h

Thanks!

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 19h

As always, I hope if you find value in my Considering History columns like this one that you'll share it widely, to help us engage with these histories & legacies, & to fight against them in our entirely interconnected present. @hcrichardson.bsky.social

www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/10/cons...

Considering History: The MOVE Bombing and “the War from Within” | The Saturday Evening Post

The 1985 MOVE bombing in Philadelphia lays bare the horrific and inevitable tragedies whenever we wage war from within.

www.saturdayeveningpost.com

3 6

Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 19h

I wrote this column to memorialize the MOVE bombing, which remains frustratingly under-remembered in collective narratives, but also to remind us that our current fascist "war from within"--the one proposed in Trump's Quantico speech, & the one happening already--amplifies the worst of our history.

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 19h

40 years ago, Philadelphia police & authorities waged war on a local community, including dropping a bomb that started a fire that destroyed an entire neighborhood. Remembering that tragedy reminds us of the eternal cost of "war from within."🗃️

www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/10/cons...

Considering History: The MOVE Bombing and “the War from Within” | The Saturday Evening Post

The 1985 MOVE bombing in Philadelphia lays bare the horrific and inevitable tragedies whenever we wage war from within.

www.saturdayeveningpost.com

2 23 45

Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 21h

Really proud to share some thoughts in this @newsweek.com article alongside @michaelleroyoberg.bsky.social among other heavy hitters! 🗃️

www.newsweek.com/maps-differe...

Map shows differences in how Columbus Day celebrated in each state

While it is a federal holiday, some argue it is disrespectful to commemorate the day.

www.newsweek.com

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 23h

Very excited for @civilwarmemory.bsky.social’s forthcoming @uncpress.bsky.social bio of Shaw!

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 23h

Happy Robert Gould Shaw Day & Oscar Brown Jr. Day! Ain’t that America?

memorydaycalendar.blogspot.com/p/october-no...

October Nominees

October 1: Daniel Boorstin , the towering historian and Librarian of Congress whose pioneering and influential scholarly works include T...

memorydaycalendar.blogspot.com

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Reposted by Ben Railton

Meg Mulrooney @megmulrooney.bsky.social · 1d

Check it out, 19thC & Civil War history friends! My colleague has a new book! @americanstudier.bsky.social @sethrockman.bsky.social @hngreen.bsky.social

Jonathan S. Jones @jonathansjones.bsky.social · 1d

Look what came in the mail today, @uncpress.bsky.social @simpsonvos.bsky.social @profsommerville.bsky.social! 🗃️

Printed copy of Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and America’s First Opioid Crisis held by the author in the background

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 1d

Also Biscuits snuggles, obvi.

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 1d

It's impossible to count how many things are shitty right now. Which makes it more important than ever to lean into the joys, for their own sake, & also to give us strength to keep fighting the good fights.

Cf. My sons come home today & Friday for Fall breaks. Time for some serious Dad Hugs.

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks to @audacityofdespair.bsky.social, @wendellpierce.bsky.social, & so many others for giving us this eternally beautiful yet profoundly timely American masterpiece.

www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/09/cons...

Considering History: 20 Years After Katrina – a Harbinger of the Best and Worst of America | The Saturday Evening Post

Much of what happened during and after Hurricane Katrina foretold patterns of events that would unfold over the next 20 years – from police brutality to National Guard occupations to the unexpected ge...

www.saturdayeveningpost.com

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 1d

Just about done rewatching Treme with @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social, & I love it even more this time around, through the lenses of all that's worst in our moment (foreshadowed by Katrina) & of the best in us that it finds in so much of New Orleans (as do I). 🗃️

www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/09/cons...

Considering History: 20 Years After Katrina – a Harbinger of the Best and Worst of America | The Saturday Evening Post

Much of what happened during and after Hurricane Katrina foretold patterns of events that would unfold over the next 20 years – from police brutality to National Guard occupations to the unexpected ge...

www.saturdayeveningpost.com

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 1d

So for the next post in my blog series on American Crime Fiction, a link-tastic post featuring a handful of the many times & places I've written about the great Attica Locke!

blackwhiteandread.com/october-8-20...

October 8, 2025: American Crime Fiction: Attica Locke – Black and White and Read All Over

[This coming weekend marks the 100th birthday of the great crime novelist Elmore Leonard. So this week I’ll AmericanStudy a handful of phenomenal crime and mystery writers, leading up a weekend post o...

blackwhiteandread.com

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 1d

I haven't had the chance to blog about too many 21st century crime/mystery writers, but one to whom I've returned multiple times--just as, not coincidentally, I've done as a delighted reader--is the phenomenal @atticalocke.bsky.social. She's a worthy heir to Walter Mosley, & much more as well.

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 1d

Taught my favorite American poet Sarah Piatt as part of Honors Lit Seminar today, so your regular reminder that she is one of our most unique & impressive writers & a must-read for any AmericanLiteratureStudiers! Cf. my @americanwritersmuseum.org post. 🗃️

americanwritersmuseum.org/why-we-shoul...