Boyce Upholt
@boyceupholt.bsky.social
1.8K followers 240 following 150 posts
🖊 EIC/Found of Southlands 📖: THE GREAT RIVER: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi (W.W. Norton) 🏆: Willie Morris Award for Southern Writing
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Reposted by Boyce Upholt
placesjournal.bsky.social
"Disconnected from the grid after Hurricane Ida, New Orleans went without power for 10 days. That dark week marked the beginning of a social movement that has become a political cause."

@boyceupholt.bsky.social spoke w/ New Orleanians fed up with unaccountable energy providers and ready for change.
Power Shift
In New Orleans, residents frustrated by an unaccountable energy utility are building a network of community resilience hubs to take back their power.
placesjournal.org
boyceupholt.bsky.social
When Places Journal asked if I wanted to write about "climate urbanism" in New Orleans, I decided to tackle what felt like the most pressing problem: our rickety old electrical grid. The reporting was, by turns, frustrating, terrifying, and empowering.
placesjournal.org/article/powe...
Power Shift
In New Orleans, residents frustrated by an unaccountable energy utility are building a network of community resilience hubs to take back their power.
placesjournal.org
boyceupholt.bsky.social
Y’all! I’m nervous about it, but I’m gonna be live on a PBS News Hour “Tipping Point” special about the Mississippi River on Wednesday night. Tune in here at 6pm CST, July 16:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLoq...
www.youtube.com
boyceupholt.bsky.social
thanks for reading, Mike. Such decisions are beyond my pay grade at Smithsonian, but as someone launching my own pub I can say it makes for complex decisions. I’m not convinced paring back on support for good publications is the best way to fight Trump in this moment.
boyceupholt.bsky.social
Ten-ish years ago, I contemplated the academic path, and a PhD in environmental history. I decided that journalism might be more lucrative and (yikes) jury is still out. But it's a field that means a lot to me, so I'm so honored by this review!
jeffmanuel.bsky.social
As Twain wrote, the Mississippi River is well worth reading about. If you agree—and you should—check out @boyceupholt.bsky.social's book THE GREAT RIVER, which I had the pleasure of reviewing for H-environment.
www.h-net.org/reviews/show...
🗃️ #EnvHist
www.h-net.org
boyceupholt.bsky.social
The Corps, in its letters, cites a series of letters the agency received from Gordon Dove (new head of the state's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority). Seems important that those get in the hands of a reporter so we can better see what's going on here...
boyceupholt.bsky.social
I'd like to know a lot more about what Landry at el considering worrying in the withheld report (which is here: www.mvn.usace.army.mil/LinkClick.as...). What he leaves out, too, is how the Corps cites the state's new reluctance to build this thing as changing the economic analysis
www.mvn.usace.army.mil
boyceupholt.bsky.social
Here is Landry's melodramatic tweet, describing this as a Grisham-esque legal thriller and accusing former Gov. John Bel Edwards of withholding information. BUT...

x.com/LAGovJeffLan...
x.com
Reposted by Boyce Upholt
asherelbein.bsky.social
Someone commission this, please
bengoldfarb.bsky.social
anyway if any editors want to publish a conservation-oriented review of Abundance / screed about its adherents' total disregard for nature... slide into those DMs.
boyceupholt.bsky.social
Seeking artists and illustrators who love to spend time outdoors in the South. If you know anyone who fits that bill, please link me to their portfolio 🙏
boyceupholt.bsky.social
Most of the flora and fauna are adapted to it — this is what big rivers do! — and the levees will protect most of us, but there are definitely some low spots that will be hard for farmers to drain. It’s just gonna be tough on tow boats and give the Army Corps a lot of work!
boyceupholt.bsky.social
Get your eyes on the Mississippi, y'all. We haven't seen anything like this since I started writing the book in 2020. Or more than that: my friend John Ruskey is telling me in his 30 years on the river he's never seen it come up so fast.
Reposted by Boyce Upholt
nicsigni.bsky.social
you’re fired. wait you’re rehired. email us a list of things you’ve done today wait forget it you’re fired again. come back your job was important. you’re fired. or hired. come in to the office. wait the office has no computers go home. we are the department of government efficiency.
Reposted by Boyce Upholt
skiles.blue
Imagine DOGE opens your mail and finds your household electric bill. To eliminate this cost, they burn your house down without warning. Then they total up the bills that, as a homeless person, you will never again pay. On its website, DOGE boasts about the money it has saved you.
boyceupholt.bsky.social
It’s US-centric, but you might be interested in Tom’s Extreme Pizza in Ocean Springs, MS
boyceupholt.bsky.social
Noting this data is far from complete, but Southern parks seem particularly hard hit. Three Southern parks tied for most lost jobs.

Everglades National Park: 15 jobs cut
Great Smoky Mountains National Park: 12
Mammoth Cave National Park: 15
Shenandoah National Park: 15
Here’s How Many Employees Each National Park Is Losing
A nonprofit is tallying up how many NPS employees have been let go from each park. A key asset has been social media posts from terminated employees.
www.outsideonline.com
boyceupholt.bsky.social
If anyone has posts or details from protests in the South’s national parks, please send them my way.