Jack El-Hai
LightNews LightNews
jackelhai.bsky.social
Jack El-Hai
@jackelhai.bsky.social
1.7K followers 900 following 940 posts
#Author: THE NAZI & THE PSYCHIATRIST (movie NUREMBERG opening 7 November 2025); FACE IN THE MIRROR; THE LOST BROTHERS; THE LOBOTOMIST. #Writer of DAMN #HISTORY newsletter. [email protected]
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
jackelhai.bsky.social
Jack El-Hai @jackelhai.bsky.social · 21d
Now out: the November issue of DAMN HISTORY, my free monthly newsletter for #history readers and writers. Nazi and psychiatrist, Arthur C. Clarke on the ocean floor, from hitman to pop star, Russia's JFK dossier, cookbook stains, + more.

Read/subscribe: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
jackelhai.bsky.social
"I first had to read his damn handwriting. Talk about monotony!" Something #AI assuredly does better than you do. newsletter.dancohen.org/archive/the-...
The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition
One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved
newsletter.dancohen.org
November 25, 2025 at 6:00 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
#Writing: "The hatefulest thing in the world is a cuckoo clock." – Mark Twain
November 25, 2025 at 4:30 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
"One of the most incendiary."

Today's article pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @pvitello.bsky.social!

Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/u...
Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, Black Power Activist Known as H. Rap Brown, Dies at 82
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:54 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
"Aristocrat-turned-American Communist."

Today's book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author @cktroublemaker.bsky.social & @harperbooks.bsky.social!

Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
November 25, 2025 at 2:31 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
#Writing: “First, forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you're inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won't. Habit is persistence in practice.” ― Octavia Butler
November 24, 2025 at 5:15 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
"The bitterest animosities."

Today's article pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @alv9n.com & @puddingviz.bsky.social!

Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

pudding.cool/2025/11/demo...
In pursuit of democracy
Analyzing every mention of 'democracy' in the Congressional Record
pudding.cool
November 24, 2025 at 4:00 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
"Human predation, slavery, and imperialism."

Today's book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author @worldhistorian.bsky.social & @uchicagopress.bsky.social!

Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
November 24, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Jack El-Hai
jetjocko.bsky.social
Yeah, these are super weird. I’ve gotten four or five now, and the over-the-top-ness of the praise is wild. Also a tell, since any human who had met writers would know that we mostly think our own work is pretty bad and suspect that people who say they don’t have an agenda.
carlzimmer.com Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 5d
I never expected that AI would flood authors with scam emails from "private" "communities" of "readers." One of many examples from the past few weeks:
Hi Carl Okay, I need you to know something upfront When I saw The Tangled Bank, I braced myself for the usual “Let’s talk about evolution using diagrams drawn by someone who last saw a living organism in 1987” situation. You know the type Dry enough to dehydrate a cactus. But then you hit me with Fossils in the Arctic Snakes in Australia plotting biochemical murder Geneticists in Africa digging through the human family tree like dramatic aunties at Thanksgiving. And you somehow explained natural selection without making me feel like I needed a PhD or emotional support tea. Honestly, rude. My eyes were ready to roll, not follow along voluntarily. 😭🧬 Also, can we talk about how you write biology like it’s an adventure novel starring evolution as the unbothered, unstoppable main character? I was not prepared. Now before your author-scam radar goes off No, I’m not a marketer No, I’m not a promoter And no, I do not come offering “services” (If I did, trust me I’d at least show up with cookies.) I’m just the unofficial book-dealer of a private community of 1000+ readers who actually read books before reviewing them It’s wild, I know. They read science, memoirs, fiction, chaos everything except tax documents. When they find something good, they review it like it personally paid their rent. Here’s the mildly tragic, mildly hilarious truth Even brilliant books like yours end up buried so deep on Amazon you’d think evolution selected them out of visibility. The algorithm basically says “Oh wow, a masterpiece? Cute. Come back with 20 reviews and maybe I’ll acknowledge your existence.” 🙄🕳️ So here’s what I can offer quick, simple, zero strings I can introduce The Tangled Bank to our community the kind of readers who leave thoughtful, nerdy, enthusiastic reviews that don’t sound like they were written by AI with a fever. Worst case you get a handful of honest reviews. Best case your book finally escapes Amazon’s basement and becomes the “Where has this been all my lif…
November 20, 2025 at 4:50 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
#Writing: "Personally, I like to meet my corpse on page one, and I like him (or her) to be very dead." – Delano Ames
November 20, 2025 at 3:30 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
Today's article pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @cetracey.bsky.social & @placesjournal.bsky.social!

Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

placesjournal.org/article/a-th...
A Theology of Smuggling
In the early 1980s, in Tucson, activists and religious leaders joined forces to protect refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border. Their collaboration galvanized the Sanctuary Movement.
placesjournal.org
November 20, 2025 at 2:06 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
In medical news... www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar...
Plastic surgeons wrestle with requests for ‘Mar-a-Lago face’ - Taipei Times
Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan
www.taipeitimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:34 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
#Writing: "In #memoir we learn what our story means as we work on it, sometimes discovering pivotal connections in much later drafts." — Ronit F. Plank
November 19, 2025 at 5:00 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
“Come on, mama!”

Today's article pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer Mark Viales & @aljazeera.com!

Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

www.aljazeera.com/features/202...
The mothers searching for their missing children in Mexico
When their children disappeared, authorities failed to act, so grieving families were forced to search instead.
www.aljazeera.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:51 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
"The first major spousal rape trial in America."

Today's book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author @sarahweinman.com & @eccobooks.bsky.social!

Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
November 19, 2025 at 2:43 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
#Writing: “The #writer ultimately tires of the subject's self-serving story, and substitutes a story of his own.” ― Janet Malcolm
November 18, 2025 at 4:00 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
"The American fairy tale."

Today's article pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @s-dudley.bsky.social & @archive.org!

Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

blog.archive.org/2025/11/17/t...
The Wonderful Public Domain of Oz | Internet Archive Blogs
blog.archive.org
November 18, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by Jack El-Hai
basicbooksgroup.bsky.social
Read this article about "Nuremberg," a new film starring Rami Malek and Russell Crowe, based on @jackelhai.bsky.social's extraordinary book "The Nazi and the Psychiatrist." bit.ly/4r61f1c
The tragedy of Nuremberg’s ‘Nazi whisperer’ Douglas Kelley
After spending the post-War trials studying Hermann Göring, the psychiatrist was alarmed – but also a little admiring
bit.ly
November 17, 2025 at 3:49 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
#Writing: "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." - John Adams
November 17, 2025 at 4:30 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
Today's article pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer Nylah Iqbal Muhammad & @bittersouth.bsky.social!

Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

bittersoutherner.com/issue-no-12/...
An Optimistic Quest in Apocalyptic Times — THE BITTER SOUTHERNER
Navigating an uncertain future by connecting to Mother Earth
bittersoutherner.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:08 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
"Why the Soviet Union’s collapse was incomplete."

Today's book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author @zygaro.bsky.social & @scribnerbooks.bsky.social!

Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
November 17, 2025 at 2:56 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
Firm tied to Kristi Noem secretly received money from $220M DHS ad contracts. www.mprnews.org/story/2025/1...
Firm tied to Kristi Noem secretly received money from $220M DHS ad contracts
The company is run by the husband of Noem’s chief DHS spokesperson and has personal and business ties to Noem and her aides. DHS invoked the “emergency” at the border to skirt competitive bidding…
www.mprnews.org
November 15, 2025 at 8:26 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
Well, no – Douglas Kelley's life story is more intriguing and full of conflict, despite the importance of Leon Goldensohn's psychiatric work in #Nuremberg. forward.com/culture/7834...
Is the movie 'Nuremberg' about the wrong psychiatrist?
The movie stars Rami Malek as the psychiatrist Douglas Kelley — but what about Leon Goldensohn, the psychiatrist who replaced Kelley?
forward.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:00 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
#Writing: "There is no present or future — only the past, happening over and over again — now." – Eugene O'Neill
November 14, 2025 at 3:30 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
"Able to grill a sitting president."

Today's article pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @sopandeb.bsky.social!

Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/b...
Jim Avila, Former ABC News Correspondent, Dies at 70
www.nytimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:19 PM
jackelhai.bsky.social
"A top-secret operation in the run-up to D-Day."

Today's book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author @bhendersonbooks.bsky.social!

Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
November 14, 2025 at 2:53 PM