John Raimo
@johnraimo.bsky.social
Historian of modern Europe (PhD., NYU). DE, EN, FR & IT; working on CZ (permanently) & NL. Mostly history, literature, & arts here; desperately trying not to post political content yet here we are now.
Pinned
John Raimo
@johnraimo.bsky.social
· Feb 27
1/3 Brief reintroduction for Bluesky. I’m a professional historian mostly focused on postwar Europe, cultural & intellectual history, the history of the book, reading and publishing just now in German, French, Italian, and Czech contexts. Also keenly interested in political history, visual arts ...
Taking a break from social media for a bit in order to better focus on my own work. Two quotes for now, and take care out there!
“Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation.”
~ Alasdair Gray
“The future is dark, which is the best thing the future can be, I think.”
~ Virginia Woolf
“Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation.”
~ Alasdair Gray
“The future is dark, which is the best thing the future can be, I think.”
~ Virginia Woolf
January 3, 2026 at 7:49 PM
Taking a break from social media for a bit in order to better focus on my own work. Two quotes for now, and take care out there!
“Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation.”
~ Alasdair Gray
“The future is dark, which is the best thing the future can be, I think.”
~ Virginia Woolf
“Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation.”
~ Alasdair Gray
“The future is dark, which is the best thing the future can be, I think.”
~ Virginia Woolf
Reposted by John Raimo
Beobachtung von Karl Schlögel:
"Und ich bin überhaupt der Auffassung, dass die Erfahrung des Scheiternkönnens und des Verstumenmüssenkönnens eine zentrale und wesentliche Erfahrung aller Arbeit von Historikern ist.“
"Und ich bin überhaupt der Auffassung, dass die Erfahrung des Scheiternkönnens und des Verstumenmüssenkönnens eine zentrale und wesentliche Erfahrung aller Arbeit von Historikern ist.“
January 3, 2026 at 2:42 PM
Beobachtung von Karl Schlögel:
"Und ich bin überhaupt der Auffassung, dass die Erfahrung des Scheiternkönnens und des Verstumenmüssenkönnens eine zentrale und wesentliche Erfahrung aller Arbeit von Historikern ist.“
"Und ich bin überhaupt der Auffassung, dass die Erfahrung des Scheiternkönnens und des Verstumenmüssenkönnens eine zentrale und wesentliche Erfahrung aller Arbeit von Historikern ist.“
Reposted by John Raimo
A private library full of #backwardsbooks. You see St Augustine in his study, lifting a burning heart up towards a heavenly light, and his books are all nicely shelved fore-edge outwards. #bookhistory #booksky
January 3, 2026 at 10:37 AM
A private library full of #backwardsbooks. You see St Augustine in his study, lifting a burning heart up towards a heavenly light, and his books are all nicely shelved fore-edge outwards. #bookhistory #booksky
Reposted by John Raimo
In celebration of Mamdani's first day in office, the map from our 2016 NYC atlas celebrating Queens as the most linguistically diverse place on earth. (800 languages spoken in NYC, according to NY's Endangered Language Institute, which collaborated with us on this map.
January 3, 2026 at 3:21 AM
In celebration of Mamdani's first day in office, the map from our 2016 NYC atlas celebrating Queens as the most linguistically diverse place on earth. (800 languages spoken in NYC, according to NY's Endangered Language Institute, which collaborated with us on this map.
Reposted by John Raimo
Emily Doucet, Inventing Nadar: A History of Photographic Firsts - @dukepress.bsky.social, April 2026
www.dukeupress.edu/inventing-na...
www.dukeupress.edu/inventing-na...
Inventing Nadar: A History of Photographic Firsts
www.dukeupress.edu
January 2, 2026 at 7:56 AM
Emily Doucet, Inventing Nadar: A History of Photographic Firsts - @dukepress.bsky.social, April 2026
www.dukeupress.edu/inventing-na...
www.dukeupress.edu/inventing-na...
Antoine Compagnon, 1966, année mirifique (Gallimard, 2026 ; #skystorians) : www.gallimard.fr/catalogue/19...
January 2, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Antoine Compagnon, 1966, année mirifique (Gallimard, 2026 ; #skystorians) : www.gallimard.fr/catalogue/19...
Reposted by John Raimo
‘Is the Met kouros indelibly – for all its composure – another Actaeon? Do we men and women not always look at his kind of manliness with an admiration subtended by pity and rage?’
T.J. Clark visits and revisits a male statue in the Met:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
T.J. Clark visits and revisits a male statue in the Met:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
T.J. Clark · A Kouros at the Met
The kouros in the Met was almost certainly a soldier: he has stepped out of his armour into his skin. The idea of...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 29, 2025 at 2:02 PM
‘Is the Met kouros indelibly – for all its composure – another Actaeon? Do we men and women not always look at his kind of manliness with an admiration subtended by pity and rage?’
T.J. Clark visits and revisits a male statue in the Met:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
T.J. Clark visits and revisits a male statue in the Met:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Jean Grondin, Les tournants herméneutiques de Paul Ricœur (Études Ricœuriennes / Ricœur Studies, Vol 14, No 1 [2023], pp. 9-24) : ricoeur.pitt.edu/ojs/ricoeur/...
Les tournants herméneutiques de Paul Ricœur
| Études Ricoeuriennes / Ricoeur Studies
ricoeur.pitt.edu
January 1, 2026 at 10:13 PM
Jean Grondin, Les tournants herméneutiques de Paul Ricœur (Études Ricœuriennes / Ricœur Studies, Vol 14, No 1 [2023], pp. 9-24) : ricoeur.pitt.edu/ojs/ricoeur/...
Beatrice Loayza (@bealoayza.bsky.social), Sisters of Sacrilege (@criterion.bsky.social; h/t @jrdwrrn.bsky.social): www.criterion.com/current/post...
Sisters of Sacrilege
One of the most provocative subgenres of 1970s exploitation cinema, nunsploitation explores the collision of sex and religious dogma through stories of desperately horny women of the cloth.
www.criterion.com
January 1, 2026 at 8:28 PM
Beatrice Loayza (@bealoayza.bsky.social), Sisters of Sacrilege (@criterion.bsky.social; h/t @jrdwrrn.bsky.social): www.criterion.com/current/post...
Jonas Nickel, Pour en finir avec le culte de la victimisation (En attendant Nadeau ; #skystorians) : www.en-attendant-nadeau.fr/2025/12/27/p...
Les Écrivains collaborateurs : Pour en finir avec le culte de la victimisation - En attendant Nadeau
Dans Les Écrivains collaborateurs. Engagement, stigmate et postérité, Tristan Rouquet retrace la trajectoire de plus de deux cents écrivains avant, pendant et après la collaboration.
www.en-attendant-nadeau.fr
January 1, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Jonas Nickel, Pour en finir avec le culte de la victimisation (En attendant Nadeau ; #skystorians) : www.en-attendant-nadeau.fr/2025/12/27/p...
Reposted by John Raimo
New, from me: The NYT reporter who specializes in profiles of beleaguered right-wingers on campus went to New College...and found out that things were going ok!
So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...
So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...
The NYT Recruiting Brochure for New College
A failing Ron DeSantis higher ed experiment gets a boost
donmoynihan.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 7:50 PM
New, from me: The NYT reporter who specializes in profiles of beleaguered right-wingers on campus went to New College...and found out that things were going ok!
So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...
So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...
Gorgeous work from a book designer I had always wondered about; delighted to see this contribution to graphic design and #bookhistory! Tanya George, Sylvie Vodáková’s Book Covers for Květy Poezie (@letterformarchive.org; #skystorians): letterformarchive.org/news/sylvie-...
From the Collection: Sylvie Vodáková’s Book Covers for Květy Poezie
Meet the Czech designer who shaped how generations of readers encountered poetry.
letterformarchive.org
December 29, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Gorgeous work from a book designer I had always wondered about; delighted to see this contribution to graphic design and #bookhistory! Tanya George, Sylvie Vodáková’s Book Covers for Květy Poezie (@letterformarchive.org; #skystorians): letterformarchive.org/news/sylvie-...
Gorgeous article: Kobby Ankomah Graham (@kobbygraham.bsky.social), Seydou Keïta’s Revelatory Portraits of Malian Life (Aperture, #photography) aperture.org/editorial/se...
Seydou Keïta’s Revelatory Portraits of Malian Life
In midcentury Bamako, sitting for a portrait in Seydou Keïta’s studio was a defining assertion of identity.
aperture.org
December 29, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Gorgeous article: Kobby Ankomah Graham (@kobbygraham.bsky.social), Seydou Keïta’s Revelatory Portraits of Malian Life (Aperture, #photography) aperture.org/editorial/se...
Let the depth of techbros' weirdness vis-à-vis politics & history never be underestimated .... Demis Hassabis, a primary architect of AI technologies today as well as the joint winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, directed and conceived this game in 2003: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republi...
Republic: The Revolution - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 28, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Let the depth of techbros' weirdness vis-à-vis politics & history never be underestimated .... Demis Hassabis, a primary architect of AI technologies today as well as the joint winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, directed and conceived this game in 2003: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republi...
Fantastic piece (gift-link): Nina Siegal with visuals by Desiré Van Den Berg (@bergdotjpeg.bsky.social), The Nazi Plunder of Church Bells Changed the Sound of Europe (New York Times; #skystorians) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/27/a...
The Nazi Plunder of Church Bells Changed the Sound of Europe
www.nytimes.com
December 28, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Fantastic piece (gift-link): Nina Siegal with visuals by Desiré Van Den Berg (@bergdotjpeg.bsky.social), The Nazi Plunder of Church Bells Changed the Sound of Europe (New York Times; #skystorians) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/27/a...
A great writer on a great photographer: Rebecca Solnit (@rebeccasolnit.bsky.social), Richard Misrach on the Eerie Grandeur of Global Trade (Aperture; #photography) aperture.org/editorial/ri...
Richard Misrach on the Eerie Grandeur of Global Trade
Rebecca Solnit considers the photographer’s recent work tracing histories of shipping routes and their impact on the natural environment.
aperture.org
December 28, 2025 at 5:07 PM
A great writer on a great photographer: Rebecca Solnit (@rebeccasolnit.bsky.social), Richard Misrach on the Eerie Grandeur of Global Trade (Aperture; #photography) aperture.org/editorial/ri...
Reposted by John Raimo
Claude Lévi-Strauss and Roger Caillois – Race, Games and a Ceremonial Sword
progressivegeographies.com/2025/12/28/c...
progressivegeographies.com/2025/12/28/c...
Claude Lévi-Strauss and Roger Caillois – Race, Games and a Ceremonial Sword
Roger Caillois and Claude Lévi-Strauss both spent the war in exile from France. Lévi-Strauss had done fieldwork in Brazil in the 1930s, but when he left France he went through Martinique and was de…
progressivegeographies.com
December 28, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Claude Lévi-Strauss and Roger Caillois – Race, Games and a Ceremonial Sword
progressivegeographies.com/2025/12/28/c...
progressivegeographies.com/2025/12/28/c...
Reposted by John Raimo
"With astonishing speed, the administration has toppled the most cherished pillars of a free society." A must-read from @radleybalko.bsky.social , even if you've been following Trump's use of immigration enforcement to terrorize communities. newrepublic.com/article/2042...
Trump’s Immigration Nightmare: It Is Happening Here
With astonishing speed, the administration has toppled the most cherished pillars of a free society. And the experts agree: It’s all going to get much, much worse.
newrepublic.com
December 28, 2025 at 10:39 AM
"With astonishing speed, the administration has toppled the most cherished pillars of a free society." A must-read from @radleybalko.bsky.social , even if you've been following Trump's use of immigration enforcement to terrorize communities. newrepublic.com/article/2042...
Anne-Laure Pineau (@annelaurepineau.bsky.social), How the French fell in love with family-driven memoirs and autofiction (@theguardian.com): www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
How the French fell in love with family-driven memoirs and autofiction | Anne-Laure Pineau
Matriarchs, absent fathers and troubled childhoods: 2025 was the year French literature focused on family, says writer Anne-Laure Pineau
www.theguardian.com
December 27, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Anne-Laure Pineau (@annelaurepineau.bsky.social), How the French fell in love with family-driven memoirs and autofiction (@theguardian.com): www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Un'intervista affascinante, ricca di intuizioni aforistiche .... Alessandra Lanza, Parola di Andrea Branzi (Abitare, 3 Marzo 2017; #skystorians): www.abitare.it/it/ricerca/r...
Andrea Branzi, intervista sul design
Il Centre Pompidou di Parigi dedica una sala permanente ad Andrea Branzi, protagonista del design, artista e pensatore. Abitare l'ha intervistato
www.abitare.it
December 27, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Un'intervista affascinante, ricca di intuizioni aforistiche .... Alessandra Lanza, Parola di Andrea Branzi (Abitare, 3 Marzo 2017; #skystorians): www.abitare.it/it/ricerca/r...
L’éducation politique d’un sociologue : Gisèle Sapiro ( @giselesapiro.bsky.social) s'entretient avec Michael Burawoy (FR/EN, 2 avril 2021 ; @politikaio.bsky.social, @cessp.ehess.fr, @ehess.fr) www.politika.io/fr/entretien...
L’éducation politique d’un sociologue
En mémoire de Michael Burawoy
www.politika.io
December 27, 2025 at 4:15 PM
L’éducation politique d’un sociologue : Gisèle Sapiro ( @giselesapiro.bsky.social) s'entretient avec Michael Burawoy (FR/EN, 2 avril 2021 ; @politikaio.bsky.social, @cessp.ehess.fr, @ehess.fr) www.politika.io/fr/entretien...
Reposted by John Raimo
On autosociobiography and social mobility: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... @mikesavagelse.bsky.social @samfriedman.bsky.social
Beyond the ‘Scholarship Boy’ paradigm: Autosociobiography and social mobility - Sam Friedman, Mike Savage, Carlos Spoerhase, 2025
This article reflects on the potential of the rapidly emerging literary genre of autosociobiography to extend analyses of the personal experience and feelings a...
journals.sagepub.com
December 27, 2025 at 1:22 PM
On autosociobiography and social mobility: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... @mikesavagelse.bsky.social @samfriedman.bsky.social
Reposted by John Raimo
„Wenn man es so weit kommen lässt, dass das Land wirklich gespalten ist, wie in den USA, dann kriegt man halt irgendwann gar nichts mehr auf die Kette." In den Nebenbemerkungen über die Welt hinter der Dorfgrenze kommt die ganze Dummheit der Analyse heraus. taz.de/Juli-Zeh-ueb...
Juli Zeh über Nachbarn, die AfD wählen: „Ich bin nicht der Heldinnen-Typ“
Viel wird geredet über die, die für die AfD stimmen, Schriftstellerin Juli Zeh lebt mit ihnen im Dorf. Ein Gespräch über Rechtspopulisten, Talkshows und durchtanzte Nächte.
taz.de
December 27, 2025 at 2:53 PM
„Wenn man es so weit kommen lässt, dass das Land wirklich gespalten ist, wie in den USA, dann kriegt man halt irgendwann gar nichts mehr auf die Kette." In den Nebenbemerkungen über die Welt hinter der Dorfgrenze kommt die ganze Dummheit der Analyse heraus. taz.de/Juli-Zeh-ueb...
Surely I'm not the only #skystorian out there screenshot'ing the NYT on the assumption that many of us and our colleagues will one day professionally write about its role legitimizing Trump in the teeth of vehement denials and gaslighting from the newspaper's C-suite?
Unbelievable stuff regardless.
Unbelievable stuff regardless.
December 27, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Surely I'm not the only #skystorian out there screenshot'ing the NYT on the assumption that many of us and our colleagues will one day professionally write about its role legitimizing Trump in the teeth of vehement denials and gaslighting from the newspaper's C-suite?
Unbelievable stuff regardless.
Unbelievable stuff regardless.