Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD

Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 18h

The cheapest way to own copies of 5 of my maps!

Also, these are both excellent and well-written books.

David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 18h

Post-order Oathbreakers and The Bright Ages here. Pay zero shipping from @bookshop.org. Me and @profgabriele.com tried to write it real good for you!

bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

and

bookshop.org/p/books/oath...

The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe

A New History of Medieval Europe

bookshop.org

2 7 40

Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 19h

About ninety percent of all global historical emissions have been produced in the lifetime of our current president.

6 20 80

Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD

Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 1d

This week in the Library of Wonders: A play that sparked red scare fury, ended careers, and helped to radicalize John Steinbeck!

libraryofwonders.substack.com/p/the-play-t...

The Play Too Radical for Depression-Era America

Taxpayer-Funded, Communist-Accused, Career-Ending

libraryofwonders.substack.com

1 1

Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 1d

This week in the Library of Wonders: A play that sparked red scare fury, ended careers, and helped to radicalize John Steinbeck!

libraryofwonders.substack.com/p/the-play-t...

The Play Too Radical for Depression-Era America

Taxpayer-Funded, Communist-Accused, Career-Ending

libraryofwonders.substack.com

1 1

Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD

Amy Sherman @andcleverness.bsky.social · 2d

I don't want an obsequious chatbot, I just want:
a) to be able to attach comments to endnotes/footnotes
b) to be able to convert PDFs with endnotes/footnotes to a Word doc

2 8 43

Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD

Daegan Miller @daeganmiller.bsky.social · 5d

Many thanks to the @bostonglobe.com for their invitation to write about mowing my lawn with a scythe for their Wild Issue: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/03/opinion/mowing-lawn-scythe-nature/.

Why I cut my lawn with an old-fashioned scythe - The Boston Globe

Yes, it's a lot of work. And it's worth it.

www.bostonglobe.com

1 4 5

Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 6d

I just couldn't stop thinking about how weird sperm whale mouths are and yet how perfectly shaped for inserting giant squid into

A scanned pencil sketch of a faceoff between a giant squid and a sperm whale. The squid looks cute and alarmed and its mantle is labeled TAB A. The whale looks cute and happy and its mouth is labeled SLOT A. Tab A does look like it would fit perfectly in slot A. The squid says "I strongly disagree with this diagram" and the whale responds "You can't disagree with evolution."

2 54 180

Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 6d

The garden bursting with blue wood aster. A few more days, and the purple New England aster will take over 🌱 #gardenfeed

11

Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD

Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 6d

Why are medieval maps so full of All The Things? There's hardly space to swing a dead eel in there!

In my monthly post on historical maps for paying subscribers, I take a look at that question, and talk about changing ideas of maps' purposes. With fun footnotes!
www.patreon.com/posts/shooti...

Shooting Blanks: Horror Vacui and Pre-Modern Maps | Surprised Eel Maps

www.patreon.com

2 7 55

Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD

Lit Hub @literaryhub.bsky.social · 6d

“It’s in trying to reach beyond our limited selves that we are, I believe, most human.” @ilanaslightly.bsky.social on the importance of research in navigating the fact and fiction of alien abduction stories.

Re(se)a(r)ching For Connection: Navigating the Fact and Fiction of Alien Abduction Stories

Five years ago, my partner gave me an incredible birthday present—a digital folder full of scanned documents. Sound boring? It was anything but. The files came from the University of New Hampshire…

buff.ly

3 8

Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 7d

Jane Goodall was my childhood hero and one of adult me's biggest inspirations. The world is a little dimmer today. May her legacy continue to inspire humans to see other animals with the dignity and respect they deserve. RIP

apnews.com/article/jane...

Jane Goodall, the celebrated primatologist and conservationist, has died

Jane Goodall, the conservationist renowned for her groundbreaking chimpanzee field research and globe-spanning environmental advocacy, has died. She was 91.

apnews.com

1 3

Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 8d

Absolutely spectacular news!! 🦋📚

Steve Mullis @stevemullis.net · 9d

OMG! Mychal did it. Anyone who first caught this wonderful human gaining an audience on TikTok knew there was something special happening. What an incredible journey and story. Promoting reading and libraries is so damn important right now, and I can't think of a better ambassador.

Reading Rainbow Returns With New Host and Celebrity Guest Stars

Reading Rainbow is back after almost 20 years! The beloved children's TV program — which ran for 26 years before wrapping in 2006 — is celebrated for fostering childhood reading and literacy.

people.com

1

Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 9d

going into the week like

Garfield and Friends Screens @garfieldscreens.bsky.social · 10d

3

Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD

Ghostcards @ghostcards.bsky.social · 13d

2 10 76

Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD

The Public Domain Review @publicdomainrev.bsky.social · 11d

Anton Seder’s The Animal in Decorative Art (1896) — an Art Nouveau reference book full of elaborate ornamentation: winged dragons, chiseled hieroglyphs, warring sea creatures, and more... https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/das-thier-in-der-decorativen-kunst/

120 340

Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD

Raven Books @ravenbooks.bsky.social · 10d

This is a *fascinating* book

1 4 28

Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD

Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 13d

I finally (finally!) launched the Library of Wonders newsletter. Give it a read if you like weird facts and artifacts, couched in a little bit of forgotten history

Welcome to the Library open.substack.com/pub/libraryo...

Welcome to the Library

No overdue fees, but plenty of forgotten items.

open.substack.com

3 6

Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 13d

I finally (finally!) launched the Library of Wonders newsletter. Give it a read if you like weird facts and artifacts, couched in a little bit of forgotten history

Welcome to the Library open.substack.com/pub/libraryo...

Welcome to the Library

No overdue fees, but plenty of forgotten items.

open.substack.com

3 6

Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 13d

For me it’s not fall until the wood aster blooms into a carpet of tiny flowers through the nearby woods. Happy fall, everyone!

A spray of white wood aster covers a forest floor amidst several trees

A closeup of white wood aster, which has spiky petals and bright yellow centers

2

Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 15d

🚨🚨🚨New hybrid bird species discovered in Texas! 🚨🚨🚨

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202... #birds 🪶

Strange new hybrid bird spotted in Texas backyard

In Texas, biologists have documented an extraordinary bird — the natural hybrid offspring of a green jay and a blue jay. Once separated by millions of years of evolution and distinct ranges, the two s...

www.sciencedaily.com

2 2 8

Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 16d

Let’s go!

#climateweek #NYCclimateweek

The marquee at the SVA Theatre in Chelsea, saying Narrative Change Summit

2

Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 16d

Going into the week like

Garfield and Friends Screens @garfieldscreens.bsky.social · 16d

4

Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 16d

Another reason to lose “plant blindness,” the inability to tell plants apart: you see drama everywhere. On the train to NYC this morning for climate week I watched poke berry and Japanese knotweed duke it out for space and dominance. Fascinating to see where each has gained ground (#teampokeberry)

1 6

Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 17d

Saw some cormorants on a walk. I just love them #birds 🪶

1 1 16

Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD

Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 17d

My cartoon for this week’s @newscientist.com

Night time. Three figures walk up a set of stairs. They are in fact Penrose stairs, an impossible object which one can walk up endlessly.
Low on the side of the stairs is a window. Another figure leans out and shouts up at the walkers:
“Guys! I'm sure it's not easy being trapped in an endless paradox representing the limited nature of human perception, but some of us are trying to sleep down here!”

13 400 1.2K