𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗
@charlescmann.bsky.social
Author of "1491, "1493," and, most recently, "The Wizard and the Prophet." New book coming out in Spring 2027 from Knopf.
The background image is real old by now, but I like the pig. The avatar photo is only a few years old, though, so that's something.
The background image is real old by now, but I like the pig. The avatar photo is only a few years old, though, so that's something.
Leave aside the free-speech implications for a moment.
Musk, an immigrant who came to N America at 18, may not know it, but the claim that the "US is built on stolen land" is roughly true--it's just a fact.
Take California (Musk's home). The US acquired it via the 1848 Treaty ...
Musk, an immigrant who came to N America at 18, may not know it, but the claim that the "US is built on stolen land" is roughly true--it's just a fact.
Take California (Musk's home). The US acquired it via the 1848 Treaty ...
January 15, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Leave aside the free-speech implications for a moment.
Musk, an immigrant who came to N America at 18, may not know it, but the claim that the "US is built on stolen land" is roughly true--it's just a fact.
Take California (Musk's home). The US acquired it via the 1848 Treaty ...
Musk, an immigrant who came to N America at 18, may not know it, but the claim that the "US is built on stolen land" is roughly true--it's just a fact.
Take California (Musk's home). The US acquired it via the 1848 Treaty ...
TIL that Thomas Jefferson instructed Lewis and Clark to carry with them smallpox vaccine--technically, an earlier form that used cowpox--that they were to offer to native people they encountered. Jefferson was by no means a friend to native people, but he was an ardent proponent of vaccination...
January 12, 2026 at 4:15 PM
TIL that Thomas Jefferson instructed Lewis and Clark to carry with them smallpox vaccine--technically, an earlier form that used cowpox--that they were to offer to native people they encountered. Jefferson was by no means a friend to native people, but he was an ardent proponent of vaccination...
That far cliff is Mexico--this is the Rio Grande river. Talk about a border wall.
January 6, 2026 at 11:56 PM
That far cliff is Mexico--this is the Rio Grande river. Talk about a border wall.
Santa Elena Canyon, Big Bend National Park, SW Texas.
January 6, 2026 at 11:45 PM
Santa Elena Canyon, Big Bend National Park, SW Texas.
"What," I asked as we approached Marfa, "attracted a minimalist like Donald Judd to this place, anyway?"
January 5, 2026 at 4:39 PM
"What," I asked as we approached Marfa, "attracted a minimalist like Donald Judd to this place, anyway?"
Old windmill, new windmill. Whiteside, NM.
January 5, 2026 at 2:39 AM
Old windmill, new windmill. Whiteside, NM.
New Year's Day walk, Palo Duro, TX. May everyone have as promising a beginning to the New Year.
January 2, 2026 at 3:07 PM
New Year's Day walk, Palo Duro, TX. May everyone have as promising a beginning to the New Year.
... Before that, the disease killed a lot of kids--which is why the measles vaccine is one of history's most successful public-health interventions. Source of images: ourworldindata.org/measles-vacc...
December 31, 2025 at 3:47 PM
... Before that, the disease killed a lot of kids--which is why the measles vaccine is one of history's most successful public-health interventions. Source of images: ourworldindata.org/measles-vacc...
The utter lack of self-doubt by these guys is exasperating. It's OK to be the confidently wrong guy in a barstool bull session, but not so OK when millions think you're a source of information. Joe Rogan was born in '67, AFTER a massive global vaccination program cut measles deaths dramatically...
December 31, 2025 at 3:44 PM
The utter lack of self-doubt by these guys is exasperating. It's OK to be the confidently wrong guy in a barstool bull session, but not so OK when millions think you're a source of information. Joe Rogan was born in '67, AFTER a massive global vaccination program cut measles deaths dramatically...
Lost Dutchman Park, Apache Junction, AZ
December 28, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Lost Dutchman Park, Apache Junction, AZ
Finally. A very happy holiday for me.
December 23, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Finally. A very happy holiday for me.
Living in Mass, I'm not qualified to be an expert on barbecue, but I sure know what I'm doing for lunch the next time I'm in Montgomery, AL.
December 21, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Living in Mass, I'm not qualified to be an expert on barbecue, but I sure know what I'm doing for lunch the next time I'm in Montgomery, AL.
I've been having a lot of fun going through this archive of candid photos of NYC in the '70s and '80s from photographer Jade Albert--an incredible trove of old-school cool and cringe. Here's a forgotten figure: Princess Diane de Beauvau-Craon and her pals at Studio 54.
www.jadealbertarchive.com
www.jadealbertarchive.com
December 18, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I've been having a lot of fun going through this archive of candid photos of NYC in the '70s and '80s from photographer Jade Albert--an incredible trove of old-school cool and cringe. Here's a forgotten figure: Princess Diane de Beauvau-Craon and her pals at Studio 54.
www.jadealbertarchive.com
www.jadealbertarchive.com
And here, friends, is why the assurances one hears about how AI errors are being fixed ring hollow.
On the left, Grok four minutes ago as I post.
On the right, an actual news story from a reporter published 52 minutes ago.
Note the novelistic invented detail in the Grok account.
On the left, Grok four minutes ago as I post.
On the right, an actual news story from a reporter published 52 minutes ago.
Note the novelistic invented detail in the Grok account.
December 14, 2025 at 9:08 PM
And here, friends, is why the assurances one hears about how AI errors are being fixed ring hollow.
On the left, Grok four minutes ago as I post.
On the right, an actual news story from a reporter published 52 minutes ago.
Note the novelistic invented detail in the Grok account.
On the left, Grok four minutes ago as I post.
On the right, an actual news story from a reporter published 52 minutes ago.
Note the novelistic invented detail in the Grok account.
Boy, do I love this time of year.
December 14, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Boy, do I love this time of year.
The entire glyphosate (Roundup herbicide) saga is an appalling example of politicized science and motivated reasoning. Now key anti-Roundup papers AND key pro-Roundup papers have been retracted. Worse, I'd be willing to take odds that partisans of both sides will be completely unbothered by this.
December 3, 2025 at 4:25 PM
The entire glyphosate (Roundup herbicide) saga is an appalling example of politicized science and motivated reasoning. Now key anti-Roundup papers AND key pro-Roundup papers have been retracted. Worse, I'd be willing to take odds that partisans of both sides will be completely unbothered by this.
Calvin Trillin tried for years to launch a national campaign to replace turkey with spaghetti carbonara. He was wrong--it should be porchetta. And miso ramen with porchetta should become the national holiday leftover of choice. I have a N =1 sample to back up this credo, but I believe it totally.
November 30, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Calvin Trillin tried for years to launch a national campaign to replace turkey with spaghetti carbonara. He was wrong--it should be porchetta. And miso ramen with porchetta should become the national holiday leftover of choice. I have a N =1 sample to back up this credo, but I believe it totally.
Guacamole cannoli. So wrong, but so good.
November 27, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Guacamole cannoli. So wrong, but so good.
Amigo, isso aconteceu.
November 26, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Amigo, isso aconteceu.
So far climate change has not much affected yields, but no guarantees how long that will continue. Tariffs, trade agreements, geopolitical squabbles, etc., are big.
November 24, 2025 at 3:22 PM
So far climate change has not much affected yields, but no guarantees how long that will continue. Tariffs, trade agreements, geopolitical squabbles, etc., are big.
Unless a disaster happens in the next few weeks, this year US farmers will have a record corn harvest and record soy yield (they're related, but not the same thing). Sure hope some malign force hasn't screwed up agricultural export markets. esmis.nal.usda.gov/sites/defaul...
November 24, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Unless a disaster happens in the next few weeks, this year US farmers will have a record corn harvest and record soy yield (they're related, but not the same thing). Sure hope some malign force hasn't screwed up agricultural export markets. esmis.nal.usda.gov/sites/defaul...
Just to make sure that people know, Dissident Wire is a parody account.
November 24, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Just to make sure that people know, Dissident Wire is a parody account.
Thank you for explaining to me. I've been following places like Wikipedia, which is evidently a mistake. Do we know if it is detectable in skeletons like M. leprae?
November 23, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Thank you for explaining to me. I've been following places like Wikipedia, which is evidently a mistake. Do we know if it is detectable in skeletons like M. leprae?
"Wilderness: a tract or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings."
That sound you hear is millions of Native Americans grinding their teeth.
That sound you hear is millions of Native Americans grinding their teeth.
November 22, 2025 at 11:59 PM
"Wilderness: a tract or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings."
That sound you hear is millions of Native Americans grinding their teeth.
That sound you hear is millions of Native Americans grinding their teeth.