Megan Kate Nelson 📚

@mkn.bsky.social

2572

Followers

1753

Following

2057

Posts

Writer. Historian. Pulitzer Prize Finalist. Author of “Saving Yellowstone” (2022) and “The Three-Cornered War” (2020), among other things.
http://www.megankatenelson.com

Posts Replies Media

This is ... quite the analogy

Read this great piece by @katecarp.bsky.social before going to see “Twisters,” Blueskis! 🎥🍿🌪️🗃️

Ahead of the new Twisters movie, I wrote a post for Slate about how Twister changed storm changing and exposed fissures that were already forming back in 1996. Check it out: slate.com/culture/2024... Huge thanks to @mkn.bsky.social for her advice and @rebeccaonion.bsky.social for her editing.

How the Original Twister Changed Storm Chasing Foreverslate.com Back then, chasers thought the media hubbub would die down after a bit. That was not the case.

Reposted by

Megan Kate Nelson 📚

I caught this Acmon blue butterfly at the right angle where the natural light has caused the scales to iridesce across the entire spectrum of colors, but still dominated by the indigo-blue the species is named for 📷🌈🦋

This. Once I heard the details about this guy, he seemed to me more like a mass shooter in search of an event than a politically-motivated assassin.

The wrong frame. It’s actually “motive unknown.” Lots of assassins have no ideological motive.

"America is a Gun," by Brian Bilston h/t @buzzkillprof.bsky.social

Good lord, how these fans at #TourdeFrance mountain stages stress me out. I'm just shouting at the TV: "Get out of their way! Stop touching them! Enough with the goddamn flags! Just stop it!"

Reposted by

Megan Kate Nelson 📚

Nobody’s fragile here. I get death threads and rape threats when I write things that piss off the far right. But I don’t have to shut up and be quiet either.

Reposted by

Megan Kate Nelson 📚

Reply to

Saeed Jones

Before it was Jamelle, it was Tressie, before it was Tressie, it was all those black folks y’all chased away before this app was even fully open to the public. I can’t PAY a lot of my friends to try BlueSky because of what they’ve heard about y’all. It’s not a person; it’s a proven pattern.

Reposted by

Megan Kate Nelson 📚

My consulting firm specializes in training scientists how to talk to the public including writing op-Ed’s. I will waive my fee for any who can’t pay, and will happily review any draft op Ed’s or op Ed pitches about this.

Junior Scholars: Project 2025 is now breaking through to public consciousness. The more people learn about it, the more they hate it. Now is a great time to search that website, go to the section of your expertise, and write an oped. Keep the drip of bad news for them coming, all the way to Nov.

Blueskis, this convo was way more fun than “Horizon” itself. Plus, we had a themed cocktail, called “The Marigold.” Recipe in the pod. Give it a listen!

HORIZON with me @mkn.bsky.social & @katecarp.bsky.social now live on YouTube. youtu.be/2HAjul2b7cI?...

Horizon and The West According to Kevin Costner I Historians At The Movies I History Podcastyoutu.be This week Megan Kate Nelson and Kate Carpenter drop in to talk about Kevin Costner's new American epic, Horizon. Our reviews (and our drinks) are mixed but t...

Reposted by

Megan Kate Nelson 📚

If you think "working class" is white male auto workers who live in the suburbs, and not multiracial Starbucks baristas, Amazon warehouse workers, and Wal-Mart greeters of all genders, you are perpetuating a revanchist racist myth, the reality of which died with Reagan.

Boston fireworks, from the building terrace #july4th

The USS Constitution out for her annual sail in Boston Harbor. She is going to Castle Island to fire a 21-gun salute, accompanied by a flotilla of recreational boaters. #oldironsides #july4

Ah, to be a woman writing on the internet. Glorious!

#Writers, read this! I am pretty sure the percentages for history nonfiction are even more depressing. Thank goodness for podcasters and bookstagrammers! I think my press is coming around to the reality that these formats have the biggest reach these days … 🗃️

Wanna know why getting your book reviewed is so hard? I tell you in the latest thing. You can read and sign up here: open.substack.com/pub/gabinoig...

Why getting your book reviewed is so hardopen.substack.com Let's break it down...

Sunset over Cambridge (Mass.)

Reposted by

Megan Kate Nelson 📚

African Americans will tell you that this country has never been fully a democracy, and white people are about to find out how the little democracy left is about to go up in a puff of smoke should Trump get back in the White House.

One of the most exciting scenes in sports! The breakaway leaders sprinting for the line, the peloton coming on like a freight train. #tourdefrance2024. #stage1

And ... there's also this. I saw "Horizon" so you don't have to, friends. slate.com/culture/2024...

Kevin Costner Is Back on His Dances With Wolves BS. It’s Even Weirder This Time.slate.com Another Costner Western, another noble Union Army officer standing up for the Native side.

In the midst of this political dumpster fire, I talked with Olivia Waxman at TIME about the new Kevin Costner western that just dropped. It's set in the Civil War West - but you wouldn't really know it. #shocker #skystorians #AmWest 🗃️ time.com/6992699/the-...

The Real Civil War History Behind Kevin Costner's Horizontime.com Horizon is set in the Civil War era. A historian explains what was going on in the Western U.S. during that time.

I need to channel the blissful calm of these two this morning, as I try to focus and finish a piece for Slate.

Reposted by

Megan Kate Nelson 📚

So far the winners of this debate are: Alley cats Presidential historians

Once again, my #BookSquad peeps hit it out of the park with their excellent feedback on my Prologue and few chapters about Jim Beckwourth in “The Westerners.” Writing groups are THE BEST. #writingcommunity #authors #skystorians 🗃️

Am thoroughly enjoying the dark comedy of “Bodkin” - @greenleejw.bsky.social, I am sure you already know about its eel-related plot point?

I have no idea what this bouba/kiki thing is about but I am bouba so clearly it means that I am a badass.

Reposted by

Megan Kate Nelson 📚

Here it is, my 182nd #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Share widely please, add more below, & enjoy, all! Skystorians americanstudier.substack.com/p/scholarsun...

#ScholarSunday thread 182americanstudier.substack.com Published on June 23, 2024

Prepping to watch, write, and talk about "Horizon" this week, and just read this amazing 2022 piece by David Treuer. Hoo boy. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Rez Lifewww.theatlantic.com Sterlin Harjo’s genre-mixing, cliché-exploding series captures coming of age as a Native kid like no TV show before it.

“They also wanted people to know that the work was far from over. It’s a lesson that extends from the very first Juneteenth to the present day. Ending slavery did not end injustice; it was just one more step in the journey toward freedom and equality.” #Juneteenth

Susannah Ural and Ann Marsh Daly on Emancipation Jubilee in 1864 New Orleans -- fantastic, thoughtful article 🗃️ www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Before Juneteenthwww.theatlantic.com A firsthand account of freedom’s earliest celebrations

Reposted by

Megan Kate Nelson 📚

Susannah Ural and Ann Marsh Daly on Emancipation Jubilee in 1864 New Orleans -- fantastic, thoughtful article 🗃️ www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Before Juneteenthwww.theatlantic.com A firsthand account of freedom’s earliest celebrations

We started watching "Brats" (Andrew McCarthy's documentary about the Brat Pack) while prepping dinner. Hoo boy. It's really bringing out my 80s nostalgia feels.