Tag Archives: history

America’s first female astronauts

Posted on December 14, 2023 by smellincoffee

When NASA was formed and began looking for astronauts, they settled on test pilots as the initial base: such men were already known quantities, with proven physical and intellectual gifts that could be applied to the pioneering work of Mercury and beyond. Although … Continue reading →

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God Rest Ye Merry, Soldiers

Posted on December 13, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Christmas of 1862 approached far differently than the year proceeding. Although the southern war for independence had begun in April of ’61,  the war was then still seen by many as a lark, an adventure – and soldiers on both … Continue reading →

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The War of 1812

Posted on December 12, 2023 by smellincoffee

The war of 1812 has had a particular fascination for me in recent years, in part because of the complexity of the conflict: it began as an offshoot of the Napoleonic Wars, as Britain’s attempts to control the azure main … Continue reading →

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TW on the Road: saying hello to Santa at a retirement community for Civil War veterans

Posted on December 11, 2023 by smellincoffee

In years past I’d heard of a Confederate Memorial Park somewhere in Marbury, but assumed it was something like we have in Selma: a place where the dead were buried and a placard or statue put up. After the tornado … Continue reading →

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A Tudor Christmas

Posted on December 11, 2023 by smellincoffee

Alison Weir’s A Tudor Christmas is a short social history of how Christmas was celebrated in the days of Henry VIII and his daughters. (And, ever so briefly, his son.) After some background information on the different cultural traditions that … Continue reading →

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Diary of a Psychosis

Posted on December 8, 2023 by smellincoffee

Tom Woods is a historian and podcast host with a daily newsletter which (in part) analyzes issues of the day from a libertarian point of view. From February 2020 forward, both the podcast and the newsletter were largely oriented toward … Continue reading →

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Racism, medieval feasting, and housing

Posted on November 21, 2023 by smellincoffee

Between work and school projects my list of read-but-unreviewed titles is growing, so…alas, it’s short rounds time. First up, The Color of Law, on how housing segregation was purposely pursued, not merely tolerated, by the federal government — primarily through … Continue reading →

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How Social Media Rewired Our Minds

Posted on November 2, 2023 by smellincoffee

One of my core beliefs is that we live in a world which we made for ourselves, and yet which is not fit for ourselves. Our eyes expect to see what they do not see, our arms reach for which … Continue reading →

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Facebook

Posted on October 12, 2023 by smellincoffee

“Look at us,” my buddy chuckled. It was the halfway point of a 3-hour night class, and we’d been given a fifteen minute break to hydrate, caffeinate, and evacuate. Four people immediately flowed into the student common area and occupied … Continue reading →

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The rise of digital cryptography & the dark web

Posted on September 27, 2023 by smellincoffee

Short rounds time! First up, a surprisingly serious and detailed history of digital cryptography from Steven Levy. The previous books I’ve read by Levy have also been tech histories, but How Google Works and his Apple-related titles had a strong … Continue reading →

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