“Tell me, O Muse, of the man of many devices, who wandered full many ways after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy. Many were the men whose cities he saw and whose mind he learned, aye, and many the woes he suffered in his heart upon the sea…” Odyssey 1:1-4 youtube.com/watch?v=zLWW...

Here’s an idea for parents: Take the mobile phone and tablet away for a certain number of hours per week. It’s non-screen-based reading time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0a2...

yo, it's really important to leave reviews of books/ podcasts/ art that you love. this stuff drives search and sales. and it also means a lot to the person who created that stuff! it can be short! Just write a sentence or 2 about what it meant to you. you can do it!

Well deserved. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

“Defenders of the Smithsonian maintain that the institution celebrates a complex and imperfect country striving toward worthwhile ideals.”

The “White House's Domestic Policy Council claimed that the National Museum of American History has "failed to tell America's story and adheres to a radical, activist ideology"; it also criticized the museum's leaders for not being patriotic enough.” www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...

“The Domestic Policy Council report, titled “Saving America’s Story,” claims the museum has been “captured” by an “intellectual framework rooted in Marxism that seeks to radically transform society by revealing and challenging alleged ‘overlapping systems of oppression.’”

Happy Bastille Day, to those who celebrate ! daily.jstor.org/the-origins-...

Catherine of Braganza, the Portuguese queen of England.

On today’s agenda:

“Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure does not testify to your inferiority, but to their inhumanity.” -James Baldwin

“People who speak more than one language seem to have younger brains and the more languages you speak and the earlier you speak them, the better…” www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Some scholarship on The Trojan War…before The Odyssey movie hits the theaters. www.researchgate.net/publication/...

For some background, King Charles II had married Catherine of Braganza, a Portuguese princess, in 1662. It strengthened the economic and military alliance between Britain and Portugal. It’s the era I’m writing about in my slow-forming novel.

For America's 250th, I read Frederick Douglass’ speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” on the House floor—for the first time in history. His speech endures as a mirror & mandate for us all—to confront our inequities while fighting for an America as good as its promise.

Independece Day: when free white men declared themselves to be free white men. “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine, You may rejoice, I must mourn.” -Frederick Douglass nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stor...

Two months ago, “a volunteer working on a cataloguing project at The National Archives [UK] made an astonishing discovery: an unknown copy of the United States Declaration of Independence enclosed within an unassuming batch of captain's letters.” www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-...

As a lifelong fan of Ray Bradbury, I’m embarrassed to say that I’m just now reading this one. It’s brilliant from the first paragraph.

A free online event. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/regina-a-n...

I totally support Bible readings as long as it’s in a course on comparative religion, combined with readings from the Quran, various Buddhist Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, the Rig Veda, ancient Iranian texts about Ahura Mazda, and other religious texts. www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/t...

How is it a lesson in English literature if the text was written 2,000-2,500 years ago in Hebrew or Greek?

#MondayMotivation #WritingCommunity

“Ever read a sentence in a story and wonder why the author couldn’t just use plain English?” Indubitably !

I think I’ve encountered this language when dealing with customer service reps on the phone.

28 JUNE 1776, SULLIVAN’S ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA: The British begin their amphibious assault on Charleston. At 9 a.m., a ship fires a signal, and nine men-of-war sail into position and open fire on Fort Sullivan, guarding the entrance to the harbor.

While Texas is requiring Bible readings in school, in Norway adolescents can experience a “fairly intensive course that provides knowledge of the philosophy and lifestance of humanism, and dives deeply into key humanist concepts, including critical thinking, ethics, identity and human rights.”

My Odyssey and Iliad translations are available as audiobooks, read/ performed by very talented real people: Claire Danes and Audra MacDonald. They do a much better job than the robots! www.audible.com/pd/The-Iliad...

"When you read things on the internet, a lot of what you're doing is choosing what not to read and what not to look at.” Same when reading on a tablet: distractions. time.com/article/2026...

Prime Day who? Sorry, I'm too busy supporting my independent bookshop 😍⁠ Through the 26th, take 35% off all sale audiobooks (yep) with code BIGIMPACT at checkout. Every purchase benefits your indie bookshop of choice. Thanks for supporting them today and every day 💗

“the rise of social media has increasingly made Unesco status something that may help to preserve a site while simultaneously changing the communities who live nearby through tourism.” www.bbc.com/travel/artic...

Pride Month at the National Gallery of Art, London. www.nga.gov/artworks/lgb...

Meet me in a land of hope and dreams. youtu.be/HYgsE-7XpKY?...

A queer history. King James, “a man who loved ‘indiscreetly and obstinately…” www.folger.edu/podcasts/sha...

"How to Party at Pompeii". Charlotte Higgins and I are talking at the British Library at 7.00 pm on Monday 22 June. Do join us for a good time! Tickets: events.bl.uk/events/how-t...

Juneteenth Is Not Someone Else's Story #CivilWarMemory #Juneteenth 🗃️ open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

From my trip to Lisbon. Wishing them all the best! ⚽️

How many modern Greeks believe Odyssey 8:490-495 is history? "the building of the horse of wood, which Epeius made with Athena's help, the horse which once Odysseus led up into the citadel [of Troy]…” Fewer than the number of people who believe Genesis 9:12-16 is history?

Someone on here had their students write a paper using Claude and then read them all to the class so they could see how blandly similar they all were

🏳️‍🌈 16 June 1972, “Ziggy Stardust, a fictional androgynous and bisexual rock star who is sent to Earth as a saviour before an impending apocalyptic disaster.” (This Day in Music)

This date in 1215, Magna Carta was novel in limiting the power of a monarch. Pope Innocent III later declared it “shameful, demeaning, illegal and unjust” and “'null and void of all validity for ever.” The article below is from 2015. www.bl.uk/stories/blog...

811 years of Magna Carta: cornerstone of UK's constitution & world's first bill of rights, sealed by King John #OTD 1215. Magna Carta, iron gall ink on parchment, British Library Cotton MS Augustus II.106 | King John hunting stag, illuminated manuscript, British Library Cotton MS Claud DII folio 116

A wise Jedi once said:

The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes & dreams that were never fulfilled... #booksky #books #thriller #suspense #romance #novels #geopolitical #mythological #darkromance #women #fiction #fantasy #crime #sifi #sff #author #readers #indie

More evidence for Bacchus / Dionysos!

Of King William II, a commentator said his court was a “brothel of male prostitutes.” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...