When the palace is exempt from the fire code and the king says it’s fine to strike a match, why wouldn’t you? alexiscoe.substack.com/p/reply-some...

Just three months from today, my book about Americans’ 250 year struggle over slavery’s place in George Washington’s legacy will be out in the world. Some great (and NYT bestselling!) writers have said kind things about it. I hope you’ll consider pre-ordering a copy. bookshop.org/p/books/thy-...

Feed: "NYT > Books > Book Review" By: Alexis Coe on Monday, December 15, 2025

I went live with historian Alexis Coe to talk about history as something we are doing, not just remembering—democracy, national myth, and what it means to stay in the room when the story feels unfinished.

@kalpenn.bsky.social: I'm still floored that you read [Contract with America] in the fourth grade. Me: I mean, it really messed me up for a while. I joined "Here We Go Again" to talk forgotten families and what all of this means heading into America’s 250th. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...

Have yourself a demented little Christmas [card] alexiscoe.substack.com/p/demented-c...

December 2020: “Santa is not going to be spreading any infections to anybody.” — Dr. Anthony Fauci December 2025: RFK Jr. wants the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule to look like Denmark’s. In response, Danish officials say the U.S. is getting “crazier and crazier," has diseases they don’t.

Captain’s Log, Day 337. Situation grim. Crew remains at posts out of spite, pedantry, and an old, stubborn attachment to an unfinished America. —AC Ie I contributed to this NYT survey: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

My best subject line of 2025

Valuable life advice this week from @alexiscoe.bsky.social

I spent my final NYTBR column of 2025 circling a question a deceptively simple question: what happened to the American Dream? History, economics, and the mechanics of disappointment here: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/b...

In my last NYTBR column of 2025, I started with a question that has become unanswerable: What happened to the American Dream—and why does it feel so out of reach? More books on the big bad economy here: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/b...

Relieved to say the saga is losing me as Lizza toggles between “she was in a mental health crisis” and “she was running a multi-pronged psy-op with professional operatives.”

The singular delight of being one's nerdiest, most ardent self on @NPR: www.npr.org/2025/12/07/n...

I want to die just looking at this yet he’s choosing to live it

Sleepy Don

I named my fists Abigail & John because I fight with love and receipts

*channeling Sassy Mag* It Happened to Me: My Country Pivoted from Democracy to Kleptocracy

Happy Thanksgiving. I'm grateful, truly, to be working this morning while the streets are sill silent, chuckling at a note I wrote during a meeting with my editor: Don’t say its all rigged and you should jump off the bridge. xx

Obviously my take—it was actually about wistful longing for a life unlived—remains the best take. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Can I blow this up into a huge print? I love it.

AMA

Well this didn't age well alexiscoe.substack.com/p/in-bidens-...

In today’s newsletter, my favorite kind of scandal: one where everyone involved has been dead for centuries. substack.com/home/post/p-...

As I testified in the spring, releasing the SSN of living Americans was egregious--and they did it anyway. Now Bondi will redact parts Epstein records that "contain personally identifiable information" and would "constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."

Factional excommunication: the old guard using ritual as its last veto.

I couldn't help but wonder, had hate chuckling at Post headlines helped me come up with the best line I've ever written: "Gloria Swanson slept with the patriarch so Olivia Nuzzi could sext the scion." open.substack.com/pub/alexisco...

$1500 doesn't seem like nearly enough

We don't have to be ruled by the size matters club

Over the summer, I asked about your favorite American history myths. Thanks for supplying today's, @arrscott.bsky.social, which I break down in my newsletter. alexiscoe.substack.com/p/lies-we-le...

Still can't believe this happened

Me, 50x a day: "I would have to get out the machete."

I had a great time this morning on @alexiscoe.bsky.social’s “Study Marry Kill” Substack Live! We talked a lot about the new @netflix.com James A. Garfield series “Death by Lightning.” Here’s a clip. More to follow the next day or two. Thanks to Alexis for having me on!

I pregamed the 30th anniversary of "The American President" by asking Aaron Sorkin (!!!) why he set me up for a lifetime of civic heartbreak. We also talked about horny/Sisyphean presidents, and he dropped some good goss on Redford v Reiner! www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv...

Happening now!

If I had a dollar for every time a presidency hung on Bill Clinton’s zipper, I’d have two dollars. Not a great return on investment, but that’s the market for you.

TikTok is really owning this Bubba game

Me: Sets an alarm so I don't spend four hours on the first paragraph. Also me: Ignores alarm and spends five hours on the first paragraph.

I'm still in my Garfield era! Here's my third piece on @netflix.com's Death by Lightning: A Q&A with @candicemillard.bsky.social. www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts...

I'm still in my Garfield era! Here's my third piece on @netflix.com's Death by Lightning: A Q&A with @candicemillard.bsky.social. www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts...

Mark your calendars for 10 am (Eastern) this Sunday, Nov. 16! I’ll be appearing on my friend Alexis Coe’s Substack Live to discuss the new James A. Garfield Netflix series “Death by Lightning!” My thanks to @alexiscoe.bsky.social for this kind invitation. This should be fun!

Join me for a Substack Live today at noon with Zara Anishanslin: alexiscoe.substack.com/p/todays-liv...

Calm, surgical strike (not to say there isn't deserved outrage coursing through) from @alexiscoe.bsky.social. I particularly appreciated the part about enslaved people underwriting Mr. Washington's success...

As someone who listened to the first half of that interview and then turned it off in disgust, this was pretty satisfying.

Join me for a Substack Live today at noon with Zara Anishanslin: alexiscoe.substack.com/p/todays-liv...

That ending though, “We’re dangerous because we do the work. They’re loud because they don’t.” I might frame that. #keepupthegoodwork #ruiningtheworkplace

Presidential historian @alexiscoe.bsky.social: “[T]riumphs [can] contain the seeds of their own destruction. Cleveland’s presidency imploded…. So, too, might Trump’s — and with it, the future of a party that has hitched its wagon to a reality star that may well be a supernova in disguise.”

The former vice president did everything he could to expand presidential power. The current president is taking advantage. By ALEXIS COE www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Like taking candy from a platformed baby--I couldn't help myself. alexiscoe.substack.com/p/douthat-th...

I need it, I want it! Gimme Garfield!