Why was Raul Castro not indicted in 1996? Because we need a pretext for war in 2026.

#ThePathlessLand is out in early September, but if you want to preorder, there's a 20% discount on bookshop.org until the end of the weekend, discount code PREORDER20: uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

Such a pleasure talking about the Greek mountains, the Prespa lakes and the unique Aoos-Vjosa river system spanning Greece and Albania for the brilliant Mountain Stories, Mountain Futures podcast. @mountainsofgreece.bsky.social @futuremountain.bsky.social msmf.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2026/05/13/l...

The humanities aren't under attack. Institutional humanities are — universities, departments, funding. But artists and thinkers will keep creating. They did it before universities existed and will after. Institutions feed off the humanities. They aren't the humanities.

One of the best books I've read this year was published in 1920. A. G. Sertillanges wrote "The Intellectual Life" as a guide for scholars, researchers, and writers who feel called to do serious thinking. It asks more of you than most so-called "productivity" books ever would. Exactly what I needed.

A good kind of enshittification.

Wax writing tablets, a short 🧵 What did you write on, in Europe, before the adoption of paper in late 13th Century? 1/n

Can we somehow ensure that every university administrator, every cabinet minister, every senior civil servant and every CEO sees this?

Retractions never get proportional attention. This one should.

A Dominican priest wrote a great book on what it means to live seriously as an intellectual. Published 1920. Rooted in Thomist philosophy. Dated in places, but useful in others. His argument: this “career” is a literal calling from god and is best understood as a way of living in the world. More:

The publishing industry views Bluesky as some tiny unimportant island out somewhere in a far-off ocean. It's not worthy of their attention like Amazon Algoland or The Republic Of Instagram Influencer Collaborativepost is. What they don't realise is just how much the island's inhabitants love books.

On Friday afternoon before the Bank Holiday, colleagues in the Humanities department were called to a meeting on Tuesday. They were informed that the University Portfolio Review had decided that English Language, English Literature, Philosophy, History & Creative Writing UG degrees would close

"The annual review also requires me to write up my accomplishments in detail and submit them two weeks before the review. This involves searching four different places to find the correct information on how to submit the document."

Out-of-office replies enabled until 18 August 2026.

Share a picture of your office/workspace. I am looking for some #inspo. I am gutting and refinishing my office/study.

Want to learn how to craft a compelling op-ed? Watch “Op-Ed Writing for Historians" with @bryanbanksphd.bsky.social, @jelaniya.bsky.social, @mauracunningham.bsky.social, @franhirsch.bsky.social, @brianros1.bsky.social, and moderator @lmansley.bsky.social. #AHAOnline 🗃️

Rainer Maria Rilke to a young poet: go into yourself, find the reason that commands you to write, and build your whole life around it. Socrates said something similar… and drank the hemlock for it. New piece on the strange, ancient history of the creative calling. Link below.

Socrates's most serious charge wasn't "corrupting the youth." It was impiety, and stemmed from claiming god had commanded him to pursue philosophy. The Greeks called that inner voice a "daimon." And we've been trying to name it ever since. Does the source of the calling actually matter?

Hey, look at Substack promoting Andrew Tate as the #1 new bestseller. The company's amoral leadership & backers will platform anyone, even ludicrously toxic rapists & human traffickers.

all these universities kept axing medieval history departments as if they thought tyrants beefing with the Pope was going to stop being relevant

The future of higher education is the past. Old school assessment methods. Oral exams. In class essays. Paper tests.

Who on earth would want to get advice on how to be a man from someone named HSTikkyTokky? Louis Theroux's documentary exposes how bonkers the manosphere can be.

The poet Paul Valéry quit poetry and wrote in his notebooks for decades from 5am to 8am — the hours "between the lamp and the sun." He felt this was his most important work. None of it was public-facing. The work we do in private (the notes, the journals) is "the work." Something to sit with.

I’ve been thinking about Humanities education and its shortcomings, specifically in the context of their “irrelevance” and perceived decline in higher ed. What might an “applied Humanities” course look like? What does it mean to “do” the Humanities?

I recently published a documentary about the unique blend of Catholic and pre-Columbian religious practices during the Festival of the Virgin of Urkupiña in Quillacollo, Bolivia. Surprised face for the algorithm. YouTube link in the comments.

Incredible timelapse of last september 20,000 m3 rockslide at St. Annagrat above Andermatt (UR), which fell onto the remnants of the St. Annafirn glacier 🔥🧊✝️ 📽️ GEOTEST AG / Stefan Tobler

The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe draws 4–5x more visitors than the Vatican. But Tepeyac Hill had a mother goddess cult before the Spanish arrived. Did Mary choose that hill? Or, recognizing it was prime religious real estate, did the Spanish? jeremybassetti.com/on-mountains...

Before it became a metaphor of the modern individual, the "summit position" was a literal position of European and Catholic dominance in the early modern colonial world. The Spanish flexed their cultural, theological, and architectural might by building temples on sacred mountains and other temples.

Spent January researching the Virgin Mary's mountain appearances. Started with one book, ended up three hours deep in a database of Nahuatl hieroglyphs wondering where my afternoon went. This is the creative K-hole. The bad books might lead you somewhere you never expected to go. Read more:

Are the humanities the only disciplines whose classes begin with modules speaking to the importance of studying the humanities? "Why study the humanities?" and "Why the humanities are important" must be cliches.

This administration is only happy when it has someone by the throat… and other body parts.

Anyone tuning in to watch Alex Honnold free solo Taipei 101? It is called Skyscraper Live and will be streamed on Netflix in a few hours. I don’t think I have the stomach to watch…

My son turns two in a few weeks and his favorite song? Verdi’s La Traviata (Act II: Noi Siamo). Mommy and daddy don’t listen to Verdi, at least not before. 🤷‍♂️

Join us for our first podcast! We talk with the amazing Alexandra Cotofana about landscape sentience in the Romanian Carpathians and the concept of xenophobic mountains. shorturl.at/DfOrj @jeremybassetti.com @julianhoffman.bsky.social @willdalrymple.bsky.social @edithmayhall.bsky.social

What a beautiful and important work the 16th-century Florentine Codex is, available for transcribed from the Spanish and Nahuatl and translated into English. florentinecodex.getty.edu

I chair the acquisitions meeting of @reaktionbooks.bsky.social, an independent publisher. We're open to unsolicited book proposals: history, art, music, film, food, animal studies and any great indefinable non-fiction book ideas you might have. Check out the list and get in touch.

Fare thee well, Bobby Weir.

⚠️ Gross Platforming Chatter ⚠️ My newsletter lost subscribers at a 3:1 ratio last year. Not great. The main culprit was twofold: not showing up online and removing my "email magnet" — a free PDF I gave people in exchange for signing up. 🧵1/3

Spent 2025 building roots underground while everything looked dead from the surface. Launched On Mountains. Made it to Bolivia. Published 38 posts. The exhaustion is real, but so is the foundation I'm laying. End-of-year review: jeremybassetti.com/fieldnotes/2...

The Carpathian Mountains punish invaders and shelter defenders in Romanian national memory. This 'mountains as protectors' idea appears from ancient Mesopotamia to modern Afghanistan.

Maybe not “crazy,” but when I opened a folio from the early 18th century, pounce or sand fell out… suggesting not many people had opened it between its writing and me.

Have you listened to the new mountains podcast yet? Put on by @mountainsofgreece.bsky.social @jonwestaway.bsky.social and @profpitches.bsky.social, the "Mountain Stories, Mountain Futures" podcast has published its first episode. Also, follow the podcast on Bluesky: @futuremountain.bsky.social .

Hope you can join us for the launch of the Mountain Stories, Mountain Futures podcast in 2026. Stay tuned.... IMAGE: Signal and heliotrope station, Monte Rosa, Switzerland, 1914. SOURCE: Swiss Topo, Memoriav Memobase shorturl.at/oqEEa

Do not cite an academic paper unless you’ve read it

Filed under the enshittification of Substack.

Friends: I published some thoughts on the idea of the notebook as a life interface. I do take digital notes, but I never feel like quitting on pen and paper. Don't worry... my post is not prescriptive; I offer no "tips" or methods on how to take notes.

re: The Tonearm I'd like to bring on another writer to our online mag who specializes in experimental music, be it freak-out jazz, post-classical, sound art, outsider noise, or delicious combinations of those … must have writing experience (this can be your blog/newsletter) + into doing interviews

🚨PRE-ORDER Mountains Magazine #2 for delivery in early Dec. Prices from just £2.99! 🏷️WINTER SALE Subscribe & save. 4 issues delivered for just £24.95 BUY HERE > www.mountains-magazine.com/Shop/#wbs1 ⛰️Saint-Gervais ⛰️Shiga Kogen ⛰️Méribel ⛰️Copper Canyon ⛰️Bavaria ⛰️+ much MUCH more! #Sale #Mountains