Alison Laurence
@dinostalgia.bsky.social
Cultural historian of extinction at work on DINOSTALGIA, a book about how dinosaurs became cultural artifacts, consumer goods, and spokes-creatures for consumption | Instructor @ UC Santa Cruz | Editor @ Contingent Magazine
https://www.alisonlaurence.com
https://www.alisonlaurence.com
Pinned
This one's for the taxidermy curious. We are legion, yeah?
In "Coyotes, Cougars, Californians," I trace evolving display practices @nhm.org. It's a story about how one museum revises boundaries of belonging, featuring the late great P-22.
@animalhistory.bsky.social #envhist
doi.org/10.1525/ah.2...
In "Coyotes, Cougars, Californians," I trace evolving display practices @nhm.org. It's a story about how one museum revises boundaries of belonging, featuring the late great P-22.
@animalhistory.bsky.social #envhist
doi.org/10.1525/ah.2...
Reposted by Alison Laurence
I wrote in @contingent-mag.bsky.social about how a chance encounter with monsters in the archives led to my two books on monsters, science, exploration, maps, and culture.
1/🧵
🧪💙📚 🗃 #ancient #medieval #earlymodern #histsci #histmed #18thCentury #politics #HAMH #archives #libraries #arthistory
1/🧵
🧪💙📚 🗃 #ancient #medieval #earlymodern #histsci #histmed #18thCentury #politics #HAMH #archives #libraries #arthistory
Can the Archive Make a Monster of a Historian?
A historian who pays full attention to their sources can’t help but be transformed into a monster...
contingentmagazine.org
December 31, 2025 at 2:03 PM
I wrote in @contingent-mag.bsky.social about how a chance encounter with monsters in the archives led to my two books on monsters, science, exploration, maps, and culture.
1/🧵
🧪💙📚 🗃 #ancient #medieval #earlymodern #histsci #histmed #18thCentury #politics #HAMH #archives #libraries #arthistory
1/🧵
🧪💙📚 🗃 #ancient #medieval #earlymodern #histsci #histmed #18thCentury #politics #HAMH #archives #libraries #arthistory
Oh, 2025. Some notable firsts for me this year: first time applying for food stamps, first creative nonfiction pub... So here's my wish for the new year.
May we, all of us, become fossils 🦖
*Fossil, as a figure of speech, is so often used pejoratively. I fundamentally disagree with that slander!
May we, all of us, become fossils 🦖
*Fossil, as a figure of speech, is so often used pejoratively. I fundamentally disagree with that slander!
Earlier this year, in a season of anxious unemployment, I wrote about Chicago's pride and prehistoric joy—SUE the T. rex. It's an essay about fossils and faith; minerals and humble miracles; the conditions that enable transubstantiation. #FossilFriday @therumpus.net
therumpus.net/2025/12/05/t...
therumpus.net/2025/12/05/t...
To Become a Fossil - The Rumpus
Some people made long pilgrimages to marvel at this superlative specimen. Other people, like the girl growing up in a nearby suburb, got to know SUE through happy proximity. And because her grandma—my...
therumpus.net
December 31, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Oh, 2025. Some notable firsts for me this year: first time applying for food stamps, first creative nonfiction pub... So here's my wish for the new year.
May we, all of us, become fossils 🦖
*Fossil, as a figure of speech, is so often used pejoratively. I fundamentally disagree with that slander!
May we, all of us, become fossils 🦖
*Fossil, as a figure of speech, is so often used pejoratively. I fundamentally disagree with that slander!
Reposted by Alison Laurence
"My sources broke categories: they were monstrous. Studying them meant integrating methods from several disciplines — and being marginalized by the more conservative practitioners in all of them."
The final piece in our monsters series, from @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social
The final piece in our monsters series, from @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social
Can the Archive Make a Monster of a Historian?
A historian who pays full attention to their sources can’t help but be transformed into a monster...
contingentmagazine.org
December 31, 2025 at 2:32 PM
"My sources broke categories: they were monstrous. Studying them meant integrating methods from several disciplines — and being marginalized by the more conservative practitioners in all of them."
The final piece in our monsters series, from @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social
The final piece in our monsters series, from @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social
Reposted by Alison Laurence
We don't do fundraising pushes very often, but that's because we're fortunate enough to have a loyal group of monthly givers. Almost everything you read this year was paid for by 161 people.
If you like what we do and want to see more, become a supporter today.
If you like what we do and want to see more, become a supporter today.
Donate
Contingent is supported by its readers, not by any university or think tank. We think that makes it possible for us to do this magazine right.
contingentmagazine.org
December 27, 2025 at 5:41 PM
We don't do fundraising pushes very often, but that's because we're fortunate enough to have a loyal group of monthly givers. Almost everything you read this year was paid for by 161 people.
If you like what we do and want to see more, become a supporter today.
If you like what we do and want to see more, become a supporter today.
Reposted by Alison Laurence
Thank you for writing this!
The choice of Khaleesi continues to rankle, too, especially for a white wolf as a namesake of white lady savior trope for animals that, so de-extinctioners say, they foresee on lands stolen from Indigenous peoples, hopping right over them to some undefined Ice Age time.
The choice of Khaleesi continues to rankle, too, especially for a white wolf as a namesake of white lady savior trope for animals that, so de-extinctioners say, they foresee on lands stolen from Indigenous peoples, hopping right over them to some undefined Ice Age time.
December 22, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Thank you for writing this!
The choice of Khaleesi continues to rankle, too, especially for a white wolf as a namesake of white lady savior trope for animals that, so de-extinctioners say, they foresee on lands stolen from Indigenous peoples, hopping right over them to some undefined Ice Age time.
The choice of Khaleesi continues to rankle, too, especially for a white wolf as a namesake of white lady savior trope for animals that, so de-extinctioners say, they foresee on lands stolen from Indigenous peoples, hopping right over them to some undefined Ice Age time.
Reposted by Alison Laurence
Colossal named its first "de-extinct" dire wolves for the fratricidal founder of a now fallen empire and the twin he did in. These names... they've been gnawing at me! So, I wrote about lupine Romulus and Remus and snow-white mythmaking for @g-ehr.bsky.social.
g-ehr.com/essay/cry-wo... #Paleosky
g-ehr.com/essay/cry-wo... #Paleosky
Cry, Wolf • Germinate
Uncover the story behind the dire wolf and Aesop's fable, a classic tale about trust and deception through history.
g-ehr.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Colossal named its first "de-extinct" dire wolves for the fratricidal founder of a now fallen empire and the twin he did in. These names... they've been gnawing at me! So, I wrote about lupine Romulus and Remus and snow-white mythmaking for @g-ehr.bsky.social.
g-ehr.com/essay/cry-wo... #Paleosky
g-ehr.com/essay/cry-wo... #Paleosky
Reposted by Alison Laurence
The next piece in our special December series explores "the rise and hunt of monsters in monstrous seasons of prodigious, inescapable heat."
Monstrous Rayne
On drought years and witch trials
contingentmagazine.org
December 21, 2025 at 9:10 PM
The next piece in our special December series explores "the rise and hunt of monsters in monstrous seasons of prodigious, inescapable heat."
Colossal named its first "de-extinct" dire wolves for the fratricidal founder of a now fallen empire and the twin he did in. These names... they've been gnawing at me! So, I wrote about lupine Romulus and Remus and snow-white mythmaking for @g-ehr.bsky.social.
g-ehr.com/essay/cry-wo... #Paleosky
g-ehr.com/essay/cry-wo... #Paleosky
Cry, Wolf • Germinate
Uncover the story behind the dire wolf and Aesop's fable, a classic tale about trust and deception through history.
g-ehr.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Colossal named its first "de-extinct" dire wolves for the fratricidal founder of a now fallen empire and the twin he did in. These names... they've been gnawing at me! So, I wrote about lupine Romulus and Remus and snow-white mythmaking for @g-ehr.bsky.social.
g-ehr.com/essay/cry-wo... #Paleosky
g-ehr.com/essay/cry-wo... #Paleosky
Reposted by Alison Laurence
Earlier this year, in a season of anxious unemployment, I wrote about Chicago's pride and prehistoric joy—SUE the T. rex. It's an essay about fossils and faith; minerals and humble miracles; the conditions that enable transubstantiation. #FossilFriday @therumpus.net
therumpus.net/2025/12/05/t...
therumpus.net/2025/12/05/t...
To Become a Fossil - The Rumpus
Some people made long pilgrimages to marvel at this superlative specimen. Other people, like the girl growing up in a nearby suburb, got to know SUE through happy proximity. And because her grandma—my...
therumpus.net
December 12, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Earlier this year, in a season of anxious unemployment, I wrote about Chicago's pride and prehistoric joy—SUE the T. rex. It's an essay about fossils and faith; minerals and humble miracles; the conditions that enable transubstantiation. #FossilFriday @therumpus.net
therumpus.net/2025/12/05/t...
therumpus.net/2025/12/05/t...
Reposted by Alison Laurence
“In the faunal frenzy of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, even serious naturalists competed with fabulists like Barnum for the attention of the public.”
Our latest piece in A Time Of Monsters, from Sam Moore.
Our latest piece in A Time Of Monsters, from Sam Moore.
Aaahh!!! Fake Monsters
exuberant life beyond our knowledge
contingentmagazine.org
December 14, 2025 at 9:01 PM
“In the faunal frenzy of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, even serious naturalists competed with fabulists like Barnum for the attention of the public.”
Our latest piece in A Time Of Monsters, from Sam Moore.
Our latest piece in A Time Of Monsters, from Sam Moore.
Earlier this year, in a season of anxious unemployment, I wrote about Chicago's pride and prehistoric joy—SUE the T. rex. It's an essay about fossils and faith; minerals and humble miracles; the conditions that enable transubstantiation. #FossilFriday @therumpus.net
therumpus.net/2025/12/05/t...
therumpus.net/2025/12/05/t...
To Become a Fossil - The Rumpus
Some people made long pilgrimages to marvel at this superlative specimen. Other people, like the girl growing up in a nearby suburb, got to know SUE through happy proximity. And because her grandma—my...
therumpus.net
December 12, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Earlier this year, in a season of anxious unemployment, I wrote about Chicago's pride and prehistoric joy—SUE the T. rex. It's an essay about fossils and faith; minerals and humble miracles; the conditions that enable transubstantiation. #FossilFriday @therumpus.net
therumpus.net/2025/12/05/t...
therumpus.net/2025/12/05/t...
Reposted by Alison Laurence
"I had never come across a Christ-figure quite like this."
The latest in our series A Time Of Monsters, from @ebermichael.bsky.social
The latest in our series A Time Of Monsters, from @ebermichael.bsky.social
Christ, What a Monster!
Something gendered was going on here.
contingentmagazine.org
December 11, 2025 at 1:16 PM
"I had never come across a Christ-figure quite like this."
The latest in our series A Time Of Monsters, from @ebermichael.bsky.social
The latest in our series A Time Of Monsters, from @ebermichael.bsky.social
“While coprolites shed light on lost landscapes, speculative stories — when read in historical context — reveal popular attitudes to fast-changing foodscapes.”
Devouring Dinosaurs
If dinosaurs were alive today, would you be fleeing? Or feasting?
contingentmagazine.org
December 12, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Alison Laurence
"Moskowitz’s frozen dinosaur steaks betray the fear that a fast-growing and poorly regulated food industry could become a black box that delivered monstrous products and, furthermore, alienated consumers from their food."
Devouring Dinosaurs
If dinosaurs were alive today, would you be fleeing? Or feasting?
contingentmagazine.org
December 9, 2025 at 3:28 AM
"Moskowitz’s frozen dinosaur steaks betray the fear that a fast-growing and poorly regulated food industry could become a black box that delivered monstrous products and, furthermore, alienated consumers from their food."
Reposted by Alison Laurence
“I brought this horrid creature into the world, and now I must take him out!” Winfrey said
Oprah Pursues Dr. Phil On Ship Through Arctic
THE ARCTIC CIRCLE—With a vow to destroy the abomination she had created if it was the last thing she ever did, television host Oprah Winfrey has spent weeks on a ship pursuing Dr. Phil through the Arc...
theonion.com
December 9, 2025 at 12:30 AM
“I brought this horrid creature into the world, and now I must take him out!” Winfrey said
Watching Wake Up Dead Man, I was fixating on this groundskeeper in upstate NY who religiously watches & records Cubs games. A clue perhaps? A statement on faith?!
Turns out—per his convo w/ @gregoryellwood.bsky.social—that @rianjohnson.bsky.social is simply committed to temporal authenticity!
Turns out—per his convo w/ @gregoryellwood.bsky.social—that @rianjohnson.bsky.social is simply committed to temporal authenticity!
December 9, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Watching Wake Up Dead Man, I was fixating on this groundskeeper in upstate NY who religiously watches & records Cubs games. A clue perhaps? A statement on faith?!
Turns out—per his convo w/ @gregoryellwood.bsky.social—that @rianjohnson.bsky.social is simply committed to temporal authenticity!
Turns out—per his convo w/ @gregoryellwood.bsky.social—that @rianjohnson.bsky.social is simply committed to temporal authenticity!
Reposted by Alison Laurence
“While coprolites shed light on lost landscapes, speculative stories — when read in historical context — reveal popular attitudes to fast-changing foodscapes.”
Devouring Dinosaurs
If dinosaurs were alive today, would you be fleeing? Or feasting?
contingentmagazine.org
December 8, 2025 at 2:38 PM
“While coprolites shed light on lost landscapes, speculative stories — when read in historical context — reveal popular attitudes to fast-changing foodscapes.”
Reposted by Alison Laurence
The second of our yearly lists--this one features thirty-five articles and chapters authored by contingent historians in 2025.
2025 Journal Article List
A companion to our 2025 book list.
contingentmagazine.org
December 5, 2025 at 3:14 AM
The second of our yearly lists--this one features thirty-five articles and chapters authored by contingent historians in 2025.
Reposted by Alison Laurence
So many incredible contingent scholars doing outrageously interesting work amidst *these* professional and global circumstances. Have a gander!
Things you can learn about using this list: orthonymity, florilegia, theriac, sissie houses, El Tajín, GRECE, the taṣvīr-i hümāyūn, Hospitallers, disability in Ptolemaic Egypt and Medieval Europe, and anti-Klan activists in interwar Missouri.
2025 Contingent Book List
When you’re shopping for books this season, consider a contingent scholar.
contingentmagazine.org
December 3, 2025 at 6:01 PM
So many incredible contingent scholars doing outrageously interesting work amidst *these* professional and global circumstances. Have a gander!
So many incredible contingent scholars doing outrageously interesting work amidst *these* professional and global circumstances. Have a gander!
Things you can learn about using this list: orthonymity, florilegia, theriac, sissie houses, El Tajín, GRECE, the taṣvīr-i hümāyūn, Hospitallers, disability in Ptolemaic Egypt and Medieval Europe, and anti-Klan activists in interwar Missouri.
2025 Contingent Book List
When you’re shopping for books this season, consider a contingent scholar.
contingentmagazine.org
December 3, 2025 at 6:01 PM
So many incredible contingent scholars doing outrageously interesting work amidst *these* professional and global circumstances. Have a gander!
Reposted by Alison Laurence
"Have the creators of each new iteration followed Mary Shelley’s Promethean lead, nurturing a beloved creation, or have they followed Victor’s, embracing their ambition above their creation’s well-being?"
The first in our series A Time Of Monsters, from
@gvaughnjoy.bsky.social
The first in our series A Time Of Monsters, from
@gvaughnjoy.bsky.social
To Invent Immortality
Frankenstein yearns to live.
contingentmagazine.org
November 30, 2025 at 2:51 AM
"Have the creators of each new iteration followed Mary Shelley’s Promethean lead, nurturing a beloved creation, or have they followed Victor’s, embracing their ambition above their creation’s well-being?"
The first in our series A Time Of Monsters, from
@gvaughnjoy.bsky.social
The first in our series A Time Of Monsters, from
@gvaughnjoy.bsky.social
Reposted by Alison Laurence
*everybody who has paid off or is still paying off their bachelor's degree in classics* OK THANKS CHRIS I'VE GOT THIS IT'S GENITIVE OF SUUM GENUS, "HIS/HER/ITS OWN KIND," GENITIVE OF ATTRIBUTE, YOU GOT ANY MORE QUESTIONS LIKE THIS YOU CALL ME UP OK I'M RIGHT OVER HERE
completely outside of politics, this is so charming
November 21, 2025 at 5:42 PM
*everybody who has paid off or is still paying off their bachelor's degree in classics* OK THANKS CHRIS I'VE GOT THIS IT'S GENITIVE OF SUUM GENUS, "HIS/HER/ITS OWN KIND," GENITIVE OF ATTRIBUTE, YOU GOT ANY MORE QUESTIONS LIKE THIS YOU CALL ME UP OK I'M RIGHT OVER HERE
Reposted by Alison Laurence
We'll be looking to elect some new board members before the end of the year! Keep an eye out for a post later this week with information about how to nominate yourself.
November 19, 2025 at 5:20 PM
We'll be looking to elect some new board members before the end of the year! Keep an eye out for a post later this week with information about how to nominate yourself.
Reposted by Alison Laurence
“For cadets, earnest participation in these discussions does more than just prove that they did the reading.”
Nick Hurley on his year teaching at USMA.
Nick Hurley on his year teaching at USMA.
What's the Point?
Reflections on a year spent teaching history at the United States Military Academy
contingentmagazine.org
November 11, 2025 at 7:03 PM
“For cadets, earnest participation in these discussions does more than just prove that they did the reading.”
Nick Hurley on his year teaching at USMA.
Nick Hurley on his year teaching at USMA.