Tamara J. Walker
@tamaraw.bsky.social
Historian * Author of BEYOND THE SHORES: A HISTORY OF AFRICAN AMERICANS ABROAD (Crown, out now in paperback) and EXQUISITE SLAVES (Cambridge, 2017) * Co-founder of The Wandering Scholar (@wearetws.bsky.social).
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Tamara J. Walker
@tamaraw.bsky.social
· Dec 2
I'm feeling a bit bereft of enthusiasm these days, so in my quest to nurture it I'm going to do a weird little #adventcalendarofcuriosities to find and share at least one thing, every day this month, that lights me up even a little bit (also allowed: things that get me enthusiastically annoyed).
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
"What about cruises?"
Whole-ass article about vacations being disrupted. Because that's what matters to the NYT & its readers. They probably put a reporter on this the minute they saw the news that they chose to not share.
archive.is/202601040349...
Whole-ass article about vacations being disrupted. Because that's what matters to the NYT & its readers. They probably put a reporter on this the minute they saw the news that they chose to not share.
archive.is/202601040349...
January 4, 2026 at 7:01 AM
"What about cruises?"
Whole-ass article about vacations being disrupted. Because that's what matters to the NYT & its readers. They probably put a reporter on this the minute they saw the news that they chose to not share.
archive.is/202601040349...
Whole-ass article about vacations being disrupted. Because that's what matters to the NYT & its readers. They probably put a reporter on this the minute they saw the news that they chose to not share.
archive.is/202601040349...
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
Me, on California and slavery, for the LA Times:
‘California connects Mexican and U.S. history while also serving as a reminder that there are few corners of the Western Hemisphere that are untouched by the legacy of slavery.'
Read here: www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
‘California connects Mexican and U.S. history while also serving as a reminder that there are few corners of the Western Hemisphere that are untouched by the legacy of slavery.'
Read here: www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Contributor: California's place in enslaved people's struggle for freedom
The end of slavery was not solely brought about by the Civil War in the U.S., but also by centuries of resistance across the Americas. This was part of California’s story.
www.latimes.com
January 4, 2026 at 11:16 PM
Me, on California and slavery, for the LA Times:
‘California connects Mexican and U.S. history while also serving as a reminder that there are few corners of the Western Hemisphere that are untouched by the legacy of slavery.'
Read here: www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
‘California connects Mexican and U.S. history while also serving as a reminder that there are few corners of the Western Hemisphere that are untouched by the legacy of slavery.'
Read here: www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
oh shit tomorrow is circle back day already
January 4, 2026 at 4:12 PM
oh shit tomorrow is circle back day already
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
Tara Roberts is a Black Woman Scuba Diver who works for National Geographic that goes deep into the ocean in search of lost slave ships.
Tara Roberts is surfacing human stories from the shipwrecks that killed enslaved Africans
The storyteller joins a team of African American divers on their worldwide quest to shed light on the untold history of the slave trade.
www.nationalgeographic.com
January 5, 2026 at 2:14 AM
Tara Roberts is a Black Woman Scuba Diver who works for National Geographic that goes deep into the ocean in search of lost slave ships.
Per the Times: "The historian Enrique Krauze has written that “Aló Presidente” gives Venezuelans “at least the appearance of contact with power, through his verbal and visual presence, which may be welcomed by people who have spent most of their lives being ignored.”
January 4, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Per the Times: "The historian Enrique Krauze has written that “Aló Presidente” gives Venezuelans “at least the appearance of contact with power, through his verbal and visual presence, which may be welcomed by people who have spent most of their lives being ignored.”
I often feel like Times reporters never read other sections of their own paper, to say nothing of its archive, because if Pager had (or you know, paid any attention to Venezuela in the past 15-20 years), he would never have said this without irony:
January 4, 2026 at 5:38 PM
I often feel like Times reporters never read other sections of their own paper, to say nothing of its archive, because if Pager had (or you know, paid any attention to Venezuela in the past 15-20 years), he would never have said this without irony:
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
Our most-read story of 2025:
Outraged by the Jan. 6 riot, a vigilante spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was a ProPublica reporter.
Outraged by the Jan. 6 riot, a vigilante spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was a ProPublica reporter.
A Mole Infiltrated the Highest Ranks of American Militias. This Is What He Found.
Outraged by the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a wilderness survival trainer spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends....
www.propublica.org
January 4, 2026 at 4:00 AM
Our most-read story of 2025:
Outraged by the Jan. 6 riot, a vigilante spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was a ProPublica reporter.
Outraged by the Jan. 6 riot, a vigilante spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was a ProPublica reporter.
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
December 30, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Book editor forced to stay at a gorgeous California mansion to help an author finish his memoir we paid a multimillion-dollar advance for.
I’m in the middle of three books, so I guess I get to choose between famous private detective, nosy old biddy detective, and aristocratic book-collecting dandy detective. 🕵️🕵️♀️🕵️♂️ The bookish one please! 📚😋
Well, now I'm an English professor...
December 30, 2025 at 4:36 AM
Book editor forced to stay at a gorgeous California mansion to help an author finish his memoir we paid a multimillion-dollar advance for.
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
Don't Let the Few Silence the Many. Join PEN America to Fight for the Freedom to Read. pen.org/eoy25-suppor... #bannedbooks #censorship #freedomtoread
December 30, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Don't Let the Few Silence the Many. Join PEN America to Fight for the Freedom to Read. pen.org/eoy25-suppor... #bannedbooks #censorship #freedomtoread
It's even more pointless considering how many YouTube users aren't actually watching. Per this Times article: "According to the Signal Hill survey, about 30 percent of people who consume podcasts “play the video in the background or minimize on their device while listening.”
December 30, 2025 at 4:30 AM
It's even more pointless considering how many YouTube users aren't actually watching. Per this Times article: "According to the Signal Hill survey, about 30 percent of people who consume podcasts “play the video in the background or minimize on their device while listening.”
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
An industry is 100% white: nothing to see here
An industry becomes 99% white: grab the rocket launchers, file the lawsuits, make up the imaginary white men who are being discriminated against otherwise we will all die
An industry becomes 99% white: grab the rocket launchers, file the lawsuits, make up the imaginary white men who are being discriminated against otherwise we will all die
@startribune.com finally stands up for the truly forgotten! White men! Can't make this shit up
www.startribune.com/2026-reading...
www.startribune.com/2026-reading...
Opinion | You can’t be diverse if you exclude white men
Those year-end book lists that claim to be all about diversity often seem to miss this one major demographic, Annie Holmquist writes.
www.startribune.com
December 26, 2025 at 10:00 PM
An industry is 100% white: nothing to see here
An industry becomes 99% white: grab the rocket launchers, file the lawsuits, make up the imaginary white men who are being discriminated against otherwise we will all die
An industry becomes 99% white: grab the rocket launchers, file the lawsuits, make up the imaginary white men who are being discriminated against otherwise we will all die
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
No one is reading long form.
The emergence of the post-literacy world is accompanied by the rise of Medieval Peasant Brain, a mental soup of superstition and magical thinking... We see this most clearly in the mainstreaming of xenophobia, conspiracies, quack medicines, and naked fascism.
The emergence of the post-literacy world is accompanied by the rise of Medieval Peasant Brain, a mental soup of superstition and magical thinking... We see this most clearly in the mainstreaming of xenophobia, conspiracies, quack medicines, and naked fascism.
December 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
No one is reading long form.
The emergence of the post-literacy world is accompanied by the rise of Medieval Peasant Brain, a mental soup of superstition and magical thinking... We see this most clearly in the mainstreaming of xenophobia, conspiracies, quack medicines, and naked fascism.
The emergence of the post-literacy world is accompanied by the rise of Medieval Peasant Brain, a mental soup of superstition and magical thinking... We see this most clearly in the mainstreaming of xenophobia, conspiracies, quack medicines, and naked fascism.
“What I planned as a lovely time in Florence living the life of Hemingway has turned out to be living on a train living the life and observe the diet of Ghandi [sic].”
Day 28: This excerpt from Anthony Bourdain's diary of his 1973 trip to France (in The Anthony Bourdain Reader) perfectly captures that "teen with literary pretensions goes abroad" vibe, doesn't it:
#anthonybourdain #food #travel #writing
#anthonybourdain #food #travel #writing
December 28, 2025 at 7:55 PM
“What I planned as a lovely time in Florence living the life of Hemingway has turned out to be living on a train living the life and observe the diet of Ghandi [sic].”
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
Tonight, Norm Eisen and I joined Pamela Brown to call out Trump’s unlawful attempt to rename the Kennedy Center. I’m filing a lawsuit to reverse it and stop any future renaming without Congressional approval.
Watch the full interview on YouTube. 🔗Link here: https://bit.ly/4jdT6EG
Watch the full interview on YouTube. 🔗Link here: https://bit.ly/4jdT6EG
December 24, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Tonight, Norm Eisen and I joined Pamela Brown to call out Trump’s unlawful attempt to rename the Kennedy Center. I’m filing a lawsuit to reverse it and stop any future renaming without Congressional approval.
Watch the full interview on YouTube. 🔗Link here: https://bit.ly/4jdT6EG
Watch the full interview on YouTube. 🔗Link here: https://bit.ly/4jdT6EG
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
The Trump supporter who runs CBS news just killed a story about Trump’s favorite torture prison. Here’s why America has a liberal media bias problem.
December 22, 2025 at 3:03 AM
The Trump supporter who runs CBS news just killed a story about Trump’s favorite torture prison. Here’s why America has a liberal media bias problem.
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
Please check out how cool this fireplace screen is that an artist friend of my mother’s made.
December 20, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Please check out how cool this fireplace screen is that an artist friend of my mother’s made.
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
For Public Picks, Global Black History editor @taoleighgoffe.bsky.social recs @imaniperry.bsky.social's "Black in Blues," Nicholas Boggs's "Baldwin: A Love Story," Joycelyn Longdon's "Natural Connection" & @dorothyjberry.bsky.social's "The House Archives Built."
Public Picks 2025 - Public Books
What were the books of 2025 that dazzled, challenged, and inspired us?
www.publicbooks.org
December 20, 2025 at 11:55 PM
For Public Picks, Global Black History editor @taoleighgoffe.bsky.social recs @imaniperry.bsky.social's "Black in Blues," Nicholas Boggs's "Baldwin: A Love Story," Joycelyn Longdon's "Natural Connection" & @dorothyjberry.bsky.social's "The House Archives Built."
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
Those who speculated wildly about the Brown shooter without knowing any facts got things wrong—and it is important that they lose their credibility because of it, Graeme Wood argues.
How to Treat Purveyors of Baseless Speculation
Don’t log off. Keep score.
bit.ly
December 21, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Those who speculated wildly about the Brown shooter without knowing any facts got things wrong—and it is important that they lose their credibility because of it, Graeme Wood argues.
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
This is right. Trump wants to destroy the Kennedy Center precisely because it's a great center for the performing arts. And he's succeeding. People are boycotting. Halls are half full. The National Symphony, a very fine orchestra, is in financial trouble. Hundreds of other jobs are threatened, too
It's not about the memorial building. It's about erasing the predominantly liberal message of the renowned cultural center. The center offers theater, dance, classical, jazz, pop, folk music & a National Symphony Orchestra. These were part of Kennedy's cultural legacy, something Trump cannot buy.
December 21, 2025 at 2:55 AM
This is right. Trump wants to destroy the Kennedy Center precisely because it's a great center for the performing arts. And he's succeeding. People are boycotting. Halls are half full. The National Symphony, a very fine orchestra, is in financial trouble. Hundreds of other jobs are threatened, too
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
December 19, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Reposted by Tamara J. Walker
I used to teach an undergrad historical methods class and their favorite day was always the one where we listen to @drmatthewsweet.bsky.social telling Naomi Wolf (live, on air on the BBC) that she misinterpreted her data and based her whole book around something that didn’t happen
You’ll never guess who else experienced ‘racism’ on the job market despite their unimpeachable academic credentials.
December 19, 2025 at 12:40 PM
I used to teach an undergrad historical methods class and their favorite day was always the one where we listen to @drmatthewsweet.bsky.social telling Naomi Wolf (live, on air on the BBC) that she misinterpreted her data and based her whole book around something that didn’t happen