Joe Dragovich
@joedragovich.bsky.social
History writer, digital archive nerd. Words in @nytimes.com, @historytoday.com and @sdtimes.bsky.social.
Associate Fellow, Royal Historical Society.
📚 https://lnk.to/Hawkhurst
Runs @historyclippings.bsky.social
Associate Fellow, Royal Historical Society.
📚 https://lnk.to/Hawkhurst
Runs @historyclippings.bsky.social
Pinned
Joe Dragovich
@joedragovich.bsky.social
· Jul 29
When Coke and Pepsi Fought for Soft Drink Supremacy in Space
www.nytimes.com
Check out my piece in the @nytimes.com about the 1980s cola space race.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/s...
Worked with some great editors and a spoke with interesting people while I was working on this. Really pleased to see this published.
#space #nasa #spaceshuttle #challenger
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/s...
Worked with some great editors and a spoke with interesting people while I was working on this. Really pleased to see this published.
#space #nasa #spaceshuttle #challenger
Thrilled to be Highly Commended in this year's HWA short story contest!
My story this year has some elements based on an old family story about a hobo working for a traveling preacher. Thrilled to be able to keep that little story alive through fiction!
My story this year has some elements based on an old family story about a hobo working for a traveling preacher. Thrilled to be able to keep that little story alive through fiction!
October 3, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Thrilled to be Highly Commended in this year's HWA short story contest!
My story this year has some elements based on an old family story about a hobo working for a traveling preacher. Thrilled to be able to keep that little story alive through fiction!
My story this year has some elements based on an old family story about a hobo working for a traveling preacher. Thrilled to be able to keep that little story alive through fiction!
Really pleased to be long listed again this year.
I don't usually write fiction and the Dorothy Dunnet competition is a great opportunity to do it!
I don't usually write fiction and the Dorothy Dunnet competition is a great opportunity to do it!
Announced today!
Find out which writers are on the longlist for the HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition in Historia at historiamag.com/hwaddss-longlist-2025.
25 #histfic authors are through to the next round of judging.
Congratulations, all, and best of luck!
#HWADDSS25
Find out which writers are on the longlist for the HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition in Historia at historiamag.com/hwaddss-longlist-2025.
25 #histfic authors are through to the next round of judging.
Congratulations, all, and best of luck!
#HWADDSS25
September 24, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Really pleased to be long listed again this year.
I don't usually write fiction and the Dorothy Dunnet competition is a great opportunity to do it!
I don't usually write fiction and the Dorothy Dunnet competition is a great opportunity to do it!
Grimma Wormtongue is a Lord of the Rings character that sounds like a Harry Potter character.
August 15, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Grimma Wormtongue is a Lord of the Rings character that sounds like a Harry Potter character.
My article for @nytimes.com is in French!
It's the first time anything I've written has been translated.
www.ledevoir.com/societe/scie...
That feels like a writer achievement unlocked.
#writing #writesky
It's the first time anything I've written has been translated.
www.ledevoir.com/societe/scie...
That feels like a writer achievement unlocked.
#writing #writesky
Quand la NASA s’est retrouvée prise dans la guerre des colas
En 1985, Coca-Cola et PepsiCo se sont affrontés jusqu’à la Maison-Blanche pour envoyer le premier soda dans l’espace.
www.ledevoir.com
August 12, 2025 at 6:30 PM
My article for @nytimes.com is in French!
It's the first time anything I've written has been translated.
www.ledevoir.com/societe/scie...
That feels like a writer achievement unlocked.
#writing #writesky
It's the first time anything I've written has been translated.
www.ledevoir.com/societe/scie...
That feels like a writer achievement unlocked.
#writing #writesky
Check out my piece in the @nytimes.com about the 1980s cola space race.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/s...
Worked with some great editors and a spoke with interesting people while I was working on this. Really pleased to see this published.
#space #nasa #spaceshuttle #challenger
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/s...
Worked with some great editors and a spoke with interesting people while I was working on this. Really pleased to see this published.
#space #nasa #spaceshuttle #challenger
When Coke and Pepsi Fought for Soft Drink Supremacy in Space
www.nytimes.com
July 29, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Check out my piece in the @nytimes.com about the 1980s cola space race.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/s...
Worked with some great editors and a spoke with interesting people while I was working on this. Really pleased to see this published.
#space #nasa #spaceshuttle #challenger
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/s...
Worked with some great editors and a spoke with interesting people while I was working on this. Really pleased to see this published.
#space #nasa #spaceshuttle #challenger
www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/people/...
Come see where the Hawkhurst Gang went on trial if you're in #chichester on a Thursday morning!
#smuggling #c18th
Come see where the Hawkhurst Gang went on trial if you're in #chichester on a Thursday morning!
#smuggling #c18th
Historic Chichester Guildhall opens to public
The Guildhall is located in Priory Park in the West Sussex city of Chichester.
www.sussexexpress.co.uk
May 1, 2025 at 10:44 PM
www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/people/...
Come see where the Hawkhurst Gang went on trial if you're in #chichester on a Thursday morning!
#smuggling #c18th
Come see where the Hawkhurst Gang went on trial if you're in #chichester on a Thursday morning!
#smuggling #c18th
As a writer, you're going to do things that are a waste of time.
Do them anyway.
Send that pitch, write that piece outside your niche, research that crazy obscure subject.
It will probably come to nothing, but you'll learn something and it might be amazing.
#writingcommunity
Do them anyway.
Send that pitch, write that piece outside your niche, research that crazy obscure subject.
It will probably come to nothing, but you'll learn something and it might be amazing.
#writingcommunity
December 30, 2024 at 8:53 PM
As a writer, you're going to do things that are a waste of time.
Do them anyway.
Send that pitch, write that piece outside your niche, research that crazy obscure subject.
It will probably come to nothing, but you'll learn something and it might be amazing.
#writingcommunity
Do them anyway.
Send that pitch, write that piece outside your niche, research that crazy obscure subject.
It will probably come to nothing, but you'll learn something and it might be amazing.
#writingcommunity
It's a real honor that Lou Ferrante endorsed my book!
When a former mobster and bestselling author likes your book, it really means something!
amzn.eu/d/h1tPRU1
#booksky #histbookchat 🗃️ #kent #sussex #smuggling.
When a former mobster and bestselling author likes your book, it really means something!
amzn.eu/d/h1tPRU1
#booksky #histbookchat 🗃️ #kent #sussex #smuggling.
December 28, 2024 at 10:02 PM
It's a real honor that Lou Ferrante endorsed my book!
When a former mobster and bestselling author likes your book, it really means something!
amzn.eu/d/h1tPRU1
#booksky #histbookchat 🗃️ #kent #sussex #smuggling.
When a former mobster and bestselling author likes your book, it really means something!
amzn.eu/d/h1tPRU1
#booksky #histbookchat 🗃️ #kent #sussex #smuggling.
Still time to get the book delivered for Christmas!
I get it, you don't know what to buy your dad/uncle/grandpa for Christmas.
Get him my book if he likes crime!*
*Reading about crime, not doing crime. Actually, get it for him if he likes doing crime too.
www.amazon.co.uk/Hawkhurst-Co...
🗃️ #histbookchat #smuggling #kent #sussex
Get him my book if he likes crime!*
*Reading about crime, not doing crime. Actually, get it for him if he likes doing crime too.
www.amazon.co.uk/Hawkhurst-Co...
🗃️ #histbookchat #smuggling #kent #sussex
December 22, 2024 at 8:26 PM
Still time to get the book delivered for Christmas!
I get it, you don't know what to buy your dad/uncle/grandpa for Christmas.
Get him my book if he likes crime!*
*Reading about crime, not doing crime. Actually, get it for him if he likes doing crime too.
www.amazon.co.uk/Hawkhurst-Co...
🗃️ #histbookchat #smuggling #kent #sussex
Get him my book if he likes crime!*
*Reading about crime, not doing crime. Actually, get it for him if he likes doing crime too.
www.amazon.co.uk/Hawkhurst-Co...
🗃️ #histbookchat #smuggling #kent #sussex
December 19, 2024 at 9:35 PM
I get it, you don't know what to buy your dad/uncle/grandpa for Christmas.
Get him my book if he likes crime!*
*Reading about crime, not doing crime. Actually, get it for him if he likes doing crime too.
www.amazon.co.uk/Hawkhurst-Co...
🗃️ #histbookchat #smuggling #kent #sussex
Get him my book if he likes crime!*
*Reading about crime, not doing crime. Actually, get it for him if he likes doing crime too.
www.amazon.co.uk/Hawkhurst-Co...
🗃️ #histbookchat #smuggling #kent #sussex
My book is in an archive. The historian circle of life is complete.
Really great to see it stocked so close to where it takes place!
#booksky #histbookchat #authorsky
Really great to see it stocked so close to where it takes place!
#booksky #histbookchat #authorsky
December 3, 2024 at 7:01 PM
My book is in an archive. The historian circle of life is complete.
Really great to see it stocked so close to where it takes place!
#booksky #histbookchat #authorsky
Really great to see it stocked so close to where it takes place!
#booksky #histbookchat #authorsky
I was in the UK ten years before I realized the Pudsey had nothing to do with Remembrance Day.
Like I thought he was some sort of friendly cartoon war wounded.
Like I thought he was some sort of friendly cartoon war wounded.
November 15, 2024 at 7:04 PM
I was in the UK ten years before I realized the Pudsey had nothing to do with Remembrance Day.
Like I thought he was some sort of friendly cartoon war wounded.
Like I thought he was some sort of friendly cartoon war wounded.
Anyone in the #writingcommunity know of a good lit mag that takes historical fiction submissions?
I've got a story: 3500 words, takes place in 1910s, book-club fiction. Long-listed for the Dorothy Dunnet award.
Not necessarily looking to get paid, just to get a clip.
#historicalfiction #writing
I've got a story: 3500 words, takes place in 1910s, book-club fiction. Long-listed for the Dorothy Dunnet award.
Not necessarily looking to get paid, just to get a clip.
#historicalfiction #writing
November 15, 2024 at 1:29 PM
Anyone in the #writingcommunity know of a good lit mag that takes historical fiction submissions?
I've got a story: 3500 words, takes place in 1910s, book-club fiction. Long-listed for the Dorothy Dunnet award.
Not necessarily looking to get paid, just to get a clip.
#historicalfiction #writing
I've got a story: 3500 words, takes place in 1910s, book-club fiction. Long-listed for the Dorothy Dunnet award.
Not necessarily looking to get paid, just to get a clip.
#historicalfiction #writing
Starting a #tropico game and playing a leader where I try to make people's lives better, even though I don't have to, feels like an act of rebellion right now.
November 11, 2024 at 11:43 PM
Starting a #tropico game and playing a leader where I try to make people's lives better, even though I don't have to, feels like an act of rebellion right now.
I did a straw poll on my other account on where people found their last history book.
The takeaway for me is:
A book finds you, you don't find a book.
Marketing is important for authors. Who knew?
#booksky #authorsky
The takeaway for me is:
A book finds you, you don't find a book.
Marketing is important for authors. Who knew?
#booksky #authorsky
Question for all the people who read history books:
Where/how did you find out about the last non-fiction history book you read?
#booksky
Where/how did you find out about the last non-fiction history book you read?
#booksky
October 20, 2024 at 7:18 PM
I did a straw poll on my other account on where people found their last history book.
The takeaway for me is:
A book finds you, you don't find a book.
Marketing is important for authors. Who knew?
#booksky #authorsky
The takeaway for me is:
A book finds you, you don't find a book.
Marketing is important for authors. Who knew?
#booksky #authorsky
Lukewarm take on the War on Drugs is also a bad take on the Hawkhurst Gang...
www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/2462744...
www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/2462744...
Banning things sends them underground
Cllr Paul Donovan from Wanstead Village ward on why he doesn't agree with banning drugs or tobacco.
www.guardian-series.co.uk
October 14, 2024 at 5:13 PM
Lukewarm take on the War on Drugs is also a bad take on the Hawkhurst Gang...
www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/2462744...
www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/2462744...
Two satellite images of Eastern Ukraine:
August, 2022 and August 2024
The brown streak in the second picture is the front.
The war's destruction is visible from space.
#ukraine 🇺🇦
from the NOAA JSTAR mapper.
www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/mapper/
August, 2022 and August 2024
The brown streak in the second picture is the front.
The war's destruction is visible from space.
#ukraine 🇺🇦
from the NOAA JSTAR mapper.
www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/mapper/
October 12, 2024 at 12:08 PM
Two satellite images of Eastern Ukraine:
August, 2022 and August 2024
The brown streak in the second picture is the front.
The war's destruction is visible from space.
#ukraine 🇺🇦
from the NOAA JSTAR mapper.
www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/mapper/
August, 2022 and August 2024
The brown streak in the second picture is the front.
The war's destruction is visible from space.
#ukraine 🇺🇦
from the NOAA JSTAR mapper.
www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/mapper/
My short story, Purity, got long-listed in the HWA Dorothy Dunnet Short Story Competition
Really honored to be there with some great #histfic writers!
#HWADDSS24
www.historiamag.com/hwa-dd-ss-20...
Really honored to be there with some great #histfic writers!
#HWADDSS24
www.historiamag.com/hwa-dd-ss-20...
September 25, 2024 at 4:07 PM
My short story, Purity, got long-listed in the HWA Dorothy Dunnet Short Story Competition
Really honored to be there with some great #histfic writers!
#HWADDSS24
www.historiamag.com/hwa-dd-ss-20...
Really honored to be there with some great #histfic writers!
#HWADDSS24
www.historiamag.com/hwa-dd-ss-20...
Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #409,951!
September 18, 2024 at 7:18 AM
Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #409,951!
Jenkins' Quality Barbecue, Jacksonville, FL
1979
I kinda want to eat there just for the cool building.
LOC
flic.kr/p/2225vgm
1979
I kinda want to eat there just for the cool building.
LOC
flic.kr/p/2225vgm
August 23, 2024 at 5:12 PM
Jenkins' Quality Barbecue, Jacksonville, FL
1979
I kinda want to eat there just for the cool building.
LOC
flic.kr/p/2225vgm
1979
I kinda want to eat there just for the cool building.
LOC
flic.kr/p/2225vgm
Bracelet Bay, Wales.
We got there at low tide which revealed an array of miniature landscapes among the rocks.
📸
More in 🧵
We got there at low tide which revealed an array of miniature landscapes among the rocks.
📸
More in 🧵
August 22, 2024 at 8:23 PM
Bracelet Bay, Wales.
We got there at low tide which revealed an array of miniature landscapes among the rocks.
📸
More in 🧵
We got there at low tide which revealed an array of miniature landscapes among the rocks.
📸
More in 🧵
The backup dancers at the closing ceremony have strong Power Rangers putty vibes.
#olympics #paris2024
#olympics #paris2024
August 11, 2024 at 8:35 PM
The backup dancers at the closing ceremony have strong Power Rangers putty vibes.
#olympics #paris2024
#olympics #paris2024
I'm thinking about applying to be a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Are there any current fellows out there willing to sponsor an independent scholar who's recently published a book (i.e. me)?
🗃️ #c18th
Are there any current fellows out there willing to sponsor an independent scholar who's recently published a book (i.e. me)?
🗃️ #c18th
June 1, 2024 at 9:28 AM
I'm thinking about applying to be a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Are there any current fellows out there willing to sponsor an independent scholar who's recently published a book (i.e. me)?
🗃️ #c18th
Are there any current fellows out there willing to sponsor an independent scholar who's recently published a book (i.e. me)?
🗃️ #c18th