#AcademicRunPlaylist - 6/21/25

It was another driving day for me (pics are of some of the local mulberries that are now ready to eat), so on the way I listened to some books for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was "The Week" by David Henkin. This book mostly covers the emergence of the 7-day week as one of the central societal organizing forces in the world, focusing on the period from the late 1500s to the mid 20th century. As one of the most arbitrary time intervals that has now become an unquestioned institution, Henkin shows how the week was fundamentally unimportant until dogmatic North American colonists, who insisted on Sunday as a day of prayer and rest, started a movement that eventually snowballed into the modern concept of the week. Other week-like time systems in other parts of the world are briefly treated towards the end of the book, although I wish those sections were expanded. Also fascinating were Soviet experiments with a 5-day week and early 20th century drives for different calendar systems. Highly recommend https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300271157/the-week/

Last was "Female Husbands" by Jen Manion. Manion delivers an eye-opening examination of the female husband phenomenon, their wives, and the larger social context of these relationships. I haven't seen these relationships covered in other trans histories in much detail, but this book shows how a number of true pioneers lived as men, built careers, and had long marriages to women centuries before the term "transgender" existed. I also loved the analysis of their wives, and while the historical record is sparse here Manion does a service by treating them as folks with agency in their own right. All of this demonstrates what is possible even in extremely repressive environments and the long, proud history of the LGBTQ+ community. Highly recommend https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/female-husbands/4BC8AE77B6EAF6055BD1DA64035509B3