#AcademicRunPlaylist - 8/23/25

After a very long travel day I'm finally back in Boston, but at least on the flight I was able to listen to books and a talk for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was an interesting talk by Roman Chychyla on strategic mimicry in earnings call prepared remarks at Mohamed Elsalkh's seminar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2n9A_Zw49I

Next was "The Republic for Which It Stands" by Richard White. This is a nearly all-encompassing history of arguably the most important period of domestic US history (1865-1896), and one that bears many similarities to our current moment. The different chapters, and especially the conclusion, are also extremely insightful, detailing the connections between the failure of reconstruction, the railroad frenzy, eugenics, trusts, labor power, and US/Indian relations. The only problem is that there's no coherent thesis or framing, leaving the different sections to feel disjointed. Covering so much ground also leaves depth wanting, despite this book's length, but the incredible bibliography provides an excellent jumping off point. Highly recommend https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-republic-for-which-it-stands-9780199735815

Last was "The Invention of Prehistory" by Stefanos Geroulanos. Geroulanos masterfully analyzed the surprisingly recent history of the quest to understand and frame the origins of humanity. He shows how deeply scientific examinations, and their employment for political purposes, are deeply intertwined with racism, colonialism, eugenics, and nearly every horror of the last 150 years (there's a chapter simply titled "Nazis"). Overall he demonstrates the stark contrast between how much we've learned about the details of our ancestors and how little we understand about their larger context, enabling us to spin narratives around our past to suit our own purposes. Highly recommend https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324091455