Let them eat links!

In case you have been living under a rock or had no Twitter access for the last 48 hours, “the early Americanist internet exploded” on Thursday night after the Economist published a “review” of Ed Baptist’s book The Half has Never Been Told, (which, I can’t help but point out, The Junto reviewed before it was cool). This was quickly followed by condemnation from the “History Twittersphere” and no small amount of mocking #twitterstorian-style with the #economistbookreviews hashtag. The following day, the Economist pulled the review and offered an “apology.” Coverage (and book sales) ensued from New York Magazine, Slate, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Banter, and The Wire, among others.

In history news, NBC reported on the discovery of an eighteenth-century brewery at the College of William and Mary. Want to see a historical comedy based on pirates and set in the eighteenth century? Of course. We all do. But do you want to see it so bad you’re willing to help fund it at Kickstarter? (I didn’t think so.) Tim Goessling offers an earnest essay entitled, “I Lived a Day according to Ben Franklin’s Schedule and It Changed My Life.” Steven Pinker responds in The New Republic to William Deresiewicz’s essay on the Ivy League’s zombie overachievers.

In academia, History Lab Plus teamed up with the Royal Historical Society to produce a report entitled “Employing Temporary Teaching Staff in History: Code of Good Practice.” William G. Pooley tries to put into words the experience of doing archival research. CHE asks what one is to do “When Your Graduate Students Have Babies.” The AHA’s Perspectives on American History published, “The Academic Job Market’s Jagged Line: Number of Ads Placed Drops for Second Year.” Perspectives also published an interesting piece called, “Mapping the History Twittersphere.” Finally, IHE offers advice on cover letters for academic jobs by Philip N. Howard.

John Fea interviews Greg O’Malley about his new book Final Passages. The Washington Independent Review of Books looks at A Grizzly in the Mail and Other Adventures in American History by Tim Grove. Savoring the Past talks about using Google Books for research in food history. Heather Cox Richardson takes to The New York Times Opinion Pages to discuss Republicans’ misunderstanding of the history of their own party.

Finally, in funding news, the OIEAHC announced that, as part of the Lapidus Initiative, they are offering a “Scholars’ Workshop” fellowship.