Randall Stephens
@randalljstephens
American historian, religion, environment, pop culture, the South. Author: The Devil's Music (Harvard, 2018). Prof of Am & Brit Studies, Univ of Oslo. Fulbright alumnus.
The new renovation to the Kansas History Museum is great. Pics are of one of John Brown’s revolvers and a restored 1880 Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe steam locomotive.
Lost in translation. Our coffee orders with last name @hildelstephens.bsky.social
They told us to “expect the unexpected,” but we didn’t know that meant that they were gonna move to Sacramento
“You want us to say chocolate chip biscuit? That is not what biscuits are. Biscuits are fluffy bread you can eat for breakfast and put gravy on. I would sooner die the shameful, violent death of the coward than put gravy on a snickerdoodle." —Samuel Adams on the Biscuit Act youtu.be/_cTi_vTwwmU?...
George looks really like a Gallagher brother in this Dec 1965 photo
Steinbeck to literary agent Mavis McIntosh on complaints about his radical labor activism MS, In Dubious Battle, 1935: “There are as many communist systems as there are communists. It should be obvious from the book that not only is this true, but that the ideologies change to fit a situation.”
Edgar Allen Poe, before and after. He took Dr. Zebulon Wigglesmith's Invigorating Vegetable Tonic and wrote a series of feel-good buddy comedies.
Me (sitting), my brother, and our neighbor, ready for the bicentennial.
Me, wearing this and walking around Oslo, knowing I might be the only person in Norway who likes this stuff.
The transcendentalists would’ve really hated this passage from 2 Chronicles 6:1: “Then Solomon said, ‘The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. But I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.’”
Connor O'Malley has some amazing short films: "We left [Ireland] because they figured they didn't know how to do potatoes. But they figured out how to make curly fries and how to make waffle-cup fries. We're going back because we're getting our fries back."
Here’s the shop dog at a food ‘n’ stuff in the Ozarks. His name is Captain Hook. I gave him a treat. He shook my hand.