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Amy Brady, PhD

@amybrady.bsky.social
1.1K followers 448 following 407 posts

Writing a book about maps | Wrote a book called, Ice: FROM MIXED DRINKS TO SKATING RINKS—A COOL HISTORY OF A HOT COMMODITY | historian & journalist | Newsletter: "Library of Wonders": libraryofwonders.substack.com/p/wel…

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Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD
Jeff Goodell @jeffgoodell.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This El Niño is making California the new Florida.
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Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD
Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
doing the reading, in a onesie, in 1368.
A bearded man in a jumpsuit-like dress with, whose legs are fish parts, is reading from a book on a desk in front of him. And this reading scene is part of an ornament in a manuscript of 1368 AD: page 221r of the "Bible historiale complétée Moyenne" (SBB Berlin PK, Ms. Phill. 1906).
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Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD
Sarah Andersen @sarahseeandersen.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
The image is of a four panel comic.
In the first panel we see a dragon sitting on a pile of treasure. A speech bubble pointing off panel reads, “Dragon, why do you have all this treasure?”
In the second panel we zoom in on the dragons face. He simply says “shiny”.
In the third panel we pan to the left and see that there is a crow standing next to the dragon on the treasure.
In the fourth panel we zoom in on the crows face. He says “hell yeah”.
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Had the great pleasure of interviewing Caroline Bicks, author of MONSTERS IN THE ARCHIVES, for Library of Wonders. The book contains her account of what she found the year she spent digging through the private archives of Stephen King #LibraryOfWonders libraryofwonders.substack.com/p/the-archiv...
A graffitied image of Jack Nicholson playing Jack Torrence in the Shining. Over the image is the title of the interview: The Archives of Stephen King: An Interview with Caroline Bicks on her "Year of Fear"
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Someone asked me why I'm writing a book about maps in 2026. I explained that even in our digital age, they function as battlegrounds over sovereignty, national identity, and truth--highlighting political riffs better than almost any other tool. Anyway, this is Google Maps now:
A screenshot of google maps showing that Lake Ontario has been changed to Lake America
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Someone asked me why I'm writing a book about maps in 2026. I explained that even in our digital age, they function as battlegrounds over sovereignty, national identity, and truth--highlighting political riffs better than almost any other tool. Anyway, this is Google Maps now:
A screenshot of google maps showing that Lake Ontario has been changed to Lake America
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Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD
The Public Domain Review @publicdomainrev.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
The original Dr Seuss: a children's book from 1838 which only uses words with one syllable: publicdomainreview.org/collection/n…
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Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD
Hanna Blue 🏴‍☠️🏴🏁🗽⚜️❤️‍🔥🎃🎭🍁 @blueberrypoison.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
The horse-riding librarians of the Pack Horse Library Project in Hindman, Kentucky, around 1940. This was a genuine New Deal initiative established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression.
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Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD
MapQuest @mapquest.com · 27/08/2026
We’re not changing it.
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Riding With Robots @ridingrobots.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
From NASA: It happened again! Here's Phobos passing in front of the Sun as seen by the Perseverance rover from the surface of Mars on Aug. 12. science.nasa.gov/photojournal...
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Project Gutenberg @gutenberg.org · 24/08/2026
Most Challenged Books Every year, the American Library Association compiles a list of the books most frequently targeted by censors based on reports from the field and media coverage. www.ala.org/bbooks/frequ... Banned books at PG: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/books... #censorship #BannedBooks
Stacks of books bound by string that are haphazardly thrown into a large pile
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Many thanks to Anna Holmes at @lamaterial.com for interviewing me about icy cocktails and why so many Los Angeles bartenders are now importing their ice (and why, on occasion, even I will pay more for a fine cocktail if the ice is high quality!) lamaterial.com/p/luxury-ice...
lamaterial.com
L.A. Cocktail Bars Are Importing Ice From Japan
At L.A. cocktail bars, crystal-clear Japanese ice has become a luxury ingredient prized for its shape, density and slower melt.
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Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD
Project Gutenberg @gutenberg.org · 20/08/2026
The Lost Vocabulary of Whaling - A forensic glossary AFTER 250 YEARS OF EXPLOITATION, what remains is a graveyard of vocabulary and tools. By Sarah Sax Art By Ella Frances Sanders orionmagazine.org/article/the-... Books about Whaling at PG: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subje... #books #whaling
Title: Sea Monsters Unmasked, and Sea Fables Explained

Author: Henry Lee

An engraving depicting whaling, showing several large whales spouting water at the ocean's surface, with small whaling boats and a larger ship visible in the background.
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Many thanks to Anna Holmes at @lamaterial.com for interviewing me about icy cocktails and why so many Los Angeles bartenders are now importing their ice (and why, on occasion, even I will pay more for a fine cocktail if the ice is high quality!) lamaterial.com/p/luxury-ice...
lamaterial.com
L.A. Cocktail Bars Are Importing Ice From Japan
At L.A. cocktail bars, crystal-clear Japanese ice has become a luxury ingredient prized for its shape, density and slower melt.
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Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD
Kevin Ashton 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🇬🇱🇩🇰🇵🇸 @kevinashton.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
This is an extraordinary paper: incredible evidence that Ancient Egyptian Princesses were badass warriors.
frontiersin.org
Frontiers | Bioarchaeological reassessment of Dahshur royal skeletal remains from the Late Middle Kingdom (c. 1850–1700 BCE)
IntroductionThis study addresses the underutilization of bioarchaeological approaches in Egyptian research by reevaluating six royal skeletal remains (King H...
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Love this essay about the need for writers to steal time to write. No one will give it to you! In @literaryhub.bsky.social lithub.com/stealing-tim...
lithub.com
Stealing Time: In Praise of Writing at Dawn, at Midnight or Whenever We Can
At 5 AM and it’s me and the birds. This is how I like it: when the house is asleep. Outside, the slow rumble of a sanitation truck. A lone scooter screams down the block. Sometimes a helicopt…
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
my cats when it's over 72 degrees
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Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD
weird medieval guys @weirdmedieval.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
did you know that the English words druid, trust, truth, betroth, and truce all share a root word with “tree”? this reflects the longstanding spiritual and symbolic significance of trees in many European cultures
a hand drawn diagram of a tree showing the many words that come from the root word of ‘tree’
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The Public Domain Review @publicdomainrev.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
As #Wimbledon kicks off today, here's a look at some centre court action circa 1613 — from a 17th-century "friendship book". More here: publicdomainreview.org/essay/boys-w…
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Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD
Blue Heron Farm @blueheronfarm.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Objects may appear larger in bird cam
Red-bellied woodpecker with an absolute dagger of a beak
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
I am over the moon to announce that I was accepted into a Millay Arts core writing residency later this fall to work on #herebedragons. What a luxury to write in such a soul-filling place.
black and white vintage photo of Edna St. Vincent Millay. Her hand is brought to her chin, as she looks slightly downward, perhaps in thought.Millay Arts logo - a series of triangular shapes in different colors create a fan over the words "Millay Arts"A photo of the Millay Arts sign in front of the residency's white barn. A few trees are in the background.
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Digital Brain @yourdigitalbrain.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
African wildcat experiences ice for the first time and has the most adorable surprised reaction you'll ever see
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
🗣️🗣️🗣️NEW OCTOPUS 🗣️🗣️🗣️
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Outrageous sky tonight
Wispy Clouds at sunset in the colors of deep orange and yellow
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Outrageous sky tonight
Wispy Clouds at sunset in the colors of deep orange and yellow
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Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD
Buckinghamshire Archives @bucksarchives.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
New photo donated! It's of historic cats!! We know their names!!! This is Topsy and Toby at Stapleford, 1920. Thanks to the archive, their adorable little faces will live on in our collection forever.
A black and white photo of a young boy kneeling in a school uniform. He is holding two cats in a basket who look fairly frustrated at the whole situation to be honest.
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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
The flying cat ("Die fliegende Katze") according to a German book about birds and other flying animals from 1763. #catcontent
"Die fliegende Katze"
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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
I have been forwarding this edition of @billmckibben.bsky.social's newsletter to everyone I know. The impact of Musk and Trump's cuts to USAID didn't hit right away, but they are hitting now. And in Somalia and the DRC it looks a lot like racist culling. billmckibben.substack.com/p/a-question...
billmckibben.substack.com
A Question of Margin
And there's so very little.
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Brett "Solidarity 2026" Banditelli @banditelli.org · 15/05/2026
Here it is, a Bluesky exclusive: The goth legends of baby birds The best baby American Coot encounter of my life, 2hrs next to a pond dangling my camera less than an inch above the water, cut down to the best 8 secs, and slowed down to 25% speed, and set to Clan of Xymox' "Jasmine and Rose" 🪶 🐣
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Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Still thinking about this (from @ferrisjabr.bsky.social 's Becoming Earth): "a single gallon of gasoline represents 100 tonnes of ancient life, roughly equivalent to 20 adult elephants". I knew it was big, but never worked it out. A tank of petrol is a LOT of ancient life. +1 reason to electrify!
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
First peony bloom of the season! #gardenfeed 🌱
A bright yellow peony A bright yellow peony from the side
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Rainbow tonight!
A rainbow reaches a small island
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
The tulips still look amazing! Going on week 4?! #gardenfeed 🌱
Close up of a pink tulipSeveral pink tulips in a row with one shorter, bright-red tulip in the mix.Pink tulips from another angle.
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Rivka @theasraidance.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
The Stroll by Gertrude Abercrombie #Caturday
Oil painting in the Surrealist style. A woman with long dark hair, wearing black clothes and a black hat, is walking along a path under a full moon. She has just passed by a single tree. She is accompanied by a black cat. Painted in 1943.
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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Those were the days.
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Tobias Carroll @tobiascarroll.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
I kinda love that there's a market for vintage @theonion.com attire. www.ebay.com/itm/11681779...
ebay.com
Vintage The Onion T Shirt Crypty Cryptosporidium Promo Tee Mens Large Y2K Promo | eBay
Subject/Brand: The Onion "CRYPTY! THE CRYPTOSPORIDIUM" graphic shirt Garment Brand/Tag: Fruit of the Loom Lofteez Tag Size: Large (Mens) Material: 100% Cotton Color: White with green/black multicolor print Front Graphic/Text: Cartoon microbe wearing a cap with "C"; text reads "CRYPTY! THE CRYPTOSPORIDIUM" Back Neck Print: "the ONION" with logo and "" Country of Origin: Made in Honduras of U.S.A. fabric Notes: Photos show measurement tools for visual sizing reference.
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Colin Dickey @colindickey.com · 01/05/2026
awful lot of shit in this world, but this one small thing is nice: www.infowars.com
infowars.com
Off Air
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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
STOP THE MILITARIZATION OF FISHES (and seals, and sea monsters, tbh).
An armed fish in print (see the thread)An armed seal in print (see the thread)An armed fishy animal in print (see the thread)An armed fish in print (see the thread)
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Cheryl in Nova Scotia 🇨🇦🍁🍁 @minibubbly.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Farmers in #PrinceEdwardIsland delay first hay harvest to help threatened bird species raise their young #Canada #EndangeredSpecies www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-...
ctvnews.ca
Farmers delay first hay harvest to help threatened bird species raise their young
Some Prince Edward Island farmers are holding off on their first hay cut to help threatened bobolinks raise their young before machinery moves into the field.
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Imagine making AI slop when hooded mergansers already exist #birds
A female hooded merganser swims next to a snow covered creek bank
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Imagine making AI slop when hooded mergansers already exist #birds
A female hooded merganser swims next to a snow covered creek bank
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Reposted by Amy Brady, PhD
Tove Danovich @tkdano.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
If you’re a reporter covering Gertie, the world’s oldest living chicken, and want another expert to weigh in, I’ve got you! I wrote a book about chickens and am always happy to talk. They live a lot longer than people think!
Author holding the book UNDER THE HENFLUENCE by Tove Danovich next to a shelf that has a chicken statue on it.
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Postcard From The Past @pastpostcard.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Ever blow-dried a labrador?
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Kameron Hurley @kameronhurley.com · 18/04/2026
WHO
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Cats of Yore @catsofyore.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
“Sauve qui peut”. This is a French phrase that translates literally to something like "save yourself who's able/can" and roughly equates to “run for your life!” or “every man for himself!”, indicating a chaotic or dangerous situation/stampede. Postcard from my collection, no date/info.
Black and white photo of a shorthaired tabby kitten appearing to burst through a sheet of white paper in a dark frame. Text at the bottom reads “sauve qui peut”.
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Amy Brady, PhD @amybrady.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
What you got, bird nerds? 🪶#birds
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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Purely for childhood nostalgia, I like that NASA has resurrected the 1970s-90s “worm” logo. (Hilariously the older one is called the “meatball.”) That red logo is a remnant of a more hopeful moment for space exploration and society, and despite everything it makes me glad to see it in space again.
The red worm NASA logo on the side of the Artemis spacecraft.The red NASA logo unveiled in 1975 nicknamed the worm.The original NASA logo with a blue starfield and a red swoosh nicknamed the meatball.
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Dr Vanessa @hpsvanessa.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
I’ve had this, to the tune of “if you’re happy & you know it” stuck in my head for days.
White text in a black background 

“If your flyer is AI, I won't go *clap* *clap*

If your flyer is AI, I won't go *clap* *clap*

If your flyer is AI, I won't go and I won't buy

If your flyer is AI, I won't go *clap* *clap*”
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