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Austin McCoy

@austinmccoy.bsky.social
12K followers 1.9K following 1.6K posts

Historian, Author of Living in a DAISY Age: The Music, Culture, and World De La Soul Made. Also writing book on history of the Left in Midwest. austincmccoy.com austincmccoy.substack.com

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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
And I'm definitely here for the folks who want to talk about how they experienced Songs in the Key of Life
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I’m working on a short piece about Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life for the anniversary and I’m putting on my Captain Obvious hat to say: There are not enough words one can say about it 😂 I just wonder what it was like to be there in 1976 to experience it
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Anna Lind-Guzik @alindguzik.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
the state should not be in the business of killing people. It’s barbaric
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I'll be at ASALH this week! Honored that they organized a roundtable for Living in a DAISY Age. It should be a fun conversation with Mickell Carter, Stephen Ward, and Ed Onaci.
Image of a flyer for a book event. At the top is a graphic of books sitting on a shelf (various colors--blue, yellow, black, red, purple) and "HINE-HORNE BOOK ROUNDTABLE" in bold dark lettering following the graphic. An image of the cover for my book, Living in a DAISY Age: The Music, Culture, and World De La Soul Made," sits on the bottom left, below the banner. 

To the right is the title of my book with the names of the panelists, Mickell Carter, Edward Onaci, and Stephen Ward. Below this is the date, time, and location of the event (Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2:15-3:45pm, James 3, 4th Floor). Then a graphic of a stack of books follow.
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I'll be at ASALH this week! Honored that they organized a roundtable for Living in a DAISY Age. It should be a fun conversation with Mickell Carter, Stephen Ward, and Ed Onaci.
Image of a flyer for a book event. At the top is a graphic of books sitting on a shelf (various colors--blue, yellow, black, red, purple) and "HINE-HORNE BOOK ROUNDTABLE" in bold dark lettering following the graphic. An image of the cover for my book, Living in a DAISY Age: The Music, Culture, and World De La Soul Made," sits on the bottom left, below the banner. 

To the right is the title of my book with the names of the panelists, Mickell Carter, Edward Onaci, and Stephen Ward. Below this is the date, time, and location of the event (Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2:15-3:45pm, James 3, 4th Floor). Then a graphic of a stack of books follow.
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Sort of (re)launching my Substack! I posted a few notes since last year, but I'm planning to post more thoughts about history, culture, and politics there. Please subscribe! Starting with updated book tour information and a media roundup. austincmccoy.substack.com/p/finally-la...
austincmccoy.substack.com
Finally launching my Substack: Living in a DAISY Age Fall Tour
Book and tour updates!
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I'm doing a book event at the Baltimore Book Fest @redemmas.org this weekend! I'll be in conversation with SKIZ Fernando, who's published books about hip hop culture, Wu-Tang, and DOOM. Join us! Saturday at Red Emmas at 5pm! Should be fun.
Image is a multi-colored (light green, dark green, orange, forest green--I think?) flyer for a book talk at the Baltimore Book Festival with SKIZ Fernando. A headshot of me appears on the left and SKIZ's headshot appears on the right. They are below my name in large letters "In conversation with SKIZ FERNANDO."

The important information: Saturday, September 19, 5PM on the Red Emma's Stage appears in white lettering. The address 3128 Greenmount Ave / redemmas.org appears below that. To the right of this information is an image of my book.
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I'm doing a book event at the Baltimore Book Fest @redemmas.org this weekend! I'll be in conversation with SKIZ Fernando, who's published books about hip hop culture, Wu-Tang, and DOOM. Join us! Saturday at Red Emmas at 5pm! Should be fun.
Image is a multi-colored (light green, dark green, orange, forest green--I think?) flyer for a book talk at the Baltimore Book Festival with SKIZ Fernando. A headshot of me appears on the left and SKIZ's headshot appears on the right. They are below my name in large letters "In conversation with SKIZ FERNANDO."

The important information: Saturday, September 19, 5PM on the Red Emma's Stage appears in white lettering. The address 3128 Greenmount Ave / redemmas.org appears below that. To the right of this information is an image of my book.
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Screenshot of a list of book events I have planned for the fall. "The Living in a DAISY Age book tour" and "I have several events planned for the fall:" are in bold letters.
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Sort of (re)launching my Substack! I posted a few notes since last year, but I'm planning to post more thoughts about history, culture, and politics there. Please subscribe! Starting with updated book tour information and a media roundup. austincmccoy.substack.com/p/finally-la...
austincmccoy.substack.com
Finally launching my Substack: Living in a DAISY Age Fall Tour
Book and tour updates!
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I didn’t say it was socialist 😂
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Oof. I’m sorry!
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
LOL. He's not really a socialist. He's an opportunist who, yes, is willing to bribe people to get what he wants. The goal here isn't democracy, which is an important distinction
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Funny but not surprising that the president is railing against “socialism” while proposing to bribe people to vote GOP in November
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Thomas Bell's Out of This Furnace is such a good, yet brutal, read (assigned it for my Working Class America class). Gets me every time.
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I use this one!
Image of Thomas Bell’s book, Out of This Furnace: A Novel of Immigrant Labor in America. The cover is white with the title in Red and black lettering. Below the title is a black and white image of seven working men
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Thomas Bell's Out of This Furnace is such a good, yet brutal, read (assigned it for my Working Class America class). Gets me every time.
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We're Skroob @pseudonymble.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
It's always a good time to play De La youtu.be/4mk2qKDG3SU?...
youtu.be
De La Soul - I Am I Be (Official Lyric Video) ft. Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis
YouTube video by DeLaSoulVEVO
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The Living in a DAISY Age tour continues! Next week I am heading to Portland to give a talk at Lewis & Clark College on Thursday. Then, on Saturday, the Free Society People’s Library and Mississippi Records is throwing a free party at Sumner-Albina Park.
Flyer for upcoming my upcoming talk at Lewis & Clark College. At the top, there's a neon green banner with LIVING IN A DAISY AGE: HOW DE LA SOUL CHANGED HIP HOP CULTURE in purple and pink lettering. Below that is my name (In purple), THUR, SEPTEMBER 10 6PM (in teal), SMITH HALL (in blue). To the left is an image of my book cover. And then the description of my talk and bio in white lettering ontop of a teal banner. My headshot is in the bottom right corner of the flyer. Free & Open to the Public. This is an image of a flyer for the block party on Saturday. It's laying on a dark board and the flyer itself is yellow with a white frame. An image of De La Soul appears near the top. The pertinent information about the event--All Ages, Saturday 9/12, 4-8pm, Sumner-Albina Park, 722 N. Sumner St., PDX, with DJ Jumbo and Sound by the Impact Sound. Free! 

Sponsored by the Free Society People's Library and Mississippi Records
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Too bad you won’t be around! Would’ve been great to see you!
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Melissa Johnson, PhD @ladyhistorian.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I won't be in town but I hope my Portland folks will check these out
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Copies of my book will be available! I’m looking forward to getting back out there and talking De La Soul, rap, and political history. Thanks to Garrett Felber and Magalí Rabasa for organizing! Stay tuned for more dates and announcements!
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The Living in a DAISY Age tour continues! Next week I am heading to Portland to give a talk at Lewis & Clark College on Thursday. Then, on Saturday, the Free Society People’s Library and Mississippi Records is throwing a free party at Sumner-Albina Park.
Flyer for upcoming my upcoming talk at Lewis & Clark College. At the top, there's a neon green banner with LIVING IN A DAISY AGE: HOW DE LA SOUL CHANGED HIP HOP CULTURE in purple and pink lettering. Below that is my name (In purple), THUR, SEPTEMBER 10 6PM (in teal), SMITH HALL (in blue). To the left is an image of my book cover. And then the description of my talk and bio in white lettering ontop of a teal banner. My headshot is in the bottom right corner of the flyer. Free & Open to the Public. This is an image of a flyer for the block party on Saturday. It's laying on a dark board and the flyer itself is yellow with a white frame. An image of De La Soul appears near the top. The pertinent information about the event--All Ages, Saturday 9/12, 4-8pm, Sumner-Albina Park, 722 N. Sumner St., PDX, with DJ Jumbo and Sound by the Impact Sound. Free! 

Sponsored by the Free Society People's Library and Mississippi Records
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Awesome the latest episode of Lanterns is named after OutKast and it dropped a little after the 30th anniversary of ATLiens. Such a great fit for that particular episode too (in the ways that the writers address race, culture, and John Stewart's upbringing)
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Awesome the latest episode of Lanterns is named after OutKast and it dropped a little after the 30th anniversary of ATLiens. Such a great fit for that particular episode too (in the ways that the writers address race, culture, and John Stewart's upbringing)
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Whew. I'm still not used to teaching at 8:30am 😂
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Solidarity with The Baffler workers! They, like all workers, deserve a fair contract that protects them from the whims of management.
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Awesome! I love Back to the World!
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Nice! What’s your favorite album of his?
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
ICE deporting 50K people in a month is crazy. apnews.com/article/bord...
apnews.com
ICE arrests jumped to nearly 50,000 in July, the highest monthly total of Trump’s second term
Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nearly 50,000 people in July. That marks the highest single-month total during the second Trump administration.
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Listened to a recent Chris Hayes podcast about AI and the guest said something about what folks really wanting with artificial general intelligence is the ability to have robot slaves. Then I encountered this while watching the original Westworld last night. Havent gotten this out of my brian since
Image is a picture of a TV displaying a scene from the 1973 film, Westworld. One character is standing to the left wearing brown pants, green shirt, and a khaki bandana while holding a brown cowboy hat. The other is sitting in a chair on the right wearing a blue shirt. To the right of hinm is a fern plant and above the plant is a gold lamp and two small pictures. At the bottom reads the caption: "Boy, machines are the servant of man!"
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
*brain, not "Brian" lol
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Listened to a recent Chris Hayes podcast about AI and the guest said something about what folks really wanting with artificial general intelligence is the ability to have robot slaves. Then I encountered this while watching the original Westworld last night. Havent gotten this out of my brian since
Image is a picture of a TV displaying a scene from the 1973 film, Westworld. One character is standing to the left wearing brown pants, green shirt, and a khaki bandana while holding a brown cowboy hat. The other is sitting in a chair on the right wearing a blue shirt. To the right of hinm is a fern plant and above the plant is a gold lamp and two small pictures. At the bottom reads the caption: "Boy, machines are the servant of man!"
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
ICE deporting 50K people in a month is crazy. apnews.com/article/bord...
apnews.com
ICE arrests jumped to nearly 50,000 in July, the highest monthly total of Trump’s second term
Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nearly 50,000 people in July. That marks the highest single-month total during the second Trump administration.
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Yeah, I was happy to read @jamellebouie.net ‘s comments in this exchange. The timeline supporting the critique that “wokeness” of 2020 undermined Democrats in 2024 when Biden won in 2020 😂 1. That’s rightwing framing, which has sought to rewrite the history of spring/summer 2020
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
*physically run for office…
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
4. I mean, I think we’d still love to see the shelved “autopsy” about the 2024 campaign lol
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
3. But, of course, this framing lets Dems off the hook for a train of tactical and strategic errors which included the half-hearted attempts to prosecute Trump, failure to bring costs down, Gaza, the Dems waiting too late to find a prez nominee that could physical run for office, etc
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
2. This framing is actually disrespectful to voters. So, are folks insinuating that people who voted for Biden in 2020 did so in a stupor and then they woke up (no pun) over the course of Biden’s term? 😂
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Yeah, I was happy to read @jamellebouie.net ‘s comments in this exchange. The timeline supporting the critique that “wokeness” of 2020 undermined Democrats in 2024 when Biden won in 2020 😂 1. That’s rightwing framing, which has sought to rewrite the history of spring/summer 2020
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I usually talk about the history of the movement of women office workers who inspired the 9 to 5 film later in my classes, but I thought I’d address a little of it in class yesterday. I found the contents of the last two slides while researching my book. Yep, there's some 9 to 5 calendars out there
Powerpoint slide with the 9 to 5 movie poster on the left, in yellow, a black and white photo with women carrying picket signs on the top right, and the title of the lecture ("9 to 5" in Politics, History, & Culture") in white letters against a dark gray background on the bottom right. A powerpoint slide with images from the 9 to 5 calendar. On the left, the main characters played by Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, and Jane Fonda are posing and on the bottom is the January 1981 calendar. On the right, Dolly Parton sits at a desk in front of a typewriter with the February 1981 calendar at the bottom. This slide features two images: The first is a flyer for a screening of 9 to 5 with special guest, Jane Fonda, organized by the group, Cleveland Women Working. The second is a flyer for National Secretaries Week with an image of the 9to5 logo and office supplies in the middle of the poster.
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I usually talk about the history of the movement of women office workers who inspired the 9 to 5 film later in my classes, but I thought I’d address a little of it in class yesterday. I found the contents of the last two slides while researching my book. Yep, there's some 9 to 5 calendars out there
Powerpoint slide with the 9 to 5 movie poster on the left, in yellow, a black and white photo with women carrying picket signs on the top right, and the title of the lecture ("9 to 5" in Politics, History, & Culture") in white letters against a dark gray background on the bottom right. A powerpoint slide with images from the 9 to 5 calendar. On the left, the main characters played by Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, and Jane Fonda are posing and on the bottom is the January 1981 calendar. On the right, Dolly Parton sits at a desk in front of a typewriter with the February 1981 calendar at the bottom. This slide features two images: The first is a flyer for a screening of 9 to 5 with special guest, Jane Fonda, organized by the group, Cleveland Women Working. The second is a flyer for National Secretaries Week with an image of the 9to5 logo and office supplies in the middle of the poster.
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
So, I just read this NYT interview with Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine and whoa boy. They talk about AI use, or I would say they try to talk about it, and it's as ill-informed, rediculous, and contradictory as I expected. I'm about to rant. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/23/b...
nytimes.com
Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine Think A.I. Is Good for Music (Gift Article)
The hit-making duo turned tech moguls also have thoughts about why corporate America isn’t collaborative enough.
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Terribly racist and xenophobic. Of course, they think this will somehow lower tuition and board costs and open up spots for folks born in the US, but it’s really going to raise the cost of college for everyone smh
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Also, Rick Rubin recently declared AI to be the "new punk rock" and Palantir touted Raekwon visiting their facitilies. All of this happening this past week, I believe smh
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Haha very true
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
LOL Yeah, it's clear that folks like Rick Rubin just likes to hear himself talk
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Also, Rick Rubin recently declared AI to be the "new punk rock" and Palantir touted Raekwon visiting their facitilies. All of this happening this past week, I believe smh
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
*ridiculous mispelled in first post lol
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Austin McCoy @austinmccoy.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
I should talk my students through this interview as an example of how using generative AI (and thinking about everything from a billionaire capitalist POV) is bad for your brain lol
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