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Boyce Upholt

@boyceupholt.bsky.social
1.9K followers 242 following 165 posts

🖊 EIC/Found of Southlands 📖: THE GREAT RIVER: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi (W.W. Norton) 🏆: Willie Morris Award for Southern Writing

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Reposted by Boyce Upholt
Longreads @longreads.com · 07/08/2026
"Perhaps the most curious question, though, was whether the company had cloned red wolves at all." @boyceupholt.bsky.social for @technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com/2026/04/20/1...
technologyreview.com
Colossal Biosciences said it cloned red wolves. Is it for real?
The red wolf has long been a contentious species. The debate over its preservation got even messier last year, when Colossal said it had cloned the animal.
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Alex Heard @aheard.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
If you've read any great new public lands journalism in the past week or so—especially in out of the way places—please tell me about it. Thanks. Does not have to be set in the West.
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Lindsay Beyerstein @beyerstein.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
That country should face a crisis of credibility in the eyes of the entire world. Trump is announcing that the US isn't really a country if he won't defend Blue states against Iranian attacks. Iran has exposed a division far deeper than it could have hoped.
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Like the hypocrisy and the open corruption, the naked, brazen lying is itself aspiring authoritarianism. They aren't lying to cover anything up. They're saying, "We know we're lying. You know we're lying. And we know you know we're lying. And there's nothing you can do about it."
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Christopher Brown @christopherbrown.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Field Notes from a July visit to SpaceX’s South Texas Starbase, where the launch gantries tower over one of our wildest coastal wildernesses, and the alligators bellow back when the rockets fire: fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/p/rocket-sum...
fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com
Rocket Summer
No. 199
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Papa Woof und Krampus und Bleaken @papawoof.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
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James Hell Brooks @kleinman.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Think you could've done a better job editing this piece? Good news, you can apply to do that. 6 figure journalism job plus health insurance, can work from anywhere heartlandsignal.com/jobs/editor-...
heartlandsignal.com
Heartland Signal - Job Opening - Editor in Chief Job | Heartland Signal
Heartland Signal is hiring a remote editor in chief to lead a growing state-politics newsroom. Edit daily, set the agenda, build the team. Apply by Aug. 6.
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Next year, I'll be teaching a seminar about "writing the [Mississippi] River," focused on nature and nationhood -- exploring how those two concepts shaped and were shaped by the way people documented and described the river through the years. What are some must-include texts?
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Patrick Nunnally @landh2oplaceumn.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
One of the best writers I know is publishing a book through Kickstarter. Check it out! The book includes stories from both international and domestic trips, including some travel along the Mississippi River. DeanKlinkenberg.com/BetterSafeThanSorry
deanklinkenberg.com
Better Safe Than Sorry?
A travel memoir about what happened when I stopped asking, “What if something goes wrong?”
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Having a 3-week-old kept me from Chicago, and my award category (feature reporting) came on the livestream, I was amid a diaper change. So my second James Beard Award was christened with a sprinkling of baby pee. Proud to be a 2x JBF media award winner!
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Longreads @longreads.com · 08/06/2026
"As Louisiana disappears, a vast amount of water should become public property, open to fishermen—but, officially, it’s not." —Carlyle Calhoun for Southlands Magazine
southlandsmag.com
Losing Paradise
As rising seas swallow Louisiana’s marshes, oil companies are pretending nothing has changed — and that now floatable, fishable waters remain their private property.
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Jeffrey Howard @jeffrey-howard.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
I spoke with Southlands editor @boyceupholt.bsky.social about his new magazine and the challenges of writing about a region one has adopted as home. This tension sits with me every time I write about Appalachia. commonappalachian.substack.com/p/who-gets-t...
"Who Gets to Tell the South? Boyce Upholt on Outsider Authority" text overlay on top of the Mississippi River
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Rachel Courtland @rachelcourtland.com · 08/05/2026
Pocket change for many wealthy Californians! I hope someone/some place steps up.
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
I’ll be curious to see what the more thoughtful hunting groups make of this, but it strikes me as an effort to break apart the coalition that has come together to protect public lands. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/c...
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Orders Rapid End to Some Hunting Rules on Federal Lands
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
A fun and unexpected assignment: The St. Louis Museum of Art asked me to record a short little essay reflecting on a river-related sculpture, part of their audio guide to their outdoor sculpture garden. Live online now -- though better in person, of course! www.slam.org/audio/outdoo...
slam.org
Outdoor Sculpture - Saint Louis Art Museum
Explore art outside our galleries in the Grace Taylor Broughton Sculpture Garden and the wider campus.
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Red wolves -- the "wolves of the South," as I think of them -- is one of the world's most endangered canids. So I was intrigued to hear Colossal Biosciences claim to have cloned the species. My latest, the cover story of the upcoming "Nature" issue of @technologyreview.com: ter.li/3475yjiw
ter.li
Colossal Biosciences said it cloned red wolves. Is it for real?
The red wolf has long been a contentious species. The debate over its preservation got even messier last year, when Colossal said it had cloned the animal.
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
The New Yorker has long been the magazine I've read closest, most frequently, etc. My model for an ideal magazine. So delighted to have this byline, about a phenomena that's perplexed me for more than a decade. www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
newyorker.com
How White South Africans Are Reshaping the Mississippi Delta
As Donald Trump offers U.S. asylum to Afrikaners, thousands are already working in the country on agricultural visas.
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Longreads @longreads.com · 16/01/2026
This week's Top 5 #longreads: • ICE fighter, @spiegel.de • Tectonic researcher, @highcountrynews.org • Prairie preserver, @noemamag.com • Regal grandmother, Southlands (@boyceupholt.bsky.social) • Wild timekeeper, @emergencemagazine.bsky.social longreads.com/2026/01/16/t...
longreads.com
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week - Longreads
In this edition: ICE fighter, tectonic researcher, prairie preserver, regal grandmother, wild timekeeper.
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The Progressive South @progsouth.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
This week Jesse talks to Southlands founder and editor @boyceupholt.bsky.social about Southerners' relationship to our natural surroundings — and about a new book Upholt has also written, about the history and destiny of the Mississippi River. theprogressivesouth.org/headlights-e...
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Love seeing @anyagroner.bsky.social's feature for Southlands on this list. (Ugh, do we need a Southlands bluesky account?)
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Love seeing these land in mailboxes!
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
With Southlands Issue No. 01 getting set to ship next week -- it's time to start thinking about the next issue! See pitch guidelines here: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com
Southlands - Issue No. 2 - Contributor Guidelines.docx
Issue No. 2 Pitch Guide Theme: PUBLIC / PRIVATE Updated: October 10, 2025 What is Southlands? Southlands is a new print journal that explores the diverse ways Southerners connect with the natural wo...
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Places Journal @placesjournal.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
"Disconnected from the grid after Hurricane Ida, New Orleans went without power for 10 days. That dark week marked the beginning of a social movement that has become a political cause." @boyceupholt.bsky.social spoke w/ New Orleanians fed up with unaccountable energy providers and ready for change.
placesjournal.org
Power Shift
In New Orleans, residents frustrated by an unaccountable energy utility are building a network of community resilience hubs to take back their power.
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
When Places Journal asked if I wanted to write about "climate urbanism" in New Orleans, I decided to tackle what felt like the most pressing problem: our rickety old electrical grid. The reporting was, by turns, frustrating, terrifying, and empowering. placesjournal.org/article/powe...
placesjournal.org
Power Shift
In New Orleans, residents frustrated by an unaccountable energy utility are building a network of community resilience hubs to take back their power.
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Y’all! I’m nervous about it, but I’m gonna be live on a PBS News Hour “Tipping Point” special about the Mississippi River on Wednesday night. Tune in here at 6pm CST, July 16: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLoq...
youtube.com
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Ten-ish years ago, I contemplated the academic path, and a PhD in environmental history. I decided that journalism might be more lucrative and (yikes) jury is still out. But it's a field that means a lot to me, so I'm so honored by this review!
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
This is big news that I wish I had the capacity to drill into much further www.nola.com/news/environ...
nola.com
More trouble for Louisiana's largest coastal project after Army Corps pulls permit
Here's what we know.
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Asher HELLbein @asherelbein.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Someone commission this, please
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
I love a good bridge but also -- these last remaining forests matter so much... www.tclf.org/environmenta...
tclf.org
An Environmental Impact Statement is Needed for Plaquemine Point | TCLF
Advocates for Plaquemine Point, a peninsula in a bend of the Mississippi River some eight miles south of Baton Rouge, LA, which contains a nationally significant old growth forest, are calling for an ...
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Seeking artists and illustrators who love to spend time outdoors in the South. If you know anyone who fits that bill, please link me to their portfolio 🙏
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
Get your eyes on the Mississippi, y'all. We haven't seen anything like this since I started writing the book in 2020. Or more than that: my friend John Ruskey is telling me in his 30 years on the river he's never seen it come up so fast.
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Thanks, NASA, we're doing great down here... earthobservatory.nasa.gov/topic/natura...
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Brooke Jarvis @brookejarvis.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Fuck yeah, goose www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Canada goose fights off bald eagle in rare, symbolism-laden battle on ice
Photographer captures 20-minute clash between birds emblematic of Canada and US amid high trade tensions
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Nicole Tersigni @nicsigni.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
you’re fired. wait you’re rehired. email us a list of things you’ve done today wait forget it you’re fired again. come back your job was important. you’re fired. or hired. come in to the office. wait the office has no computers go home. we are the department of government efficiency.
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John Skiles Skinner @skiles.blue · 04/03/2025
Imagine DOGE opens your mail and finds your household electric bill. To eliminate this cost, they burn your house down without warning. Then they total up the bills that, as a homeless person, you will never again pay. On its website, DOGE boasts about the money it has saved you.
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
One more way to gut public lands: ensure the remaining staff members don’t even have an office to work from. www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/ma...
arkansasonline.com
Fate unclear on plans by DOGE to ax 15 Arkansas leases, including Buffalo National River HQ | Arkansas Democrat Gazette
The federal government plans to terminate 15 real estate leases in Arkansas, including the one for the Buffalo National River's headquarters in Harrison, according to the Department of Government Effi...
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Noting this data is far from complete, but Southern parks seem particularly hard hit. Three Southern parks tied for most lost jobs. Everglades National Park: 15 jobs cut Great Smoky Mountains National Park: 12 Mammoth Cave National Park: 15 Shenandoah National Park: 15
outsideonline.com
Here’s How Many Employees Each National Park Is Losing
A nonprofit is tallying up how many NPS employees have been let go from each park. A key asset has been social media posts from terminated employees.
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
If anyone has posts or details from protests in the South’s national parks, please send them my way.
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
For a few projects, I'm looking for businesses that either (1) have an important post-Katrina recovery story or (2) are in the outdoors industry and are fighting now to recover from Helene. For #1, I'm interested in restaurants for sure but also other kinds of businesses, too. Thanks for any leads!
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
What books have or will come out in 2024 that might be of particular interest to Southern naturalists and outdoorsmen and -women?
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JT Spartz @jtspartz.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Reading list as of late: Dylan’s taste in music, Native sovereignty and collective liberation, my own German roots, and making/unmaking the mighty Mississippi by @boyceupholt.bsky.social. #books
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
I have solved Bird Flu. Give the chickens ivermectin. Have the chickens practice Earthing. The problem with their immune systems is they are not touching the soil enough. Coffee enemas for all chickens. Also we must stop reading them Ibram X. Kendi. Eggs will be back and most importantly not gay.
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
I've never been but I love to see this and will have to go soon. Maybe after I next pick up some shrimp at the Westwego Lot. www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/...
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
You know what turns out to be really fun? Commissioning the writers and photographers you love to do cool projects.
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Personally, I consider this one a bummer. "I think it just opens up a lot of opportunities for industries and businesses to come along the river and bring really an unprecedented amount of wealth to this region," said St. Charles Parish President Matthew Jewell. www.wdsu.com/article/rive...
wdsu.com
River Parishes won't be turned into historic landmarks
Louisiana leaders celebrate the decision to not proceed with the creation of the Great River Road Historic Landmark District
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
What you quickly learn when you open yourself up to pitches: there is a very clear dividing line between the aspirants and the professionals.
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
One day, pretty sure I already got an AI pitch. A fully written AI story, in fact!
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Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Want to go visit the national parks this year? Sorry. The reservation system is shut down, EMT personnel are gone, so don't get hurt or lost. No one can clean the bathrooms or cabins, so they'll be closed. Rangers are fired. www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...
sfchronicle.com
Yosemite halts camping reservations, with no timetable for their return
Yosemite halts camping reservations, with no timetable for their return at a time when federal employees are being laid off
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
I'm now accepting pitches for the debut issue of SOUTHLANDS. Check out the guidelines below and be in touch! docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com
Southlands - Contributor Guidelines.docx
Southlands: Contributor Guidelines What is Southlands? Southlands is a new print journal that will publish its debut issue in September 2025, before moving on to a biannual (and, eventually, quarterly...
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Boyce Upholt @boyceupholt.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
Deeply relieving to discover how filled with anxiety some of the all-time-greats were when it comes to dealing with editors www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
The Editorial Battles That Made The New Yorker
The magazine has three golden rules: never write about writers, editors, or the magazine. On the occasion of our hundredth anniversary, we’re breaking them all.
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