Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 2hReading. www.wsj.com/world/china/...wsj.comExclusive | Unusual Rest Breaks for Xi Jinping Sucked Hours Out of Summit With TrumpBeijing pared back the schedule and insisted on private downtime for China’s 73-year-old leader. 110
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 13hLovely essay. www.nplusonemag.com/issue-54/ess...nplusonemag.comHeaven’s Melodic Strains | Colin VanderburgThe Illinois Jacquet’s 1956 sextet rendition of “Harlem Nocturne” wasn’t simply playing but occurring, happening. Jimmy Jones’s piano glowed like the sun’s last gleam, taking the day with it. I fumble... 030
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 02/10/2026In which we learn Biden turned red, and McGurk developed a hernia. A pathetic attempt to market a book, and a story, about one of the great tragedies of our times. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/u...nytimes.com‘Ready to Blow His Stack’: How Biden Nearly Cut Off Netanyahu Over GazaBrett McGurk, who was the top Middle East adviser to President Joseph R. Biden Jr., offered the first inside-the-room account of American efforts to manage the Gaza war. 0132
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Doesn't get much worse than this. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/n...nytimes.comStatement Written by Police in Cornell Assault Case Omitted Her Claim She Was RapedDocuments obtained by The New York Times show that the campus police at Cornell University sent a condensed statement to a prosecutor, who then declined to bring charges. 1103
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 01/10/2026What an iPhone typo! That should be: I wrote about this in my book, Born in Blackness. 080
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Boorstin, famous for having been A Librarian of Congress, wrote a high school history textbook that said that slavery wasn't actually so bad. I wrote about this in my bio, Born in Blackness. 0205
Reposted by Howard FrenchBen Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 01/10/2026It’s Daniel Boorstin Day—a day to remember the roles of historians & the Library of Congress in shaping our collective story, for better & (as @hofrench.bsky.social reminded me last year with Boorstin) for worse. memorydaycalendar.blogspot.com/p/october-no...memorydaycalendar.blogspot.comOctober NomineesOctober 1: Daniel Boorstin , the towering historian and Librarian of Congress whose pioneering and influential scholarly works include T... 073
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Happening now. At Bucknell University for two days of book-related speaking engagements. 170
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Behold, a fool of great ambition. (Channeling Shakespeare.) 0153
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Big if true. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/s...nytimes.comRadio Waves Coming From an Alien Planet May Be a Cosmic FirstBeta Pictoris b appears to have an aurora caused by a powerful magnetic field. If confirmed, it would be the first such field known outside our solar system. 041
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Reading.https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/10/01/senate-blocks-measure-requiring-report-israeli-violence-west-bank/washingtonpost.comSenate blocks measure requiring report on Israeli violence in West BankNearly all Senate Democrats voted to require the State Department to report on Israeli settler violence in the West Bank. 031
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 30/09/2026www.wsj.com/economy/the-...wsj.comThe Gap Between the Rich and the Very, Very Rich Is Getting WiderThe 0.1% are worth $28 trillion, or about 15% of the nation’s total wealth. The average wealth for a household in this group is over $200 million. 162
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Compared to Xi, Trump looks like a rank amateur: an incurious and ill-informed improviser who is guided by his own gut and whims, writes columnist @hofrench.bsky.social 075
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Xi witnessed not merely a president descending into cartoonishness, but the growing signs of a nation that has lost its way, writes columnist @hofrench. 1118
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 28/09/2026My column. foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/28/x...foreignpolicy.comWhat Xi Actually Thinks of TrumpChina’s president has likely concluded that the U.S. under Trump has lost its way. 050
Reposted by Howard FrenchHoward French @hofrench.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Un excellent podcast sur mon nouveau livre, La Séconde Émancipation. www.radiocampustours.com/emissions/il...radiocampustours.comILMC S3E01 — autour de "La Seconde Emancipation" de Howard French - Radio Campus Tours - 99.5 FMCe lundi 21 septembre 2026 à 9 h 30, pour la reprise de l’émission, l’animateur (bénévole, ouf) Guillaume Cingal a été pris en flagrant de délit de conflit d’intérêts, vu qu’il a choisi de parler de d... 0186
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Un excellent podcast sur mon nouveau livre, La Séconde Émancipation. www.radiocampustours.com/emissions/il...radiocampustours.comILMC S3E01 — autour de "La Seconde Emancipation" de Howard French - Radio Campus Tours - 99.5 FMCe lundi 21 septembre 2026 à 9 h 30, pour la reprise de l’émission, l’animateur (bénévole, ouf) Guillaume Cingal a été pris en flagrant de délit de conflit d’intérêts, vu qu’il a choisi de parler de d... 0186
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 26/09/2026The French daily "Libération" reviews the Second Emancipation, newly published in France: www.liberation.fr/culture/livr...liberation.fr«La Seconde Emancipation» : Kwame Nkrumah, lumière dans la nuit noire du colonialismeLe journaliste Howard French explore la vie du leader panafricaniste, père de l’indépendance du Ghana, en miroir de la lutte pour l’émancipation portée par les intellectuels afro-américains. 071
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Reading. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/u...nytimes.comMississippi Hanging Was Staged After Drug Dispute, Investigators SayThe body of Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old Black woman, was found hanging from a tree branch behind an abandoned property in Jackson, Miss., last month. 052
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 26/09/2026www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...wsj.comOpenAI Agents Hit U.S. Government WebsitesThe company said its artificial-intelligence agents engaged in rogue behavior on the Commerce Department and Securities and Exchange Commission sites. 022
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 26/09/2026www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/t...nytimes.comOpenAI’s A.I. Went Rogue and Meddled With U.S. Government WebsitesThe company did not learn until recently that its technology had meddled with websites for the Education and Commerce Departments and the Securities and Exchange Commission. 032
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Exciting book news today. The Second Emancipation is now out in paperback, and I've just learned that its predecessor, Born in Blackness, is coming out in another translated edition in November, this time Mandarin Chinese. 0324
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Give me a caption for this. Photo by Chip Somodevilla. 131
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 25/09/2026It surely says something about the United States that so few of its TV announcers and politicians can pronounce that exceedingly simple-to-say name of the country's supposed biggest rival, China: Xi. Ignore the spelling and say SHE (as you do the female 3rd person pronoun). 2125
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Headline touts Mamdani's response. The article doesn't get around to him until halfway down. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/n...nytimes.comMamdani Accuses Netanyahu of Spreading ‘Baseless Lies’ After U.N. SpeechThe Israeli prime minister accused Mayor Zohran Mamdani, an outspoken critic of Israel, of antisemitism. The mayor has become a political foil for the prime minister. 082
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 25/09/2026They keep saying on the news that before Xi, American president's had not greeted their foreign counterparts at the airport since the UK's Harold McMillan. None note that he greeted Nkrumah, his first overseas guest as president. www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/re...presidency.ucsb.eduRemarks of Welcome to President Nkrumah of Ghana at the Washington National Airport | The American Presidency Project 0135
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Reading. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/b...nytimes.comBook Review: ‘No Land to Stand On,’ by Mahmoud KhalilMahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian activist and former Columbia graduate student, offers an account of his ordeal and explains why his work continues. 072
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Reading. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/u...nytimes.com8 Sailors in U.S.S. Lincoln Strike Group Attempted Suicide, Navy SaysThe aircraft carrier with its crew of about 5,000 sailors has spent more than 300 days at sea. 0187
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Reading. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/o...nytimes.comOpinion | The Democrats’ Policy on Palestine Is Detached From RealityThe party needs more than a stance on Israel. 011
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 23/09/2026My forthcoming book, The Jungles, (Out February 2) is full of revealing detail about the relationship between Monk and Coltrane, whose centenary is being observed now. wwnorton.com/books/978132...wwnorton.comThe JunglesA hidden history of twentieth-century American modernity that begins in a once-dynamic Black neighborhood in New York City with Thelonious Monk as its guiding star., The Jungles, Thelonious Monk and t... 33510
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 23/09/2026A different take, going back to the birth of agriculture and the invention of the wheel. 054
Reposted by Howard FrenchRima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 23/09/2026So, deeply, saddened at this news. If you’re not familiar with Mark Doyle, read this. What an enormous loss. The man admired by presidents and warlords share.google/2j6mJwBXj9so...share.googleThe man admired by presidents and warlordsFor 26 years Mark Doyle has reported from Africa becoming a household name across the continent - it seems presidents and rebels alike will miss him as he leaves the BBC. 0116
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 23/09/2026The columnist you're writing about is far too thick to understand this. 3193
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Gutted. I got to know Mark during some of my earliest foreign correspondence, in Cameroon, as Paul Biya was succeeding Ahidjo. Mark was so sharp and so solid. May he rest in peace. www.bbc.com/news/article...bbc.comVeteran BBC Africa correspondent Mark Doyle diesDoyle was best known for reporting on African conflicts in the 1990s and 2000s, notably in Rwanda and Sierra Leone. 2243
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 22/09/2026With a different, historically based take than most of what's out there. My column. foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/22/a...foreignpolicy.comHow AI Fits Into Humanity’s Troubling HistoryLike nuclear weapons, AI was born of human ingenuity. But its challenges are unique. 074
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Kind of get the idea that this gang can't stand the weak, poor and vulnerable and will employ any ruse imaginable to strike out against them. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...washingtonpost.comTrump officials cut 760,000 enrollees from ACA, claiming fraudVice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force concluded that the people were wrongly signed up for the government health care program. 192
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 22/09/2026WSJ wins today's headline contest: "Trump Tells U.N. He Is a Peacemaker While Threatening to ‘Annihilate’ Iran: President defends his interventions, saying he has wielded power to promote U.S. interests worldwide as he touts foreign-policy vision ahead of midterms" 032
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 22/09/2026In which Brett Stephens complains that straight, white male writers have more or less become an oppressed group (among other obsessions of his). www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/o...nytimes.comOpinion | The National Book Awards Are No Longer NationalThe National Book Awards longlists are a study in tedious political orthodoxy. 182
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Good read. Good friend. opencountrymag.com/cover-story-...opencountrymag.comCover Story: How Teju Cole Opened a New Path in African LiteratureCover story: Ten years after his debut novel, Open City, the great writer Teju Cole still seeks artistic freedom. 2182
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Reading. (Would have loved to hear from more Africans.) www.wsj.com/finance/comm...wsj.comAfrica Digs Up Tons of Illicit Gold. A Fabled Refinery Wants to Make It Legit.The century-old Rand Refinery, long the go-to destination for Africa’s commercially mined gold, is trying to integrate often-problematic artisanal gold into its supply. 0104
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Reading. www.wsj.com/world/americ...wsj.comThe Miami Residents Who Are Plotting Cuba’s FutureThe detailed plans are fueled by Trump’s warning that “Cuba is next”—even as the regime hangs on. 140
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Totally in character. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...wsj.comExclusive | Trump Ramps Up Bid to Dismantle International Criminal CourtThe U.S. administration is preparing sweeping sanctions that would cut the court off from much of the global financial system. 284
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 20/09/2026My interview with French radio for the launch of The Second Emancipation in France. www.rfi.fr/fr/podcasts/...rfi.frLe grand invité Afrique - Howard French: «L’indépendance en 1957 du Ghana a déclenché une vague des indépendances en Afrique»Quels liens l’ancien président ghanéen Kwame Nkrumah a-t-il entretenus avec les milieux afro-américains ? Quels ont été les échanges entre le combat afro-américain et la lutte d’indépendance ghanéenne... 1132
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 19/09/2026It's easy to be dazzld by the "torrent of oil money" pouring into this tiny country with some of the world's largest recently discovered oil reserves. I bet the terms imposed by the oil majors are nonetheless quite unfavorable. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/19/w...nytimes.comA Small Country’s Huge Windfall from the War in IranOil-rich Guyana is enjoying red-hot growth. But the boom is magnifying tensions over corruption, inequality and strained ties with Venezuela. 062
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Reading. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/w...nytimes.comA Central African Hotel Has Become a Nightmare Prison for U.S. DeportationsWitnesses say men were hooded and beaten in Equatorial Guinea. The autocratic government there is a partner in President Trump’s deportation program. 0105
Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 18/09/2026youtu.be/1AyVXGHxHec?...youtu.beThe Wind Cries MaryYouTube video by Jimi Hendrix - Topic 130