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Matthew Warner Osborn

@nighthawkog.bsky.social
271 followers 510 following 93 posts

Historian of early America. Author of Rum Maniacs: Alcoholic Insanity in the Early American Republic, and Night Hawk: A Nineteenth-Century Superhero and the Dawn of American Mass Culture press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/c…

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Reposted by Matthew Warner Osborn
Dan Howlett @dhowlett1692.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Today @nighthawkog.bsky.social joins us on @askhistorians.bsky.social to discuss Ameria's first superhero, Night Hawk. Come check it out! (And see his book, new from @uchicagopress.bsky.social) www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...
reddit.com
From the AskHistorians community on Reddit: AMA: Was America’s first superhero a radical socialist? I am Matthew Warner Osborn, author of NIGHT HAWK: A NINETEENTH-CENTURY SUPERHERO AND THE DAWN OF AME...
Explore this post and more from the AskHistorians community
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I am thrilled to be hosting a live Q&A on r/AskHistorians this morning. www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...
reddit.com
From the AskHistorians community on Reddit: AMA: Was America’s first superhero a radical socialist? I am Matthew Warner Osborn, author of NIGHT HAWK: A NINETEENTH-CENTURY SUPERHERO AND THE DAWN OF AME...
Explore this post and more from the AskHistorians community
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
theguardian.com
Brendan Carr was a member of a rogue Alcoholics Anonymous group some labeled a ‘cult’
Carr was a member of the group in his teens and 20s. There is no evidence Trump’s powerful FCC chair participated in any inappropriate conduct
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
"Not so fast, Mr. Dogberry—You have not got me yet"—The Night-Hawk, No. VII.
matthewwarnerosborn.substack.com
Jovial Sons of “Woman, Love, and Wine”
“The Night-Hawk, No. VII,” The Mechanics’ Free Press, October 11, 1828
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Two unvaccinated people die of measles in Pennsylvania
Deaths from disease are first in state in 35 years and just one day after Maryland declared outbreak in three counties
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
apple.news/AMore3HakRL6...
apple.news
Is it the end for the Kansas City Call? Maybe community and love can save it | Williams — The Kansas City Star
This week for the first time in 107 years, the weekly Black-owned paper did not publish. People close to The Call said it may close. From Mará Rose Williams:
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Why is Anthropic destroying books? | Kathryn James
The AI company apparently found destructively scanning ‘all the books in the world’ easier than dealing with copyright in its quest for training data
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
slate.com/technology/2... The deadliest animals in the world.
slate.com
They’re the Most Annoying Creatures on the Planet. You Don’t Know What They’re Going to Unleash on America.
They can do a lot more than ruin your summer day.
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
The Night Hawk at San Diego Comic Con.
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
www.theguardian.com/football/202...
theguardian.com
In the US, the 2026 World Cup’s legacy will be an invitation to do it all again | Leander Schaerlaeckens
Fifa’s gargantuan revenue influx from the tournament, with little left over for locals, will beget more exploitation
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Really looking forward to this conversation with Peter Coogan and Andrew Fogel. comiccon2026.sched.com/event/2QWf9/...
comiccon2026.sched.com
Comic-Con 2026: The Night Hawk, 1828: The First Superher...
View more about this event at Comic-Con 2026
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
D&D players raise millions in real-life campaign against ‘corporate elite’
Brennan Lee Mulligan’s Dungeons and Dragons push is part of a wider trend using tabletop games for political action
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
I’m grateful to be a part of this event today with the Black Repertory Theater of Kansas City. jocolibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/events/69...
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
www.theguardian.com/football/202...
theguardian.com
Fifa leadership ‘overruled US-based staff’ opposing World Cup dynamic pricing
A number of Fifa’s US-based staff advised against the use of dynamic pricing at the World Cup but were overruled by the world governing body’s leadership
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
www.theguardian.com/football/202...
theguardian.com
Maybe this World Cup will bring the best out of the US, not the worst | Barney Ronay
Tournament could hold up a useful hand mirror to the isolationism and divisiveness of Trump’s joint-hosts
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
The World Cup so far? Surprisingly excellent www.nytimes.com/athletic/737...
nytimes.com
The World Cup so far? Surprisingly excellent
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Reposted by Matthew Warner Osborn
Chris Cantwell @cdc29.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
If you didn't see it, @ncph.bsky.social just extended the deadline for the April 2027 meeting in St. Louis by two weeks. The theme is "Holding the Line," & asks us to think about he have, can, & should fight back against history's many attacks. Please share widely! 🗃️ ncph.org/conference/n...
ncph.org
NCPH 2027 | National Council on Public History
A note on scheduling NCPH’s annual meeting in 2027 overlaps with the important first days of Passover. We very much regret this conflict, and would have preferred any other dates, but we received only...
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
www.nytimes.com/athletic/735...
nytimes.com
U.S. has some of the best players in the world. They just aren’t playing in the 2026 World Cup (Gift Article)
The U.S. has players in the world's top 100. They won't play in the World Cup until next year.
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
theguardian.com
Welcome to California: land of plunder and hypocrisy | Mark Arax
From gold to water, California’s wealth was built on extraction. The AI boom is reviving an old question: who pays the price?
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Brandon Clarke said it’s ‘just kratom.’ His death has the substance under scrutiny. www.nytimes.com/athletic/733...
nytimes.com
Brandon Clarke said it’s ‘just kratom.’ His death has the substance under scrutiny.
The supplement is widely available in some states and illegal in others but as experts warn of its risks, lawmakers are taking notice.
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Reposted by Matthew Warner Osborn
Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
NEW — My first true foray into AI haterdom is about how those of us not convinced by AI’s inevitability are a real constituency worthy of a voice. Give it a read:
thehandbasket.co
Hating AI is good, actually
LinkedIn may be awash with boosters, but shunning AI is the human choice.
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
theguardian.com
A disease of deforestation: how Ebola is linked to the smartphone in your pocket
As demand for cobalt, gold and other minerals grows, mining is accelerating deforestation in the Congo basin – and increasing the risk of deadly Ebola outbreaks
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Reposted by Matthew Warner Osborn
Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
In an interesting new Commonplace piece, James Blake stumbles upon a page in John F. Watson's scrapbook that at first seems to be about Lenape history, but with more investigation really offers more about the antiquarian construction of Lenape history. 🗄️ commonplace.online/article/past...
commonplace.online
Pasted Indians: John F. Watson, Scrapbook Culture, and the Construction of a Lenape Image - Commonplace
Rather than preserving a direct record of Native life, the page reveals the processes by which early American antiquarians assembled and interpreted the past.
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
I am beyond excited that my first event for Night Hawk will be at Comic-Con Int. in San Diego on July 23, 2026. Along with Peter Coogan and Andrew Brett Fogel, the panel is titled "The Night Hawk, 1828: The First Superhero? Yes." The era of early American superhero studies is upon us! #skystorians
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... “Ultimately, only by conscientiously refusing the lure of the algorithm can we start to fix all the ways in which it has broken us.”
theguardian.com
If you’re still on Elon Musk’s X, ask yourself this: why? | Jonathan Liew
Some argue that quitting the platform formerly known as Twitter cedes the space to malign actors. But it’s an open sewer, beyond redemption, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Liew
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
slate.com/arts/2017/11... It will always be his bridge.
slate.com
Sonny Rollins Has Died. In the Wake of His Death, There’s Only One Way to Honor Him.
Why the New Colossus should be joined by the Saxophone Colossus.
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
The world is heading toward a financial crisis – the state of US politics has left us ill-prepared
Trump’s second term has revealed that Washington’s policy response to such a crisis will be misguided and full of chaos
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...
theguardian.com
US is ‘simply choosing not to stop’ Ebola outbreak after massive public health cuts, experts say
Hundreds of cases reported in the DRC after USAID has been dismantled and key scientific research canceled
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
www.theguardian.com/football/202...
theguardian.com
‘Green card for the planet’? Fifa’s World Cup is on pace to be a climate catastrophe
The 2022 World Cup failed to deliver on its environmental promises. From air travel emissions to heat-related dangers, the 2026 edition will be even worse
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
www.theguardian.com/business/ng-... Historically, the irrational exuberance of the wealthy few has always led to financial disaster for most.
theguardian.com
War, inflation and Trump’s tariffs have shaken the US. Why does the stock market keep going up?
Wall Street has proved incredibly resilient to instability, and while consumer confidence has dipped, shares have soared
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Wavy Gravy, most famous counterculture icon alive in Berkeley, turns 90 www.berkeleyside.org/2026/05/12/w... "Nobody For President" has never felt more urgent. Happy Birthday Wavy Gravy!
berkeleyside.org
Wavy Gravy, most famous counterculture icon alive in Berkeley, turns 90
He’s emceed Woodstock, lived with Bob Dylan, clowned for the Grateful Dead, co-founded a summer camp and saved the eyesight of millions.
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
theguardian.com
Did breakthrough in US fentanyl crisis start in China?
US overdose deaths have plunged, and some experts point to moves to restrict Chinese precursors
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
‘Point of no return’: New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level, study finds
Louisiana’s cultural hotspot could be surrounded by Gulf of Mexico before end of this century, authors say
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i... Definitely looks more fun than Candyland.
theguardian.com
Welcome to Anxietyland: I used alcohol to hide my fear – but booze became a very bad friend
Gemma Correll has suffered from anxiety and depression disorders since childhood, and at 16 she discovered a magical elixir that promised to make her feel better. In this extract from her new book, sh...
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Reposted by Matthew Warner Osborn
Kate Carpenter @katecarp.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Look what I stole at #oah26 @nighthawkog.bsky.social 👀
Hand holding a uncorrected page proof copy of the book Night Hawk: A Nineteenth Century Superhero and the Dawn Of American Culture, by Matthew Warner Osborn.
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Trump administration move to reclassify cannabis sparks confusion
Order last week is only partial rescheduling, making ‘an already complex process more confusing,’ expert says
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
www.theguardian.com/football/202...
theguardian.com
Pitched as a uniting force, the 2026 World Cup has been anything but | Jules Boykoff
The original plans for this summer’s tournament could scarcely sound much different than what we seem to have in store
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
theguardian.com
Pope Leo has stirred awake a progressive Christianity. It can rise again | Bill McKibben
With his stand against Trump, the pope has shown the far right doesn’t have a monopoly on Christianity. If people of good faith push hard, the future could be redefined
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Trump administration moves to ease federal restrictions on marijuana
Marijuana had the same classification as heroin, LSD and others before being reclassified for lower potential for abuse
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
RFK Jr agenda suffers another loss as trans advocates hail ‘huge step forward’
Judge’s repeal of Trump ban on gender-affirming care for children ‘a meaningful win for patients’, experts say
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Reposted by Matthew Warner Osborn
Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Today we launch Read More Books, a semi-regular Commonplace series featuring @kawulf.bsky.social asking authors five questions about their new book. We kick off with @johngmarks.com and his fascinating study of the long fight over Washington's legacy of slavery.🗄️ commonplace.online/article/read...
commonplace.online
Read More Books: John Garrison Marks, Thy Will Be Done: George Washington’s Legacy of Slavery and the Fight for American Memory (UNC Press, 2026) - Commonplace
If there are two rules about early American history, one is that, no matter how vast, George Washington will always be instructive.
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Ketamine, psychedelics, GHB: is the US falling out of love with cocaine?
Use of the illicit drug has plummeted in recent years among gen Zers, compared with their parents’ generation
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
theguardian.com
Scientists identify ‘neural fingerprint’ of psychedelic drugs in the brain
Analysis of more than 500 brain scans finds LSD, psilocybin and other psychedelics increase cross-talk between brain systems
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
open.substack.com/pub/mattheww... The NIght-Hawk—No. VI: These things I see and notice when one half of the world is hushed in sleep; all shall be brought to light and laid before you: and will furnish lessons, awful, emphatic, and convincing>
open.substack.com
Desperate Followers of Fortune in the City of Brotherly Love
"The Night Hawk.—No. VI," The Mechanics' Free Press, October 4, 1828
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
As measles spreads in South Carolina, RFK Jr’s allies work to gut vaccine laws
Activists who dispute safety of vaccines are pushing to limit immunization requirements in schools
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Reposted by Matthew Warner Osborn
Elise A. Mitchell @bydreamphd.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
It’s officially pub day for this incredible work! Thank you to Oscar de la Torre for making this possible!! And thank you to CUNY DSI for research consults and permission to use your images in my work!! www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978088...
hup.harvard.edu
Black Atlantic Worlds — Harvard University Press
Landscapes are key to the Black Atlantic. The history of how Africans and their descendants populated and transformed nations, regions, and ecosystems has always been attentive to the multiple meaning...
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Were you listening, Jose Mourinho? Vincent Kompany’s 12-minute monologue on Vinicius Junior and racism www.nytimes.com/athletic/705...
nytimes.com
Were you listening, Jose Mourinho? Vincent Kompany's 12-minute monologue on Vinicius and racism
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
The Night Hawk—No. V "Reader! such scenes are frequent. You who sleep away the sluggard hours of night little know that such villainy is practiced even in the very heart of our city!" open.substack.com/pub/mattheww...
open.substack.com
Seduction, Betrayal, and Madness in the Nocturnal City
"The Night Hawk,—No. V," The Mechanics' Free Press, September 27, 1828
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
www.nytimes.com/athletic/703... Love this guy.
nytimes.com
Barcelona captain Ronald Araujo says he took football break after experiencing anxiety and depression
Araujo, 26, was granted indefinite leave by Barcelona at the beginning of December.
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Matthew Warner Osborn @nighthawkog.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
theguardian.com
Exercise can be ‘frontline treatment’ for mild depression, researchers say
Biggest improvements seen in young adults and new mothers, with group activities of most benefit
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