Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 01/10/2026last night had a dream that I was trying to explain my dissertation to the anthropic CEO, which is especially ironic given that anthropic has already stolen my book for training data 010
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 22/09/2026last time I taught cholera in my history of epidemics course I said that in modern times this would only spread in the context of a disaster that destroyed a town's water/sewer systems...then days later Helene hit and did precisely that to banner elk 051
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 28/08/2026really disappointed I have to teach on what should be a western NC holiday (release day for a new billy strings record) 031
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 04/05/2026I told my Appalachian history students I wore my Mothman t-shirt to their final exam for good luck and one was like isn’t seeing the mothman actually bad luck and….yeah I didn’t really think that one through 010
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 23/03/2026maintenance is here at the humanities offices now bc it smells like something died in here. I mean c'mon isn't this metaphor just a little too on the nose 010
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 17/02/2026teaching Civil War in a highly visible library classroom w/glass windows = shocking random students with my lecture slide feat. a pile of amputated limbs (it was civil war medicine day) 020
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 16/02/2026Excited to share that “Casey Jones: America’s Engineer” (tentative title) now has final @uncpress.bsky.social board approval and is heading to publication (in early 2027). Thanks especially to @lucaschurch.bsky.social for working with me to get this over the line. Stay tuned for more details…🚂 252
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 20/01/2026Today I learned that I was born in the same hospital as Pat McAfee, Curt Cignetti, and Mark Cuban? (Magee women’s hospital in Pittsburgh) 020
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 13/12/2025So glad I got to see this live last night in AVL - one of the best shows I’ve been to: stereogum.com/2482906/watc...stereogum.comWatch MJ Lenderman Cover Jason Molina With Magnolia & Johnson Electric Co.Earlier this year MJ Lenderman covered Songs: Ohia’s “Just Be Simple” for I Will Swim To You: A Tribute To Jason Molina. Last night, he joined Magnolia & Johnson Electric Co. at their Asheville show f... 140
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 31/10/2025Check out this piece on a train song I wrote, which touches on a series of tragedies along the Western NC RR and bridges my 1st and 2nd (forthcoming) @uncpress.bsky.social books. All part of a band w/friends that really cohered in the aftermath of Helene: uncpressblog.com/2025/10/30/o...uncpressblog.comOld Fort Loops: A Soundtrack of Resilience After Hurricane Helene - UNC Press BlogHow does one recover from and process a generational storm like Helene? For UNC Press author Scott Huffard and his friends, the answer was through music. When Helene swept through the Banner Elk area ... 053
Reposted by Scott HuffardUNC Press @uncpress.bsky.social · 30/10/2025How does one recover from and process a generational storm like Helene? For UNC Press author @shuffard.bsky.social and his friends, the answer was through music. Learn about the making of their band Spell of Leaves and their new single Old Fort Loops ⤵️ uncpressblog.com/2025/10/30/o...uncpressblog.comOld Fort Loops: A Soundtrack of Resilience After Hurricane Helene - UNC Press BlogHow does one recover from and process a generational storm like Helene? For UNC Press author Scott Huffard and his friends, the answer was through music. When Helene swept through the Banner Elk area ... 045
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 18/09/2025today in Appalachian history: discussing a reading (War Trails of the Blue Ridge) from the guy whose historic marker I almost hit every time I back up my car 040
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 28/08/2025a student missed class today because they “fell in the river” which to be fair, is something that’s possible to do in this campus 020
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 06/08/2025thank you Victoria 3 for reminding me about my book project (and also thanks for having this event appropriately boost the labor movement) 020
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 30/07/2025troubling that octoberfest beers are hitting the shelves before I’ve even started working on my fall syllabi 010
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 12/07/2025Fust = a perfect soundtrack to a summertime post-thunderstorm cruise through the NC Piedmont on I-40 030
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 19/06/2025talking trains (specifically the Western NC Railroad and what its history tells us about the complicated cultural history of southern railroads) over in Johnson City today: 6 pm at the Johnson City Railroad Experience! 040
Reposted by Scott HuffardClio and the Contemporary @cliocontemporary.bsky.social · 01/05/2025@shuffard.bsky.social wrote about striking workers and their relationship with railroads and capitalism in the late 19th century and beyond.clioandthecontemporary.comStrikers, Octopi, and Visible Hands: The Railroad and American CapitalismIn popular culture and American historiography, the railroad corporation has long been a site where Americans have grappled with larger questions of political economy. 172
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 29/04/2025today in history of southern Appalachia I think I irrevocably damaged YouTube’s auto-closed captioning function by using it on an Alan Lomax interview with Ray Hicks 130
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 26/04/2025today a student told me she’s listened to a song I played in class - Steeleye Span’s Blackleg Miner - 30 times so yea I feel like I’ve done my job here 130
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 25/03/2025lecturing on TVA dams in the morning and 1920s/30s southern textile strikes in the afternoon - not a bad day of class at all (even if students were not impressed when I told them I wanted to make a playlist of songs about dams) 270
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 20/03/2025not my sweet summer child students walking to class in t-shirts and shorts when we're about to get whacked by a cold front (and get 1-3 inches of snow this afternoon) 020
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 27/02/2025I showed my students the NWS forecasted rainfall map the Wednesday before Helene destroyed my school/town and some later thanked me for preparing them for the nightmare to come. Why slash and cut an extremely effective government service at the behest of a billionaire? 041
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 23/02/2025don’t even bother inviting me to the hangout if the vibes aren’t in the realm of Dwight Yoakam’s video for A Thousand Miles To Nowhere (1993) 060
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 21/02/2025trying to get work done while my car is being serviced and I severely underestimated the amount of chatty old men at the car dealership in Boone (I really should be used to this by now) 020
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 20/02/2025I’d like to thank whoever drew a large-breasted mothman on my class’s whiteboard for reminding us of the always-flexible nature of Appalachian folklore traditions 030
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 20/02/2025today in history of southern appalachia - lecturing on the construction of railroads that Helene destroyed :( 0201
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 08/02/2025tourists currently leaning over Helene-smashed fences to feed bojangles biscuits to some mangy looking deer = not exactly a healthy ecosystem here on beech mtn 020
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 06/02/2025hard to have more depressing weather in a ski town than a February full of rain, thunderstorms, warmth, and mud 020
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 04/02/2025covering the whiskey rebellion in Appalachian history (w/heavy inspiration from Ramp Hollow) today. Not only do I get to ramble on about rye whiskey, I also get to ruin Alexander Hamilton for all the theater kids 01329
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 31/01/2025what do exploding oil trains, the Las Vegas sphere, teenage mutant ninja turtles, Billy Strings, precision scheduled railroading, Gillian Welch, and a tornado outbreak in western Kentucky have in common? All are making appearances in the epilogue of my Casey Jones book... 140
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 27/01/2025after I said I was a history prof, the guy next to me on the ski lift asked for fun facts about Daniel Boone...just out here doing my part to engage with the public 2751
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 16/01/2025the good news is crews are (finally) clearing Helene debris from my mountain town…the bad news is the trucks hauling debris keep crashing on the road down the mountain 120
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 09/01/2025as evidence that the Irish menace has long threatened the peace and prosperity of the good people in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I’d remind you all that the state had to occupy the anthracite coal fields during the Civil War due to restive Irish miners 040
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 09/01/2025today I’m thinking about my catholic-schooled, freshman year roommate at Penn State, whose deep-seated loathing of Notre Dame taught me what true sports hatred looks like 030
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 15/12/2024Steelers vs eagles…finally a chance for Pittsburgh to avenge the abuses committed by Philadelphia militiamen during the Great Strikes of 1877 140
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 13/12/2024horror movie inclined historians out there need to watch The Devil’s Bath. One of the darkest films I’ve ever seen and a bleak reminder that sometimes real history (in this case gender norms in small 18th century Austrian villages) can be more horrific than the supernatural 010
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 03/12/2024talked to a former student who’s spending all winter in a cabin snowed in at a California ghost town so yea I guess assigning Edward Abbey worked as intended 040
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 26/11/2024dense fog on the drive in and a largely abandoned pre-thanksgiving campus has me feeling like I'm teaching at Silent Hill College this am 040
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 25/11/2024working on final exam study guides and reviewing what all we've been able to cover in my classes...and it turns out having a hurricane destroy your school/moving all classes to asynchronous online formats for 5 weeks mid-semester isn't exactly conducive to student learning 030
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 25/11/2024teaching the monday and tuesday of Thanksgiving break...always the most rigorous and well-attended of my classes 🙃 040
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 22/11/2024got a decent dump of light powdery snow here at 4500 ft 080
Reposted by Scott HuffardUNC Press @uncpress.bsky.social · 21/11/2024To make it easier to find new and existing members of Bluesky, we're compiling a list of UNC Press authors for easy findability 🦋 Comment to let us know you're here ↙️📚 3267
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 20/11/2024looking at these projected CFB playoff matchups…and Georgia at Penn State has the potential to be the biggest north - south sectional clash in PA since Gettysburg 010
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 20/11/2024so much to mourn re: Helene, though I've been particularly bummed by the destruction on the Virginia Creeper Trail. I've always loved biking up and down the Damascus to Whitetop section. 18 out of 31 trestles wiped out and a huge blow to communities reliant on trail tourism: vacreepertrail.us/2024/vacreepertrail.usIn late September of 2024 Hurricane Helene came ashore in Florida but was not confined to the Gulf Coast. Severe damage was caused across six states resulting in a tragic loss of over 200 lives and the destruction of entire communities. The storm included 140 mph winds and was one of the largest wind fields to ever hit the southeast. There were also record rainfalls which flooded valleys all across Appalachia. One of the casualties was the loss of half of Virginia's beloved Virginia Creeper Trail. This page, which is being created by local people and is a work in progress, will attempt to document the loss and reconstruction of the 18 trestles or bridges (out of a total of 31 between Whitetop and Damascus) which were washed away by Helene. "After" photos were taken in October-November 2024 and will be updated when reconstruction starts. This will not be a comprehensive overview but is intended to serve as a memory and source of information for those of us who love the Virginia Creeper Trail and who will work in the rebuilding. Click on the "after" photo for a separate page and additional photos. For questions concerning this website contact admin. For questions concerning the status of the trail go to the Virginia Creeper Trail Conservancy 2101
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 18/11/2024drove up a nearby ridge (btw Banner Elk and Newland) today on an errand and it’s quite stunning how much worse the Helene tree damage is on eastern facing slopes (as opposed to the western facing slope I’m on, which was still quite a mess) 130
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 13/11/2024watching Paul Finebaum instead of cable news and now I’m fully convinced the real civil war threat comes not from the election but from SEC fans angry at the playoff rankings of Big Ten teams 010
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 13/11/2024don’t mind me, I’m just out here listening to a million different jam band covers of “City of New Orleans” to get in the zone for editing my book’s chapter on the 1970s 🚂🚂 130
Scott Huffard @shuffard.bsky.social · 12/11/2024my lecture on the benefits and environmental problems associated with TVA dam-building got a little more relevant this year given how crucial some TVA dams were in staving off worse devastation during Helene 030