The Story of Writing (@sownow.bsky.social)

The Story of Writing

@sownow.bsky.social

A daily podcast about writing and writers that changed things, like minds, the world, etc. https://storyofwriting.com

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The Story of Writing podcast rules: -Talk about writers and writing that changed things for the better -Focus on people and their pursuit of happiness and justice -Encourage reading -Respect short attention spans -Find joy and share it #WriterSky #BookSky #OTD #Novels #Poetry storyofwriting.com

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The Story of Writing

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25m

“Let me live, love, and say it well in good sentences.” -American poet, novelist, and short-story writer Sylvia Plath, born on this day in 1932 She was a pioneer in the confessional style of writing - or putting deeply held thoughts and feelings onto the page. 🧵 #WriterSky #BookSky #History #BOTD

In the early 1950s, her treatment included ECT or electroconvulsive therapy. The searing pain and her troubled thoughts combined and led to increasingly dark writing. It drew in readers and other poets.

The Story of Writing

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25m

During Plath’s lifetime, she published two major works, her novel "The Bell Jar" and the collection of poetry "The Colossus." In 1982, she was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

Plath was considered a “gifted” student and, in her teens, her work was widely published and recognized with several awards. Plath’s confessional style of writing also meant giving expression to her mental state, which often became overwhelmed by depression.

The Story of Writing

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53m

On this day in 1962, a Soviet submarine officer refused to launch a nuclear torpedo and is believed to have prevented the start of a global nuclear war. 🧵 #Nukes #Cuban #Missile #Crisis #Cold #War #History #OTD

They were then ordered to return to their home base in the Soviet Union. This was during the intense six days of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Story of Writing

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53m

Years later, after learning of Arkhipov’s restraint and his ability to persuade the other officers to not fire the nuclear torpedo, an advisor to President John F. Kennedy said, “This was not only the most dangerous moment of the Cold War. It was the most dangerous moment in human history.”

Vasily Arkhipov was one of three submarine officers who had to authorize any launch of a nuclear weapon. The other two officers wanted to proceed with the launch, but Arkhipov convinced them to wait until they could surface and get in contact with Soviet naval and political leaders.

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On this day in 1838, the Governor of Missouri issued what has come to be called the Extermination Order. It called for the expulsion or extermination of people, in this case, Mormons. 🧵 #Targeted #Murder #Slavery #LDS #Mormon #Wars #History #OTD

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That group, though, was a well-armed and authorized state militia. When word of the skirmish reached the governor, he issued his extermination order. A few days later, a Missouri militia – that may not have known about the order – killed 17 Mormon men and boys.

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The Latter-Day Saints soon fled Missouri, but ran into similar suspicions and violence wherever they went – until they settled years later in Utah territory.

The governor created a new county in Missouri and told the Mormons they could settle there, but thousands of new converts to the latter-day saints poured into the region and began homesteading in neighboring counties. Tensions escalated into what Missourans came to call the Mormon wars.

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Missouri was a slave state. The Mormons mostly came from free states. This caused Missourans to fear that the Mormons would vote against slavery. Then, a flashpoint: An armed unit of Latter-Day Saints attacked what they thought was an anti-Mormon group.

Boggs added that the Mormon "outrages are beyond all description.” Those “outrages” were para-military skirmishes between Mormons and Missourans. They were also threats to his political power, which was partly derived from slavery.

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About seven years before the extermination order was issued, Mormons had begun settling in Missouri. Church leaders told their followers that god would give them the land that Missourans had already settled. This led to armed confrontations between the two groups.

Mormons were members of the small but quickly growing Church of Latter-Day Saints, founded just eight years earlier. In his order, Missouri Gov. Lilburn Boggs wrote, “The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if necessary for the public peace...."

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23h

“May you walk a lighted path. May you fight for truth - your truth, not someone else's - and may you understand, above all, that you are the most important concept, theory, and philosophy I have ever known.” -Marisha Pessl, born on this day in 1977 🧵 #WriterSky #BookSky #Calamity #Physics #BOTD

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23h

She is known for her novels "Special Topics in Calamity Physics," "Night Film," and "Neverworld Wake."

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23h

Happy birthday Hillary! @hillaryclinton.bsky.social

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“Too many women in too many countries speak the same language: silence.” -American human rights advocate, first lady, U.S. Senator and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, born on this day in 1947 🧵 #WriterSky #BookSky #Feminist #Advocate #BOTD

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She has written a number of books, from "It Takes a Village" in 1996 to "What Happened" in 2017. Clinton co-wrote the book "State of Terror," with Louise Penny in 2021.

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On this day in 1892, journalist and author Ida B. Wells published the pamphlet, "Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases." It documented the gruesome murders of Black men by enraged White mobs. 🧵 #Racism #Racist #Violence #Lynchings #History #Legacy #OTD

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She wrote that it was, “an array of facts, the perusal of which it is hoped will stimulate this great American Republic to demand that justice be done though the heavens fall. It is with no pleasure I have dipped my hands in the corruption here exposed."

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In 1895, Wells published another pamphlet with even more in-depth reporting on lynching. Titled "The Red Record," it documented a resurgence of White mob violence, finding that more than 10,000 Black Americans had been killed by lynching in the South between 1864 and 1894.

The lynchings, then – according to Wells – were part of a larger strategy to enforce a Black second-class by limiting financial and social competition imposed by Black men.

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The building housing her printing press in Memphis, TN, was burned to the ground by a group of White people, angered by Wells documentation of lynchings. After the arson destroyed her newspaper, Wells published the "Southern Horrors" pamphlet.

Wells began this project years earlier, when she owned her newspaper, "Free Speech." Wells studied numerous reports of lynchings, their causes, and perpetrators. She found that most of these murders took place after Southern whites claimed, without evidence, that a Black man raped a White woman.

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Wells’ skepticism of the claims led her to look for other reasons behind lynchings. And she found that many of these allegations against black men were often made in places where black men were doing well financially.

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OK, so there's no mention of political affiliation here, but this may be the most MAGA headline ever:

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On this day in 1881, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday got caught up in one of the most storied gun fights of the American Wild West. It was a flashpoint in a feud between the Earp Brothers and a gang called the Cowboys. 🧵 #Gunfight #OK #Corral #History #OTD

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Virgil and Morgan Earp were wounded, as was Doc Holliday. Wyatt Earp came out of it without a scratch. The gun fight intensified the feud between the Earps and members of the Cowboys, which numbered in the hundreds.

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Not long after the gunfight in Tombstone, gang members ambushed Virgil Earp, who was maimed, and Morgan Earp, who was killed. Wyatt Earp said he chased down and killed some of the men who remained members of the Cowboys. Some historians say those claims were more myth than history.

Despite its popular name, the gunfight did not take place inside the OK Corral, though it was in Tombstone, Arizona. The shootout lasted less than 30 seconds. In that time, Cowboys Billy Clanton and brothers Tom and Frank McLaury were killed. Billie Claiborne and Ike Clanton turned and ran.

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From trippedlaces over on tumblr:

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“California girls We're unforgettable So hot We'll melt your popsicle.” -American singer-songwriter, actress, and so-called Queen of Camp Katy Perry, born on this day in 1984 #MusicSky #Roar #BOTD

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She seems to have a lot of fun writing and performing her music. That may be one reason she’s sold more than 143 million albums, making her one of the best selling musicians of all time.

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“The greatest lie ever told about love is that it sets you free.” -English writer Zadie Smith, born on this day in 1975 🧵 #WriterSky #BookSky #WhiteTeeth #BOTD

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is known for her bestselling debut novel White Teeth. Her prose describes frustrations and fleeting joys. And she has created unforgettable characters who reflect modern life’s constant battles with disaster and comedy.

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Smith’s success led to a tenured position as professor of fiction at New York University. Asked if she had any rules for writing fiction, Smith said, “Tell the truth through whichever veil comes to hand – but tell it. Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied.”

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“Maybe it’s not just how much you love someone. Maybe what matters is who you are when you're with them.” -American writer Anne Tyler, born on this day in 1941 🧵 #WriterSky #BookSky #AccidentalTourist #Pulitzer #BOTD

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Tyler is best known for her book "The Accidental Tourist." She has been a finalist three times for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It was awarded to her in 1989 for "Breathing Lessons."

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Children’s book author Carolyn Sherwin Bailey was born on this day in 1875. She was a teacher and wrote books that helped children learn history, heroes, and a bit of the art of storytelling. Bailey was awarded the Newberry Medal for her book "Miss Hickory." #WriterSky #BookSky #History #BOTD

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On this day in 1924, a British newspaper published the Zinoviev letter. It’s a study in disinformation that led to a landslide victory for England’s Conservative Party. 🧵 #Disinformation #Political #Chicanery #History but not relegated to history #OTD

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Grigory Zinoviev was the head of Communist International, a group calling for global communist governance. The letter, which Zinoviev denied writing, directed the British Communist Party to prepare for sedition and launch a Bolshevik revolution in England.

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The fake letter was published four days before the general election throughout the United Kingdom. The letter was used by right-wing newspapers to stir up a storm of opposition to the Labour Party, which was dealt a crushing defeat in the election.

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On this day in 1854, the events immortalized in Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s epic poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" took place during the Battle of Balaclava. It was part of the siege of Sevastopol in the Crimean War. 🧵 #WriterSky #Poet #Poetry #Thundered #Blundered #History #OTD

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Tennyson was right, of course. The light brigade consisted of more than 660 men and unarmored (or “light”) horses. They charged the enemy, as ordered, but, as Tennyson wrote, someone had blundered. The light brigade charged the wrong guns.

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The brigade’s dead, wounded and captured totaled nearly 40 percent of the number of men in the unit. It remains one of the deadliest skirmishes in British military history.

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On October 24th, 1975, most women in Iceland went on a nationwide strike for equal pay and equal treatment. Around 90 percent of the nation’s women refused to do housework, child rearing, or their paid positions. The next year, Iceland's parliament passed a law guaranteeing equal pay for women.