Philip Leventhal
@philipleventhal.bsky.social
Editor at Columbia University Press. I acquire in Film and Media Studies, Journalism, and Literary Studies. Opinions my own.
"A roller-coaster ride through the highs and lows of what was once New York's and America's loudest, brashest, most bombastic trafficker in local news."--David Nasaw
Now available! THE PEOPLE'S PAPER, by Matthew Pressman. bit.ly/46Z8Vts @mattpressman.bsky.social
@columbiaup.bsky.social
Now available! THE PEOPLE'S PAPER, by Matthew Pressman. bit.ly/46Z8Vts @mattpressman.bsky.social
@columbiaup.bsky.social
The People's Paper | Columbia University Press
When the New York Daily News launched in 1919, it didn’t just sell papers—it reinvented them. Brash, populist, and impossible to ignore, the United State... | CUP
bit.ly
September 18, 2026 at 11:16 AM
"A roller-coaster ride through the highs and lows of what was once New York's and America's loudest, brashest, most bombastic trafficker in local news."--David Nasaw
Now available! THE PEOPLE'S PAPER, by Matthew Pressman. bit.ly/46Z8Vts @mattpressman.bsky.social
@columbiaup.bsky.social
Now available! THE PEOPLE'S PAPER, by Matthew Pressman. bit.ly/46Z8Vts @mattpressman.bsky.social
@columbiaup.bsky.social
"Matthew Pressman’s sweeping history of—and elegy for—New York’s Daily News is a masterful work."--Jeff Jarvis
Now available: THE PEOPLE'S PAPER, by Matthew Pressman. Use the coupon code CUP20 and save 20%! bit.ly/46Z8Vts @mattpressman.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social
Now available: THE PEOPLE'S PAPER, by Matthew Pressman. Use the coupon code CUP20 and save 20%! bit.ly/46Z8Vts @mattpressman.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social
September 17, 2026 at 10:28 AM
"Matthew Pressman’s sweeping history of—and elegy for—New York’s Daily News is a masterful work."--Jeff Jarvis
Now available: THE PEOPLE'S PAPER, by Matthew Pressman. Use the coupon code CUP20 and save 20%! bit.ly/46Z8Vts @mattpressman.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social
Now available: THE PEOPLE'S PAPER, by Matthew Pressman. Use the coupon code CUP20 and save 20%! bit.ly/46Z8Vts @mattpressman.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social
Reposted by Philip Leventhal
In an age when everyone can make themselves heard, who still cares to listen? And what does it mean to be a good listener? Time for « Listening practice » by Miriam Rasch europeanreviewofbooks.com/listening-pr...
September 15, 2026 at 2:01 PM
In an age when everyone can make themselves heard, who still cares to listen? And what does it mean to be a good listener? Time for « Listening practice » by Miriam Rasch europeanreviewofbooks.com/listening-pr...
"In this brilliant book, Cloutier has finally made possible a full appreciation of Kerouac’s unique contributions as a writer engaged in a complex process of self-translation." --Joyce Johnson
Now available! BIG AMERICAN WRITER, by Jean-Christophe Cloutier. bit.ly/4uqPRxN @columbiaup.bsky.social
Now available! BIG AMERICAN WRITER, by Jean-Christophe Cloutier. bit.ly/4uqPRxN @columbiaup.bsky.social
Big American Writer | Columbia University Press
Jack Kerouac has long been mythologized as an all-American figure: the “King of the Beats,” forever hitchhiking on the road, who gave voice to a postwar ... | CUP
bit.ly
September 16, 2026 at 10:58 AM
"In this brilliant book, Cloutier has finally made possible a full appreciation of Kerouac’s unique contributions as a writer engaged in a complex process of self-translation." --Joyce Johnson
Now available! BIG AMERICAN WRITER, by Jean-Christophe Cloutier. bit.ly/4uqPRxN @columbiaup.bsky.social
Now available! BIG AMERICAN WRITER, by Jean-Christophe Cloutier. bit.ly/4uqPRxN @columbiaup.bsky.social
"This book is a wonder." -- Kevin Quashie
Coming this Winter: SENTIMENTAL ACTIVISM, by David James. bit.ly/46styhp @columbiaup.bsky.social
Coming this Winter: SENTIMENTAL ACTIVISM, by David James. bit.ly/46styhp @columbiaup.bsky.social
Sentimental Activism | Columbia University Press
Sentimental aesthetics have come to vex contemporary literature. The relation between feeling and acting is increasingly contested, and emotional entanglemen... | CUP
bit.ly
September 15, 2026 at 7:04 PM
"This book is a wonder." -- Kevin Quashie
Coming this Winter: SENTIMENTAL ACTIVISM, by David James. bit.ly/46styhp @columbiaup.bsky.social
Coming this Winter: SENTIMENTAL ACTIVISM, by David James. bit.ly/46styhp @columbiaup.bsky.social
"[A] landmark exploration in the still too little recognized, immense contributions of the multitongued sources of what is usually considered the American canon."--Ann Douglas
Now available, BIG AMERICAN WRITER, by Jean-Christophe Cloutier. bit.ly/4uqPRxN @columbiaup.bsky.social
Now available, BIG AMERICAN WRITER, by Jean-Christophe Cloutier. bit.ly/4uqPRxN @columbiaup.bsky.social
September 15, 2026 at 10:30 AM
"[A] landmark exploration in the still too little recognized, immense contributions of the multitongued sources of what is usually considered the American canon."--Ann Douglas
Now available, BIG AMERICAN WRITER, by Jean-Christophe Cloutier. bit.ly/4uqPRxN @columbiaup.bsky.social
Now available, BIG AMERICAN WRITER, by Jean-Christophe Cloutier. bit.ly/4uqPRxN @columbiaup.bsky.social
Reposted by Philip Leventhal
I've got a whole playlist of songs about journalism but this one about the New York Daily News -- lampooning its right-wing editorial viewpoints in the 1960s -- is one of my favorites. Tom Paxton may not have liked it, but he was definitely a reader! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui-c...
Daily News
YouTube video by Tom Paxton - Topic
www.youtube.com
September 14, 2026 at 4:16 PM
I've got a whole playlist of songs about journalism but this one about the New York Daily News -- lampooning its right-wing editorial viewpoints in the 1960s -- is one of my favorites. Tom Paxton may not have liked it, but he was definitely a reader! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui-c...
Reposted by Philip Leventhal
My forthcoming book When Death Comes is now listed at Amazon and other book stores. Please consider placing an advance order at your preferred bookseller. Advance sales make a big difference to the life of a book. www.amazon.com/When-Death-C...
When Death Comes: Our Ultimate Transformation
Amazon.com: When Death Comes: Our Ultimate Transformation: 9780231202541: Thompson, Evan: Books
www.amazon.com
August 26, 2026 at 10:04 PM
My forthcoming book When Death Comes is now listed at Amazon and other book stores. Please consider placing an advance order at your preferred bookseller. Advance sales make a big difference to the life of a book. www.amazon.com/When-Death-C...
Reposted by Philip Leventhal
Meet our 2026 MAAH Stone Book Award Finalist Jarvis C. McInnis at our award event on October 8th and hear more about his book, Afterlives of the Plantation: Plotting Agrarian Futures in the Global Black South.
Register for the event at our website.
@columbiaup.bsky.social
Register for the event at our website.
@columbiaup.bsky.social
September 14, 2026 at 6:56 PM
Meet our 2026 MAAH Stone Book Award Finalist Jarvis C. McInnis at our award event on October 8th and hear more about his book, Afterlives of the Plantation: Plotting Agrarian Futures in the Global Black South.
Register for the event at our website.
@columbiaup.bsky.social
Register for the event at our website.
@columbiaup.bsky.social
Reposted by Philip Leventhal
"By placing regulatory history at the center of conservative media formation, he illuminates how professional ideals and federal oversight became entangled with partisan self-understanding."
Feeling so seen by Kathy Roberts Forde's thoughtful review of my book.
doi.org/10.1080/0882...
Feeling so seen by Kathy Roberts Forde's thoughtful review of my book.
doi.org/10.1080/0882...
Making the Liberal Media: How Conservatives Built a Movement Against the Press
Published in American Journalism (Ahead of Print, 2026)
doi.org
September 14, 2026 at 5:16 PM
"By placing regulatory history at the center of conservative media formation, he illuminates how professional ideals and federal oversight became entangled with partisan self-understanding."
Feeling so seen by Kathy Roberts Forde's thoughtful review of my book.
doi.org/10.1080/0882...
Feeling so seen by Kathy Roberts Forde's thoughtful review of my book.
doi.org/10.1080/0882...
Reposted by Philip Leventhal
Really interesting + thoughtful interview with @aarthivadde.bsky.social in @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social about her new book WE THE PLATFORM (out now with Columbia UP!) on Web 2.0 & literature, both what happened to reading with the Internet + what's to come. lareviewofbooks.org/article/we-t...
Literary Web 2.0 | Los Angeles Review of Books
Is it the end of reading or a brand-new era?
lareviewofbooks.org
September 14, 2026 at 5:17 PM
Really interesting + thoughtful interview with @aarthivadde.bsky.social in @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social about her new book WE THE PLATFORM (out now with Columbia UP!) on Web 2.0 & literature, both what happened to reading with the Internet + what's to come. lareviewofbooks.org/article/we-t...
Reposted by Philip Leventhal
this was from when it was in such a basement that you had to be careful about hitting your head on pipes (complimentary)
September 14, 2026 at 1:51 PM
this was from when it was in such a basement that you had to be careful about hitting your head on pipes (complimentary)
Reposted by Philip Leventhal
Calling all New Yorkers, history buffs, journalism enthusiasts! My book The People’s Paper: The Rise & Fall of the NY Daily News, comes out in one month! Every day between now and then I’ll post one of my favorite/most interesting finds (photos, archival documents, articles, cartoons). Up first...
September 4, 2026 at 2:49 PM
Calling all New Yorkers, history buffs, journalism enthusiasts! My book The People’s Paper: The Rise & Fall of the NY Daily News, comes out in one month! Every day between now and then I’ll post one of my favorite/most interesting finds (photos, archival documents, articles, cartoons). Up first...
"This brilliant, fascinating book will be recognized as the definitive study of Kerouac’s linguistic inner life." -- Ann Charters
Now available, BIG AMERICAN WRITER, by Jean-Christophe Cloutier. Use the coupon code CUP20 and save 20%! bit.ly/4uqPRxN @columbiaup.bsky.social
Now available, BIG AMERICAN WRITER, by Jean-Christophe Cloutier. Use the coupon code CUP20 and save 20%! bit.ly/4uqPRxN @columbiaup.bsky.social
September 10, 2026 at 10:33 AM
"This brilliant, fascinating book will be recognized as the definitive study of Kerouac’s linguistic inner life." -- Ann Charters
Now available, BIG AMERICAN WRITER, by Jean-Christophe Cloutier. Use the coupon code CUP20 and save 20%! bit.ly/4uqPRxN @columbiaup.bsky.social
Now available, BIG AMERICAN WRITER, by Jean-Christophe Cloutier. Use the coupon code CUP20 and save 20%! bit.ly/4uqPRxN @columbiaup.bsky.social
Reposted by Philip Leventhal
We are pleased to announce that Karam Dana's TO STAND WITH PALESTINE is the winner of the 2026 Evelyn Shakir Nonfiction Award from the Arab American Book Award, given by the Arab American National Museum. buff.ly/vmQ9uvl #Palestine #PalestinianDiaspora #PalestinianSolidarity #TransnationalActivism
September 9, 2026 at 4:54 PM
We are pleased to announce that Karam Dana's TO STAND WITH PALESTINE is the winner of the 2026 Evelyn Shakir Nonfiction Award from the Arab American Book Award, given by the Arab American National Museum. buff.ly/vmQ9uvl #Palestine #PalestinianDiaspora #PalestinianSolidarity #TransnationalActivism
Reposted by Philip Leventhal
If you missed it over the long weekend, I wrote about how we become who we are by who we might have become but didn't, in my case, through trying to figure out how much to give myself to nature, how much to books. For @apockros.bsky.social and @thenation.com www.thenation.com/article/envi...
How a Creative Mind Lives in Nature
Working in the wilderness could not satiate my intellectual impulses. But for the protagonist of Hothouse Bloom, the binary between mental and physical labor is what calls her.
www.thenation.com
September 8, 2026 at 1:13 PM
If you missed it over the long weekend, I wrote about how we become who we are by who we might have become but didn't, in my case, through trying to figure out how much to give myself to nature, how much to books. For @apockros.bsky.social and @thenation.com www.thenation.com/article/envi...
"Beautifully written ... this is criticism of the finest kind. It opens your eyes; it makes you see things anew." -- Namwali Serpell
Now available, BIG AMERICAN WRITER, by Jean-Christophe Cloutier. Use the coupon code CUP20 and save 20%! bit.ly/4uqPRxN @columbiaup.bsky.social
Now available, BIG AMERICAN WRITER, by Jean-Christophe Cloutier. Use the coupon code CUP20 and save 20%! bit.ly/4uqPRxN @columbiaup.bsky.social
Big American Writer | Columbia University Press
Jack Kerouac has long been mythologized as an all-American figure: the “King of the Beats,” forever hitchhiking on the road, who gave voice to a postwar ... | CUP
bit.ly
September 9, 2026 at 11:02 AM
"Beautifully written ... this is criticism of the finest kind. It opens your eyes; it makes you see things anew." -- Namwali Serpell
Now available, BIG AMERICAN WRITER, by Jean-Christophe Cloutier. Use the coupon code CUP20 and save 20%! bit.ly/4uqPRxN @columbiaup.bsky.social
Now available, BIG AMERICAN WRITER, by Jean-Christophe Cloutier. Use the coupon code CUP20 and save 20%! bit.ly/4uqPRxN @columbiaup.bsky.social
Congratulations to Jarvis McInnis, whose book AFTERLIVES OF THE PLANTATION: PLOTTING AGRARIAN FUTURES IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH, is one of the finalists for the MAAH Stone Book Award! bit.ly/423YqU8 @columbiaup.bsky.social
September 8, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Congratulations to Jarvis McInnis, whose book AFTERLIVES OF THE PLANTATION: PLOTTING AGRARIAN FUTURES IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH, is one of the finalists for the MAAH Stone Book Award! bit.ly/423YqU8 @columbiaup.bsky.social
Reposted by Philip Leventhal
Announcing the 2026 MAAH Stone Book Award Finalists!
Afterlives of the Plantation
Jarvis C. McInnis
@columbiaup.bsky.social
American Grammar
Jarvis R. Givens
@harperbooks.bsky.social
Queen Mother
Ashley D. Farmer
@drashleydfarmer.bsky.social
@pantheonbooks.bsky.social
Afterlives of the Plantation
Jarvis C. McInnis
@columbiaup.bsky.social
American Grammar
Jarvis R. Givens
@harperbooks.bsky.social
Queen Mother
Ashley D. Farmer
@drashleydfarmer.bsky.social
@pantheonbooks.bsky.social
September 8, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Announcing the 2026 MAAH Stone Book Award Finalists!
Afterlives of the Plantation
Jarvis C. McInnis
@columbiaup.bsky.social
American Grammar
Jarvis R. Givens
@harperbooks.bsky.social
Queen Mother
Ashley D. Farmer
@drashleydfarmer.bsky.social
@pantheonbooks.bsky.social
Afterlives of the Plantation
Jarvis C. McInnis
@columbiaup.bsky.social
American Grammar
Jarvis R. Givens
@harperbooks.bsky.social
Queen Mother
Ashley D. Farmer
@drashleydfarmer.bsky.social
@pantheonbooks.bsky.social
Reposted by Philip Leventhal
Currently reading:
Claudia Gorbman's terrific translation from @columbiaup.bsky.social of Sylvie Lindeperg's compelling account, published in France in 2021, of the planning and discussions towards the 1945-46 tribunal, with a forensic analysis of the filming.
cup.columbia.edu/book/staging...
Claudia Gorbman's terrific translation from @columbiaup.bsky.social of Sylvie Lindeperg's compelling account, published in France in 2021, of the planning and discussions towards the 1945-46 tribunal, with a forensic analysis of the filming.
cup.columbia.edu/book/staging...
Staging Nuremberg | Columbia University Press
As victory in World War II drew near, the Allies decided to hold a major trial of Nazi leaders, which began in Nuremberg in November 1945. Conflict soon brok... | CUP
cup.columbia.edu
September 7, 2026 at 10:30 AM
Currently reading:
Claudia Gorbman's terrific translation from @columbiaup.bsky.social of Sylvie Lindeperg's compelling account, published in France in 2021, of the planning and discussions towards the 1945-46 tribunal, with a forensic analysis of the filming.
cup.columbia.edu/book/staging...
Claudia Gorbman's terrific translation from @columbiaup.bsky.social of Sylvie Lindeperg's compelling account, published in France in 2021, of the planning and discussions towards the 1945-46 tribunal, with a forensic analysis of the filming.
cup.columbia.edu/book/staging...
On Thursday, October 8 at 4 pm, join Jean-Christophe Cloutier as he discusses his eagerly-anticipated new book, BIG AMERICAN WRITER: THE BILINGUAL JACK KEROUAC at the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac festival. bit.ly/4zUVuYZ @columbiaup.bsky.social
September 7, 2026 at 2:59 PM
On Thursday, October 8 at 4 pm, join Jean-Christophe Cloutier as he discusses his eagerly-anticipated new book, BIG AMERICAN WRITER: THE BILINGUAL JACK KEROUAC at the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac festival. bit.ly/4zUVuYZ @columbiaup.bsky.social
An excellent review of STAGING NUREMBERG, by Sylvie Lindeperg, that considers the book's examination of the power of images and media in shaping perceptions of the trial via Iain MacGregor in Engelsberg Ideas. bit.ly/4A5ahQW @columbiaup.bsky.social
The struggle to capture the Nuremberg Trials
What is a trial for? Is it enough simply to establish guilt, or must that guilt then be communicated to the wider world?
bit.ly
September 6, 2026 at 9:49 PM
An excellent review of STAGING NUREMBERG, by Sylvie Lindeperg, that considers the book's examination of the power of images and media in shaping perceptions of the trial via Iain MacGregor in Engelsberg Ideas. bit.ly/4A5ahQW @columbiaup.bsky.social
Reposted by Philip Leventhal
“These books are old, but not classics; to read them is illuminating, but not credentialing.” In n+1’s brand-new issue, just out today: the Editors on reissue publishing. www.nplusonemag.com/issue-54/the...
Old Directions | The Editors
It can feel like listening to Spotify, reading this way. A patchy sampling, in which huge expanses of history are available but unintuitively organized, likely to result in having heard rarities and m...
www.nplusonemag.com
September 1, 2026 at 3:04 PM
“These books are old, but not classics; to read them is illuminating, but not credentialing.” In n+1’s brand-new issue, just out today: the Editors on reissue publishing. www.nplusonemag.com/issue-54/the...
Reposted by Philip Leventhal
Somebody has a piece in the new issue of @nplusonemag.com . . .
Adventures in Capitalism | Martin Riker
“This success then drove me to want something more, bigger, so next I funded a hospital, or really it was just a wing of a hospital. But walking past it gave me a different feeling than walking past m...
www.nplusonemag.com
September 1, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Somebody has a piece in the new issue of @nplusonemag.com . . .
Reposted by Philip Leventhal
absolutely gorgeous reflection on Dolly here from Peter Coviello
Dolly, Josephine, And Me | Defector
Like all people not gravely deficient of soul, I teared up a little when I heard Dolly Parton died. I am by nature something of a patch of soft pavement—easily impressed upon —and so there’s not much ...
defector.com
August 30, 2026 at 2:03 PM
absolutely gorgeous reflection on Dolly here from Peter Coviello