NARA's vital role, the nationwide archivist survey, pop culture reviews, AHA's descent into irrelevancy, reparations, and HBO Max's cruel content purge
NARA's vital role, the nationwide archivist survey, pop culture reviews, AHA's descent into irrelevancy, reparations, and HBO Max's cruel content purge
This "too long for email" newsletter includes articles about archives, libraries, history, animation, genealogy, LGBTQ topics, and beyond!
Hello everyone! It’s been over 15 days since my last newsletter on August 13, so it made more sense to write another newsletter since a lot has happened recently. A couple days after my last newsletter I wrote an article about girls with guns anime. Additionally, I published articles about Miss Hatchet in Kim Possible and the complexity of library classification, asking whether the Buddwick Public Library in Steven Universe is an archival repository, and the Asian (and Latin American) voices of fictional librarians. On top of that, I published an e-book of all my newsletters in 2021 (currently a new PDF version is being uploaded, but it should be available to read in all formats sometime tomorrow, with a preview for the e-book available then). I plan to publish another e-book of all my newsletters this year.
Moving on, I’d like to talk about archives and archival topics. Most pertinent is the struggle between the former president and NARA over top secret efforts. For more on see Washington Post’s article, Rolling Stone noting his demand to claw back top secret documents, and claims in Politico that “presidents can declassify materials without a clear paper trail” even though this claim falls apart as he is no longer President. Of course, the legal representatives of the former President are defending his actions, while advisers privately did not think his battle with NARA would result in an FBI investigation, even as he apparently rifled through the documents. The Presidential Records Act has been a big part of online discussions, and rightly so.
NARA’s acting Archivist, Debra Steidel Wall, has said, however, that NARA is a “uniquely and fiercely non-political government agency” without a political motivation to their actions. Basically, she is saying that NARA is “neutral”. As I’ve said in this newsletter before, archives are not neutral. The agency recovered more than 100 classified documents, asking for documents back in 2021, stated that Obama did not take millions of pages of records. Predictably, conservatives have demanded “answers” from NARA, claiming it had a role in the FBI’s search of Mar-a-lago, while the former President has lashed out at the FBI and DOJ (but not NARA?), claiming they are “vicious monsters” while engaging in red-baiting, and claiming he (and his supporters) were “enemies of the state”.
Apart from these stories, it was cool to be mentioned in the newest Pop Archives video discussion, about archival themes in Star Wars, between Jennifer Snoek-Brown and Sam Cross, with Jennifer saying that they both know me via Twitter, noting that she asks me about certain shows and if characters are archivists or not, while Sam says there is surface-level analysis in the literature, but not as as much analysis of what the story is saying about them, the narrative around the depiction. Jennifer says she likes to get into the purpose of a reel librarian in a movie, saying pop culture matters as it is a further example of myth and storytelling.
In addition, there are articles here and here about next steps as the deadline for all federal records supposed to be electronic, a new nominee for Archivist of the United States, Colleen Joy Shogan. Otherwise, Sam Cross spotlighted archivist Lara Lor-Van in Superman II, noting that she is Keeper of the Kryptonian Archives, and Superman's biological mother as portrayed in the film. Additionally, there’s the Best Practices for Archival Term Positions document and the New England Archivists’ damning report on contingent employment in the archival field within New England. More than all of that is the survey report of the A*Census II, conducted by Ithaka, of 5,699 archivists.
While it is promising to see that 81% are “employed full-time” and only 9% are employed part-time, those with MLS/MLIS degrees are “more likely to graduate with student loan debt” as compared to those with other degrees. On another positive note, the number of BIPOC individuals in the profession now stands at 16% and there deems to have “encouraging evidence” of successful diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility goals, but the archives profession is still overwhelmingly White. Also, one in five are considering leading the profession within the next five years, one in four do not believe decisions related to salary, promotion, and hiring are equitable, archives continue to face big challenges (funding, collection storage space, and generating awareness of archives). The survey also said the profession is highly educated and has become “more women-dominated over time.” There are many other findings that can be gleaned from the study, so I am only highlighting some here.
Other additional articles focused on the West Virginia feminist activist collection, Kentucky floods damaging the Appalachian archives, the Pentagon and DHS destroying potential January 6 evidence, archival finding aids of the Library of Congress, the LAC Union at University of Michigan, Confederate slave payrolls, and the Iran-Contra affair. Last but not least were posts about identifying defunct urls, nominations for LOC’s National Film Registry (they will be considered in 2023), a round-up of library, archives, and reel librarian scenes in Marvel Cinematic Universe, and why the Presidential Records Act is an essential tool for NARA an historians.
Recently, Jennifer Snoek-Brown cited me (and Sam Cross) in a post about library and archives moments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, describing my review of a What If…? episode with a library named O’Bengh/Cagliostro and Dr. Strange (available here) as “thoughtful” and saying that I bring up “some interesting points to reflect on with this reel librarian portrayal”. On other topics, I think about the page for the DLF Working Group on Labor in Digital Libraries, a library understandably seeing resignations following bullet-riddled books, the helpful diversity residency toolkit, an Aztec Xipe-Totec deity in the Jay I. Kislak Collection of the Archaeology of the Early Americas, at LOC, Toni Frissell Fashion Umbrellas, and lots of hair at the library.
Beyond this were various articles of note. This included interviews with interns working with foreign law, preservation, and New Hampshire State Law at LOC, the challenge of studying an online degree and importance of a support system, a gay son speaking out against his fundamentalist mom’s book-banning crusade, neo-Nazis and Proud Boys targeting libraries while legislators and conservative lobby groups are “trying to remove books from shelves and change how library board members are appointed”. This includes “advisory notices” placed on catalog records. There was, on a more positive note, promotion of unionization and equitable pay for library workers within the ALA, supported by ALA president Emily Drabinski. Others expressed worry about removing MLIS as mandatory for librarianship, creating even more striation, stated that a MLIS degree should be an “actual advanced degree” and called for an apprenticeship model. Tamar Evangelestia-Doughtery, the outspoken Director of Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, said:
“Please stop infantilizing library workers by referring to our labor as "cute". We work in a profession that requires years of expertise & multiple degrees. We are information scientists, conservators, archivists, conservators. We work in libraries & museums-not Willy Wonka Land”
There’s additional articles about the 3,000 historical and contemporary legal reports online on LOC’s website, applying to academic library jobs, a community gathering in large numbers to support librarian acing termination, attacks on Drag Queen Story Hours part of a bigger reactionary project, Amazon’s book piracy problem, and Service + Solidarity Spotlight in terms of University of Michigan’s Library and Museum Workers Organize Union With AFT. Furthermore there are articles about concentrations in library school, U.S. Libraries in critical condition, four ways college students can make the most of their college library, and Fobazi Ettarh’s still-relevant 2017 article about post-ALA fatigue and nice White ladies.
The biggest, and little-reported, recent library-related news was the Internet Archive (IA) going down. I tweeted about it at the time. While the outage was soon solved, reportedly because a “core piece” of IA’s networking equipment failed, it led to a lot of concern. It comes at a time that some writers want IA to go belly up, especially those associated with the Authors Guild and publishers.
That brings me to the debate about presentism and the role of the American Historical Association (AHA). On August 17, AHA president James Sweet published an article in AHA’s Perspectives of History, sneering at “new history” which explains the past through lens of “race, gender, sexuality, nationalism, capitalism” which he incorrectly termed “contemporary social justice issues” (they are more than that), and grumbled about the “allure of political relevance”. He questioned the 1619 Project as a work of history, criticized Dobbs v. Jackson, and thought that efforts to “claim a usable African American past” reify elements of “American hegemony and exceptionalism”, a strange claim if I’ve heard of one. You can read the whole problematic piece here.
Not surprisingly, this piece was praised by Richard Spencer as “reasonable”, and defended by right-wing sites like legal insurrection and aier, and by additional reactionaries. Others criticized Sweets’ piece, noting that “presentism is hardly the field’s most pressing issue”, that he was arguing against “elevation of historically suppressed voices and perspectives” as a White man, noted the importance of calling out past racism, and called out the essay as racist, with a “baseless complaint about identity politics and presentism…[and a] rehashed and deeply flawed interpretation of the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade” and as dehumanizing Black people.
Sweet later apologized, admitting that his column “generated anger and dismay among many…colleagues and members” of the AHA, noted that he had “alienated some of my Black colleagues and friends”, and apologized for the damage he “caused to my fellow historians, the discipline, and the AHA”, and hoping to “redeem himself in future conversations”. The story doesn’t stop there. Some noted that Sweet was not seriously treating the topic, or others criticizing his reasoning (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here), the AHA locked their account. Jim Grossman said that the conversation had been “invaded by trolls uninterested in civil discourse” and meant that they had to lock their account. He said that the trolls were not AHA members or interested in scholarly discourse.
Some interpreted this to mean that they were locking the account because of critics (also see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here), and that may be the case, but it may have also been because of right-wing reactionaries. Also, Medievalist Dorothy Kim argued that the AHA has a “long public-facing history of supporting fascists even when faculty have been targeted by fascists violently or when fascist historians have been defended”. In sum, I’m not going to post links to Perspectives in History or any other AHA publication (or link) in this newsletter going forward.
There are many other topics of note, when it comes to history. Some wrote about abdications of King George III, Denver removing a plaque inaccurately describing anti-Chinese riot of 1880, Robert Cornelius and the first selfie, hospitals in New France from 1639 to 1760, how Indigenous sea gardens produced massive amounts of food for millennia, mapping the gangs of Chicago, and the race to preserve treasures from a legendary 17th century shipwreck in the Bahamas.
There are assorted other articles about the 50th anniversary of Title IX, how video games help teach history, a survivor of forced sterilization fearing its return as a consequence of overturning Roe, how an AP Reporter broke the Tuskegee Syphilis Story, Tulsa Schools downgraded by State after teacher dumbly claims that Implicit Bias Training "shames" White people, and teaching the history of campus police.
That brings me to genealogy. Sure, there are stories about researching Irish passenger lists, old Irish first names and nicknames, Irish housemaids, anyone who has Irish ancestors named Mary or Maureen, organizing your family history, favorite family heirlooms, and Sanborn fire maps. But, most relevant of all were questions in a recent Pew Research Center survey of Black Americans. When asked about reparations, many supported “educational scholarships, financial assistance for starting or improving a business, financial assistance for buying or remodeling a home, and cash payments”, with more for the first option than the last one. I thought this passage said a lot, and makes me think of my responsibility as a White person who has some ancestors who were slaveowners or slave traders:
Among Black adults who support reparations [77% of Black adults], about eight-in-ten (81%) say the U.S. federal government should have all or most of the responsibility for repaying descendants of people enslaved in the U.S. A similar share (76%) says the same about businesses and banks that profited from slavery. Slightly smaller shares say that college and universities that benefited from slavery (63%) and the descendants of families who engaged in the slave trade (60%) should have all or most of the responsibility for reparations…Although Black adults do not differ much by education or income on whether businesses or colleges should have all or most of the responsibility for repayment, they have differences on whether descendants of families who engaged in the slave trade should…Black conservatives (68%) are again more likely than moderates or liberals (59% each) to say that descendants of families that engaged in the slave trade should have all or most of the responsibility.
To this, I’ll just add that I’m committed to writing more, beyond more than before, and in-depth, about my ancestors who not only participated in the slave trade, but enslaved people, along with those who resisted it in an active way. I already shared this with one of my genealogist friends.
With that, I come to a completely different topic: LGBTQ people. ND Stevenson was nominated for a Harvey Award for Digital Book of the Year, for his newsletter “I’m Fine I’m Fine Just Understand”. The Asexual Agenda summarized what they described as a “whirlwind history of asexual communities”. The site, LGBTQ Nation, described what the Q in LGBTQ means and the cancelling of the Montreal Pride Parade. Others wrote about why ‘Steven Universe’ waves the flag for LGBTQ representation in children’s TV, a crash course in demisexuality, reported censoring of the film Onward in Russia over a LGBTQ character, and banning Lightyear (and other films) in Malaysia over LGBTQ elements.
There were assorted other stories about polyamorous fiction, the issues with the movie They/Them, Obi-Wan questioning his sexuality in a new series with some saying it opens the door to an aromantic asexual Obi-Wan, seven types of polyamorous relationships, grieving platonic love in a culture of romantic domination, a review of the book Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place, and the licensing of works by yuri artists. Further articles defined the word panromantic, noted the rising curiosity behind open relationships, and the Bloom Into You light novels which revealed why Sayaka never had a chance with Touko.
That brings me to one of the more significant recent stories: the streaming service, HBO Max, shedding titles like no one’s business. This has included animated series like Close Enough, Dodo, Elliott From Earth, Infinity Train, Little Ellen, Little Ellen, Mighty Magiswords, OK K.O.! – Let’s Be Heroes, Summer Camp Island, Tig n’ Seek, Uncle Grandpa, and Victor and Valentino. Predictably this purge led to anger from fans, creators, and others who worked on these shows or worked in the animation industry, leading to worry about the ripple effects.
This cruel action was done without warning and has even involved removals of shows which are termed “Max Originals”. It also seems to be part of the finalization of the Warner Bros.-Discovery merger, which includes nuking HBO Max, merging it with Discovery+, and creating a new streaming platform. Also, various films have been removed, and cancelled, with Batgirl as one example. Reportedly, this to save money on residuals, i.e. compensation paid to actors, directors, and crew involved in making TV shows or movies. This effort is led by David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, long-time media executive, and college-educated lawyer.
Additionally, 14% of HBO’s workforce was laid off and the company lost billions of their market cap. These actions have been described as a form of self-harm, and part of a “strategic shift away from live-action kids and family programming”, despite its profitability. Many have cancelled their subscriptions in response to the recent removals on HBO Max, and personally, I’ve done the same. Any corporate speak about “slashing costs, moving away from content aimed at kids and families and decluttering the service” is total poppycock, as reported savings of tens of millions of dollars, does nothing to take away from the fact that reputation of the streaming platform is tarnished and creators may be extremely wary in doing business with it again. None of the content they removed is “little watched”, but rather is much loved, like Sesame Street, with many episodes recently removed as well. The same can be said for Young Justice which the execs seem to have cancelled. In addition, the Farry Plopper movies were removed, while Warner Bros. Discovery maintains its business relationship with the awful, and toxic, J.K. Rowling.
Somehow, Harley Quinn survived and has been renewed for another season. Meanwhile, streaming is gaining on cable TV when it comes to television viewing for U.S. households, with Netflix in the lead, followed by YouTube, Hulu, PrimeVideo, Disney+, and HBO Max. There are also reports on an “upcoming price increase for Disney+ subscribers” and launch of an ad-supported subscriber tier in December 2022, all while Disney+ is “overtaking Netflix in worldwide subscriptions…becom[ing] the world's largest streaming company.” In contrast, Crunchyroll, which has over five million subscribers (and over 120 million registered users), recently removed its “long-running free ad-supported simulcast viewing option”. On a related note, there is a timeline of the HBO Max content purge, continued layoffs (also see here and here), how HBO Max is losing the streaming war, and the future looking bleak for animated content on HBO Max (also see here).
That brings me to other animation stories. Nico Colaleo stated that there is more queer and trans representation planned for his Ollie & Scoops series. Others noted ways to save money on streaming services, a bizarre list of the “worst” characters in Steven Universe (the only ones I agree with are Ronaldo, Marty, and Kevin, or even the Diamonds), Futurama fans have an idea for a reboot which puts secondary characters in the spotlight, a description of the biggest “cult fandoms” which highlights VivziePop’s Hazbin Hotel and the series Bee and PuppyCat. It is unfortunate to see that Tooncave, meant to provide a space to freelance animators, will be put on hold, with Sara Eissa focusing on a game, OverKnight Legend, instead.
There was also chatter about production needing to be built into animation pipelines, schedule, and budget, advice on creating indie animation pilots from Amber Avara, the need for fans to understand that more creators don’t do indie animation because it is “incredibly and mindboggingly expensive” (see responses here and here), Avara noting the false expectations of such animation and pointing to less than a quarter of Kickstarter animated pilots being successful. Others said that indie animations need to be funded in order to be successful (also see here and here), people need to be paid and treated fairly, and argued that indie animation takes “a lot of time and resources”.
There were further articles about IDW's Brutal Nature getting an adult animated series adaptation, Netflix not understanding the true potential of animation, animation writers demanding equal pay, neurodivergent representation manifested by Luz Noceda in The Owl House, Mike Moon exiting as Netflix’s head of adult animation, Inside Job editor Molly Yahr sharing editing secrets, easter eggs in Steven Universe, the second season of Helluva Boss beginning even though Season 1 isn’t over, and animator Spencer Wan revealing pre-production work he did for Disney's The Owl House which shows “Luz Noceda getting into some grotesque situations”.
With that, I’m going to pivot and talk about anime. For one, there’s news from January of this year about AMC Networks acquiring anime streamer HIDIVE. This then makes it no surprise that Pantheon, an animesque show which is also premiering on AMC+, will be premiering on HIDIVE. Anime News Network reported on the premiere of a youth music drama named Blue Orchestra in Spring 2023, along with the premiere of Farming Life in Another World in January, the second season of Edens Zero sometime in 2023, the premiere of Do it Yourself in October of this year, the premiere of a series named Bibliophile Princess centered around book-loving Lady Elianna and a prince sometime in October of this year.
There was other exciting news, like The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess (a yuri fantasy novel) scheduled to premiere in 2023, the October 4 debut of Encouragement of Climb—Next Summit in October,. I also enjoyed reading about the staff behind RWBY Ice Queendom, Zion Williamson estimating that around 80% of NBA players are into anime, and a call by ANN writer Rebecca Silverman for more magical girl anime, something which I support. The latter says there should be a reboot of Phantom Thief Jeanne, Corrector Yui, Tonde Būrin, and license for Nurse Angel Ririka SOS, Akazukin Cha Cha, and Hime-chan's Ribbon.
Other than this were accounts like Yuri Anime News, YuriAnimeItaly, YuriMother, and The Yuri Empire not only excited about the upcoming Do it Yourself, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess, Encouragement of Climb, but current series like Lycoris Recoil, Shine Post, Kakegurui Twin, Smile of the Arsnotoria, Extreme Hearts, Love Live! Superstar!!, Luminous Witches, or recently ended series like Healer Girl. Related to this is YuriMother’s 2022 Yuri Pride Guide, noting animated series like Bloom Into You, and others like Kase-San and the Morning Glories, and The Adolescence of Utena. There were further articles, beyond this, about the complex (and realistic) relationship in Bloom Into You, the power of hugs in anime (the first time I’ve seen the New York Times write anime anime), a co-dependent relationship in Bloom Into You, josei anime ahead of their time, and the reboot/remake of Tokyo Mew Mew.
Last but not least were articles about upbeat anime characters which can improve your mood, the best wholesome isekai anime ships, the coolest sports anime protagonists, the best anime sports series which don’t serve hate, the best action anime with female leads, and the uniqueness of anime by CLAMP, a group of all-female Japanese artists. They have created classics like Cardcaptor Sakura, Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, and RG Veda, to name a few.
There are many other topics I’d like to focus on in this newsletter which don’t neatly fit into any of the previous parts of my newsletter. This includes sharp decline in positive views of Supreme Court decline, young Russians leaving after Ukraine war (a brain drain if I’ve heard of one), the power of Indigenous place names, a reminder that the January 6 hearings won't save us, the most surveilled place in America (the U.S.-Mexico border wall), how soundscapes are not monolithic, and the new upcoming Netflix series, Wednesday, which is premiering in November and has Jenna Ortega as voicing Wednesday. I’m familiar with Ortega primarily as the voice of Princess Isabel in Elena of Avalor. There was also an apology from the People’s CDC at how they framed Monkeypox (also see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here for more information about the botched response to the virus), and their recent report noting the continued spread of COVID across the U.S.
Additionally, others wrote about topics such as prison healthcare, choosing your next book, lies of prison movies, Twitter’s photo cropping algorithm, police violence in the U.S. on the margins, the Victorian reading room, Writing in isolation during a global pandemic, having Indigenous people in various fields, the importance of climate action especially for those in the Global South, the ERA Coalition announcing a slate of federal candidates with ERA certification stamp of approval, Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider calling Arizona governor reactionary candidate Kari Lake a “mewling sack of shit” and a fascist who reportedly attempted to infiltrate leftist campus groups at Arizona State University.
There were further stories about Canada extending criminal law jurisdiction to the Moon, Dresden Benke winning for the NHD website “Dams, Disagreements, and Diplomacy: The Nile River Dilemma” (a website I reviewed), young adult fantasy graphic novels, Webtoon paying $1 million per month to English language creators, examining whether Biden will adopt a progressive foreign policy (he won’t), the dictatorship of the U.S. Supreme Court, the rising "Pink Tide" in Latin America, explaining how rich tech libertarians have fantasies of escape but desire for power, the need to amend the U.S. Constitution, the coming pregnancy surveillance state bring "Homeland Security" to women's bodies, and Black farms in Mississippi.
Otherwise, it looks like a possible fascist victory in Italy, raising the question whether any seemingly “democratic” institutions will survive. Giorgia Meloni, set to be the next Prime Minister of Italy, is strongly anti-immigrant, racist, homophobic, and generally awful, even praising Benito Mussolini (who was proudly killed by the Italian partisans), as noted here, here, here, here, and here. While the financial sector is not worried by the results, it is terrifying to anyone in Italy, and makes articles declaring that people should buy property in Italy or that the country is LGBTQ-friendly to be becoming absurd and laughable more now than ever.
In conclusion, I’d like to mention some illustrations in The Nib. They focus on speciesism, tripping through nostalgia, Gen-Z stashing away more money for retirement, how wild animals reminded a GITMO detainee what it meant to be human, an awful story which says a lot of how women are treated in the health system, what the word liberal means, and the faultiness of “Build Back Better”.
That’s all for this newsletter. It may be a while until my next newsletter, as it may come out in late September or early October, due to personal plans this month.
- Burkely