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Articles by Abby Mullen
Final Report Transmission
After two seasons, we have a lot to reflect on! We wanted you to hear the voices of the team, who have been working mostly behind the scenes for the past two seasons, and hear about their experiences working on Consolation Prize. Here, we have the honor to transmit to you our final report on our show about consuls. Transcript MULLEN: Hey y’all. I’m Abby Mullen, and this is Consolation Prize. A few weeks ago, we wrapped on our second and final Season of Consolation Prize.
Holiday Bonus Episode: Yeah, That Poinsett
In this bonus holiday episode, a re-release from 2020, we explore the consular life of Joel Roberts Poinsett, everyone’s favorite holiday historical figure. Before he went to Mexico, where he “discovered” the flower that now bears his name, Poinsett went all over the world, including to South American as a consul. While he was there, he got involved in quite a lot of activities that didn’t really fit the consular program.
California Dreaming
As Americans moved into California, the U.S. government wanted to provide them with an official representative. But the government also wanted California for the United States. So when Thomas Larkin was appointed as consul to Monterey, Alta California, he had the job of keeping the peace with Mexico—while other Americans tried to make war. But Larkin also wanted to bring California into the United States.
New: Beyond the Consul
When we set out to make a show about U.S. consuls, we knew that it would mostly be a show about white men–there just aren’t that many consuls who don’t fall into that category. We believe their stories are compelling and need to be told in order to understand the history of U.S. foreign relations, but we did always feel a little lack in prioritizing their stories over the stories of the people whose cities they inhabited.
Season 2: What is Manifest Destiny?
Manifest Destiny is a term you hear a lot when you’re learning about the history of the United States in the nineteenth century. But what is it, really? Several experts weigh in. You’ll hear from Steve Inskeep, Matthew Raffety, Amy Greenberg, Gene Allen Smith, and Brian Rouleau–and then you’ll hear a lot more from us on this season of Consolation Prize, where our first several shows will be dedicated to the consuls who went forth during the era of Manifest Destiny.
Tell us about Manifest Destiny!
We’re starting off Season 2 with a miniseries we’re calling “The Consuls of Manifest Destiny.” In this three-part series, we’re talking about consuls in places that the United States was interested in not only trading with (like Tahiti) but also potentially acquiring (like Alta California and Hawaii). We want to hear from you about what Manifest Destiny means to you.
Episode 9: Victims of Independence
James Leander Cathcart and Richard O’Brien were uniquely suited to their jobs, from one point of view: they had spent a lot of time in the region they were consuls to–as captives of the ruler during the previous decade. Their struggles to do their jobs in the Barbary states was complicated by their inability to get along with each other, and in the end they couldn’t accomplish the mission they’d been charged with: to make peace without payment with the Barbary states.
Bonus Holiday Episode 1: Yeah, That Poinsett
In this bonus holiday episode, we explore the consular life of Joel Roberts Poinsett, everyone’s favorite holiday historical figure. Before he went to Mexico, where he “discovered” the flower that now bears his name, Poinsett went all over the world, including to South American as a consul. While he was there, he got involved in quite a lot of activities that didn’t really fit the consular program. Transcript ABBY MULLEN: Hey y’all, it’s the holidays.
Big If True on Apple Podcasts
18 episodes Big If True is a biweekly podcast for kids dedicated to exploring the truth behind big things. You can find shownotes and other extras at bigiftrue.abbymullen.org! Big If True is a biweekly podcast for kids dedicated to exploring the truth behind big things.
Disease and the First Barbary War
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Training You to Teach Tropy
I love teaching Tropy workshops. It is a delight to see the glimmer of hope and excitement in people's eyes as they realize their research photos don't have to be a gigantic stressful mess. But I can't be everywhere, and I can't teach everyone. For this new development cycle, the Tropy team will be hitting the road with a slightly different aim: teaching you how to teach Tropy.
New beta release
A new beta version of Tropy is now available. From this point on, your projects should migrate as Tropy is updated through the 1.0 release. We do recommend that you make backups of your project files, as this is still beta software and some irregularities may remain. New features include these: Functional template editor: You can now build and edit customizable metadata templates to suit your research needs.
Manifold Scholarship
Welcome to Manifold. An Intuitive, collaborative, open-source platform for scholarly publishingWith iterative texts, powerful annotation tools, rich media support, and robust community dialogue, Manifold transforms scholarly publications into living digital works.Learn MoreSign Up
Untangling the Mess: Researchers' Photo Practices
Negotiating archives is one of the major joys and frustrations of any researcher. Even when researchers find something in the archives that exactly fits their needs, remembering what those sources said afterwards can be a challenge. Researchers have traditionally used methods such as extensive note-taking, photocopying, and requesting scans of sources to remember what they’ve read in the archives.
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