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- Damn History #98 / January 2026
After the release in November of the movie Nuremberg, adapted from my book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, many people – friends and folks new to me – have been in touch. I love hearing from people with congratulations, questions, and reflections.
A few of the messages I’ve received have been weird, however. This example arrived this week via the contact form on my website.
Hi Jack,
Just finished watching Nuremberg and I’m a bit confused and surprised that you as an individual and author didn’t do more research into what has really transpired in our society.
I’m a nobody but I appear to have a bit more insight into what really happened.
Please feel free to reach out to me as you are wrong.
BTW….am not a Nazi or antisemit [sic]…..just informed
Best regards
Dan
Dan is not a nobody. Even so, I don’t know what he is talking about. He has chosen an odd way to introduce himself to a stranger and seems not to have read anything I have written. Without taking him up on his invitation, I hope he enjoys his movie-watching in the new year. I have subscribed him to Damn History.
In Damn History you'll find, as usual, recommendations on good and popularly accessible historical reading, with tips on writing and updates on my own work.
Follow me on X at @Jack_ElHai, on Bluesky at @jackelhai.bsky.social, and on Threads at @jackelhai1.
Contact me by email at [email protected]
Personal Notes
“Refuse to vote for any candidate who makes ‘political capital’ of the heritage, morals, or supposed otherness of opponents” – on the political warnings of Douglas M. Kelley, M.D., the subject of my book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist.
This is one of the best video programs I’ve appeared in about The Nazi and the Psychiatrist and Nuremberg.
Nuremberg is now a rental offering on the major streaming services. It will arrive on Netflix this spring.
For my recommendations of popular-history books, search X, Bluesky, or Threads for #popularhistory.
Recent Popular History from All Over
You may find some of these articles behind a paywall if you’ve exceeded the publisher’s allowance of free views.
Why cook Captain Cook but not eat him?
A writer solves a six-decade-old baseball mystery.
Nuremberg’s hangman presents a curious case.
U.S. bombs left behind poisoned lives.
Betty Boop leads the charge in a copyright war.
The Black Death spread thanks to a volcanic eruption in 1345.
Lucy Stone led women in retaining their own surnames after marriage.
The Ku Klux Klan used a secret code to grow throughout the South.
A historian debunks the belief that ancient sculptors were trashy painters.
Atomic fallout made Arctic reindeer radioactive.
Resources
A list of great old books neglects nonfiction titles.
Mass-market paperbacks are in their final gasps.
Some people crave abandoned malls.
Life as a midwestern writer: “Just enough success to splurge on a used Honda and knock out last year’s property taxes.”
Is it helpful to search for charm in history?
A photographer captures the last of the old newspaper newsrooms.
“We need to be reminded of what we know but often forget: We are never just one thing.” – Allison Coffelt
Housekeeping
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More next month, and thanks for looking. And you are welcome to forward Damn History in its entirety to anyone.
About me: I'm a history and science writer. I've contributed hundreds of articles to such publications as Smithsonian, The Atlantic, The Washington Post Magazine, Wired, Scientific American, Discover, GQ, Longreads and many others. My books include The Lost Brothers: A Family’s Decades-Long Search, The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness, Non-Stop: A Turbulent History of Northwest Airlines, and The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Goering, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WW2.
I frequently give talks and lead workshops on the topics of my books as well as on the craft of nonfiction writing. To book me for your event, please contact Jayme Boucher, Hachette Speakers Bureau, at [email protected].
Please feel free to get in touch.