Today:
Welcome to this week's instalment of /r/AskHistorians' Sunday Digest (formerly the Day of Reflection). Nobody can read all the questions and answers that are posted here, so in this thread we invite you to share anything you'd like to highlight from the last week - an interesting discussion, an informative answer, an insightful question that was overlooked, or anything else.
My usual end of the month catch-up, incoming! To start off though, a massive shoutout to /u/AverageAngryPeasant, who reached out to us a little while back to offer his assistance in behind the scenes automation, resulting in a script that myself and /u/gankom have been able to start using for Digest compiling, which cuts down the manual labor required, not to mention the amont of time it took, to a fraction of what is used to be. No one deserves being highlighted here for this month than AAP!
Anyways though, on to the list!
We return for another action packed edition of the Sunday Digest! Hundreds of the very best history answers just waiting for your appreciative eyes! Grab yourself a snack & beverage, and settle on in for some great reading.
Don’t forget to upvote your favorites and thank those amazing writers. Start with the weekly features and work your way through!
Monday Methods: History and the nationalist agenda or: why the 1776 Commission report is garbage
Get some reading ideas in the Thursday Reading and Rec thread!
A party is always in motion in the Friday Free For All!
A very interesting META discussion on What is your guy's opinion on most of the FAQ responses on this subreddit?
And the follow up META thread. If a post is dead, just let people comment. I hate seeing this sub on my feed because the mods murder anyone who has any relevant info on the post; content which I would consider relevant or useful; the actual content I am seeking when I chose to subscribe to this subreddit.
And that wraps it up for us here. Enjoy all the goodies, ration them out to last the week, and I’ll see you next Sunday!
Time for another installment of "The Real Questions", where take a look at the wilder side of /r/AskHistorians! Here, I give a shout-out to people asking the more atypical questions on this sub: questions that investigate amusing, unique, bizarre, or less common aspects of history, as well as ones that take us through intriguing adventures of historiography/methodology or niche/overlooked topics and moments in history. It's always a wide (and perhaps confusing) assortment of topics, but at the end of the day, when I see them I think, "Finally, someone is asking the real questions!"
Below are my entries for the week - questions with a link to an older response are marked with ‡. Let me know what you think were the realest questions you saw this week, and be sure to check out my full list of Real Questions.
Don’t forget to spare a thought for those interesting yet overlooked questions that caught your eye but remain unanswered. Feel free to post your own!
/u/TWS_Photography asked Are there any know conspiracy theories that were widely believed by people living in ancient times?
/u/400-Rabbits asked What did Ancient Greece know about the rest of Europe? Did they send out explorers?
/u/screwyoushadowban asked Given that the later Ottomans seemed to look down strongly on their nomadic or peasant/"Turk" subjects, what did they make of their dynasty's own nomadic origins? Did they downplay the nomadic/semi-nomadic background of their predecessors?