A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry (ACOUP)
Shares rank 10 of 26 newsletters by recommenders
Deep, expert-written history articles by an ancient history professor, covering castles, armies, feudal societies and ancient collapses, that correct popular misconceptions.
Deep, expert-written history articles by an ancient history professor, covering castles, armies, feudal societies and ancient collapses, that correct popular misconceptions.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Expert history on castles and feudalism
“regarding castles and their strategic importance, especially on how they were essential to local control of the area”
Comment from 12 Dec 2025 in “Powder and stone, or, why medieval rulers loved castles” “ACOUP has a good number of posts on the workings of feudal societies”
Comment from 17 Sep 2026 in “Why Arab armies don't win wars” In-depth, long-form articles
“excellent series explaining premodern iron and steel production”
Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “Why the Bronze Age Collapsed” “for very in depth articles about this subject”
Comment from 21 Jul 2026 in “Why Are There No Empires in Age of Empires? (2019)” Expert author corrects popular misconceptions
“I enjoy having my misapprehensions acquired from pop culture corrected by an expert.”
Comment from 6 Jun 2026 in “Pre-Modern Armies for Worldbuilders, Part I: Why They Fight” “which is written by ancient history professor”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Kevin Boone: The "small web" is bigger than you might think”
Other newsletters people recommend
The four most recommended other newsletters, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Zitron newsletter | 46 | 42 | 52% | 12 | — | — |
| Simon Willison's blog | 21 | 2 | 91% | 9 | — | Approved |
| SemiAnalysis | 20 | 12 | 63% | 8 | — | — |
| acoup.blog | 19 | 0 | 100% | 10 | — | Approved |
| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry (ACOUP)This page | 8 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
All 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Same reason I like A Collection Of Unmitigated Pedantry”
“excellent series explaining premodern iron and steel production”
“ACOUP has a good number of posts on the workings of feudal societies”
“for very in depth articles about this subject”
“checking in the morning and saying ah, dang, the acoup post hasn't come out yet is a Friday morning ritual for me”
“I enjoy having my misapprehensions acquired from pop culture corrected by an expert.”
“which is written by ancient history professor”
“regarding castles and their strategic importance, especially on how they were essential to local control of the area”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.