acoup.blog
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 4 of 26 newsletters by recommenders
Thorough, well-researched essays on pre-modern history, by a historian people often share on Hacker News.
Thorough, well-researched essays on pre-modern history, by a historian people often share on Hacker News.
19 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 19
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 19 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 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
Thorough, well-researched historical analysis
“very thorough demographic analysis of the ancient peasant class”
Comment from 10 May 2026 in “Why modern parents feel more sleep deprived than our ancestors did” “one of the best analysis of this war I've seen”
Comment from 12 Apr 2026 in “US – Iran negotiations end with no deal reached” “Great article on why the premise doesn't make sense.”
Comment from 7 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: The Roman Industrial Revolution that could have been (Vol 2)” - Comment from 29 Oct 2026 in “Leak Exposes 41,000 Homeland Security Workers–Including Undercover ICE Agents”
Praised as an excellent, must-read blog
“acoup.blog is the only blog I check individually.”
Comment from 20 Jul 2026 in “Ask HN: What are your favorite blogs not about AI?” “And I love acoup.blog, separately”
Comment from 26 Jan 2026 in “Yes, It's Fascism” “That's a great blog/website!”
Comment from 20 Jul 2026 in “Ask HN: What are your favorite blogs not about AI?” - Comment from 26 Jun 2026 in “Pre-Modern Armies for Worldbuilders, Part III: Paying for It”
Offers a different historian's perspective
“you could read acoup.blog if you want a different historian's take on things”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “Hollywood's vision of ancient Rome is all wrong, according to Mary Beard” “Here's some good reading for a less tongue-in-cheek perspective”
Comment from 8 Apr 2026 in “Trump suspends Iran attack for two weeks, subject to Hormuz Strait opening”
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.blogThis page | 19 | 0 | 100% | 10 | — | Approved |
| gwern.net | 19 | 3 | 86% | 9 | — | Approved |
What people said
17 of the 20 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“acoup also has a great primer on it”
“I like to read Bret Devereaux (from the frequently HN posted https://acoup.blog/ ) takes on this”
“That's a great blog/website!”
“acoup.blog is the only blog I check individually.”
“ACOUP, which is shared on HN regularly, has a series on fortifications too”
“yet another excellent blog”
“that one is infinitely more interesting”
“very thorough demographic analysis of the ancient peasant class”
“one of the best analysis of this war I've seen”
“Here's some good reading for a less tongue-in-cheek perspective”
“I don't really see anything wrong with that article”
“Great article on why the premise doesn't make sense.”
“And I love acoup.blog, separately”
“I like it. This is a confident and adult writing style.”
“can be replaced by "acoup"+"I'm feeling lucky"”
“it's based on things like child mortality rates and I don't think there is anyone claiming that there were any societies with modern child mortality rates in ancient times?”
“you could read acoup.blog if you want a different historian's take on things”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.