Dr. Nyri A. Bakkalian is an author, recovering academic, raconteur, and Your Favorite Historydyke. Her PhD thesis focused on the Boshin War in the Tohoku region. She is a staff writer for Unseen Japan, and the author of the 2021 NYC Big Book Award Distinguished Favorite Grey Dawn: A Tale of Abolition and Union (Balance of Seven Press, 2020). She hosts Friday Night History on anchor.fm/fridaynighthistory and the secret to her success is Arabic coffee. She misses Sendai daily.