BREAKING: 35,000 anti-sex trafficking advocates, survivors of Epstein’s abuse, and concerned citizens announce opposition to Todd Blanche's confirmation.

A major story here. A longtime Republican tax expert and Trump appointee was just ousted from a key position at the IRS after warning that the White House was potentially violating federal law. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Grumpy runner over here.

I am once again begging Hollywood to stop using the Greek alphabet for an Ancient World movie, if they can't afford to even throw a couple of quid at anyone with an inkling of the language. Unless they really think audiences are dying to see THS THDPSSSSPS

We are very pleased to welcome 223 historians who join the Society today - as Fellows, Associate Fellows, Members and Postgraduate Members: bit.ly/3TEhyWM Our Fellows and Members teach, research, write and promote #history, within the UK and internationally, in and beyond education #Skystorians 1/2

Schiff: The judge, in that decision on Monday, referred Blanche, basically, to the New York Bar Association because of his conduct. How is it possible that after being referred to the bar association for potential discipline on Monday, we’re contemplating this guy for attorney general on Wednesday?

Win a signed copy of Fulvia: The Woman Who Broke All the Rules in Ancient Rome! To win, you must •be following this account •'like' and repost this post •reply to this post with your dream Hollywood casting of your favourite figure from antiquity •be based in the UK

Trying to pick apart a woman's text messages to prove she's lying about being raped is gutter behavior. Consent can be revoked at any time and reading insinuations into text messages that the sender denies were there is ACTUAL journalistic malpractice. I would not trust a man who does this!

Two fantastic books. Satlow's will help me in the classroom but also serves as a good conceptual reminder in my research. I jokingly told my Spring students that Satlow stole my line: for most of my teaching career, I have told students that the ancients inhabit an enchanted universe. 😉 1/

Just thinking this morning about how many women are forced to serve up the most intimate and horrible moments of their pasts because people blast through a veritable thicket of red flags in support of a political candidate, and in retaliation, they are smeared and harassed.

Critically, ​Barry offers ways to reclaim these violent stories for healing. As I prepare for ordination, this is a resource I will return to frequently as I work to confront and dismantle systems of oppression and control within Christian theology. ​#Booksky #LateAntiquity #ChurchHistory

In "Gender Violence in Late Antiquity," Jennifer Barry @jennisifire.bsky.social shows this isn't new. It’s a corrupt thread woven through orthodox history where early church fathers routinely weaponized women’s stories and demonized their bodies to reinforce masculine authority @ucpress.bsky.social

NEW: Following reporting by @wbur.org and ProPublica, Gov. Maura Healey has pledged to sign a bill into law ensuring that Massachusetts will no longer have one of the strictest rape prosecution deadlines in the country.

open.spotify.com/episode/45YT... @jennisifire.bsky.social @ucpress.bsky.social #genderviolence #theology

I built a free scholary converter for 20 premodern calendar systems — Julian, Hijri, Solar Hijri, Coptic, Armenian, Byzantine, Syriac, Athenian and more: kalkal.online

hello, cats and kittens, GOSPEL THRILLERS is now (or imminently) available in paperback! a perfectly Revolution Month present for your nearest and dearest! www.cambridge.org/us/universit...

The order directs the DOJ to release names of email senders and recipients who wrote emails commenting on women.

195 days have passed. Survivors have waited long enough. Congress ordered the remaining Epstein files released. Americans were promised transparency. The Department of Justice has not complied. Millions of files remain withheld.

Sometimes, book arguments just can't be rushed. ugh. I am a creature of revision. It takes like 12 revisions to get something right. I wish this process were quicker but it just isn't for me. #amwriting

Just grabbing frozen custard alongside our rep Don Beyer, NBD. NoVA living is super weird #theyarejustlikeus

Members of Congress have discussed issuing subpoenas to get info on the NDAs between Epstein’s friends and his accusers. Some of his accusers have signed confidential prelitigation settlements with Epstein’s friends whom they’ve also accused of misconduct.

I spend way too much time trying to format Scrivener. I wish this info would stick in my brain. It is such a useful piece of software until I have to convert chapters into files. then *poof* my brain shuts down. Off to track down tutorials (bless those folks).

A brief appreciation thread for some of my colleagues in Classics at Exeter, who the University of Exeter have put at risk of redundancy @exeter.ac.uk. A few are on here, most are not, but I'm going to say nice things about them anyway.

Do you work in late antiquity? Like church councils? Appreciate northwestern Anatolia? Then you should submit a paper for this Sept '26 online conference on Nicaea hosted by the SBL Greco-Roman Religions unit! www.samreligions.org/virtual-conf...

@drmjcwarren.bsky.social is rad and y'all should listen to this

The Epstein files confirmed that Epstein’s phone directory reportedly listed 14 numbers connected to Trump, including emergency lines, car numbers, and contacts for Trump staff. Fourteen. So much for “barely knew him.”

Since there's been a lot of talk about damnatio memoriae as of late, re-upping my very first article on Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in #Ravenna where the practice was applied to images even in the Byzantine period. Look for the disembodied hands! works.hcommons.org/records/gaqv...

Workers have arrived and the crowd is loving it. Ha. I should get some popcorn

Scaffolding is up, and the judge denied the appeal, so now we wait: wtop.com/dc/2026/06/i...

Friends— If you haven’t read the @nytimes 🚨‼️Bombshell Report🚨‼️on the Epstein Cover Up in the White House, it’s a MUST READ for your weekend reading list! Article Below—

I love deadlines. I know many people do not, but it is how I keep momentum and set goals. I looked at one of my book contracts and read Jan 2027 in my head as Jan 2026 and nearly had a heart attack. Mini panic attack now over. How's your Thursday?

i'm moving forward with a new departmental home. but i want y'all to know that our college closed my former department -- a nationally-known one -- to save an operating budget of $121,825. don't ever let them tell you it's about the money, friends. it's not. receipts at p. 698:

The Epstein files were due 167 days ago. The survivors waited decades to be heard. The public has waited 167 days past the deadline. Every day the files remain withheld raises the same question: Who benefits from this? At some point, the delay itself becomes part of the betrayal to Americans.

To all the survivors out there – we believe you, we support you, and we are here for you. ❤️ Hope lives here with New Mexico’s Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women, Enlace Comunitario, the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and Community Against Violence.

As I'm finishing up my manuscript on philosophy, art, and dress/appearance in #LateAntiquity, cracking this new book open. (It's available open access: www.luminosoa.org/reader/books...)

There is a new, open access 🚨 📖 book tracing the global history of Zoroastrianism from antiquity (6th century BCE-7th century CE) to the Middle Ages—and then into modernity. My friend & top Manichaeism scholar @babelalexandria.bsky.social has a chapter as well. www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edi...

For clarification...

An FBI agent told me to my face once that there were so many moving pieces, that I would likely end up with more charges than my trafficker. Full disclosure, this is the america ive always known.

The V&A has launched a new provenance webpage highlighting objects with histories of looting, violence, and uncertain acquisition. Released for International Provenance Research Day, it reflects the museum’s push for transparency amid ongoing restitution debates. Read more: buff.ly/mLxTz92

Filling out my Faculty Activity and Achievement Report is so revealing and, frankly, makes me so angry (and tired).

Late Antiquity scholars I will always sing praises for because you need to know how lucky we are to have them in our field: Ellen Muehlberger @emuehlbe.bsky.social, Andrew Jacobs @drewjakeprof.bsky.social , Young Kim @youngrichardkim.bsky.social,John Penniman @historiographos.bsky.social

This rare Roman pottery lamp, shaped like a foot wearing a sandal, was made between 50-60 CE, and was found at Borough High Street in Southwark. Archaeologists discovered the lamp in a rubbish pit, close to buildings that had been burnt down during the Boudican rebellion in 60-61 CE. #FindsFriday

Book in the wild #NAPS2026 #GenderViolence www.ucpress.edu/books/gender...

How I feel when I cite myself:

just sharing things that give me hope today. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/20/u...

#NAPS2026 bound

#NAPS2026 people: Today all registrants should have received email communications from me and from Trident (our conference management company) with important information about the conference later this week. Email me if you didn't. www.patristics.org/annual-meeti...

This winter, I took bluesky and my email off my phone, but I'm loading 'em back up in prep for #NAPS2026 There's really only one way to manage a conference with 10 physical / 1 virtual panels per time slot, and that is to depend on your friends to liveskeet the thing they're attending