Another university getting rid of things you could only ever do at a university and replacing them with stuff a 13-year-old can do on a phone

Not a field trip, but after high school graduation and the all-night lock-in party, my friends and I watched the sun rise at Walden Pond.

Oh, you guys are so close...

I am very excited to announce that over the holidays, my first ever paper (w/ @samiyousif.bsky.social) was published in Cognitive Science! Here, we describe a new illusion of *number*: The Crowd Size Illusion! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

On the anniversary of January 6, 2021, we should remember a little discussed issue: An overwhelming desire for NORMAL politics wound up DESTROYING normal politics. Here's what I mean... Congress could have impeached, tried, and removed Trump BY DAWN on January 7. It didn't.

If your system is only as good as the virtue of the people running it, maybe your system isn't very good.

This dumb idea was brought to you by the same people who have claimed that the "liberal media" (aka, giant for-profit corporate conglomerates) is "anti-capitalist" and "socialist" for the past 50 years.

Periodic reminder that the U.S. Constitution doesn't need to be "defended" or "interpreted correctly." It needs to be changed.

Sure, but recognize symbolism for what it is. What the candidates should really pledge is to dismember the entire imperial presidency that got us to this point. But they won't. Because they think the system was basically fine until Trump showed up.

Historians of Bluesky: a query-- Is CalTech out of their minds? networks.h-net.org/jobs/69483/c...

UNC-Chapel Hill has THREE Rhodes Scholars this year! Congratulations to Tiana, Rotimi, and Gabrielle!! Big thanks to Dr. Marc Howlett, Executive Director of our Office of Distinguished Scholarships, and to all faculty and friends who helped in the process. www.unc.edu/posts/2025/1...

Trippy experience today when the hotel elevator opened up and I was face to face with Britt Lower, aka Helly R. I was a little worried about losing my memory before the elevator got to the bottom floor!

This article is insipid and stupid, but the sub-head is worse. No one is "too young" to "fact check" things that happened before they can remember. Maybe too lazy or ignorant, but not too young. Entire professions exist to explain things you didn't live through. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/s...

I don't think people should be getting MBAs, but I would point out that there is nothing mutually exclusive about being a history major and going to business school.

I lectured college students today about why Jefferson called farmers "the chosen people of God." I said it was like what a certain 90s movie said about stuff "from the earth... God put this here for me and you." Pretty sure no one caught the reference.

Favorite US history myth that needs to die a sudden and quick death, GO: "Small business is the backbone of the economy."

Me and my book project

I love the idea that GMU originally wanted to call its law school the "Antonin Scalia School of Law" but realized the acronym was ASSoL.

I am excited to announce my first ever paper (w/ @samiyousif.bsky.social ) about a new illusion of *number*: the “Crowd Size Illusion”. osf.io/preprints/ps...

bet they wouldn't quit if they got paid more

Just want to point out: If Trump proves, retroactively, that he was elected president in 2020, then, retroactively... he was ineligible to run in 2024. Stop the steal?

Amusing reminder that the sloganeers are really maligning the concept of constitutional monarchy. I would happily trade the US system for the Swedish one. But that's not a hill I'm going to die on. So Happy No Kings Day, y'all.

The reason we have historians is so that people don't delude themselves into thinking they can write the history of their own times based on their personal vibes. Like this schlock. It May Feel Like the 1960s, but It’s Worse www.nytimes.com/2025/06/09/o...

People who get paid to do a thing are generally better at it than people who cannot get paid to do the thing. Or do you not agree with capitalism?

We shall be as a dumpster fire upon a hill.

Maybe the clearest case you'll here for increasing federal revenue...

Good reminder from @bretdevereaux.bsky.social that liberal apathy, as much as conservative conniving, lay the groundwork for the awfulness we're all living through.

among the things i would do if i were king of america is outlaw MLMs

People who use the phrase "do your own research" should not be trusted on anything, ever. You are not serious people.

Folks: The pastor is an idiot, but please get this history right-- The 3/5 clause wasn't bad because it diminished enslaved people: SLAVERY did that. It was bad because it OVER-COUNTED unfree people to help ENSLAVERS. It should have been 0/5, not 5/5. Or there just shouldn't have been slavery.

Notably, those Latin American countries that turned into dictatorships had Constitutions modeled on the US Constitution.

New book! Environmental Regulation and the History of Capitalism The Role of Business from Stockholm 1972 to the Climate Crisis Coedited with Janick Schaufelbuehl and Sandra Bott In open access here: www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edi...

Pope Fiction

This is an important thing that people often fail to understand: Philanthropy is a necessary response to social failure. It is not a positive good in and of itself.

This right here is why we can't have nice things. Yes, billionaires should not have private jets. But anybody who gives their kid a new bike every Easter should be paying higher taxes. Happy Festivus. Gift Article: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/b...

Me keeping up with current events...

Seems weird to post personal accomplishments as the world burns but... My book is reviewed alongside @erikmbaker.bsky.social 's new release in The New Republic. Check us out! newrepublic.com/article/1909...

As Ronald Reagan said: "Defense is not a budget issue. You spend what you need."

Meanwhile, America is still in its First Republic period.

While we’re banning apps, Microsoft Teams is right there.

Once any space becomes less than 40% male, (straight) men tend to cede it entirely while shouting about how it “went woke”. Fascinating read:

That sound you heard from Morningside Heights was @rrjohnr.bsky.social's head exploding.

The History Major: Come for the cool old stuff. Stay for the writing and thinking skills.

The greatest trick the tech industry ever pulled was convincing the world (and itself) that it wasn't "big business."

You all MOCKED George Lucas and said this was boring or dumb but who’s laughing now???

I find it helpful to remember that the US presidency is and mostly always has been a high-school popularity contest. Even when Democrats win.

This is a feature, not a bug.

As a scholar of U.S. political history, I think I come by my cynicism pretty honestly. For the past few weeks, I've been trying to put into words my view of politics in this country. This is what I've got:

Has anyone nominated @darthbluesky.bsky.social for President of Bluesky on the basis of this post alone?

Check out this new profile of my book and an interview about work (and life, and balance). www.welcometothejungle.com/en/articles/...