I just cobbled together funding to support the OA publication of my book about Bai Chongxi. I asked one of the Distinguished Profs in my department who has a ~ridiculous~ research budget to chip in, and he threw $5K my way. Always ask, people. Always ask.

Whenever I'm in the depths of writing, I spend most of the day thinking that everything I'm writing is total shit. Then, when I reread it the next day, I'm generally like "Hmmm..this isn't all terrible." What's that about?

My friend Esther just published this book about her grandfather Hu Zongnan. She just sent me a copy because there are all these awesome photos she’s colorized of Bai and Hu together. 🤓🥰 coffee table book for super nerds!

Hanging with the poochies in Bella Vista for a few days while the house gets painted.

A weekly conversation I have with my husband:

Ma Xingrui, a former high-flying technocrat and Xinjiang party secretary, is officially under investigation for corruption charges. That makes him the third member of the Politburo to fall amid Xi's latest purge.

“Oh my god… It’s glorious… they should’ve sent a poet…” - Deng Xiaoping

Happy 11th Birthday Dino!!!

You need side eye? I got side eye.

The only problem with this description is that the corgi self-appointed himself boss cause he is a bossy AF corgi and he’s never had anyone tell him what to do in his life:

Chen Lifu ran a chicken farm during his sojourn in America from the early 1950s until 1968, when he returned to Taiwan. Allegedly the chicken farm burned down and many chickens perished in the blaze.

Remember the good ol' days when you didn't need to download an app to run a new appliance?

Annie likes Sundays.

Visiting the motherland. 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

Historian here seen in the bad place “Admiral Yamamoto, seen here realizing he’d totally forgot to tell Trump he was going to attack Pearl Harbor.”

I've been teaching college for almost twelve years now. Out of the 30-or-so handwritten thank you notes I've received, not one has been from a man.

Bye Vancouver. It’s been a hoot! 🦉 #AAS2026

Two grad students referred to me as a senior scholar yesterday. Kill me now.

Finally! Some good news!! www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/n...

Wait?! What??! This is THE VET!!?! 💉👨‍⚕️🩺

In collaboration with the Department of Economics, we are hosting Indonesian economist Muhamad Chatib Basri, former Minister of Finance for Indonesia and current visiting scholar at Harvard Center for International Development: news.uark.edu/articles/808...

I voted in the open primary in Arkansas. Only my second time voting as a a new American citizen.

RIP Mong Dynasty. fayettevilleflyer.com/2026/02/25/l...

Actually, yes. The IRS still hasn't processed my taxes from last year and they owe me $3500.

My very smart friend Jonas Nahm wrote a very good op-ed: “China Automates While America Hesitates” (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/o...

But will Einstein write my lectures and do all my grading? That would really free up my time.

LOVE it when students demand a meeting with me and then ghost 👻 me.

Big thanks to Kelly Hammond and @ruslanyn.bsky.social for hosting me for a talk on Party’s Interests at University of Arkansas!

The best part about working from home is that you can eat nachos in your pajamas for lunch and you don’t have to make small talk with your colleagues.

Have an Econ and International Studies student working on an undergrad thesis titled: "Infrastructures of Control: the PRC Party-state and the Diffusion of Surveillance Technology to the Global South." He's an incredible data miner and cruncher. Happy to share once he defends. 🤓

Reading an anecdotal story about Chiang Kai-shek clearing a high-level military meeting with a loud and stinky fart. Sounds too familiar to giggle.

I'm on campus. there is no one else on campus. it's a frozen ghost campus.

A really favorable review of the edited volume that I contributed to last year called "The Greater Second World War: Global Perspectives." networks.h-net.org/group/review...

Wrote close to 7000 words this week about Bai Chongxi's Northern Expedition. Time for a break.

Grinch toes.

Maybe now Andy Reid will be available to coach the Arkansas Razorbacks to victory.

A little light reading for the break….

It's my last day of teaching until August 2026 and I feel frreeeeeeeeeee!!! FREEE! (I have a fellowship in the Spring 2026 to finish my book about Bai Chongxi.)

Dino and his cousin Bernie. A bromance for the ages. Love at first sight.

"Mean Spirit" by Linda Hogan is *the best* novel I've read this year. (I'm approaching 50 novels so far this year.) Highly recommend.

Gluten free cranberry custard tart (hazelnut and rice flour crust). Get the elastic waist pants prepared, friends.

TIRED: entrusting university academic integrity offices with investigating alleged student use of ChatGPT WIRED: bringing the Inquisition in

Oh! This looks great--just got my library to order. 🤓📚 uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/mother...

Taking in Fall. Happy doggos.

I have an adult student from Japan who is completing an undergrad in English--kudos to him. We were chatting yesterday and he was telling me about how much free time he has and how all the 20 year olds who complain about being "so busy" all the time have no idea what's coming for them--i.e. life.

I'm "you're gonna need progressive lenses" years old... 😱

We had a guest cancel their visit to campus because of flight chaos. It’s like a bonus day! I wrote four reference letters for students heading off into the world and finished reviewing a book ms for a press. 📋✅

Just two besties snuggling up on a cold day.