My new article on the “Pig in the Python” argues that the demand for young workers will grow dramatically over the coming decades, likely leading to rising wages, stronger unions, and lower inequality. 1/28

Hero Ashman did an outstanding, truly top-notch code review on my first historical mortality project & has done other RA work on my projects that’s more behind-the-scenes to me but I’ve been told was essential (parts handled by coauthors). I’m thrilled she won this Hiring depts, she’s on the market

Excited to share an updated paper from a longstanding agenda with Andy Hall, @dthompson.bsky.social, and Jesse Yoder: "Fortunate Sons: Elite Political Selection in American History" We link Members of Congress (+ their families) to the complete count census, covering congresses from 1850-the 2000s

I'm launching a new project with @joguldi.bsky.social today: Working Papers in Critical Search. Today we're publishing the first working paper: "Why a Working Paper Series on Critical Search Now" #digitalhistory #digitalhumanities working-papers-in-critical-search.github.io/paper-001-in...

FWIW, I don’t think the major problem in my field, or related ones, is that people need to move faster & produce more. I read a lot of papers as part of the job, and I’m increasingly convinced we’d benefit from fewer papers and better ones, not more mediocre work produced ever more “efficiently.”

It's #PAA2026! We are so excited to see people at our workshop "Linking Full Count Census Data from IPUMS" today. This evening, come and find us in the exhibit hall. We may have some new swag for you 😉

How @camunicampop.bsky.social researchers are turning static snapshots of Victorian Britain into dynamic life histories. The team are linking over 200 million census records, revealing how people moved, worked and lived in ways never before possible. 🔎 Read on 👉 www.hist.cam.ac.uk/news/tracing...

Some useful public speaking tips from Freud here.

1/ No, the New York Times was *not* wrong about birth rates.. There has been some pushback on a recent @upshot.nytimes.com article on US birth rate trends that I think is *mostly* unfair. The original article: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/u... #demography

Thank you to everyone who submitted their #poweredbyIPUMS work from 2025 for our annual research awards competition. 🏆 We are thrilled to announce this year's winners! 🎉 www.ipums.org/impact/ipums...

Well that's a (career) wrap! Thanks to all of you who have watched and listened to this 4-year old weather obsessed Minnesota kid who launched a 40-year weather career. I retire tomorrow. It's been an honor! #mnwx www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

Do I give deeply researched analytical women's history classics to my elders for Mother's Day? Of course I do. Every one of these books tells you something fundamental about early America that explains why you should be shocked but not surprised about where we are. Mom Books should be a thing.

My former job market paper has been published in the Journal of Economic History! This paper follows women in the US South as they migrated from the farm to the city in the early twentieth century. 🧵 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Another striking discovery from the line-by-line discussion in the "Exploring the Lord of the Rings" podcast, this time a single paragraph immediately before Gandalf's confrontation with the Balrog on the Bridge of Khazad-Dûm. But this paragraph isn't about Gandalf. It's Boromir's greatest moment.

An updated version of Emma Diduch's WP is now available on CWPESH 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝟏𝟏 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐲

The number of NIH competitive awards is down 50% from 2025, and down ~70% from prior years. Even if they catch up by the end of the year, only wealthy institutions can bridge these huge funding gaps.They're killing science-and violating the constitution-by weaponizing the bureaucracy

New article by James Juip, D. Lafreniere, S. Fayen Scarlett, and M. A. Rhodes Creating and Sustaining Public Engagement in Spatial Humanities and Deep Mapping Projects www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Our new paper examining kin networks of local officials in the late Qing is now out! We compare family background of shengyuan and holders of purchased degrees to that of holders of higher exam degrees. 1/2 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Here's the link to the #1926Census of #Ireland which just went live, in case anyone is looking for it. Happy searching! nationalarchives.ie/collections/... #IrishFamilyHistory #IrishGenealogy

Vaccines are a miracle, they are one of humanity's greatest achievements, and the current war on vaccines led by superempowered incompetent quacks will cause bottomless suffering for the children of Conservative and Liberal Americans.

In advance of tomorrow's release here is a short piece on the historical Irish censuses based on my past and ongoing research #spéirgorm theconversation.com/80-million-p...

Going to #PAA2026? Join us for our workshop, "Advances and Resources in Linking Full Count Census Data" on May 6, 9am-2pm in Rm 103. Add the workshop in your PAA registration! See all our PAA events: https://bit.ly/3OwRbA5

My UMN colleague Rob Warren just published a groundbreaking paper in @pnas.org. Flouride in drinking water during childhood has no effect on cognition and brain function in later life. www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-...

Artemis II is about to splashdown. Everybody, put on your monkey masks.

“170 Years of Change in Living Arrangements”: @gfloridi.bsky.social & A. Esteve explore the role of mortality decline over time & encourage social scientists to consider how extended life spans can shape arrangements. @uoe-sps.bsky.social @cedemografia.bsky.social read.dukeupress.edu/demography/a...

The dept of Economic History in Lund is hiring a new Senior Lecturer! Ad is here, deadline 17 May: lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

Happy Easter: “I’ve spent well over 20 years studying the history of the Crusades, thinking about the ways that sanctified violence works once it takes hold in a culture and becomes institutionalized. Once leaders start talking the way Pete Hesgeth does …limitations can easily fade away.”

Want to learn more about how we manage, preserve, annotate, and disseminate our qualitative collection and connect it to data collections? Check out this publication in IASSIST Quarterly: https://iassistquarterly.com/index.php/iassist/article/view/1163

Don't be a fool - today (4/1) is the last day to to apply for our summer data training workshop! It's the perfect chance to learn about linking historical US census data - and you can request travel support. Check it out at https://lcc.umn.edu/DIRC-workshop

Federal agents arrested more than 3,700 Minnesota residents during the federal government’s surge into the state this winter, according to new data. It shows fewer than one-quarter of those arrested had a criminal conviction on their record.

This is quite a chart www.startribune.com/ice-action-t...

We are estimating more than 200,000 people at the flagship No Kings rally in the Twin Cities. #NoKings

I feel like 90% of my career has been helping people understand what data they should (or should not!!!) use to answer the question they have.

By coincidence, another paper with Yue Yu (lead author), Yueran Hou, and Yibei Wu introducing a machine-learning based method for record linkage in historical Chinese datasets also just appeared online, so today is a publication twofer. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

My latest article is online now at American Sociological Review: “Kinship Interlocks.” It’s about how some elite families manage to stay rich and powerful for many generations while others don’t. 🧵 (1/16)

The Call for Papers will remain open until April 1st, but all submissions so far will be evaluated before that date. So please consider submitting if yo haven’t already: ssha.org/conference/c...

In the next five years, we are going to do LOTS of census linking 🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗, produce new transcriptions of all UK censuses 1841-1921, and use these to study migrations and demographic transitions, thanks to @ukri.org ! Sneak peek at: www.geolinking.hist.cam.ac.uk

April 1 is the deadline for proposals to present at the exciting Social Science History meeting in Atlanta, Nov 19-22 2026 This year’s theme is “Decentering Modernity.” As always, sessions are organized in networks ssha.org/networks/ Quick turnaround; proposals are being evaluated as they arrive!

This story is generating lots of reaction. Which is good! I think it's an important story. But also a nuanced one. And so a few points I think it's worth making, in a Saturday evening 🧵: #EconSky

🆕PopulationsPast.org now has cause- and age-specific mortality rates, and age- and sex-specific net migration rates! For example, in 1871 external causes of death (accidents, violence and suicide) among young adults was highest in industrial and fishing areas www.populationspast.org/vio1544/1871...

Five days left to submit proposals for the 2026 SSHA! Learn more and submit here: ssha.org/conference/c...

The US does not value caregiving, and many think women’s labor force participation is problematic. You can identify a society’s priorities by what it spends money on. The US’s refusal to invest in childcare infrastructure speaks volumes.

Summer plans? Oh - we are just hanging out with the best group of people at the Data-Intensive Workshop on July 20 -21. That amazing crew could include you! Apply by April 1st! https://lcc.umn.edu/DIRC-workshop

Heads up US demographers. Our main NIH study sections (SSPA/SSPB) are being disbanded. I don’t know what this means. public.csr.nih.gov/StudySection...

Glad to have been interviewed for this piece, along with @kaseybuckles.bsky.social @marthajbailey.bsky.social, and @econmsk.bsky.social. And be sure to check out the companion piece!

Support northeast Minneapolis families if you can!

Things feels calmer now in Minneapolis but the ICE siege is far from over. Many families are traumatized and remain in hiding, we still have over 900 ICE agents in Minnesota, and the economic impacts on our city—and especially on our targeted neighbors—are staggering.

Happy to have contributed to this along w/ @karenguzzo.bsky.social @marthajbailey.bsky.social & Melissa Kearney. My favorite from Karen: “We spent decades shaming women 4 having kids under the wrong circumstances, 4 not having their ducks in a row. Now they are holding up their end of the bargain.”

The Data Infrastructure Network will mark its fifth year at the Social Science History Association Annual Meeting in Atlanta! We want to highlight your work, ideas, and discoveries! The deadline to submit your abstract is March 15, 2026. Details are here: ssha2026.ssha.org