Do any of y'all have friends in Morocco at the moment? Specifically Rabat? There are a couple of manuscripts in the Khazinat al-Ammah that I'd like to get eyes on and possibly images of, but the budget doesn't stretch to plane tickets. #medievalsky #research #academicsky

In the Mamluk Sultanate, these are the same group chat.

🧵 i have been dealing with an unbelievably shitty situation on Marvel Snap, wherein Marvel Snap's reporting system is being hijacked by bigots who report any LGBTQiA+ usernames and the system AUTOMATICALLY removes the person's username whether or not its actually violated any TOS (1/x)

But the people specifically focused on lamenting the decline in military history aren't interested in solidarity with other humanists, but in attacking "wokeness" while ignoring what is really hollowing out the academy.

I know I'm engaging with a bad faith argument, but genuinely: What is this art for? If it's for personal use, why post it online? If you're worried that your friends will savage you, maybe you have shitty friends. If it's for strangers online, why do you need them to think you have skills you don't?

I saw a presentation today that pointed to problems with the costs of AI (clearly extracting resources is its goal) but reframing around this question is essential: who owns the AI dividend

Somehow I missed that another Knives Out movie had come out, so I'm letting y'all know in case you hadn't hear either. Wake Up Dead Man is good. Really good. The mystery is good, the cast is good, the new main/companion character is one of the best & most interesting characters I've seen on screen.

Following @thatnatt.bsky.social's lead, here are my top 10 (ish, we'll see if I stick to that limit) game recommendations for the Historian in your life

Okay, as promised, here are my 25 boardgames that would make good presents for historians or the historically-inclined. - I've played them and enjoyed them - They have to have a historical theme or be related to the practice of history - They were within the first 25 I thought of...

one thing I do worry about with all this, arguing over ai aside, is giving kids the impression that only perfect and realistic artwork is worth it and they shouldn’t even try

Is anyone attending the Mamluk Studies conference in Philadelphia this July and looking for a panel? Esp. people who work on the use or understanding of animals/nature in Middle Islamic martial, scientific, economic or social contexts? I've got 2 panel members and need a 3rd before I can propose

Do you or any of your colleagues (especially those who teach STEM) have an interest in recreating medieval technology? Inspired by my all-too-brief interactions with the late Dr. Tom Mcleish and @uoyarchaeology.bsky.social I'm looking for friends or collaborators to try a thing!

Anyone else going to the Medievalists Design Games conference at UChicago this weekend?

Absolutely reposting this so I can find it later. #NewberryLibrary bringing the #MedievalJoy!

I’ve never used Ch*tGPT. I’ve never wanted to or had a single moment when I thought it would be helpful. I realise my work is very specific, but whenever I see people talk about using it or ‘needing’ it ngl in my head I’m just thinking ‘skill issue’.

No #medievaljoy only #medievalscreaming today. After 2 months of waiting for the Turkish directorate of archives to send me scans of the only extant copy of the 39th and final volume of al-Yunini's chronicle, I finally recieved a full scan of...Volume 4.

Ok. Day 3 of Protospiel Madison. As long as I can connect an IV full of tea to my throat, I should be fine.

If you had any interest in playing GTA 6 or giving this company money in any other forum, please don't. At least not until they make this right and do one hell of an apology tour. And voluntarily recognize their employee union. There are other games you can play on the meantime. #fuckpinkertons

الشعب يريد إسقاط النظام

@greenleejw.bsky.social I didn't know you you were a canonical npc in the Baldur's Gate world!

You can tell this is a serious, scientific treatise on medieval sport bc the author keeps reiterating that the size of the field, number of players, etc. should remain consistent with current astrological conditions.

Some nerds acquiring #medievaljoy in Bristol this weekend

Feeling cute, might descend into an infinite recursion later. 1/

@ironlily.bsky.social serving up the #medievaljoy today. And most days, honestly

The Royal "We" implies the existence of a Peasant "We", logically used to denote "everyone except me." Example: "When he talks about how much work 'we' did on the project, I assume he's using the Peasant We, seeing as he contributed fuck all."

As always, Ted Chiang is great in this interview. cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...

Queck

A little late to the party, but i ended up watching the Kpop demon hunters film, and I'm not sure I'm thrilled overall.

It's not lost on me that the new joke party's tagline is conspicuously missing its punchline: "we've tried red, we've tried blue." Oh? What color do you see yourself as in this analogy, then? What color do you think America is, muskrat?

أحب زوجتي المزدوجة

Just in time for my panel this morning, my essay on Medievalism is now available to the world! I wrote in a very different social and political climate, but I think it might have only become more relevant since then. differentvisions.org/open-the-gat... #medievaljoy #medievalsky #academic

I have survived the barren wasteland that is Indiana. Once more I shall inflict myself upon the Zoo. Once more!

I think we need to bring back the sea shanty craze but this time for union songs. I want 500 TikTok covers of Process Man

Which leads us to the *reason* why these headlines like “The Medieval Peasant Worked Less Than You!” keep on appearing. It’s because a nostalgia for an imagined past is used to excuse the mistakes of the present. 8/

Gonna go teach class and then make a room full of modernists discuss Mamluk politics

You know what, I enjoyed the Green Knight and I enjoyed Monkey Man. If Dev Patel wants to keep making weird medieval movies and exceptionally-choreographed action movies I certainly won't complain. And doing both in one film, that's just efficiency

Today's #medievaljoy is quite near to my (professional) heart and also one I've been waiting on for a long time: Mamluk playing cards! #medievalsky #academic #mamluk

Universities are only ideologically homogeneous if your idea of a diversity of opinions is exclusively rooted in "culture wars". This may come as a shock to many on the right, but if the only ideological positions you can identify are your own and "wokeness", maybe you're the one homogenizing things

I’m sorry but if your students use AI to write papers and you use AI to grade them zero school is happening. You are running together on a hamster wheel

"We matter enough to censor, but not enough to fund"

We show up, we win. Well done, Badgers

In between stints in grad school, I had several fun and interesting jobs with coworkers I really enjoyed. I spent the entire time wishing I was back in academia. Now I'm having the time of my life doing fascinating research that I never thought I'd get any support for. No misery, only #medievaljoy

Was just approved (and funded!!!) to design and teach my own class for the first time! I'll be introducing a whole room full of undergrads to Sports and Violence in the Middle Ages! #medievalsky #medievaljoy

the speed at which these guys have broken everything has given a lot of folks who should know better the impression that they are an unstoppable force and the only option is to negotiate the terms of surrender just because the clown car goes very fast does not mean it isn’t full of clowns

"Many commands and laws sieze and constrain only the poor and common folk while leaving the greater and more powerful undisturbed... if a powerful man transgressed the law and suffered for it, the courts would straightaway have a precedent that would influence the community in a positive way"

“may your research be timely and relevant” —-old academic historian curse