I spent October traveling to schools throughout the South talking to students about American history. What I found were young people who understand we can tell a story that includes both the positive and the negative. As one 8th grader in Memphis said, “Doesn’t seem that hard, just say both things.”

We need a critique of AI in academic publishing. Following my decision not to sign an AI addendum to my contract with Cambridge University Press, I wrote this short essay which is now out in the Dublin Review of Books. 👇 drb.ie/move-over-fo...

Join me Tuesday for a virtual book talk at the AAS. www.americanantiquarian.org/node/13335

Luckily, Sinclair has a helpful database of all their stations, so you can see if they're operating in your area and respond accordingly. sbgi.net/tv-stations/

Come join me for a virtual book talk at the American Antiquarian Society next Tuesday 9/23 at 7pm. Book talk will be followed by Q&A with Mark Peterson and the audience. www.americanantiquarian.org/node/13335

My new book, Mending the Nation: Reclaiming "We the People" in a Populist Age, is now available for pre-order! In a time of cynicism and despair, Mending the Nation uses lessons from the past to chart a new way forward. kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700640638/

AI update (especially relevant for JHUP authors): I just zoomed with the rep from JHUP & she capitulated. She will remove my books from the LLM license w/o me signing their ridiculous statement.

Fave US history myth that needs to die sudden & quick death, GO: myth: self-made man; ppl pulling selves up by own bootstraps; meritocracy reality: behind every US success story is tangled web of opportunity from family wealth/connections, community support, govt-supported educ. & infrastructure...

The volume of Canadians taking road trips into the U.S.—the way most Canadians visit—dropped by 37% last month compared to July 2024, according to new data from Statistics Canada, following a 33% drop in June. There was also a 26% decline in air travelers from Canada year-over-year.

But you wouldn’t steal a car? arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

Thoughts from an American traveling in Europe in 2025: I have spent time abroad (mostly in Europe) almost every year for 30 years, and almost always in the summer. I just returned from 2 weeks in Southern France. Some observations...

Exactly right. They simply want the end product — whether it’s an actual production of art or music or the end result of hard work like a PhD — without doing the work. It’s cheat codes all the way down.

The CHIPS Act set off a manufacturing boom, creating jobs and ensuring the technologies of the future are made here at home. By rolling back this law, Trump is weakening American leadership and letting our adversaries get ahead.

There is just no precedent in recent world history of an advanced industrialized country sabotaging its own scientific establishment, and destroying the base of scientific knowledge necessary for basic policymaking. An avowedly, actively anti-knowledge regime.

Don’t let this die. Keep elevating this.

This is why Donald is crying about Elizabeth Warren.

Over the course of their career history majors out earn engineers and comp sci.

My personal fave from Tom Lehrer--for the Catholic crowd. youtu.be/pvhYqeGp_Do?...

“Univ. of Illinois report shows that a large humanities department like English produces substantial net profit; units like engineering and agriculture run at a loss. The widely respected Delaware Study of Instructional Costs and Productivity shows the same pattern.” /7 thi.ucsc.edu/the-humaniti...

Just received an email from publisher of one of my books trying to strongarm me into granting permission for it to be licensed for AI LLM use. My knee-jerk is "hell no." They want me to sign this disclaimer (copied in comments). Should I not be pissed at publisher for caving like this?

@entandsoc.bsky.social is delighted to announce that Prof. Ai Hisano has been chosen as incoming Editor-in-Chief. This is a truly exciting appointment that promises a bright new phase in the journal's history. More about Ai and her fascinating work can be found here: www.aihisano.com

As I always say: there are plenty of people who want to study history, but from high school forward, they are told not to. And the same as true with the other liberal arts. We’re lucky that any students refuse to listen.

Spotted in South Station, Boston.

Parents insist their kids go to college to get business degrees. Administrators respond by defunding the humanities and social sciences, while hiring business profs at ~2X what historians get paid. Meanwhile, businesses say over and over that they want to hire humanities and social science majors.

NEW: Bishop Rojas of San Bernardino has dispensed his Diocese from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass due to ongoing ICE raids.

"In total, the [UVA Board of Visitors] members have donated over $4.8 million to Republican campaigns and candidates, approximately $10,000 to Democratic campaigns and candidates and approximately $39,000 to causes categorized as “other.”"

But for the arbitrary nature of birth and circumstance, any of us could be living in poverty, dependent upon assistance to put food on the table, to take our children to the doctor, and to pull ourselves out of debt. The lack of empathy, the pure callousness on display in this bill, is infuriating.

This is a must-read story (including full text of letters from a FOIA request) by the Daily Cavalier about Trump admin's efforts to misuse federal antidiscrimination law in support of its ideological agenda against DEI at UVA. Kudos to the student journalists! www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

“What’s at stake is far more than one presidency or one institution: it’s the role of our public universities as bastions of intellectual freedom, diversity of thought, and innovation in a democratic society.”

Sign the letter www.wahoos4uva.com/letter

I am depressed and deflated.

Apply here thebhc.org/john-e-roven... before Wednesday July 30 2025. #BizHis #EconHis #Funding #Fellowships #Rovensky2025

This is a really important read.

Rhode Island is not supposed to get this warm.

"And when the radical priest comes to get me released, we was all on the cover of Newsweek..."

“This is not policy, it is punishment, and it can only result in cruel and arbitrary outcomes ... Already we are hearing stories of innocent fathers and mothers being wrongly deported, with no recourse to appeal.” www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

This graph is going in my lecture on colonial life

Many people have the comeback that an LLM shouldn’t be expected to know how to play chess. In that case, what other things is it not supposed be to be good at, but people are using/recommending it for?

One of two #nokings protests today in Providence, RI. We marched around the state house. Beautiful, unifying, and peaceful.

Tomorrow, on 6/11, the AHA will host a Congressional Briefing offering historical perspectives on tariffs. Panelists @douglasirwin.bsky.social, @sharonannmurphy.bsky.social, & @rauchway.bsky.social will discuss how the govt. has implemented tariffs in the past, & how they have impacted the economy.🗃️

Rhode Island finally ratified the constitution otd in 1790, so today I am celebrating with one of my favorite notes from the Ocean State. It features a beautiful vignette of a village, bridge, and waterfall next to portrait of an unhappy man. Phenix Village Bank, RI, $1, 18--.🗃️

This, UVA’s 200th Commencement Address from Michael J. Suarez, SJ, University Professor and Director of the @rarebookschool, is very very good and something that needs more saying. Astonishing that we have to remind our higher ed leaders of that at this very moment. news.virginia.edu/content/fina...

👀 www.cnbc.com/2025/05/16/c...

Library of Congress staff just showed what resistance looks like. After Trump abruptly fired Dr. Carla Hayden, the respected Librarian of Congress, he tried to install Todd Blanche, his former personal lawyer and current Deputy Attorney General, as acting librarian. Staff weren’t having it.

And did we doubt it would be Chicago.