This is the most boring post season since 2019. The Bears are the only thing keeping my attention.

TCM, for those of us whose cable packages include it, will be paying tribute to Rob Reiner on January 28th with an evening of movies that kicks off with The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally & concludes with Stand By Me and This Is Spinal Tap.

This was SO fun to record! The best romantic comedy ever, directed by the late great Rob Reiner.

Apparently my and my kid’s flu + Covid vax wouldve been fully covered at a pharmacy. Instead, we went to a Minute Clinic (inside CVS) because they were the ONLY ones in MO who would verify they had a pediatric Covid dose. Now we owe for a clinic visit + vax copay. This is so stupid.

“AI is clearly sticking around so you have to get used to it” wrong. I don’t have to get used to shit. I am a practiced hater and I can keep this going for decades if I am required to

Guardians of the galaxy vol 1: fun, buddy movie Guardians vol 2 & 3: lonely men will destroy the universe instead of going to therapy.

I often think that people talk about AI as Boromir talked about the One Ring. “Ah, it’s a gift!” No, it’ll take over everything if you let it and it will destroy you (and the earth).

This: "One formative influence was Watson’s making his one and only important scientific discovery when he was only 25. ...[H]e discovered nothing afterward, even as colleagues were cracking the genetic code or deciphering how DNA is translated into the molecules that make cells (and life) work."

I'm just a boy telling you that we are back with Season 3 of Reckoning with Jason Herbert Podcast! Join me and my two besties @k8shep.bsky.social @colincolbourn.bsky.social to talk about NOTTING HILL.

Just in time for your drive home. @k8shep.bsky.social @colincolbourn.bsky.social talking about one of the greatest romcoms ever made. NOTTING HILL drops right now on Reckoning with Jason Herbert. Tune and subscribe below.

This Thursday, online public lecture Manchester Egyptology Seminar Series - Dr Kathleen Sheppard @k8shep.bsky.social Prof. of History at Missouri University of Science & Technology: ‘“How Winning a Woman of Study Can Be” in Early American Egyptology’ Oct 2nd, 5pm UK: zoom.us/j/91521871294

Saw a guy in a shirt today that read: G*ns don’t fill the hole in your soul. You need bullets, too. In case you’re wondering how deep red rural areas are doing and what it’s like to live in one.

Peacock interrupted coverage of the women’s marathon in Tokyo for a heat of the men’s 1500. Bloody typical.

Our dean of libraries and our registrar were both fired this week with no (revealed) plan for replacing them. Everything seems fine. It’s all okay over here.

Situational awareness challenge: grocery store addition. Maybe the WHOLE FAMILY doesn’t need to stand in front of the milk cooler, chatting. Carts go on one side or the other of the aisle. NEVER in the middle! Hi did you know you came to a COMPLETE STOP in the entry and no one can get around you??

When I was a grad student she told me always to have library access, so I could keep working no matter what. Her impact on history of science is truly mind-boggling. If you’re going to #HSSNOLA2025, be sure to come to our reception and panel about her legacy.

I have a short piece up @religiondispatches.org today on fascist architecture and the Trump Administration. I hate the guy running that account, but he's the (white supremacist) gift that keeps on giving. religiondispatches.org/corrosive-co...

Whoopsies!!

It was difficult to explain to my 11yo the cultural hold that the Seinfeld episode that revealed Kramer’s first name held on all of us in the winter of ‘95.

Seriously, fuck off. I say that with all due gravity.

You know it’s not the heat so much as it is the unyielding atmospheric stress and relentless legacy pressure to feel the same way you did 30 years ago when the things you were promised for a lifetime of hard work still existed Sorry I meant humidity” I hate autocorrect 🙄

The Center for #STS at Missouri S&T is co-hosting a conference this fall called Artificial Influence and the Engineering of Mass Persuasion. Are there too many #AI themed things? YES. Will this one be different? YES. Should you check it out? Also YES. #CfP econnection.mst.edu/2025/07/call...

You can get WOMEN IN THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS from your library! #ILoveLibraries

Something tells me this guest essay author is being snubbed by their family…

On the 4th, my kid & his cousin debated why we saw the flash before the bang in fireworks. My kid (11 yo): Mom, will you tell her about the speed of sound and light? Me: Sure! [explains] My sister’s friend: …whyyyyy do you know that? …what do you do for a living?! Me: I’m a historian of science 😎

Folds: If we’ve been told our whole lives that we can’t spend money on the arts because they’re not important—then why was taking over the Kennedy Center and the arts the first thing they did? It is extremely important. It’s the bedrock of self-expression.

Dude they're fucking ME, and all the people who voted for AND against them in their districts, and also EVERYBODY ELSE IN THE COUNTRY. I wish they weren't fucking anyone.

Dude (smith) is always thinking he’s got a point but really he’s just SO not smart.

And that writing history actually requires skills and expertise that take time and training to develop. And that maybe JUST MAYBE we don’t need another book about finding King Tut.

Part of the problem here is that ‘popular history’ hacks keep writing about the same old stuff, so of course the source-base is saturated. How about writing about something new for a change, where you have to do some serious primary research?

It’s true!!

LAUNCH DAY! Amelia B Edwards: The ‘Queen of Egyptology’ is now available from @theees.bsky.social 🤩 www.ees.ac.uk/resource/ame...

Captain Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters

Gave myself an hour for security at LHR. Took me 5 minutes. Everything stayed in bags. Kept shoes on. Brought my water bottle through (“you can take up to 2 liters”!!). Amazing what can happen when systems are FUNDED APPROPRIATELY

The worst thing about Apple wallet is that you have to manually go into each ticket and choose not to show on Lock Screen.

🧪 Someone please submit a @trowelblazers.bsky.social article for her ASAP!

There are a lot of issues being a humanist at a STEM-focused university. One of my personal morale killers? When students say “your class takes too much time away from my other classes.” 1/

Unfortunately we've had a last-minute loss from the Routledge Companion to Video Games and History, and so if there is anyone who'd be interested in contributing a chapter on the history of India in video games (from any perspective, range of case studies welcome) please get in touch asap with me!

Pope Leo XIV: ‘There Couldn’t Be A Better Time To Get The Fuck Out Of America Forever’

Great job everyone

Reading, however slowly you do it, is thinking. And you cannot do research if you do not think. Undergrads, I can understand. But if a grad student uses LLMs to summarize papers, just leave, go and give the funding and space to someone who actually wants to learn something.

Sample size of 1 but the delta T is significant

Tomorrow, a certain online mega-retailer launches a book sale, just days before Indie Bookstore Day on 4/26. This is no coincidence; Bookstore Day is one of the largest revenue drivers for indies. Indies need our support to thrive & build community spaces for all...mega-retailers do not.

how about polio you dumb bitch

My kid (10) came to my class yesterday. We talked about history of domestic technologies and electrifying the home. He asked tons of good questions (and answered some!!), and took notes. He’s a doodler.

30 years ago today I walked into 10th grade western civ class. Ms. Farabee’s class. Oklahoma City was on the classroom TV. We watched in horror the aftermath of the largest domestic terror attack in US history. McVeigh’s ideas wouldn’t even be considered that far right today.

If I say “return tickets” what does that mean to you? A) round trip tickets B) one way back to your station of origin C) what are you even on about

Honestly I'm glad they picked Harvard to try out this novel "we're mad" legal theory of revoking tax-exempt status, given its infinite resources, deep network of powerful alumni, and law school attended by 142 sitting federal judges. Good luck! 🫡

I’m so lucky to call these people my friends and colleagues. Another #HATM pod is OUT!!!