Happy to start the day with a glimpse of the great Ken Cobb. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/n...

A few days ago, I wrote up some thoughts on generative AI and the work of historians: “At best, we’re talking about software that’s very good at making sentences seem sentence-shaped.”

In the early 1920s the US armed forces tested the vulnerability of battleships in the age of air power. Here's a clip I've used in lecture showing the test bombing of the ALABAMA, with Gen Billy Mitchell briefly in it 🗃️

Last call to tell me your favorite history book that you read this year!

Thinking of changing textbooks, and I have to say that I’m really enjoying @zacharyschrag.bsky.social’s The Princeton Guide to Historical Research!

"Free Speech and Unfree News . . . helps us make better sense of the crises that beset the press in an age of aggressive corporate consolidation in media industries, an increasingly secretive national security state, and the daily newspaper’s continued decline." www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...

If this is already the normal procedure everywhere, i.e. a google scholar import, universities’ library catalogues will be useless tomorrow.

Question: When the head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights division tweets out a false statement about an individual that results in them being barraged with death threats based on their religion and ethnicity, which governmental agency would look into whether that student’s Civil Rights had been infringed?

While I do think that demolition is plausibly not subject to the National Capital Planning Act they are transparently doing foundation work, which is for sure covered.

I wrote about some of 2025's big generative AI developments and their implications for historians: multimodal generation, deep research, and handwriting transcription. In short, we need to stop dismissing this as nothing more than "autocomplete on steroids." cblevins.github.io/posts/gen-ai...

After 2 years of trying to track down a specific historic photograph for my next project, I have finally secured the rights to republish it.

Today is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Carter G. Woodson. Woodson was born December 19, 1875, in New Canton, Virginia, 35 miles south of my home. In my work as a historian, no historian’s example has served me better than Woodson’s. ...

The small, mean world our leaders are building isn’t inevitable. It’s a choice to see immigration as a source of threat rather than possibility. That was part of the story of the lottery that I love, that the admin is trying now to kill. uncpress.org/978146967304...

We are seeking high school counselors and teachers currently teaching humanities subjects in grades 9-12 for a 1 ½ hour online focus group in January--exploring how students make their way into humanities majors. Use this link to take a short eligibility survey by January 5, 2026: bit.ly/4s9KO4Q

Beyond proud that Virginia is now represented in the Capitol by Barbara Rose Johns, a trailblazer who led protests against conditions in her school that helped end segregation in the U.S.

Thinking of the 1990s, when my mother, Emily Fenichel, got to work with Rob Reiner on early childhood development advocacy. Having grown up in the 1950s, she was so proud to be collaborating with "Carl Reiner's son."

From the Oklahoma U student paper: the school is now saying it will automatically suspend faculty (with pay) in response to student complaints www.oudaily.com/news/ou-poli...

Have these people tried putting in a bike lane? www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Proud to get an inscribed copy from my friend and colleague @goberle.bsky.social I feel more informed already

A European working with Americans on clean energy in 2025: “I often feel like I’m somewhere between Tocqueville and Borat — impressed by American innovation, but puzzled by the anti-science politics that seem to hold it back.”

Has anyone successfully vibe-coded a Zotero 7 plugin? Claude strung me along for an hour or so before telling me to hire a developer.

This composition had eluded me for nearly a decade, but yesterday I was finally able to capture it. A train rolled through just as the Duquesne Incline was crossing over the tracks in #Pittsburgh, creating a picture perfect winter scene. It was worth the hours and hours I've waited over the years.

Big life news: the McKenzies are headed to North Carolina! I’m thrilled to share that I’m starting as an Assistant Professor of Public History at @uncg.edu in January. While it will be hard to leave the Washington area after 21 years, I’m excited for this next step.

anyway 40% off and free shipping at @uwapress.uw.edu means you can get the paperback of Bike Battles for like $15, delivered. plus many more titles, some also about bikes! #bikesky uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295...

This is always treated like a zero sum game, but of course we massively reduced track capacity almost everywhere in the last 75 years. such a disappointing episode I wrote a long email to them about it.

Johns Hopkins University Press and University of Pennsylvania Press are having one-day, Cyber Monday 50% off sales. You know what to do.

Looking for a holiday gift for that special someone? 🎁 @uchicagopress.bsky.social is having a 30% off sitewide sale, and my book, CARBON TECHNOCRACY, is now available for $19.25 with the promo code HOLIDAY25. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo... #histstm #histsci #histtech #envhist 🧪

"The DTH asked Atkins in a September 2024 interview whether or not he replaced the advisory board. He went silent for a minute and a half, and never answered the question."

First they came for the George Mason University Faculty Senate. Then they came for the U.S. Congress. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...

Passive voice sparks international incident. apnews.com/article/pola...

My pet theory is that the most cost-effective investment a university can make is a climbing wall.

The Book Proposal Book ebook is 30% off right now at @princetonupress.bsky.social and so is Make Your Manuscript Work! Use code PUP30 at checkout Tell your friends & nemeses! press.princeton.edu/our-authors/...

The shrinking nickel.

Mad Max: Fury Curb

“When people question why the university or president didn’t defend themselves, well because the University counsel was handpicked by our state Attorney General who’s doing the bidding for the Department of Justice,” Spanberger said. cvillerightnow.com/news/208802-...

Does this work for faculty senators? www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

And it's not like immigration judges were normally voting in favor of immigrants. See Philip Schrag et al, Refugee Roulette, Stanford Law Review (2007).

Johns Hopkins University Press holiday sale; 40% off on The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro, Ethical Imperialism: Institutional Review Boards and the Social Sciences, 1965-2009, and all other books through 12/7. www.press.jhu.edu/books

Her first film will be g rated

Not to make this about me but if you are interested in why he is so often made into a bogeyman by way of antisemitic conspiracy theories, THE INFLUENCE OF SOROS is maybe available at your local library

Not satisfied with just destroying their own brand goodwill, OS companies are now using AI to try to destroy the good names of the apps users install. (Scrivener taking out adds to explain how it has no AI but Apple adds some anyway.)

Hey historians 🗃️: Do you know of presses that publish short books (around 30K words / 90 pages plus notes)? I have been working on an article project that could easily turn into an great micro-history of that length, but I'm not sure it would make it to the usual full 60-90K words...

Trump Administration is to propose a massive cut in federal transit funding as part of 2026 transport legislation. This proposal would decimate the nation's transit systems, while not actually solving the revenue problem federal transportation funding faces. Evidence @urbaninstitute.bsky.social ⏬

The line isn't wrong. Might be missing one adjective.

Major announcement in just-posted board documents: DC's Metro is moving fast toward automation. Over 15 years, Metro plans full automation & platform screen doors, which the agency says will improve safety, reliability, & travel times—at reduced costs. www.wmata.com/about/board/...

As the history wars heat up, we’re releasing a new book that brings together some of the nation’s leading voices—Nikole Hannah-Jones, Annette Gordon-Reed, and many others—for an urgent, energizing conversation about the origins of the United States. Preorder is now available.

Trump Admin is planning to ask Congress to dramatically cut funding for transit as part of the 2026 infrastructure law. The proposal would eliminate the transit account, which funds billions of dollars in capital expenses. It would also prevent states from “flexing” roads funds for transit.

If you haven't joined your local AAUP, now is a great time to do so.