Terrific "Taking Stock and Setting Agendas" meeting this past weekend @theitps.bsky.social centered on early American studies and digital history. Thanks to @noraslonimsky.bsky.social, @ben-wright.bsky.social, & Mark Boonshoft for the chance to present "Hard of Hearing: Podcasting Early America."

We're witnessing the most aggressive, fanatical crackdown on free speech in my lifetime. The speed and breadth of government censorship and private sector and nonprofit capitulation has been astonishing. As has the lack of urgency/silence from people who've long claimed to care about this stuff.

Exclusive: Meta has appropriated the names and likenesses of celebrities — including Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway and Selena Gomez — to create dozens of flirty social-media chatbots without their permission, Reuters has found reut.rs/3JWb00R

I went to my first game at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, thanks to @noraslonimsky.bsky.social. We had a great time, although I had a better time because the Red Sox beat the Yanks 12-1.

The pageturner

"WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 1, 2025) – The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced today that it will begin an orderly wind-down of its operations" cpb.org/pressroom/Co...

Sarah Gronningsater discusses her multiple award-winning new book, The Rising Generation: Gradual Abolition, Black Legal Culture, and the Making of National Freedom (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2024). lawandhistoryreview.org/article/sara...

The JCB is seeking a senior leader for its ambitious digital programs. Our Associate Director for Digital Asset Management will guide the continuing development of our innovative platform, Americana, and oversee the digitization of library collections. 1/3

Many highlights of @shearites.bsky.social #SHEAR2025 but elated by the tremendous (3 minute!) talks at “10 Things to Know about the American Revolution” spotlight at the Providence Public Library! So grateful to have worked on this with the inimitable @kawulf.bsky.social & @jcblibrary.bsky.social

Really fun lunch event coinciding with SHEAR’s conference. Ten brilliant scholars of the American Revolution were given a near-impossible task: make a bold point about the Revolution in *three* minutes and only using *one* PowerPoint slide. The result was a vibrant & provocative conversation!

A donation of as little as $5 a month to PBS gives you access to the PBS Passport app and there is SO much good content to stream there. Best $5 I spend.

Another disgrace.

I made a #DH2025 feed that looks for posts that include the hashtag and posts from/about @dh2025lisbon.bsky.social. You can press the 📌 for easy access.

This event is going to be so cool! And the idea, cooked up with @noraslonimsky.bsky.social, is to do this format again in 2026. We're excited about it! And super grateful to this awesome line-up of scholars.

I’d missed this last week but Indiana passed a new law that is leading to the forced elimination of hundreds of majors across their state universities. Apropos of recent events, the eliminated majors include atmospheric science. Sabotage is a word that comes to mind. www.forbes.com/sites/michae...

We must not leave this out of the account of what they have done. What Musk and Trump and Vought did. What Johnson and his band of sycophants allowed them to do. What tens of millions of fellow Americans endorse.

MORE huge AI copyright news: A big decision in Kadrey v. Meta, one of the most closely-watched legal battles. The judge sided with Meta, but *very* begrudgingly. www.wired.com/story/meta-s...

Next week! You can still register on eventbrite: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ishtip-16t... Downloadable PDF on our website: ishtip.org/final-progra...

For those outside NYC, Brad Lander isn’t just a mayor candidate, he’s also the NYC Comptroller—the chief financial officer and auditor of the biggest city in the country.

I shared on a personal account that it feels odd to be talking about work in a 'business as usual' way with the layers of what's going on. But since part of the problem is the attempt to stop such 'business' (scholarship, research, creativity) from happening, it might be that much more important.⬇️

Again, thoroughing attack on the Infrostucture. Why the obsessive focus on the National Archives? The National Archives had the temerity to ask for Pres. Trump’s presidential records, the ones he was keeping unsecured, in a bathroom. Since 1978, Presidential records are owned by U.S. Government.

"[These cuts] would disproportionately harm rural areas and smaller communities, where public media really is a lifeline," according to our Tim Richardson. Tell Congress to oppose proposed cuts to public media. Send a letter today. pen.org/saveindepend...

The FCC is contemplating killing free TV broadcast, encrypting broadcasts so they can charge for communications over the airwaves www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

ICYMI: I wrote about ongoing Republican attacks on COVID vaccines, which make use of years of state propaganda claiming COVID is mild, COVID is over, Long COVID isn't real, and that healthy people have nothing to fear from COVID. www.thegauntlet.news/p/republican...

Trump and RFK Jr. say today's kids are "the sickest generation in American history." Is that just a feeling? Here are some facts: About 46% of children born in the U.S. in 1800 did not live to see their 5th birthday. In 1900, the figure was 24%. Now it's under 1%.

NEW: ALA denounces yesterday's unlawful firing of Dr. Shira Perlmutter, the Register of Copyrights at the Library of Congress. Dr. Perlmutter has led the US Copyright Office with integrity, intelligence and an understanding of intellectual property issues. 1/2

Beautiful thank you note to Carla Hayden from the Data Rescue Project team. "She is an inspiration and will remain the Librarian of the People." Word. www.datarescueproject.org/thank-you-ca...

Thank you to everyone who made #NationalLibraryWeek 2025 memorable! Special thanks to Honorary Chairs @goraina.bsky.social and @scottmccloud.bsky.social and our friends at Scholastic. Libraries are essential—now more than ever—and with your support, they’ll thrive for generations to come. 💙📚

The Early Republic Tracker is now live! This new initiative from the #JERPano documents efforts to alter or erase interpretations of early U.S. history at public sites, national parks, and federal websites through citizen contributions. Visit the site at: thepanorama.shear.org/2025/04/09/t...

Today, workers across the country are standing up and demanding that the Trump administration makes NO cuts to education and life-saving research as part of a #KillTheCuts day of action. Learn more and find an action near you here: www.killthecuts.org

Today is the Day! Every life-saving breakthrough in healthcare starts with research. No research, no cures. Say no to NIH funding cuts and join the fight at killthecuts.org #KillTheCuts

Sotomayor: "The implication of the Government’s position is that not only noncitizens but also United States citizens could be taken off the streets, forced onto planes, and confined to foreign prisons with no opportunity for redress if judicial review is denied unlawfully before removal"

Needless to say, Justice Sotomayor is not mincing words. "The Government’s conduct in this litigation poses an extraordinary threat to the rule of law. ... We, as a Nation and a court of law, should be better than this." www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...

In the last year alone, I've benefitted directly from being a part of an NSF grant and a participant in an NIH study, while learning from dear friends whose work was made possible by the NEH. An attack on one -NEH, NIH, NSF, NEA- on the most personal and basic level, really is an attack on all.

The Association joins in calling on Congress to protect this vital independent federal agency. We agree: a truly great society invests in the humanities.

Join the #ITPS, along with @easmisc.bsky.social & @mcneilcenter.bsky.social virtually or in-person for a workshop this September, "Taking Stock and Setting Agendas: A Workshop on Data, Digital Humanities, and Early American Studies": mailchi.mp/sas.upenn.ed...

Today (4/3/25) we learned that DOGE has begun terminating previously awarded NEH grants. We understand this includes operating grants to the state and jurisdictional humanities councils, scholarly societies, community orgs, & individuals. Learn more & take action: nhalliance.org/federal-fund...

Hello BlueSky! The #ITPS has been a quiet on social media for a while as we focused our efforts on our newsletter, Page of Reason, and other projects. We’re excited to reconnect here, so please look out for some updates over the next few weeks, and we’d be grateful if you’d share the word too!

Before we get started with promotion for our #JERSpring2025 issue, the #JER and #JERPano are thrilled to welcome Dr. Shannan Mason to the editorial team as our incoming social media editor! Look out for exciting new content from her beginning this summer, and learn more about Shannan’s work⬇️

At an event in W. Va. Friday, RFK Jr. "called on Americans to eat better and exercise" for "pandemic preparedness." He said otherwise healthy people did not die from Covid-19, but @sherylnyt.bsky.social found that 30% who died were otherwise healthy. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03...

Authorities arrested a Georgia woman they acknowledge had miscarried and brought charges over how she disposed of the remains.

Federal judges are starting to lose patience with DoGe. Say it with me: in administrative law, the easiest way to win is to follow the steps.

The lack of care and direct harm of these policies is truly astounding: www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

[checks notes on "Golden Rule"]

Studies show that funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) contributed to 354 of 356 drugs (99.4%) approved by the FDA from 2010 to 2019. Recklessly slashing NIH funding will mean that patients will be waiting much longer for life-saving treatments.

I feel so sick. Enough with the lies, enough with the games. They know exactly what they're doing. This is a neo-Nazi movement. Proudly so. The only reason they've kept it coded up until now was to take advantage of those who didn't want to believe it. No more looking away. Face up to what it is.

"Freedom from people who aren't Christians."

"In America, THE LAW IS KING." Thomas Paine, 1776. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bjj...