We noticed how the concept of “Global South” has been turned into a handy word to lazily designate two-thirds of the world’s earthly area and 90% of its population, thus flattening the millions of specificities that characterize this grouping.

Carlo Ginzburg est mort, annonce la presse italienne. Immense historien, il a su construire une oeuvre originale entre micro-histoire et anthropologie historique qui a considérablement renouvelé la discipline. www.repubblica.it/cultura/2026...

Just this morning I got an email from IT asking for volunteers to test Canvas as we all are scheduled to migrate to it from Moodle in the next year or so at my University.

A little late on this, but this is an excellent review of Nationalizing History by @smunozar.bsky.social, who put me in conversation with María de los Ángeles Picone (@mapicone.bsky.social), Heather Roller, John Soluri, Juliet Wiersema, and Jeffrey Erbig. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

“Vision Language Models don’t just make transcription faster or cheaper - they will (hopefully) expand the kinds of sources we can access and work with” Very good post by @cblevins.bsky.social that perfectly captures my own experience.

Your humble servant has a written a book about the social science of poverty in Cold War Latin America and the contexts that shaped its creation, from international sources like the Ford Foundation to dictatorships across the region. The book is in production and will be ready at the end of 2026

Dorothea Dix, Raleigh.

Secret tricks to get much better results out of the very dreadful 'Google search' these days, plus other search engines for specific things. Statospherically useful for researchers. open.substack.com/pub/cardcata...

Santa Cruz, CA

Join the Lancaster-Manchester Environmental #DH Seminar on March 11 @ 3pm UK (online) for a talk by @jimclifford.bsky.social & @historyjacob.bsky.social: "Solving OCR: Using olmOCR to Follow Commodities across the British World" www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/solving-oc... #dhist #ocr #envhist 🗃️

I Photoshop Paddington into a movie, TV show, or pop culture until I forget: Day 1817

If you care about nature in urban areas, you'll want to read this new roundtable at @tnoc.bsky.social on how we can "give wildlife a place as stakeholders in decisions about urban planning", which has essays from 22 contributors (incl me) from 18 cities around the world! Come join the conversation.

Brazil has named açaí a national fruit to push back against biopiracy. The move is mostly symbolic, but aims to reinforce açaí as part of Brazil’s biodiversity heritage and make it harder for foreign companies to claim exclusive rights as global demand grows.

We had an incredible time at the "Envisioning Urban Futures" event at Hunt Library! Dr. Matthew Booker spoke on the intersection of history, food production, and ecology in our cities. Dr. Tate Paulette gave a crowd-favorite expo presentation. Dr. Fred Freitas joined the fun!

O bico do carcará muda de cor conforme o estado de espírito. Quanto mais calmo, mais amarelo. Quanto mais irritado ou estressado, mais chega perto do vermelho. Esse aí tá claramente irritado vendo como carioca dirige.

gah look at this! Look at the photos! and then read the interview because it's also amazing: globalvoices.org/2026/01/08/w...

“No vemos ningún intento, ni siquiera un tema de debate, el desmantelamiento de la Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana. Esto sería una tarea mucho más difícil para Estados Unidos. Realmente parece que Trump solo quería atrapar a una persona, Maduro,” le digo a @eldiario.es

It is EXHAUSTING not only being made responsible for coming up with new kinds of assignments for our students; it's also tedious reading op-eds that suggest the core problem is a crisis in teaching. But, as Chris and I lay out here, this isn't a crisis in teaching; it's an attack on learning.

What does Gen AI mean for the work of the historian and the value of historical experience, skills and craft? 'The Historian in the Age of AI' by @chriscampbell1.bsky.social. New Comment article now available in 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society' bit.ly/4atErTB #Skystorians 1/2

Brannstrom notes that @fredericofreitas.org and Blanc are among the most recent scholars to focus on the dynamics of sertão, concept in Brazil’s historical geography, and welcomes their endeavor to better understand the relations beyond Brazil’s coastal settlements. muse.jhu.edu/pub/15/artic...

‘It’s been a cesspit, really, my life’: war photographer Don McCullin on 19 of his greatest pictures (with Emine Saner for the @theguardian.com; #photography, #skystorians). www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Berlin this afternoon.

#workshop: "Teaching on Latin America and the Environment" Online Pedagogy Workshop, org. Emily Wakild & Frederico Freitas (RECSLAC) Deadline for registration: October 10, 2025 Info: networks.h-net.org/group/announ... @fredericofreitas.org #envhum #envhist #pedagogy #ecocriticism #teaching

Acabei de sair do ato dos 35 anos da abertura da Vala de Perus: blogdaboitempo.com.br/2025/09/04/d... #DesarquivandoBR

Recebi salário em três moedas diferentes.

I just finished Lewis Mumford’s magisterial exploration of city life. Published in 1962, it has some of the sharpest takedowns of car-centric society I’ve ever read. Mumford: “We have sold our urban birthright for a sorry mess of motor cars. As poor a bargain as Esau’s pottage.” Choice bits 🧵

Important news for the #envhist crowd: We are hiring an Associate Professor of Environmental History! www.jobbnorge.no/en/available... Application deadline is August 7. Some tips for those interested from abroad in thread 👇

New article co-written by ICEHO President Claudia Leal! #EnvHist #EnvGeo #EnvHum

Here, we argue the idea of “fortress conservation,” used to criticize the exclusion of people from national parks from the US to Tanzania cannot be easily applied to Latin America, where people were at times ignored, tolerated and even invited to parks. #envhist #envhum #skystorians #ecocrit

New article written with Emily Wakild and Claudia Leal: "Porous Conservation: The Complex History of Residents in National Parks in Latin America” Published in the Annals of the American Association of Geographers, you can access it on the link: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ASVKY...

NEW: Researchers have created the most complete map of the world’s rivers ever made offering a major leap forward for flood prediction, climate risk planning, and water resource management in a warming world. ⬇️ www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-05...

Our spring issue, Border Politics, is out today! www.dissentmagazine.org/issue/spring...

Featuring @patrickiber.bsky.social @fredericofreitas.org @andrespertierra.bsky.social @pochoaespejo.bsky.social @elprofebarba.bsky.social @smgonzalezwi.bsky.social @idreesahmad.bsky.social @alybatt.bsky.social @avramalpert.bsky.social, with art by the brilliant @thetolerantweft.bsky.social

Watching The Eternaut, based on the 1950s post-apocalyptic comics by Argentine author Héctor Germán Oesterheld, later ‘disappeared’ during the 1970s military dictatorship. I love that they didn’t move the story to NY, London, or LA—kept it in Buenos Aires and in Spanish. youtu.be/h_KwvrGZVow?...

A massive study of 50,000 households over 1,000 archaeological sites provides ample evidence that inequality is not a "natural" outgrowth of sophistication. Instead, it is a political choice. Which means, kids, that we don't have to choose it. archaeologymag.com/2025/04/stud...

Online today @thenation.com (and I think, on the cover of the physical magazine soon) - a story I began writing in 2023. O Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST): www.thenation.com/article/worl...

Brazil's Supreme Court decides unanimously that Bolsonaro must stand trial, paving the way (a ways away yet) for his arrest. Becomes first Brazilian president charged with attempting a coup. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

Last semester, my colleague Ross Bassett offered this fantastic course on bicycles in urban areas. history.chass.ncsu.edu/2025/03/26/h... @ncstatehistory.bsky.social

I’m Still Here won Best International Picture. Very timely that Brazil’s first Oscar came with movie about resistance to dictatorship.

O querido @ffreff.bsky.social traçando um paralelo entre a história de sua própria família e Ainda Estou Aqui em um texto lindamente escrito que vai além da obra cinemateográfica para falar sobre memória, resistência, política e os desafios que ainda existem

In prep for the Oscars this weekend, everybody should read this excellent piece by my dear friend and colleague, @ffreff.bsky.social Frederico Freitas. It's about the film I'm Still Here, his family's search for answers, and Brazil's ongoing memory wars. www.dissentmagazine.org/online_artic...

Escrevi essa resenha em inglês do Ainda Estou Aqui, na qual falo também da busca da minha família sobre informações sobre meu tio, Carlos Alberto Soares de Freitas, desaparecido político. www.dissentmagazine.org/online_artic...

I wrote this review of I’m Still Here, the Brazilian film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. In it, I also discuss my own family’s search for information about my uncle, who disappeared during Brazil’s military dictatorship. www.dissentmagazine.org/online_artic...

@ffreff.bsky.social, whose uncle was disappeared by the Brazilian military dictatorship, writes about the gaps between life and cinema in Ainda Estou Aqui www.dissentmagazine.org/online_artic...

There's now a 3.1% chance that we'll be hit by an #asteroid in 2032. It would explode with the force of a thermonuclear bomb. No, it's not a threat to the planet. But there's a small chance that it could imperil a city. Luckily, we'll see it coming. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/s...

When trying to explain my friends in California how beautiful Rio de Janeiro’s landscape is, I would say it was as if someone put San Francisco and Yosemite together, but tropical.

Just got a copy of the book I edited with @jacobblanc.bsky.social #skystorians #envhist @utexaspress.bsky.social