Long shot, but does anyone have The Bloomsbury Handbook of Experimental Approaches to Roman Archaeology and is willing to send me some photos or scans of a chapter? My university doesn't have it and the price is steep. DM me! #skystorians

Brutal.

ICYMI, FIU in Miami has banned "expressive conduct" indoors. Students held a silent indoor protest against ICE collaboration on campus, and the school is disciplining them for it + forcing them to record videos about the no-expressing-yourself-indoors policy. www.wlrn.org/government-p...

I just officially got one degree hotter. It doesn't matter how many degrees I get, seeing it come up on my transcript never gets old. Did I stay up past midnight into degree-conferral day just to see this? Yes, yes I did.

My article “The Transformation of Smallpox Inoculation in the Early Modern Atlantic World” is open access thanks to funding from Swarthmore. I’m very excited this is now out in the world! doi.org/10.1093/past...

I just steamed my son's high school graduation gown and I am not OK.

Paging Dr. @emilycontois.bsky.social

I went strawberry picking with my family yesterday and now it’s strawberry ice cream time (among other things).

A side-by-side test of two sourdough starters. #yeastmasters substack.com/@historicalf...

Sadly, there will be no peaches, nectarines, or sour cherries this summer, or apples this falls in the area around me (NJ, Hudson Valley) this year. Farmers are reporting almost complete crop loss due to the extreme temperature fluctuations in April. Devastating, especially for the farmers.

The good news is I'm teaching a US food history course next spring. The bad (but also good) news is that now I have to design it pretty much from scratch. Well, not entirely from scratch; I have the syllabus from the time I designed a similar course for Summer 2020 and never got to teach it.

Luggage is for baked goods.

I would be so disappointed if this was my graduation. Those students deserve better. www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfu...

I made massive ramp and cheddar biscuits this afternoon. This is a half sheet pan, by the way.

@kavey.bsky.social I just saw that this microbakery has Avergavenny pop-ups and thought of you! www.instagram.com/astridspetit...

We've been requesting a hire in 20th century US history since 2018 and been denied every year. Since I got here in 2019, we've lost 7 faculty and only have been authorized to hire 3. At that rate, we'll be 50% cut by the time I retire.

There are stories from all over about universities' dismantling of the humanities. I have a small but dismaying data point from my university to contribute to the discourse. Harvard University now has NO assistant professors of English. That's how long it has been since we were allowed to hire.

One of my goals for this summer, starting in the next couple of weeks, is to work on the book proposal to turn my dissertation into a book. I'd love to have a first draft at least. I've never done this, obviously, so I have no idea what I'm doing. Let's see how it goes.

The 3rd installment of Passport to Eat is Afghanistan! The dish is bolani, a flatbread stuffed with potatoes and garlic chives, then fried. In this project, I’m cooking one dish from every country in the world. passporttoeat.substack.com/p/3-afghanis... #foodculture

In fact, yes, I do think it’s a widespread social crisis that students are going to be graduating without the capacity to think critically and without subject matter knowledge. At a time when technofascism prevails, more of us should be terrified about the consequences of universalizing gAI use.

Why am I suddenly finding myself joining foraging and fishing groups on Facebook? I've never done either and more hobbies is the last thing I need.

$140,000 a month in rent in Brooklyn Heights. This is the most expensive rental in NYC on StreetEasy right now. Who exactly is their target market? This level of money is completely incomprehensible to me. streeteasy.com/rental/4948207

Kind of weird that the president is a rapist, and a court reaffirmed it, and everyone knows it, and we're all just going about our days like normal.

Topsy-turvy.

Grades are submitted and that's a wrap for the Spring semester! It was a hard one.

This is my friend. The #1 Cohort remains undefeated. nyunews.com/news/2026/04...

I don’t know if this is a hot take or not, but ENC1101/English 101, or whatever the equivalent is at the institution, should be a prerequisite for all humanities courses, especially writing-intensive ones. Maybe even ENC1102/English 102.

I’m churning cassis/black currant ice cream today 😍

Trying to find a different word to describe a moist cake is difficult because no other word truly means the same thing. I know many people hate that word, but that is the best word to describe that type of cake and I will die on that hill.

One of my (formerly) favorite podcasts is now running ads for AI companies with this message and I just can't get over it.

I keep reading about students being so anti AI and what not, then I go grade essays and see so much AI work that I want to gouge my eyes out with a rusty spork, and I can't reconcile the two experiences. To be clear, not all students submit AI work, but many, many do.

Today is the anniversary of my dissertation defense. I’ve now been Dr. for more than half as long as it took me to become Dr. And, coincidentally, I’m wearing the same shirt I wore that day.

The difference between the news about FIU students and FIU faculty is jarring. www.chronicle.com/article/with...

Tangential but I'll never forget the time I needed to see a neurologist just a few years ago and when I sat in his office I saw a big phrenology bust on a shelf. He (the neurologist) was an old white man. I don't know if he believed in phrenology, but it gave me the eeks and I never went back.

A very important question, answered.

#FoodHistory folks, does anyone know if Susan Levine has an article about school lunches or is it just the book School Lunch Politics? #skystorians

Well, I just lost my 163-day streak on Wordle 😭 Wordle 1,756 X/6 ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ 🟨🟩⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜

The fact that his wife is still married to him is beyond incomprehensible to me.

I will never get over the pronunciation of Pepys in Samuel Pepys.

Episode 2 of my little cooking side quest. I’m cooking one dish or meal from every country. #foodculture www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8bK6kse/

Oh also interesting: students report that they think we use AI to write lectures and books and articles. Some of them already think this is just a dance of meaningless nothing. I find this endlessly heartbreaking.

The second country in the Passport to Eat project is Indonesia and I made soto Betawi, a beef and coconut soup. This was one of the best things I have ever eaten, full stop #2: Indonesia. Soto Betawi. open.substack.com/pub/passport... #foodculture #foodwriting

This is terrible news for mom and pop restaurants, food trucks, etc.

FIU SGA fighting the good fight.

Today’s Wordle was nerve wracking because it’d be my 150 day streak and it took me all six tries to get it.

I aspire to the level of Suburban Brain Excellence required to start a physical fight with Jack Reacher because you perceive him to be in violation of HOA bylaws. www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ma...

Every once in a while I am reminded that the majority of people (especially young people) are not following politics. While I will die on the hill that democracy requires an engaged citizenry, these people also seem far less chronically unhappy than me. So who is to say who is doing life right?

Made four loaves of bread today. Started last night with pre-ferments. Two are honey spelt (top) & two are "rustic", that is, a combination of bread, whole wheat, and rye flours. The spelt was grown here in the Hudson Valley & milled in a small mill close to my apartment in Brooklyn. #yeastmasters

I have to file an academic misconduct charge and the university sure makes it hard to find the damned form.

Magic Kingdom (Disney World) for Grad Night as a high school senior. Pretty sure this is standard across the places within a reasonable drive of Orlando (I'm from Miami, though it's complicated). Aging myself a bit, but the entertainment show's featured artist was Britney Spears.