Friends, colleagues: I'll be at #SHEAR2026 this evening through Saturday with virtually no plans or commitments other than my Friday panel! Let's hang out.

Be part of We Want More History!, a coordinated national day of history programming taking place September 26. Interested in hosting an event? The recording of last week's informational webinar is now available: https://ow.ly/GPxU50Zoyny

Yesterday @vanhollen.senate.gov sat with us for 20 minutes to talk about civics and education, take photos/videos with students for their socials, and hear everything we had to say. Very happy, once again, to have one of the good senators right now.

These exhibit panels diminish the actual lives of the people George Washington enslaved, while also cherry picking Washington’s statements opposing slavery to depict him as an early abolitionist. Visitors will now come away with a warped understanding of both Washington and the people he enslaved.

Now is probably as good a time as ever to remind folks that FIRE WEATHER by @johnvaillant.bsky.social is among the very best books I've read in the past several years. Just an unbelievable ability to zoom in and out between the individual and the global. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/554938...

I’ve now gotten invitations to speak this year at George Washington University, Washington & Lee, Washington College, and WashU in STL. Someone please connect me to the right person at University of Washington, I want to speak for the cycle.

These exhibit panels diminish the actual lives of the people George Washington enslaved, while also cherry picking Washington’s statements opposing slavery to depict him as an early abolitionist. Visitors will now come away with a warped understanding of both Washington and the people he enslaved.

What better day to visit members of Congress to talk about civics education than when it’s 100 degrees outside? Will be a true joy to walk around the Capitol complex today.

MLB is like the Democratic Party in that they’re deeply concerned about popularity and all their actions seem to be aimed at capturing some mythical person who has never become a baseball fan and will probably never become a baseball fan meanwhile baseball fans are yelling PLEASE JUST PLAY BASEBALL

This is stupid. Making sure the precious, few winter daylight hours happen when most people are at school and work is good and we should keep it.

This was so great. As a sometimes endurance athlete who loves gear and one-weird-tricks and metric tracking, this was really fun to read.

Invoking the threat to "public safety" to justify state violence against politically disfavored populations is a well worn trope in the historical racially disparate policing of the mobility of people of color who are simply going about their lives. Two recent books on that topic are:

Terrible camera angles, boring commentary, dead air. Truly a bad production. Give me Chris Berman going backbackbackback over this 100x over.

Another outstanding Netflix production!

Finally watched the first episode of "Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness," the 250th anniversary show from Larry David and the Obamas. Let me tell you, there's a reason you haven't heard anything about it. It turns out "What if historical figures were Larry David?" is a pretty weak premise!

There’s no event better at bringing in young fans than the Home Run Derby. So of course MLB has it begin at 8pm, when my kids will only be able to watch a tiny bit of it.

Norway keeper’s kit looks like a Mountain Dew. Norway wins.

Based on my observations this summer, rampant grade inflation has now extended to parents grading their kids’ jumps at the pool. I don’t even know what a 7.5 is anymore.

Public conversation about the OMB proposal has focused on science, but make no mistake: this is about ALL research and humanities are just as vulnerable. I'm back @scholarlykitchen.bsky.social w historian & @historians.org exec director Sarah Weicksel. scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2026/07/10/t...

The Freedom Fuel thing is going to drive me insane. It seems Trump has no role in them whatsoever, he’s just promoting it. Everyone pumping gas there praises him for it anyway. Meanwhile, he actually **is** responsible for the sky high prices everywhere else! www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/u...

“You make a left where the old Alfonso’s Pizza used to be, I think it’s a dry cleaner or a mattress store now you’ll recognize it, we went that way when we had CYO basketball games in Perth Amboy.”

Last night getting ice cream at Baskin Robbins with my wife and two kids cost $31. Every once in a while some measure of inflation really slaps you in the face.

Earlier this week @tedlieu.bsky.social introduced a bill to establish a “21st Century Federal Writers’ Project” to document American history and culture in commemoration of the 250th anniversary. www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...

Done with my book talk in Baltimore time to catch the bus… ah crap. He’s everywhere!!

I have to walk all of one single block to get from public transit to this museum for my event tonight and I’m about to get SOAKED it’s raining so hard.

Tonight!

Devastating NYT review of the many massive failures of the Platner campaign. And it makes clear once again that the Schumer intervention on behalf of Mills is what made it possible—in a robust multicandidate race, he would have been toast.

The commencement address I gave back in May is aging quite well. johngmarks.beehiiv.com/p/read-a-book

The broad strokes of this have barely changed since the 1980s. Claim the founders were divinely inspired/chosen specifically by God, count the number of times they're mentioned, complain about a lack of patriotism if they aren't there as often (or in the way) they'd like. From chapter 6 of my book:

I coach youth sports 3 seasons out of the year. My team rules for every single team, regardless of the sport, are: 1. Have fun, 2. Try hard, and 3. Listen. Coaching absolutely gets more fun as kids get more skilled, but the point is for kids to be good teammates and follow through on a commitment.

Far enough along into this new project that a rough table of contents is coming together. Exciting stuff!!!

A lot has been said about the current regime wanting to roll back the civil rights movement, but it’s looking like they really want to bring things back 100 years farther than that. No matter how bad things have been I genuinely didn’t think reviving proslavery talking points was on the table.

One thing that's immediately apparent reading the White House's Smithsonian report is that if you have to use multiple sets of quotation marks within a single sentence to produce damning evidence, it's pretty obvious you're not citing the source in good faith.

If you're in the Baltimore area, I'll be at the Maryland Center for History and Culture tomorrow to talk about George Washington, slavery, and public memory. www.mdhistory.org/calendar/thy...

My latest for @texasobserver.org: Despite the grip of conservative Christianity on Texas politics, religion here has always contained multitudes, a new work of history shows www.texasobserver.org/one-state-un...

finally had a chance to read this and it was a delight. now considering buying The Hat.

Good summary of some of the material on the founders at NMAH, which the WH report ignored. newrepublic.com/article/2128...

I need to learn to enjoy the days/weeks where I feel like I’m spinning my wheels on a big project because all the work I’ve done the past two months just finally clicked into place today and I’m so excited.

I spoke to Mitch McConnell for 20 minutes and he told me "in the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit."

I know you’re watching this Colombia match thinking “this is great but I wonder how ideas about race and identity before the end of slavery there compare to the U.S. South?” and boy have I got good news for you. www.amazon.com/Black-Freedo...

Turns out a research project I led gets called out in this. It showed history professionals how to help the public to move past their conception of history as a narrow search for Factual Truth, and instead build their appreciation for depth, complexity, and historical method.

I’ve been getting back in running shape the past 5-6 weeks after a looooong book-related hiatus. Dew points in the 70s and some hills really are the poor man’s altitude training, good grief.

As someone who was very, very invested in the Andy Dalton-era Bengals, this is a very familiar feeling.

Why do these AI generated book promo emails think authors want to read a 1,500 word summary of their own book? No human in the world has ever written an email like this.

Today I learned that Georgia cotton planters infringed on Eli Whitney’s cotton gin patent by buying or making ripoffs, then only letting people they enslaved see or use them, because the enslaved couldn’t testify in court that it was a Whitney gin.

Done with the 250th, the Trump administration is renewing its effort to distort and control how Smithsonian museums present the nation's history. Same tired message: too much slavery, not enough white heroes. Can't wait to see why it took them 162 pages to say it. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/05/a...

After I spent a decade thinking “I’m going to be a professor for the rest of my life,” I had a *hell* of an identity crisis at 29 when it didn’t work out.

Going from that match at altitude to summer Miami is a brutal turnaround.

England players drinking from personalized little baby pouches doesn’t give me a TON of confidence they’re emotionally prepared for the last 20 minutes here.

Let’s see what kind of clout the King of England has.