I will however, say that if you want to listen to an audio version of the Odyssey, Sir Ian McKellen's rendition of the Fagles translation is just brilliant, if a bit hard to track down these days. His Circe is especially, as Katharine Hepburn would say, cherce.

Listen, think what you want about Hakeem Jeffries. I know I’ve had my fair share of disagreements. But even after Schumer caved and betrayed all of us, Hakeem is whipping votes on the House floor to try and block this shitty deal and protect Americans’ healthcare. That’s worth a lot.

The thing about Mamdani is that he’s a talented politician but not otherworldly or one in a billion, he’s just a competent guy with popular ideas who ran against an entitled piece of shit and to me it’s a lot more optimistic to imagine 1000 campaigns like his than to view him as a unique phenomenon

A. Not about that, as Bret says. B. "Princesses" sure sounds better than "enslaved rape victims," doesn't it? There are, in fact, princesses in the Iliad, like Andromache, wife of Prince Hector, who lives in terror of being sold into slavery and raped after watching her husband and toddler son die.

JUST IN: Katie Wilson is now ahead of Mayor Bruce Harrell in the Seattle mayoral race. Stay tuned for details on today's count.

Hi writers! I’m looking to assign a couple of features for Slate before the end of the year. If you have anything in mind that you think would be a fit please send me a pitch! Jenée.Desmond- [email protected] or dm me. RTs are appreciated so this can reach more people. Thanks!

Hey, a lot of people are talking about changing affiliation from Democratic to Independent. Let me tell you why you shouldn’t do that in Colorado. One of the main ways to get a primary challenge candidate on a ballot is to caucus for your party. You need to be registered as a Dem to caucus.

"of COURSE you can bring multiple permanent markers, highlighters, and a MANUAL TYPEWRITER into the rare books room, don't be silly. Would you like your complementary tiny globe to be served now, or later?"

Whenever teaching @jmb1951.bsky.social (Judith Bennett)'s _History Matters_, I check to see whether the image search results for "history professor" have become more diverse in the last few years. The good news is that they have! The bad news is that the most common feature by far is still a beard.

Tell me you don’t understand risk pools without telling me you don’t understand risk pools

I am not going to let Schumer and 8 center-right Democrats bring me down. We won on Tuesday. We're gonna keep winning. Just keep telling the stories of what the Trump administration is doing and how it's making lives so much harder, about the corruption, the incompetence, the violence.

I just want everyone to have the experience of living in dignity with access to sufficient food, safe housing, needed medical care, high quality education, and time to engage with what sparks their curiosity and spirit this should not be controversial 🫠

I'm pretty sure I was promised flying cars, not snow tornadoes.

There's a first time for everything - in this case, issuing the reassurance to my History Through Games class that the dog doesn't die. Any guesses as to game?

please god it would be so funny if Mike Lee had a crashout over the CR

The average SNAP benefit per month is $177 a person. The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person. People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives. And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.

Bernie: "You can get 100 votes, it's a meaningless gesture. Because the House won't take the vote up, and the President certainly won't sign it." Now Schumer is speaking about all the bad faith moves the GOP has made.

Americans can’t afford this deal. Democrats can fight AND win — just like we did in our budget battle in Michigan. A promise isn’t a deal. Don’t settle.

FSAs and HSAs also only really help folks who are already comfortable enough to be able to put savings away and are good at budgeting them. When FSAs were first introduced we had them, but we stopped because even though it saved some &, managing the reimbursement process was so hard.

Just thanked Slotkin, who does seem regularly to respond to constituents.

I've called Peters and Slotkin and left messages - don't know if it will help at all.

Bovino went into popular Carniceria Aguascalientes in heart of Little Village. “They said they were just here to buy something,” said Elizabeth Gutierrez. “I told them we wouldn’t serve them and escorted them out. Bovino seemed upset, but I don’t care.” www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/08/c...

My puppies over the years encountering snow for the very first time: 12/9/05, 10/24/2013, 11/9/25.

They’re wearing masks so they can’t be prosecuted later. As long as they think they can’t be prosecuted, their crimes will intensify. They will torture, starve and kill, as they have already, on greater and greater scale. Signed, someone who’s covered the unaccountable War on Terror for 23 years.

I wonder if there are even any words inside the book spines arranged by color and size.

The funny aspect here is that I know 3 teens who express themselves through fashion like that (though with much less access to high fashion items) and I suspect most people know at least one.

I’m honestly shocked that this story from @globalnews.ca has flown under the radar. Confirmation that Amit Shah, the second-most powerful man in the Indian government, was directly involved in the assassinations on Canadian soil. globalnews.ca/news/1151469...

1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️

The Trump administration is making peoples lives worse and an almost fractal away, from the petty to the genocidal. My best hope is to make sure that when something happens to an individual and their life gets worse, whether in tiny or big ways, they correctly blame Republicans for it.

A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death. Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written." Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating. 🧪🧬🧫

I checked their contract, out of curiosity, and Costco I suspect achieves a similar effect without literally micromanaging the facial expressions of its employees: "The Employer's policy and commitment is to provide outstanding and courteous service to our members."

Part of me now has a new reason to pair Frankenstein (a novel about masculinity by a woman) with a novel by Richardson (a male novelist who was was good-against-his-will at voicing women, so much that his portrait of a “good man” was his only novel where the titular subject wasn’t the primary voice)

I should add that this is apparently an explicit policy of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's, who has instructed all state agencies and schools basically to use any means possible to feed hungry people at this point. So "half-day sack lunches" are basically about government bureaucrats thinking creatively.

Historian here if you are attending the Southern Historical Association conference hope to see you today afternoon for my panel marking the 25th anniversary of the publication of my first book! Grateful to Madam President Lorri Glover.

“Federal authorities told demonstrators Friday that there would be ‘no more prayer’ in front of or inside the Broadview ICE facility, in a move that mystified local leaders and raised legal questions.” blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/07/f...

KBJ threaded the needle thanks to CA1’s unfinished business. -if she denied the admin stay, the full SCOTUS woulda stepped in to override her. -if she immediately referred the case to the full Court, they coulda dragged feet. -instead she boxed them in to act quickly once she does refer the case.

I shouldn't have to be glad that my kid's school suddenly switched to giving each kid a sack lunch on half-days rather than having no lunch - not necessary for our family but definitely for many of the kids there - or that the local air & space museum is letting SNAP families in free right now.

Remember, historically judges will almost always take gov't claims at face value. It's an astounding fact that judges are now increasingly realizing that this administration just flat out lies to them constantly. And it's good to see them calling it out (in this case with a Trump-appointed judge).

Hey! Calling all Wonder Women! We all are sisters…pulling together with one spirit. 50 years ago today the first episode of the series Wonder Woman aired.

Um, @variety.com? That’s…not what that means. 😳 variety.com/2025/music/n...

Today, Mike Johnson will keep the House adjourned for the 95th day out of the last 107. 12 days of work in 107 days. With full pay and benefits. The senate has been working, so this is not about the shutdown. It is about avoiding a vote to release the Epstein files.

The Trump administration is doing everything in its power to deny food assistance to Americans.

In class today my students created a social network of (meme-famous) Ea-naṣir based on the letters in his dossier. It coincided with the most recent episode of the Thin Edge of the Wedge. An excellent roundup by great colleagues on everything we know about Ea-naṣir and his historical context...

lmao this is incredible, strong contender for one of the least useful charts ever made you could do this with anything, draw a straight trend line plus one exponentially up and one exponentially down average baseball fastball pitch speed in 2050: 0mph, 105mph, or 1000000mph

Chris Murphy: "There will be pretty substantial damage to a Dem brand that has been rehabilitated if on the heels of an election in which the people told us to keep fighting, we immediately stop... if we surrender without having gotten anything, I worry it'll be hard to get them back up off the mat"

Did you know there's a website dedicated to helping you discover more about the archaeology and heritage cared for by @nationaltrust.org.uk? NT Heritage Records Online has been developed to promote, and provide access to, the National Trust’s archaeological and historic building database. 🧵

Trump on SNAP: "Our country has to remain very liquid because problems, catastrophes, wars -- it could be anything. We have to remain liquid. We can't give everything away."

I literally have a database of 100s of records of women's property ownership, dowries & effects on their husband's careers, but maybe that's not Real Economic History? Also, I teach military history annually. Meanwhile. Dr. Lynette Nusbacher's Wiki entry keeps getting deleted due to transphobia.

1 frustrating aspect of misogyny for an ancient gender historian is how mindbogglingly dull & uncreative it is. Men have been blaming women for gossiping & indirect speech literally since our oldest written records. Also, you know who suppresses conflict through indirect means successfully? Bonobos.