'A high-resolution digital map allows people to plan their routes along the ancient roads of the Roman Empire. Combining historical records with modern mapping techniques, researchers mapped hundreds of thousands of kilometres of roads. The findings nearly double the known length of Roman roads.'

LLMs are now widely used in social science as stand-ins for humans—assuming they can produce realistic, human-like text But... can they? We don’t actually know. In our new study, we develop a Computational Turing Test. And our findings are striking: LLMs may be far less human-like than we think.🧵

"NCHE’s History Habits of Mind transform history from a subject in the classeoom into a powerful tool for understanding humanity. When teachers integrate these habits into daily instruction, students not only learn the past, they learn how to shape what comes next."

As federal immigration enforcement agents carry out widespread immigration raids throughout the country, their actions are increasingly facing scrutiny. @bgodar.bsky.social evaluates whether federal officials who violate state criminal law are immune from state prosecution.

This is a big deal, the opposite of Obama standing down his organizing base after 2008.

Very exciting to see activists launching a new nonprofit today to keep building on the community of volunteers that came together to get Mamdani elected. Our Time is a 501(c)(4) and plans to start events in December.

Need that copy of Soldiers and Silver? Now is a great time to buy: use the code UTXGIFTS to get 40% off the print version or 50% off the Ebook when you buy direct from the Press. More soldiers for less silver....can't beat that! utpress.utexas.edu/9781477330777/

The dramatic repudiation of Trump this week wrecks a number of absurd narratives the media has pushed lately. In the runup to the election, NYT pieces kept telling us Dems were overly obsessed with attacking Trump. That dumb idea now lies in ruins. 1/ (new piece) newrepublic.com/article/2027...

ICE abducted 9 documented workers at a car wash in Allston & denied them the chance to retrieve their documents — this is cruel & harrowing. My office is in touch with the families and working with them to track down their loved ones & connect them with legal counsel.

Readers in Arizona, Michigan, & Georgia! Your senators have been getting a LOT of dedicated pressure to end the shutdown, without fixing healthcare. If you have a minute, go ahead & give them a call! Their job is to respond to constituents & they're mostly hearing from GOP voters rn.

Turn up the volume. So my favorite part of the speech wasn’t this line (for all it’s a doorbuster) but when he talked about the NYCer living in PA. My beloved gave up his career because NYC childcare cost more than he could earn. Literally we’d have paid more to have him work. 1/

The Curriers' Prize is now open! Submit your best unpublished essay on any aspect of London's history, and you could get a £1,000 award! Full details: 👇 w ww.history.ac.uk/funding/awards-bursaries-prizes/curriers-prize

Turn up the volume. So my favorite part of the speech wasn’t this line (for all it’s a doorbuster) but when he talked about the NYCer living in PA. My beloved gave up his career because NYC childcare cost more than he could earn. Literally we’d have paid more to have him work. 1/

1. In the wake on Mamdani’s win, we’ll see a lot more far right anti-urban sentiment. Here’s a thread on its roots and evolution. The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵

11. Importantly, the city is and has always been a much less controllable space for the far right than the countryside. It is less in thrall to traditional hierarchies and better able to mobilise: the sheer number of people provides a counterweight to oligarchic power.

I am so grateful. Thank you everyone.

It’s pronounced “Cyclist”. Cc @stuporradical.bsky.social @sonaar.bsky.social & @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social

Which Democrats?! The ones who keep caving to republicans and losing elections?! Oh no.

People are SHOWING UP

5th 🍅 = 313(!) words. I'm nearing the end of this chapter and am starting to panic that I won't know how to wrap up the last paragraph. I want a tidy bow. Silly to give such worries any energy. Editing, cutting, re-writing, framing feedback, even citations, can wait. Right now the goal is words.

4th 🍅 = only 117 words. 😭. Too much time looking shit up rather than writing what I know. I think I need to indulge in the long break button not the short break button. I'll go walk a little.

3rd 🍅 = 268 words. Ok I think this third break will be for a cup of tea. I might crack this chapter if I can keep this up just a little longer.

2nd 🍅 = 271 words. The requirement to take short breaks is as once delightful and irritating. I stopped my writing mid sentence. But thus far today is going better than yesterday. I did though leave myself yesterday with an outline of today's writing tasks and that is also seriously helping.

I'm on a Pomodoro break. I only got down 500 or so words yesterday and that wasn't brilliant for the time in. Today was not shaping up any better, so I gave myself a strong talking to and dug through my tool chest of ways to make myself write. 1st 🍅 = 238 words. studywithme.io/aesthetic-po...

One week left to submit your poetry manuscript, translators! $1500 prize, publication by University of Wisconsin Press in their prestigious Wisconsin Poetry Series. You can submit more than one year (different judge) and more than one manuscript.

📰 'More than just jewellery': new insights into #Viking miniature metal figurines #AntiquityResearch #ArchaeologyNews via @uniofleicester.bsky.social le.ac.uk/news/2025/oc...

SMH... 🤨

today’s the day!!

In Minnesota, we’re proud to have some of the highest voter turnout in the nation - and we want to keep it that way. Make a plan, and bring a friend! MNVotes.org

It is worth saying that putting “Africana studies” in scare quotes as if it’s a ridiculous concept is not a political argument. It’s just racism. “Africa is not worthy of a major” is the implication. Yeah dude you’re just racist. (From Gerard Baker at the WSJ today) www.wsj.com/opinion/mamd...

I'm hoping put @fakehistoryhunter.net on this case. It is so hard to prove a negative but I call BS on this click bait that is all over my socials... 1/

304 words of writing project that is going too slowly. Time for tea.

"the real reason Republicans are doing this is so they can cheat the election process and rig themselves into permanent majority rule at both the state and federal level." prospect.org/2025/11/03/r...

Hi friends! I am absolutely the worst at this myself but remember if we collectively decided we wanted to, I did create a #gamingthepast feed for BSky to aggregate. I'm trying to be better about that, because community is so important for history and games work. bsky.app/profile/gami...

My beloved and I took some out-of-towners into the city and ended up doing slightly separate activities—reunited, he surprised me in the Lincoln tunnel with some (perfect) hefty gifts. Swooooooooon.

The absolutely brilliant pitch perfect troll of getting targeted by your opponent with virulent Islamophobia and then immediately releasing an ad in all Arabic.

taskandpurpose.com/news/vet-gro... New billboards have been put up near Miami, Chicago, and Memphis, Tennessee.

Apparently ICE didn't get the memo on anti-Christian bias. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

The Fugitive Slave Act legalized bounty hunting. It’s crystal clear what Make America Great Again really means.

The United States, in which people are happy to spend $ millions on police overtime just to make sure that (checks notes) hungry children don’t get to eat.

In 1857, Thomas Howland became Providence, RI's first Black elected official. Later that year, he decided to emigrate to Liberia with his wife & daughter after the Dred Scott case denied Black people protections of U.S. citizenship. He was denied a passport. Thomas Howland, 1856 John Blanchard

Someone is supervising the seasonal activities v closely

This bronze head of a goddess with her spooky, hypnotic inlaid silver eyes, will be roaming the shadows tonight on All Hallows Eve! Still looking for her body, 2,000 years later … 😱 🏺 1/ Hellenistic, 150-100 BCE, Mersin, Turkey. #BritishMuseum 📸 me

By whom? Passive voice here raises some questions….

The FBI director is flying his girlfriend around on private government planes while FBI agents go without paychecks and families prepare to go hungry as SNAP benefits are being suspended

The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is a blood-curdling 55% off in the Steam Halloween sale! A perfect time to play our folk horror adventure game inspired by movies such as The Wicker Man & the works of M.R. James, with a little pinch of Twin Peaks and Lovecraft. store.steampowered.com/app/1182310/...

Amazon is helping fund a $300 million build of a ballroom for the White House. Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity. They are not the same.

528 real words. Lunch break.

This is very cool. Does the AIA and/or SCS have this same type of thing? What about other professional bodies? I like that the AHA has a whole section of their website for UGs and the annual meeting.

This is very cool. Does the AIA and/or SCS have this same type of thing? What about other professional bodies? I like that the AHA has a whole section of their website for UGs and the annual meeting.