Americans, I beg of you to understand that the Semana Santa tradition in Spain is much older than Klan terror. The Klan stole the Holy Week dressing from this tradition to hide their identities and engage in racist terror. (Read the comments, and you'll see why this message is necessary.)

Growing up Catholic in a highly Baptist rural town showed me that the majority of my classmates thought I was not a Christian/was a borderline heretic. Which is why the behavior of so many Catholics supporting this regime is surprising. America has not been kind to Catholics (see the 2nd Klan).

Two points about the downed F-15 crew in Iran: 1. Hegseth threatened “no quarter” against Iran, making the situation worse for those downed fliers. 2. Media speculation that the fliers could be used as “hostages” is sloppy language. They'd be prisoners of war taken during combat. Not "hostages."

Red States: We're going to cut all the programs that don't support our theology Blue States: We're going to cut the same programs, but because they don't support the business school

So, the DoD has consistently failed yearly audits since it began auditing itself in 2018. The war in Iran is going terribly despite being the 'greatest, most lethal fighting force of all time,' and rather than admit having no plan was a bad choice, he demands eye-blistering amounts of money.

I was being facetious in my post about Hegseth's purges of the military brass. Stalin had the top brass executed, making the Soviets woefully unprepared for the Nazi invasion. Hegseth is pursuing an ideological purge of the military, based on adherence to Christian nationalism and white supremacy.

Now, I happen to work on another country whose 'special operation' invasion is faltering despite being the militarily superior power. They also like to undercount casualties...hmm.

Let's call this what it is: purges of the top military brass during a buildup of manpower. It's a purge. Stalin did something similar in the late 1930s. Hegseth isn't shooting the generals like Stalin did, one of the few differences.

In my latest @pbs.org interview I spoke about the need for Americans to understand how foreign policy also shapes their daily lives, particularly when it comes to hardships that many American families face with rising prices. 19thnews.org/2026/03/iran...

I guess I'm waxing poetic because I've been thinking a lot about the Cold War for my dissertation (which I'm actually writing). I think Americans must grapple with the collapse of our mode of understanding our place in the world as a hegemonic power, economically, politically, and culturally. 1/

So, Patel got his email hacked, used public dollars to visit his girlfriend, and played fast and loose with evidence in high-profile cases, but Bondi gets the ax. Looks like the handmaidens (Bondi, Noem) forgot they were always expendable.

Live footage of me reading this:

Also telling that Vance has an upcoming trip to Budapest to support Orban's campaign, as we learn that Hungary's Foreign Minister shared confidential EU hearing information with Russia's Foreign Minister, Lavrov. www.politico.eu/article/eu-h...

Thinking about how T is threatening to stop providing weapons for European support to Ukraine if our European allies don't help fix this cluster---- in Iran. This position just reinforces the speed that Europe needs to move with shoring up its defense production. It is a protection racket.

This interview with Ronald McNair’s brother, and the story of a 9-year-old future astronaut walking a mile to a whites only segregated library to read, always gets to me. www.npr.org/2011/01/28/1...

At some point, I'd like to write a piece on the idea of Trump doing everything he is doing because it serves Putin. It's just too easy an out for institution and individual that supports this regime, and the myriad of policy failures we've accepted in this country.

New podcast alert! 🚨 Journalist Sara Cincurova reads her article "Motherhood on the Frontlines", sharing stories of the single mothers raising Ukraine's most vulnerable children amidst the ongoing war with Russia. Listen here ➡️ podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...

As a current Penn grad student, I am horrified. I have friends & colleagues whose privacy is violated and whose safety is at risk as a result. This precedent and the judge's justifications for it (downplaying historical precedent in Nazi Germany, saying the Admin will be trustworthy) are outrageous

People complaining abt the "No Kings" protests being 'useless' and 'performative' should pay attention to what is happening in Russia right now. No access to Telegram, cracking down on VPNs, and many Russians aren't protesting or making a peep. Resignation is the death knell for an active society.

It was an honor to make my debut on @pbs.org To the Contrary with Bonnie Erbe. If you missed the live show on Sunday morning, you can watch it online. In this episode, we discuss the impact of changes in American foreign policy on women's issues. www.pbs.org/video/nato-r...

I just saw someone post a video on Instagram describing reading physical books as an "old money hobby." That may be what finally breaks my psyche. Not grad school and being an academic during *this*, but reading as 'old money.'

It’s useful to think about things like this in numbers of tenure track professors. $33M is 358 assistant professors. Or about fourteen percent of the total number of full-time faculty at Michigan State.

Ask yourself why there wasn’t this level of wall to wall coverage for this shooting wgme.com/news/local/i...

Billionaire MacKenzie Scott’s historic philanthropic run has contributed more than $700 million to over a dozen historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) this fall. Full Story: bit.ly/3JQlr6L

Can you believe this? The American Battle Monuments Commission, a U.S. gov. agency, ordered the removal of displays honouring the Black soldiers who helped liberate the Netherlands. These men fought & died for freedom, & now their contributions are being erased. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

I've been saying this for ages now. None of this is unprecedented if you are familiar with African American and Southern history (or the history of any minority group in this country).

Reaching into the depths of my southernness to say, Senate Dems, Y'all ain't got no fight in you. Learned nothing. People went hungry; ATC were attacked and unpaid, and for what? Capitulation and a dedicated vote to a proposition you know you are going to lose. These are not serious people.

The Senate Dems have reached Tsar Nicholas II levels of political ineptitude. I don't believe for a second only the 'eight' moved to vote on this. How do they do that without Schumer's backing? LBJ (Senate Minority & Majority Leader before President) is rolling in his grave with this fecklessness.

I read about those two families from Texas (incl down the road from where I grew up) who moved to Russia. I've been saying for years that Russia is Janus-like in its foreign PR. It acts like a land of white civilization for white Americans/Europeans and like a decolonization beacon for Africans.

Many families & individuals face SNAP benefit cuts (read: are being starved) in November. Please donate to your local food banks. Money generally goes further than donated food because food banks can purchase in bulk. www.houstonfoodbank.org imgh.org/imhouston-me...

So, that serial woman abuser running for NYC mayor really posted a video of Mamdani eating rice with his hands and a Black pimp a la Dolemite?! I'm so tired of this timeline.

A lot of *that* discourse reveals why Claude McKay said what he did at the 4th Comintern re: the issue with racism in the CPUSA and Black Americans' resistance to the party.

I don't have any words. I'm floored. And if Harvard does this to cut costs, what hope do other PhD programs at schools w/out multi-billion dollar endowments have?

In general, one should never get a skull tattoo while drunk in Croatia, or Serbia, or Bulgaria...Such a strange time to have deep knowledge of Eastern European history. (I know nothing about Platner, but I do know a bit about Croatian WWII history...).

If you are a supporter and reader of @contingent-mag.bsky.social one of the biggest things you can do to help us at the moment is get this CFP to the NTT folks in your life. The fracturing of social media has made it very difficult to get the word out esp. to adjuncts and VAPs.

This is an absolutely terrific piece from @texastribune.org and reinforces my belief that the best coverage of right-wing cancelations occur at the local level, after years of the national media focusing on threats from the left. www.texastribune.org/2025/09/19/t...

What, exactly, is happening in Oklahoma? Isn't this man under investigation for watching pornography during a State Board of Education meeting? Has he ever taught school? Isn't Oklahoma recruiting teachers from abroad due to shortages? This is performative and fixes nothing. He knows that.

Impotrant reporting, although I loathe the name "Alligator Alcatraz." Seems like a terrible way to normalize kidnapping and camps.

Zelenskyy also met with Tokayev today. I think the US deals with Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan play a role in Trump's about-face on Ukraine today. But, as usual, this administration is too mercurial for Ukraine and its allies to let their guards down. Social media isn't equal to weaponry on the ground.

Many of the federal troops who massacred Native American women, children, and unarmed men at Wounded Knee received Medals of Honor. As I have said before, these are not unprecedented actions. Their precedents are erased history.

The discourse around Ostapenko being racist and rude to Taylor Townsend is fascinating. This issue is literally my research. We see, once again, the "racism doesn't exist in Latvia" excuse. Racism exists in the Baltics just like the rest of Eastern Europe. 1/

Seeing more job postings in various fields (European history, East Asian history, etc.) that are 'encouraging' people who focus on the history of science, technology, medicine, to apply. Feels like this is the new way to hire people who research 'safe' topics. Don't think it'll save us.

As negotiations between Russia and the US loom this week, it is important that we all understand what is at stake. I am one of the experts interviewed about the significance of Crimea to both Ukraine and Russia. @theworld.org theworld.org/stories/2025...

It is always a privilege to share my expertise with the public. I am one of the experts quoted in this piece on the experience of Black people, including African Americans, Africans, and Afro-Russians, in Russia today. kyivindependent.com/what-its-rea...

Forget the shopping cart theory, I have the buying elementary school supplies theory.

Stealing text from books written by PhDs and using probability-based algorithms to scramble that text up to make answers that *sound* *like* a person with a PhD answered them is not in fact PhD-level intelligence or expertise. It does tell us something about the people selling and using this slop

I see this after the premier professional organization of my discipline releases its "AI guidelines" that undermine the entire practice of teaching critical thinking, reading, and writing. You know, the entire point of what we do. Bleak doesn't even begin to describe this.

My dissertation has pushed me into Cold War-era Soviet history, but my passion and training since undergrad is Stalinism. I've seen this movie before, though the US is doing a shorter timeline. We are nearing Shakhty. I am wondering who will be named the 'wreckers,' and if they will need a Kirov.

Before you see a hundred or so posts saying that Texas has issued arrest warrants for the absent Dem legislators, you should be aware that they are civil warrants issued by the House that are not effective outside the state www.texastribune.org/2025/08/04/t...

So, we're repositioning nuclear submarines based on what Medvedev tweets. Lord, have mercy.