I have too much going on today to write a detailed response, but for the love of all that's good, if you read this article please also read something by actual historians of religion and science.

Say a prayer for me: I volunteered to *help* organize our street's block party this year to save the tradition. It now appears I'm running it myself.

Some glimmers of hope from the Democratic Party. I'd be skeptical of the concept, except the people behind know what they're doing. Nothing changes until Democrats start imagining themselves as a national party that can compete (and maybe even win) everywhere. This is a good first step.

We're looking for a few more contributions to a volume I'm co-editing on the radical religious press in 19th c. Europe/North America. Any subject/geographic focus welcomed. More details from original CFP in link, but deadline for chapters extended to 3/1/26. Feel free to DM questions.

Everything is terrible, which is why I'm especially grateful for the Rowhouse Cinema in Pittsburgh. I just enjoyed two hours of escapism with a showing of Singing in the Rain.

Got gossip from a managing editor pal of a journal that a few reviewers used ChatGPT to write their assessments for them, and didn't even conceal it. I'll say it again - it won't be the neoliberal administrators that take down the humanities. It'll be humanities professors who've stopped reading.

US environmental history/western history folks, please help: any recommendations of good histories about the California Water Wars and Owens Valley water diversion in the early 20th c.? Thanks!

It's amazing how much my productivity has improved now that my prime morning work time isn't punctuated by terrible SCOTUS decisions.

He doesn't want us to back down; he just wants to go to the beach. Some gall to send a fundraising email the same hour this video is circulating.

He should resign immediately and let Shapiro replace him with someone who actually wants to do his job. Total embarrassment.

Yikes. Per the full article, everyone is okay, which is good news.

Just deleted my quippy post from earlier as the replies were getting to be a bit much. It was a good reminder why I usually steer clear of quippy posts.

As someone who came of age politically following Clinton’s post-1994 triangulation, was in college during the run-up to the Iraq War, and saw Howard Dean pushed aside in favor of John Kerry, “craven,” “soulless,” and “hedging” is pretty much all I’ve ever known of liberal politics.

A liberal should be someone who does the right thing because it is right and stands up to bullies and abusers. The type of liberalism that America has suffered with for decades now has been a craven exercise in soulless hedging and cowardice

Thousands of people lined up at the Minnesota Capitol to pay tribute to slain lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. Between the caskets was an urn containing the ashes of the family’s golden retriever, Gilbert.

I’m not asking Mark to do this (he does plenty as it is!) but this post speaks to my wish for some knowledgeable advice on what the pressure points on SCOTUS might be. I recognize there might be few—but it’d be helpful to know where/how some public pressure might be exerted to mitigate this outcome.

Time to stop scrolling on here and go watch episode 1 of the new season of The Gilded Age, because I'm sure that will feel like total escapism. 😩

Happy to talk about CA's LGBTQ-inclusive History-Social Science Framework. Check out the One Institute's new collaborative K-12 lesson plans--now more than ever. (Wish the journalist had mentioned my new book: Contested Curriculum: LGBTQ History Goes to School, but glad the word's getting out!)

By the time the 2028 Democratic Party presidential primaries start, expanding the Supreme Court by 30 new members will be the “conservative” position

Today would be a great day for Democratic Party elected officials to stand up and offer a plan to get us out of this mess.

Before SCOTUS ruins everything today, I'd like to brag that for the first time ever, I've succeeded in getting everything for an online course et up (all assignments created, videos recorded, links double-checked) in advance of the course starting. This has been a goal for 6+ years

I have spent the last sixteen years defending Gillibrand — I was always sympathetic to her because she represented the House district I grew up in, which I thought a Dem could never win. But I’m done. Tell me who’s primarying her and I’ll give them money. (Same goes for Schumer while I’m at it.)

Yes, I am recording six weeks of lecture videos for an online course in one day. And, no, I will not wear the same shirt in all of them, even if the hair is a giveaway.

A true *must* read article about how the lessons of Mamdani’s primary win are generalizable, and it’s not about left/right positioning. It’s about communication, organizing strategy, coalition building, and yes, polling methodology

I'll be having a drink around 9:45am

Many AHA members have expressed alarm about a posting by the National Archives about access restrictions at Archives II. In a message on X (formerly Twitter), the Archives has clarified that research rooms will remain open to the public. 🗃️(1/2)

turns out you can win super-super-supermajorities of young men and you don't even have to say slurs, resent women, or promote crypto

Alternate headline: MAMDANI STUNS THE TIMES Former New York newspaper finds itself out of touch with the city it once covered. Take that, Andrew and A.G. #BrokenTimes

As the Times piece notes, this PRRI data is an important -- and hopeful! -- counterpoint to the Gallup poll from a few weeks back about GOP support for same-sex marriage.

Setting up the course site for what I hope is the last online course I ever teach. As far as I’m concerned, ChatGPT has destroyed the already minuscule joy of online teaching.

New from me in Middle West Review: a short preview of research from my current book project about the time religious progressives gained a real foothold in the rural Midwest with a vision for a radically transformed, and vastly more just, society.

This is a good ad. I’m no expert on TX politics, but this also seems like the messaging most likely to work for a Democrat there?

I’m always annoyed universities don’t do a better job explaining how many people they employ from their communities—not just regular staff but construction workers, etc., as well. The popular discourse is that these cuts only inconvenience the elites. Institutions should be fighting that narrative.

Twenty years in education and I have seen so many things that were going to "save teachers time" and then it got weaponized into "if you don't use this, you're ruining your students' future" and usually when that mindless zealousness comes around it's less than a year for that tech to collapse.

This is an important independent documentary audio project by Lynne Gerber that "uses archival audio to tell the story of a queer church in San Francisco and how it got through AIDS in the years before treatment." You can listen to a sample and make a donation to help bring it to the public.

During an NPR hourly newscast today, the anchor (I missed who it was) actually quoted Trump’s bizarre, nonsensical comments about Iran verbatim rather than summarizing them. We’re numbed to his voice now, bearing another person repeat his words is very revealing. Props to @npr.org for doing it.

These appeared side by side on my timeline. How much does Schumer's comms team hate him?

Today has been an unpleasant reminder of just how terrible 2001-2005 was. I’m holding on to the memory that things also got much better very quickly Here’s hoping it happens again in a more durable way.

Also Ecclesiastes slaps, you can just read that part.

It's a damning indictment of PA Dem primary voters (myself included!) that Fetterman is our senator and this guy isn't.

He’s gone a long way on vibes, finally meets an issue that requires the input of serious people and he talks about bombing and killing like it’s a video game. I would say it’s embarrassing but if you think about the human lives involved it’s far worse than that.

I don’t care for her, but I appreciate that she knows what to do in this moment

More of this please, Democrats

I reviewed Sam Tanenhaus’s epic biography of William F. Buckley Jr. for Democracy: democracyjournal.org/magazine/77/...

It's mind-boggling that appalling things like this happen and the response from Democrats, including ones I really like, is to send a fundraising appeal about it.

As I was saying...

This conversation between @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social and @mcbride.house.gov Is excellent. Really smart insights from both about how persuasion and political change happen, and why real-world interaction and community-building matter. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/o...

PUBLICATION DAY! _I Have Avenged America: Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Haiti's Fight for Freedom_ is now available from @yalepress.bsky.social To celebrate, I am going to post some of the most extraordinary Dessalines quotations below! yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...