I cough-laughed hard enough to scare the cat and get scratches, but it was worth it.

We do not need yet more post facto diagnoses of Adolf Hitler. Such things have been happening since the 1940s and historians — real ones, not the ones who write Father’s Day pulp — put no stock in them, because as explanatory devices they tell us, in the technical jargon of my discipline, fuck all.

All this is bad enough but I'm honestly seething at the cover designs of all of them, which make Auschwitz seem like a Very Dreamy Place, a romanticised fantasy land.

As all this disgusting Epstein shit starts surfacing more and more, I hope we don't lose sight of the fact that apparently every major media outlet knew everything and instead spent their time money and energy attacking the trans community.

Ah yes, 11 November: the day where Everything Happens in Australian history.

This Remembrance Day I commemorate three generations of Ashtons: my great-grandfather William, who served in the Great War; my granddad Albert, who fought in the Second World War; and my father Malcolm, who never saw combat but served in the RAAF. None of them saw war as glory. Nor should we ever.

I’ll be presenting 'Queering the Rhineland: Same-Sex Intimacies and Interracial Fantasies during the Occupation' at the Modern European History Seminar @camhistory.bsky.social next Tuesday (11.11) at 5:15 pm.

I see this has not taken long

O R B

Oh hey so this is a good day to be uselessly inconsolable for an hour because I was mopping the floor near where Mia used to have her castle, and suddenly all I could think of was how much I miss that darling cheeky cat with her one tooth and her 21 years and more fight in her than I’ll ever have.

My dear Bluesky: last Saturday Johnny Marr introduced this with “this song is about that person you love and who means more than anything to you. And if right now you do not have this in your life, then this is a song about you, from me.” Happy Friday, friends. Be loved. youtu.be/vT_IlY0A4_0?...

I’ve recently had two modes of existence: “let’s keep going and get this done”, or “it’s 7pm and I should’ve gone to bed an hour and a half ago.” Today is the latter.

Why doesn’t it surprise me that he fantasises about lurking in the shadows.

It will be fascinating to see how the US Democrats fuck up the stunning successes they had overnight, but you better believe they’re working hard at it.

I hope this is how you find out Mamdani is mayor elect of New York

Say what you will about Dick Cheney

This reminds me of the forum post from an American asking if he can carry a handgun in Berlin, in case he gets mugged in the Tiergarten. Cue a lot of arguing and him being very upset when Germans insisted that having to cancel a couple of bankcards is a much better outcome than killing someone.

I try not to post rage bait but lord people with disordered eating they want to pass on to their children are fueling so much of the MAHA stuff and now they’re moving on to SNAP.

Ok hivemind, Looking for a few suggestions looking at the Diem years (1954-1963) in the RCN (S Vietnam). Reposts welcome.

“I couldn't have anticipated [backlash]”, says a man who built an Auschwitz-themed Halloween float for a kids’ Halloween parade. I think this tells us an awful lot about more than we might like, to be honest. (Reposted screenshot with alt text.)

And now I know how Johnny Marr felt.

I might not count as “young” any more but I buy coffee because it’s one of the few pleasurable things I can actually afford and I’m not kidding: a good cup of coffee has saved me from many a deep pit of despair this year, so don’t fucking dare come for my 20 euro beans, you bastards.

Comprehension is a lost art.

#BOOKGIVEAWAY Follow @coldwarpod.bsky.social then reshare & reply to this post to enter a chance to win a copy of this book. T&C's & other ways to enter here coldwarconversations.com/giveaway/ #eastgermany #GDR #DDR #Berlinwall @DDROnline.bsky.social @GermanAtPompey.bsky.social

Taking a little time for myself today. That means I’m on a train to Munich, for coffee and Leberkäse and Johnny Marr.

The second one is in, pals. Now: do I get started on a job application or will this do for the day...

Grant application #1 done! Now for coffee and final edits on grant application #2! I really don’t know where this weird hyperfocus is coming from but god is it welcome.

Today's a bank holiday in Thüringen (Reformation Day), and I'm writing the last of a grant application while listening to the soundtracks of Stingray, Thunderbirds, and Captain Scarlet, while drinking an absolutely outstanding Kenyan filter roasted by Bluebird in South Africa. Not a bad morning.

The world is nonsense so Cap and Bucky are here to brighten your lives.

Not supporting someone who wants to legislate a vulnerable minority out of engaging in civic life, all the while making dog-whistle arguments that too much time has been spent "focusing" on that group, is not a fucking "purity test", but basic decency and humanity. Get a grip, you absolute ghoul.

Austerity strikes again.

Human rights abuses and egregious bigotry: fine actually as long as the guy doing it will post in all-caps calling him PRESIDENT DUMP or whatever.

"It's just a distraction", a load of people will say while jackboots stamp out hard-won rights. Listen to Zoe. This is it, and it cannot be spun as alarmism.

Self-identification as LGBTQ in the USA has risen from 3.5% of the population to 9.3% in only a little more than a decade. In the UK, over 10% of under-25s do, tripling in the same period. Bigots see that as a crisis. It's the duty of every decent person to understand it as a liberation.

Alright friends, there's things to write today. Let's get this done.

JD Vance claims that diversity weakens unions, as people end up distrusting each other and not organizing. Let me tell you two menswear stories related to this claim. 🧵

Look, I love "Don't Dream it's Over" as much as the next person, but Crowded House's best song is definitely "Distant Sun", probably followed by "I Feel Possessed" or "Private Universe." I'm on my Australian playlist tonight and Neil Finn and Tim Freedman and co are making me misty.

Gonna go to an American city and ask random punters what they think of Andreas Horn defeating Andreas Bausewein as the mayor of Erfurt last year, then pitch the story to the Wall Street Journal and see how that goes, brb.

Centrists: Look we have to support the him, he can defeat Trump. Gavin Newsom: Trans people should be legislated out of any form of civic engagement. Centrists: And he also makes funny memes!

43 years ago today, readers the world over opened their newspapers and gazed upon cow tools for the first time. happy birthday cow tools. you look great.

Fight Nazis wherever you may find them, in whatever capacity you can.

Our community has lost another sister. Her own college hosted a discussion around "The Trans Question" last winter, which only redoubled Lia's efforts to fight for her friends and community. You will be missed more than you could ever know, Lia. www.them.us/story/lia-sm...

Historians in and around Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand: Anyone know where and when the next full AHA and AAEH conferences will be? (cc. @drdrehistorian.bsky.social @airminded.org @drrscully.bsky.social @kilderbenhauser.bsky.social @micaelapattison.bsky.social et al)

Hey Bluesky, I'm urgently needing to write a boatload of stuff today and the words are coming only with a struggle. Got anything to motivate me?

Come on Australia, band together about the thing we can all agree on. And also help Emmy find this precarious media so future generations can bask in the glory of our uniting dislike of the Pies.

Took a break from work today to brew up espresso for the first time in a while and my trusty Bezzera BZ-10 is doing something strange with pressure; it keeps dropping and then recovering and then dropping and recovering again. Any ideas, pals?

There’s no perfect political candidate. It’s true! You have to compromise on some things. Think this person could be better on public transport or tax reform? Sure okay. But those compromises don’t include “should trans people exist”, “we don’t want brown people”, or “but the Nazi tattoo is cool.”

Albo makes the Menswear Guy cut. Unexpectedly patriotic for this moment in history.