"History involves sorting and organizing hundreds of thousands of facts" I remain astounded by how loud and wrong people are about what history actually is.

Shadow of Cat in Window, Wildfire Edition. This gives some perspective on how unhealthy the air is right now in the PDX metro area. Thinking of those who are under physical threat. The Earth is angry, and she should be.

Lightning jaunt to Astoria for an Oregon Historical Society educator visit to the incredible Columbia River Maritime Museum. The coast is clear but apocalyptic skies on the way home due to the PNW fires. Hoping some rains aren't too far ahead of us.

Oregon folks: If you are looking for a space with cleaner and cooler air, go to this site and enter "Wildfire Related Clean Air Shelters" and your location and search radius. Also, your closest space may be your local public library, so check their website, too. Masks help with smoke, too.

There is no version of yourself you could become that would satisfy the people who hate you. So you might as well be who you are.

in portland someone spray painted penises around potholes, and they got filled pretty immediately www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...

A crude pothole graffiti tactic got Portland’s attention. Please don’t copy it, officials say

Nearby apartment dwellers had a bird's eye view of the graphic murals.

oregonlive.com

An incredible new PhD opportunity at @uhihistory.bsky.social under Dr Nicola Martin: An Environmental History of the Jacobite Risings in Scotland. This is a fresh and fascinating filter to apply to Jacobite Studies and the programme is under the very best of direction and care.

Call for participation: 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟳 Engaged pasts, meaningful futures: The value of archives, practice and historical inquiry. www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/professional...

So, what happens if I'm a parent and I know that my kid needs highly paid teachers, a library full of books with diverse characters, trans-inclusive bathrooms and extracurriculars, and a curriculum unpacking topics like systemic racism, colonial oppression, economic inequality, and climate change?

jimothy is a psy op

I hope every day you all are trying to cultivate joy. A kindness to a neighbor. A long walk. Poetry. Birdwatching. Meditation. Being silly and playing peekaboo in a checkout line with a cute baby. These are dark times, and joy is something the bastards cannot take from us. Fight for it.

If you’ve never recalled a book from yourself, are you even an academic?

Monica C. Schneider@poliscimonica.bsky.social · 2w ago

Pro-tip: If you are looking for a book, don't spend so much time on the library site or googling for a pdf or ordering it on Amazon until after you've looked through your own shelf.

Historian friend was reading a civil war era letter in an archive, the letter said “In this envelope I include my smallpox scabs” and sure enough there they were. Had to call CDC for a hazmat team.

Politico's owner is giving Peter Thiel an award. Semafor just added more tech billionaires to its Silicon Valley suck-up advisory board. Now comes the Economist's "Insider" interview with Elon Musk, sponsored by Anthropic. The sorry state of business/tech journalism in one stunning image.

This is such low-quality, phantasmagoric propaganda on so many levels. Also, thousands of Indigenous cultures would like a word.

Seth Cotlar@sethcotlar.bsky.social · 2w ago

His father-in-law (and the grandfather of the white appearing baby he’s holding) is Dinesh D’Souza, who was born in India and first set foot in the US at the age of 17.

"Ours is a beautiful, ancient craft essential for any society's needs for self-understanding. We are equipped with a host of modern methods, but guided ethically by very old rules that no authoritarian political project ought to be allowed to profane." www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbz2...

WATCH: David Blight makes opening statement in hearing on how Smithsonian presents history

YouTube video by PBS NewsHour

youtube.com

Today I learned how Blackwing pencils are made, and it's a beautiful ride.

How Blackwing Pencils Are Made | Behind the Process

YouTube video by Blackwing

youtube.com

My first search engine.

Last weekend's PNW Pen Show yielded this Pelikan M481 demonstrator, a rare little gem that served as a prototype for the popular M200. I immediately brought it to Gena Salorino for a Journaler grind and filled it with Vinta's gorgeous Aegean. What a delightful instrument and what a joyful find.

Well, this should be popular.

Ed Wilson@eddwilson.bsky.social · 3w ago

A Reform-backed amendment to Labour’s new elections Bill would see candidates who use the Irish language, Scottish Gaelic and Cornish face prison time. bylinetimes.com/2026/07/13/r... #BBCPM

Excited to share this CFP w/the Bluesky community! The sixth triennial conference of the Jacobite Studies Trust will be held in Aberdeen on 21-22 May 2027. Its theme is 'Jacobitism on the Home Front and Abroad'. Submissions are happily accepted until 31 Oct. jacobitestudiestrust.org/activities.h...

mom watching how I load the dishwasher

First they came for the languages. In the hope that no one would have the words to say what was happening. 1/9🧵

University of Aberdeen's plans to cut modern language degrees were 'rushed' - review

The University of Aberdeen says it accepts there were "missteps" in its process in 2023.

bbc.co.uk

We've got an exciting AMA for historians of #VastEarlyAmerica! Today T.H. Breen joins @askhistorians.bsky.social for his new book American Revolution on Trial: A New Nation Confronts thr Burden of Independence, new from @uvapress.bsky.social. Come check it out! www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...

From the AskHistorians community on Reddit

Explore this post and more from the AskHistorians community

reddit.com

So he's gonna advocate for all people with depression to get four months off for rehabilitation, right? And he's gonna tell RFK jr to fuck off with his quest to limit the medication that Kean is very clearly taking to be functional?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last mo.

Rep. Tom Kean finally speaks after months away from Congress for a previously unexplained absence: "I was given the diagnosis of depression ... the doctors recommended I remain in the hospital to address my illness"

I dunno, maybe if the rest of the world also adopted historians' compulsive citational practices, and footnoted everything, we'd have a better information environment

Announcement coming soon for three gownmaking workshops I'll be teaching in Scotland in March-April 2027. E-newsletter suscribers will learn all the details first, so head over to timesmith.co.uk and sign up, to hear all about them first. #18thcentury #mantuamaking #workshops

Some precious and fragile ideas about what an education can be, what a university can be, will have been lost as all university managers will remember is how to achieve cost savings and raise 'productivity'. (2/2)