Even if the goal is strategic retreat from overseas positions, this is not the way: destroying material, morale, & credibility, hurting friends & helping enemies, all while killing your world-leading research ecosystem. This is what you get when you purge expertise & experience from decision-making.

I think this is a key part of why historians are mad, yeah. Because it’s a dunk, and it’s one that like. We all know that scientists and engineers think themselves better and smarter than humanities students. There’s always an assumption that they could do our job but we couldn’t do theirs.

Surprised Eel Historian, PhD@greenleejw.bsky.social · 2w ago

While recognizing that this is partly a reflection of differences between the UK and US models…I do think it’s kinda instructive to think about how this post would play in the world if the author had transposed “history” and “engineering.”

Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics.

Forgive the all caps, it’s just hard to process so much hegemonic self-destruction all at once

Can't get numb to this: The United States is stuck in a war it started, cannot end, and may further escalate to no avail, having dismantled its diplomatic apparatus, depleted its military stockpile, and destroyed its credibility. A historic strategic mistake harming millions in many different ways.

Every single publisher getting an AI payout from the LLM lawsuits should be paying it to their authors & making that author’s book open access—regardless of who own the rights. Most academic authors (ca. 80%) do not own their own publishing rights (especially first authors) & wont get checks at all.

getting rid of grades entirely would be much more effective at curbing surreptitious use of genAI than any amount of surveillance, would do vastly less harm to the pedagogical relationship at the heart of education, and wouldn't be another massive economic windfall for the creepiest people you know

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 4mo ago

“At UCLA, students in a recent sociology class said they were told in an email to ‘procure a mirror large enough to fully reflect your entire desk-area work space,’ and turn on their laptop camera so the professor could watch them during an online test.”

Uninterested in leading a pile-on but no, AI does not “have access” to everything ever published. Not archival material, obviously, but not secondary material either. Nor across times nor languages. AI is not human knowledge personified. It’s exactly not that, in fact. It’s not even a search engine.

Hegseth's repeal of universal flu vaccines is nonsense on so many levels, but his claim vaccine mandates were an "era of betrayal" irked me as a historian. Here's my response, in @thebulwark.com this morning; www.thebulwark.com/p/george-was...

George Washington’s Woke Vaccines

What the Founders would have thought about Pete Hegseth lifting the requirement that service members get the flu vaccine.

thebulwark.com

I apologize, but I've some harsh words here: Until the tenured are taking pay cuts to get more tenure lines, until they are pooling their salaries to provide basic living for the folks who *didn't* get hired in this shit job market, y'all have no right, zero, NONE to tell us how to do history.

Orban concedes defeat. The support of Trump, Vance, Putin, Lavrov, Weidel, Milei, Le Pen, Fico, Babis and many others could not overcome Hungarian anger at a stagnant, corrupt regime www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Hungary election live: Viktor Orbán concedes defeat in Hungarian election after 16 years in power

Long-serving prime minister beaten by opposition after early results showed clear lead

theguardian.com

“The Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Budget proposes to eliminate the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and provides $38 million to conduct an orderly shutdown of the Agency.” — NEH.gov The NEH has $207 million for FY2026. War in Iran? 1 billion per day. We go through 4.83 NEHs a day for what?

The danger to my job from AI isn't that AI can do my job, it's that my job is made even more precarious by the way AI is shaping ideas of the value of work. It can't do my job, but it can be part of convincing people (incorrectly) that my job isn't necessary.

Subscribe! Listen!

Ancient History 101 Podcast@ancienthistory101.org · 7mo ago

We have yet to launch, but that doesn't mean you can't subscribe to our show! You can follow us on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2l71KC2... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id18... Deezer: www.deezer.com/show/1002731... Acast: shows.acast.com/ancient-hist...

I know that the people who need to read this aren’t here, but here goes: Rules of engagement aren’t for the enemy. They’re for you. They’re for your soldiers when they’re captured or wounded. They’re for your civilians when they’re in range of the enemy. They’re for your allies, to reassure.

Quick reactions after learning that no, nobody could stop him. 1/ goodauthority.org/news/trump-m... 1/

Trump might start a war with Iran. Can anyone stop him?

Trump might start a war with Iran. Can anyone stop him? Congress, public opinion, and administration insiders aren’t reliable constraints on Trump’s foreign policy decisions.

goodauthority.org

Alysa Liu telling 60 Minutes “I love struggling, it makes me feel alive” is a legit revolutionary statement from a Bay Area native in a time when copious amounts of time and resources are being put toward convincing us to opt out of experiencing struggle, friction and self-actualization

'Reclaiming academic publishing as a public good will require a return to not-for-profit models and sustainable open-access systems. Quality, accessibility and integrity need to be put ahead of profit.'

The 5 stages of the ‘enshittification’ of academic publishing

Academic publishing now shows the same decline that has hit social media and online marketplaces.

theconversation.com

Operation Just Because

I want to treat "Roman Helmet Guy" as a serious interlocuter, and I want to do it as someone who does what might be called "New Military History," applying cultural studies to military history (religious violence and apocalypticism during wars): you can't study war without studying people.

Nathan Kalman-Lamb@nkalamb.bsky.social · 10mo ago

I’m crying

I don't understand the point of this comment. Because from where I'm sitting, it is actually not a Good Thing for a world class university--situated in a democracy that is frequently at war, where a disproportionate number of future policy makers are educated--to NOT teach military history.

Kevin M. Kruse@kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 10mo ago

We don’t teach military history at Princeton. For a while Jim McPherson and John Murrin did a great “war and society” course, but even then it was a seminar with a dozen students.

May the Ents march forth and tear your data centres to the ground

This really is a must read for anyone in academia.

John Warner@biblioracle.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Worth reading for lots of reasons, but particularly because it closes with something I see in my work and travels speaking on writing and AI. Many, maybe most students do not want AI-mediated schooling or lives. We can offer them something better. www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...

Precisely this.

Asha Rangappa@asharangappa.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Since I haven’t seen anyone mention this: When the U.S. commits war crimes it puts our troops in danger also, as it gives a green light to other countries that they can do the same to us

Introduce yourself with four spaceships.

Dan Nexon@dhnexon.net · 11mo ago

Okay. This is kind of neat. "Introduce yourself with four spaceships."

Just a reminder that I'm happy to speak to any journalist, or to recommend other scholars to do so, about why prejudice and "potentially divisive symbols" like swastikas (!) are so harmful to morale and cohesion in militaries

U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols

The military service, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has drafted a new policy that classifies such items “potentially divisive.”

washingtonpost.com

www.npr.org/2025/11/10/n... "'I swore an oath to the Constitution, not a person,' she says. 'I just really, really implore my peers and everybody outside looking in, to just think about that. Really think about that, and think about what that means.'"

In an encrypted group chat, National Guard members question Trump deployments

As President Trump's call for National Guard deployments rings out across the U.S., a small contingent of Ohio guard members is quietly expressing concern in an encrypted group chat.

npr.org

"Wouldn't it be fascinating to live in the late Roman Republic?" (Monkey paw curls).

Adam Cancryn@adamcancryn.bsky.social · 12mo ago

New: The Pentagon confirms to CNN it will funnel $130M from an anonymous Trump “friend” toward military pay. Asked about the donor’s identity and any foreign or domestic entanglements, the WH referred questions to DoD. DoD then referred questions back to the WH www.cnn.com/2025/10/24/p...

BEST BIG CITY IN THE US 9 YEARS IN A ROW. While critics try to paint Chicago as something to fear, the rest of the world knows the truth — this is the best big city in America.

Best Big City: Chicago Wins Award 9th Year in a Row

Learn why Chicago was voted the Best Big City for the 9th consecutive year by exploring our vibrant culture, welcoming inclusion, and so much more.

choosechicago.com