Jim Downs has an essay at Lithub on the current role of public historians! @jimdowns.bsky.social @aupresses.bsky.social https://lithub.com/on-the-public-historians-reminding-us-how-easy-it-is-to-repeat-the-mistakes-of-the-past/

An important piece by @jimdowns.bsky.social on public history, responding to the recent wrong-headed New Republic piece about it Thank you, Jim, for discussing what good public history does--& what historians like you & me & Kevin Kruse & Heather Cox Richardson do, & why lithub.com/on-the-publi...

On the Public Historians Reminding Us How Easy It Is to Repeat the Mistakes of the Past

A recent essay in The New Republic asks why historians have become such visible public voices during the Trump era. Katherine Kelaidis argues that figures such as Heather Cox Richardson, Jill Lepor…

lithub.com

"Anniversaries invite readers to reconsider histories they thought they already knew," writes @jimdowns.bsky.social as he reflects on the US at 250 https://bit.ly/4yGz4di Want more US history to ReadUP? Visit https://bit.ly/4xQZlFq @ugapress.bsky.social

On the Public Historians Reminding Us How Easy It Is to Repeat the Mistakes of the Past

A recent essay in The New Republic asks why historians have become such visible public voices during the Trump era. Katherine Kelaidis argues that figures such as Heather Cox Richardson, Jill Lepor…

bit.ly

My new essay in Literary Hub on the value—and the difficulty—of public history. lithub.com/on-the-publi...

On the Public Historians Reminding Us How Easy It Is to Repeat the Mistakes of the Past

A recent essay in The New Republic asks why historians have become such visible public voices during the Trump era. Katherine Kelaidis argues that figures such as Heather Cox Richardson, Jill Lepor…

lithub.com

The NYT piece on Greenidge skips the elephant in the room: her real argument wasn't about the Grimke sisters as founding feminist heroines — it was against that hagiography, told instead through their Black nephews. That's the intervention the article never engages. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/b...

Heather Cox Richardson to replace Platner! Historians in the Senate! Let’s go!

Fireworks last 20 min.Historical myths last centuries. As America celebrates 250 years,let’s spend as much time questioning our stories as celebrating them.That’s why I published this book w/ @agordonreed.bsky.social @nhannahjones.bsky.social @redped.bsky.social et al. www.amazon.com/dp/082037712...

@brookenewman.bsky.social excellent talk today on C-SPAN on your compelling book!

Thrilled to announce my book will be out in Oct! When politicians claim to speak for "the people" on health, history tells a different story: ordinary Americans — not demagogues — built this country's healthcare from the ground up. Pre-order link ⬇️ [link] Please share! www.amazon.com/gp/bestselle...

Historians and teachers: For Juneteenth, I’ve organized what promises to be a fascinating panel featuring three extraordinary scholars—Vincent Brown, Evelynn Hammonds, and Kendra Taira Field. Please register soon, as space is limited. support.librarycompany.org/event/junete...

Reconstruction booklist for K-12 (as on image) & for adults incl. by WEB Du Bois, @kidadaewilliams.com, @hngreen.bsky.social, @katemasur.bsky.social, Justene Edwards, @clintsmithiii.bsky.social, Lerone Bennett, Eric Foner, S. Hahn, Jim Downs, & many more. www.socialjusticebooks.org/booklists/re...

My friend & colleague Francisco Barbosa died too young. Thanks to the tireless Erika Blum, Francisco's wonderful book is finally being published. INSURGENT YOUTH is an inspired history of the young people who powered the Nicaraguan Revolution. 40% discount code: BARB26. #@lasabluesky.bsky.social

Insurgent Youth

Insurgent Youth

upcolorado.com

During Pride Month, I keep thinking about a question that shaped my research: How did LGBTQ people find one another before social media? The answer was often through community institutions they built themselves. That’s the story I tell in Stand by Me. www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0820...

Stand By Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation

Stand By Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation [Downs, Jim] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Stand By Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation

amazon.com

Jim Downs shares our newest title, U.S. History at the 250th, in our History in the Headlines series with Julian Zelizer. Watch the full interview here: https://open.substack.com/pub/julianzelizer/p/whats-at-stake-with-the-history-wars

Many thanks to @zelizer.bsky.social for having me on his podcast. We discussed the History in the Headlines series, the history wars, and our latest book on the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. open.substack.com/pub/julianze...

What’s at Stake with the History Wars: A Live Conversation with Jim Downs, Gettysburg College and co-author of U.S. History at the 250th

A recording from Julian Zelizer's live video

open.substack.com

HISTORIANS, Please share widely.I'm hosting an exciting Juneteenth event at the Library Company of Phila,June 16. "From Ledger to Genome: Data & the History of Black Life," exploring how Black lives have been recorded & recovered across time. Register here. support.librarycompany.org/event/junete...

Now available at @projectmuse.bsky.social: the June issue of our journal "Civil War History," including contributions from @gwionwynjones.bsky.social, @jimdowns.bsky.social, @dblight.bsky.social, and more: muse.jhu.edu/issue/56800

Because this country likes to forget what it’s capable of, I take it as a duty to remind us. We sit at the brink of the largest decimation of Black political power since the fall of Reconstruction — a Second Redemption. And the end of Black political power means the end of democracy itself.

The Civil Rights Era Is Collapsing Before Our Eyes

nytimes.com

As a tool: AI is now part of how social research gets done-- coding interviews, classifying images, simulating populations. The hard question isn't only whether or not to use it, but what we lose, not just gain, when our methods run through systems we can't fully see into. Is that social science?

Three things said about AI and social science: it's a topic to study, a thing to critique, a tool to use. My new Daedalus essay argues these aren't three conversations; they're one. A 🧵 on "Field Theory: AI as Social Science Question, Object, and Tool." www.amacad.org/publication/...

AI is being built into hiring, housing, medicine, courts, classrooms-the institutions social science has spent more than a century studying. Social science didn't invent AI, but the social worlds AI is trained on, sold into, and reshaping-those are ours. The future of AI is a social science problem.

Disturbing. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Protecting Children’s Dental Care Access Amid Policy Changes

Choi and colleagues1 project the oral health and economic consequences of anticipated children’s Medicaid disenrollment following the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA). Medicaid insures 37 millio...

jamanetwork.com

We are living through an attack on science and public health, and the consequences are deadly. www.propublica.org/article/vita...

What I Can’t Forget About the Babies Who Died After Not Receiving a Vitamin K Shot

Babies have died after not receiving the vitamin K shot at birth. Their autopsy records underscore how preventable their deaths could have been.

propublica.org

Coming up tomorrow night in NYC!

Dr. Jim Downs@jimdowns.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Tomorrow night (May 13) at Barnes & Noble 82nd St 7pm the launch of U.S. History at the 250th: From the Revolution to the History Wars I’m honored to be joined by: @nhannahjones.bsky.social, @zelizer.bsky.social, Catherine Clinton @jbf1755.bsky.social : stores.barnesandnoble.com/event/978006...

Tomorrow night (May 13) at Barnes & Noble 82nd St 7pm the launch of U.S. History at the 250th: From the Revolution to the History Wars I’m honored to be joined by: @nhannahjones.bsky.social, @zelizer.bsky.social, Catherine Clinton @jbf1755.bsky.social : stores.barnesandnoble.com/event/978006...

Join us Wednesday at 7 PM at Barnes & Noble Upper West Side on 82nd Street in NYC for the launch of U.S. History at the 250th: From the Revolution to the History Wars, part of the History in the Headlines series. The evening will also feature contributors from our January 6 volume.

Today is Pub Day! US History at the 250th.This grew out of a conversation about the past a & what it means now @nhannahjones.bsky.social, @agordonreed.bsky.social @sienriquez.bsky.social, @redped.bsky.social Erika Lee Robert Parkinson Marc Stein @william-sturkey.bsky.social y, & Catherine Clinton

2026 marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, but when does the U.S. truly begin: 1776, 1619, or earlier? "U.S. History at the 250th" brings top historians together to debate the nation’s origins. Out today!: bit.ly/3OiqEXe @ugapress.bsky.social @jimdowns.bsky.social

#Measles update: In the first 4 months of 2026, there have been 1,814 confirmed measles cases (& doubtless many more that were never confirmed). For context: That's 79% of the total for the entirety of 2025 — but in 4 months, not 12. www.cdc.gov/measles/data...