Nicole Hemmer
@pastpunditry.bsky.social
Historian of conservatism, media, and the presidency at Vanderbilt. Author of PARTISANS & MESSENGERS OF THE RIGHT. Cohost of @thisdaypod.com from Radiotopia. Frequently posting on IG stories @pastpundit
This September will mark 25 years since 9/11 and the inauguration of the “war on terror.” On Sept 9 & 10, join @knightcolumbia.org and the Li Center at @columbiajournalism.bsky.social for a major symposium about the war on terror’s legacy for democratic freedom. 1/ knightcolumbia.org/events/the-f...
The Forever War and the First Amendment
knightcolumbia.org
Episode Three of By the People, our series on popular constitutionalism and what Americans can do to make constitutional change. Marc Solomon in conversation with @mjsdc.bsky.social about the fight on the ground for marriage equality shows.acast.com/amicus-with-...
By The People | Two Steps Forward, One Step Back | Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts
Everyday activism created a perfect storm at the Supreme Court in 2015. There’s a lot we can learn from it today.
shows.acast.com
Manosphere grifters have figured out that some men are easily manipulated by making them feel insecure about their masculinity. The GOP has turned this sales pitch into both an ideology and a campaign strategy. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
This is why Dems are reluctant to run on retribution, despite its popularity. They want the power he accrued and the surveillance infrastructure he formalized. Period.
The last half hour of JD Vance’s Rogan interview focused on labor unions & the working class. Vance argued unions are great and should be strengthened. Cool! What was his main example for how to make unions better? Allowing them to negotiate so that some workers make below minimum wage.
![Transcript of Vance interview with Rogan: “There's a concrete example that Orin [Cass] uses all the time. So in some European countries, you have a minimum wage, right? In some European countries, the union can actually cut a deal with the employer to where you pay a brand new employee less than the minimum wage, then you pay a more senior person higher than the minimum wage.
But in order to pay the junior employee less than the minimum wage, you have to provide them job training and better benefits and so forth. So the idea is for the first couple of years, you turn the company almost into an educational institution. But in order to do that, the union has to have flexibility.
That kind of arrangement is effectively illegal in the United States of America. So it's that you create the ability for the union to be more flexible in how it negotiates. You don't set all the terms for it, you allow the union to figure out what's in the best interest of its membership.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:lm6jq3ipjafesblcgogdenxk/bafkreid2keyp732syxn37pealcue2vxjyrxhrnylffvdmn3jxyxoinf7py)
These exhibit panels diminish the actual lives of the people George Washington enslaved, while also cherry picking Washington’s statements opposing slavery to depict him as an early abolitionist. Visitors will now come away with a warped understanding of both Washington and the people he enslaved.
Abraham Gutman@abgutman.bsky.social · 3w ago🚨BREAKING: President Trump’s administration installed overnight a new exhibit at the site of George Washington’s Philadelphia home instead of the memorial to the 9 people kept in bondage at the nation’s first White House. National Park Service dismantled the original slavery exhibit in January. 🎁 🔗
I have a piece in the NYT today arguing that the law should permit victims of ICE abuse to sue not just individual officers, but supervisors and policymakers like Stephen Miller and Gregory Bovino. A Democratic president and Congress could do this in 2029. And they could make it retroactive.
Opinion | ICE Is Out of Control. Here’s What to Do About It.
Congress must push back against our inhumane immigration tactics.
nytimes.com
I wrote about Kerri Greenidge because the vague-accusation-to-career-ending-punishment math isn’t mathing. Show us the work. substack.com/home/post/p-...
The Scandal and the Scale
I was bleary-eyed on a delayed flight when I spotted a New York Times article about Kerri Greenidge, a historian of Black political life and memory.
substack.com
New episode: As it turns 250, the American republic is in a precarious state, a danger to itself and others. Can we blame the state of our news media for THIS? With @chenjerai.bsky.social, @pastpunditry.bsky.social, @froomkin.bsky.social and Michael Tomasky @thenewrepublic.bsky.social @prx.org
S8 E7: Can We Blame the Media For THIS?
Podcast Episode · Scene on Radio · S8 E7 · 55m
podcasts.apple.com
This actually is how the Republican Party once was: a fragmented coalition of interest groups who either hated each other or were ambivalent. What changed was that reactionaries harnessed the power of media to radicalize co-partisans. Great book by @pastpunditry.bsky.social on this
Messengers of the Right – Penn Press
From Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity to Glenn Beck and Matt Drudge, Americans are accustomed to thinking of right-wing media as integral to contemporary conse...
pennpress.org
We tracked the right-wing funding networks behind the civility-industrial complex. At @theguardian.com, @alicesperi.bsky.social uses our research to explore the explosive growth of "civility" and "dialogue" programs on campuses across the U.S.: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
‘Dialogue is all the rage’: why is the right pouring millions into ‘civil discourse’ initiatives on US campuses?
Universities looking for a fix to relentless controversy are flocking to ‘civility’ initiatives. Critics say these efforts mask a darker project
theguardian.com
boston folks! come join us tonight for our live show at city space—it’s going to be amazing! (i am touching down now and heading straight to the nearest oyster bar to fuel up)
Jody Avirgan@jodyavirgan.com · last mo.Making my way up to Boston for a @thisdaypod.com live show with @pastpunditry.bsky.social @kcarterjackson.bsky.social and the great AJ Jacobs, who tells me he's going to be wearing a tricorn hat. Still tickets, doors 6, show 7, bed by 10, should be a fun night! www.wbur.org/events/10850...
Have all the political and policy disagreements you want, I think it’s actually quite healthy, but this logic has to die. The GOP is gonna put whatever they want into an ad — often regardless of whether it’s true or not — no matter what.
in addition to every other problem here, mamdani spends the vast majority of his time in the public eye speaking about hyper-local new york city governance issues. the idea that he is preoccupied with israel at all times is based on nothing other than the fact that he is muslim
brent sewer socialist🚰🌹@therealbrent.bsky.social · last mo.I hate this guy so much
My newest book, "The Elephants in the Room: How Trump Voters Seized the Party from Republican Leaders," hits bookshelves today. If you want to understand the modern GOP, and especially how it saw nominating Trump for a third consecutive time in 2024 as a good idea, this is the book for you. (1/6)
The Elephants in the Room | Cambridge University Press & Assessment
cambridge.org
boston peeps! start your july 4th celebrations early at our live show next week! ticket info below ⬇️
Jody Avirgan@jodyavirgan.com · 2mo agoBOSTON! We have a @thisdaypod.com live show at @wburcityspace.bsky.social next Weds 6/24. We'll be recording our America 250 episode on "The Declaration Of Independence." Heard of it? Should be a fun, tickets here! www.wbur.org/events/10850... @pastpunditry.bsky.social @kcarterjackson.bsky.social
My favorite conference, hands down—fantastic panels, friendly and brilliant people, and good vibes (even in a city where the vibes are currently atrocious). Already excited for the next meeting.
Kevin M. Kruse@kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 2mo agoHeading out of DC this morning after an amazing American Political History Conference here. What @leahrigueur.bsky.social @kathrynbrownell.bsky.social & @pastpunditry.bsky.social have created here is impressive beyond belief.
Thank you to everyone who made the last three days so special!!!
Kevin M. Kruse@kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 2mo agoHeading out of DC this morning after an amazing American Political History Conference here. What @leahrigueur.bsky.social @kathrynbrownell.bsky.social & @pastpunditry.bsky.social have created here is impressive beyond belief.
This was a truly amazing conference.
Kevin M. Kruse@kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 2mo agoHeading out of DC this morning after an amazing American Political History Conference here. What @leahrigueur.bsky.social @kathrynbrownell.bsky.social & @pastpunditry.bsky.social have created here is impressive beyond belief.
Heading out of DC this morning after an amazing American Political History Conference here. What @leahrigueur.bsky.social @kathrynbrownell.bsky.social & @pastpunditry.bsky.social have created here is impressive beyond belief.
Pam Bondi testifying that Todd Blanche was to blame for Epstein files fiasco is big. If Dems win House they'll subpoena Blanche and Kash Patel to testify under oath about cover up. On the pod, historian Nicole Hemmer is so illuminating on the MAGA/Epstein crackup: newrepublic.com/article/2111...
Trump Epstein Leaks Worsen as MAGA Cracks Up: “He Lame-Ducked Himself”
As Trump’s travails cause MAGA to fracture and GOP defenses to crumble, a historian of the right explains how all the turmoil reflects growing awareness that Trump is passing from the scene.
newrepublic.com
Important point from @pastpunditry.bsky.social to @gregsargent.bsky.social "We should be worried about the minoritarian politics that [Trump] leaves behind, because even the Republican Party that's not entirely bought into Donald Trump at this moment is 100 percent bought into ruling as a minority."
Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social · 2mo agoPam Bondi testifying that Todd Blanche was to blame for Epstein files fiasco is big. If Dems win House they'll subpoena Blanche and Kash Patel to testify under oath about cover up. On the pod, historian Nicole Hemmer is so illuminating on the MAGA/Epstein crackup: newrepublic.com/article/2111...
Activists in Memphis are facing retaliation for trying to document an ongoing occupation by federal agents:
Memphis is “under full-blown occupation” by ICE. Here’s why you may not know that.
Community members face retaliation for trying to spread the word out, a lawsuit alleges.
motherjones.com
Psychosexual breakdown happening at the Tucker Carlson merch store
People looked way older in the past, right? Very important conversation broke out at the end of this week's episode. @jodyavirgan.com @kcarterjackson.bsky.social @pastpunditry.bsky.social offer their theories -- what's yours?
I'm working on a piece I'm slightly behind on for @liberalcurrents.com on reconstruction. And I'm always struck by the fact that we only needed the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, and Fair Housing Act because the state and federal governments just ignored the Reconstruction Amendments.
NYC may have the tall ships but Boston has This Day live! Plan your 250th celebrations accordingly.
Jody Avirgan@jodyavirgan.com · 3mo agoBoston! We're bringing @thisdaypod.com to WBUR's City Space on June 24th, talking all things America 250. Will be there with @pastpunditry.bsky.social @kcarterjackson.bsky.social and more. A great way to kick off your summer semi-quincentennial happenings... www.wbur.org/events/10850...
Boston! We're bringing @thisdaypod.com to WBUR's City Space on June 24th, talking all things America 250. Will be there with @pastpunditry.bsky.social @kcarterjackson.bsky.social and more. A great way to kick off your summer semi-quincentennial happenings... www.wbur.org/events/10850...
‘This Day (A History Show)’ live: 50 Weeks That Made America
CitySpace celebrates cutting edge conversations, adventurous art, innovative ideas. CitySpace is WBUR on stage. Convening leaders in all fields for an array of offerings — readings, interviews, debate...
wbur.org
I know it’s early, but I think the conservative legal movement’s Serious Intellectual starting a tweet with “Let’s be real” and then arguing that the Supreme Court actually decided the presidential immunity case so it could protect *Joe Biden* is the funniest shit I will read all week
