Robin Bernstein
@robinmbernstein.bsky.social
Author of Freeman's Challenge: The Murder That Shook America's Original Prison for Profit and Racial Innocence: Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights. https://scholar.harvard.edu/robinbernstein/home ; robinbernsteinphd.com .
Yesterday we went hiking and found 3 baby squirrels that had fallen from their nest. They were making high-pitched chirps and scrambling around blindly (eyes still closed). We couldn't tell if they'd been there for a while or if they'd just fallen. I hope after we left their mother recovered them.
I'm stunned to announce that #FreemansChallenge has won the Herbert H. Lehman Award for Distinguished Scholarship. This prize, given by the New York Academy of History, "honors outstanding contributions to #NewYork State and City history." This means so much to me! @uchicagopress.bsky.social
New up on Commonplace, Diana Louis reviews Robin Bernstein's "Freeman's Challenge" and discusses what William Freeman's "struggle within and against the Auburn (NY) state prison system" tells us about the antebellum origins of race and for-profit incarceration. commonplace.online/article/list...
Listening for Freemen - Commonplace
Placing a marginalized Black man at the center, Bernstein showcases the machinations of capitalism, the racialization of criminality, and the range of possible responses to brutality and injustice.
commonplace.online
She wasn't neutral, she was on the side of poor children, queer people, and Black lives. And in a time of great division, neutrality is not a positive.
CNN@cnn.com · 7d ago"At a time when no American celebrity seems immune from the country’s many divisions, Dolly Parton was a crossover icon who stayed neutral in the culture wars while still speaking her mind," writes Zachary B. Wolf. | Analysis
NEW: It was a digital lynching. And the media is never going to hold itself to account for the role it played in Jason Arday’s death. But there are things we can do. This is a practical guide based on my own experience. broligarchy.substack.com/p/a-digital-...
A Digital Lynching
A practical guide for individuals and organisations when the mobs gather
broligarchy.substack.com
I was yelled at years ago when I wrote that academia was killing us (if you’re an us, you know). When mediocre white men plagiarize or worse, it’s handled quietly. When one of us fucks us they’re driven to death in a public spectacle that implicates us all. Shame. Peace to Arday. 💔
Japanese artist Tomoko Sato, known for her carving skills as a food sculptor, often using fruit such as melons and apples #WomensArt
Actual quote from the current issue of @wired.com: "'I want every person on the planet to be recording themselves doing the dishes,' says Avi Patel, the 23-year-old founder of data collection marketplace Kled. 'That's going to make a robot so that you never have to do the dishes ever again.'" 1/2
The @nytimes.com #spellingbee does not recognize #caryatid . Wtf? It's totally a word. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caryatid
Caryatid - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
this just made it click in my brain what the difference probably is between academics who fell for Epstein and academics who immediately clocked him as a charlatan
Aparna Nair@disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 4mo agoI find it incredibly telling when men like Dawkins are convinced that the LLMs are ‘intelligent’ because it ‘agrees’ with them or tells them how insightful or clever they are
Here's a photo of Cornelia Crow Carr, just 'cause I think she's pretty.
Hand ground watercolour on khadi paper by Zarah Hussain, artist who creates mathematically precise, geometric art inspired by Islamic Geometry #WomensArt
This made me laugh out loud. And wince a little.
McSweeney's@mcsweeneys.net · 6mo agoUsing proprietary technology, Elder Cushion senses when your loved one is: - Carrying an air conditioner up or down a flight of stairs - Adjusting a shingle that “just doesn’t look right” - Standing on one leg to put on a sock
Thank you, @scholarschoice.bsky.social, for including #FreemansChallenge in your display at @c19americanists.bsky.social! @uchicagopress.bsky.social #c19
1. Numerous transgender people in Kansas are reporting that the state has sent them a letter demanding the immediate surrender of drivers licenses. Those driving could be arrested, charged, and see privileges revoked. Subscribe to support our journalism. www.erininthemorning.com/p/kansas-sen...
Pippin (8 lb chihuahua mix) demanded to go outside in the blizzard. Here's how far she got before she changed her mind.
Same. Crypto is exactly the same as Beanie Babies, but without the Beanie Babies.
Emily Nussbaum@emilynussbaum.bsky.social · 7mo agoI am physically incapable of reading an article involving crypto, even if the topic is important, I always pass out halfway through
Norwegian photographer, women's suffragist Marie Høeg (1866-1949) made late 19thc and early 20thc photography including self portraits which challenged how women were expected to be portrayed #WomensArt
I have some bad news. One, if you need to use ChatGPT for your graduate application letter, you are not ready for graduate school. Two, no, not "everyone is doing it" and those who don't do it aren't "losing out." ChatGPT is not an advantage.
Sarah Hörst@planetdr.bsky.social · 8mo agoAn impressive number of graduate applications this year used the phrase “curiosity-driven approach” 🤔
How many women have died with “fucking bitch” ringing in their ears? Don’t let the misogyny get erased here
what a terrible loss to the commonwealth www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
He exposed myth of the South’s ‘Lost Cause.’ His death shook Richmond.
William “Bill” Martin, 71, died Sunday, Dec. 28, a day after being struck by a car near the Valentine local history museum where he had served as director more than 30 years.
washingtonpost.com
They're going to *throw out* one-of-a-kind NASA archives?! Not even a year since the Inauguration & we're already at the 2nd-time-as-farce version of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
Joe@twitskeptic.sirvin.com · 8mo agoI’ve been wondering for the last year when we’d get to the library destruction phase and here we are. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/c...
