Reminder that when House members like Chuck Edwards leave, the Ethics Committee just packs up their investigation and puts it away and we don't know all that happened. Its an accountability dodge and Ethics should required to release what it has
Rob Rakove
@robrakove.bsky.social
Historian at Stanford University, author of "Kennedy, Johnson, and the Nonaligned World" and "Days of Opportunity: The United States and Afghanistan Before the Soviet Invasion." It's good to have options.
I am really excited to be co-chairing the conference program committee for #SHAFR2027. I love all things about the SHAFR conference, but I'm especially excited to bring a greater focus on public history to the conference and for our inaugural poster session (including an undergrad poster session!)
SHAFR@shafrhistorians.bsky.social · 3w agoDidn't we just leave Columbus? 👀 The CFP for #SHAFR2027 in Arlington, VA is live — and it's a big one: our 60th anniversary! Co-chairs Lauren Turek & Steve Tuffnell want your panels, papers, and roundtables. Details on our website. www.shafr.org/shafr2027
So excited to see my article on hemispheric responses to the Cuban Missile Crisis up on the Americas Quarterly website! americasquarterly.org/article/the-... #History 🗃️
When the Cuban Missile Crisis Shook the Hemisphere
As nuclear war loomed, ordinary people throughout Latin America made their voices heard.
americasquarterly.org
House of the Dragon makes a compelling case for the Third Amendment.
First look! We’re excited to share an excerpt from Mark Burrell’s “The View from Havana: Searching for Ernest Hemingway,” coming in November from Kent State UP: kentstatebooks.wordpress.com/2026/07/13/f...
I am begging critics to have an iota of either curiosity or self-doubt. Failing that, look up the Exodusters.
G. Willow Wilson@gwillow.me · 4w agoSomebody (Rebecca Onion) didn't read the books. If they read the books, they would know the Black doctor is in the books. He nurses the Ingalls family through malaria. He's based on a real Black doctor who lived near the Ingalls family in Independence, KS, REBECCA ONION slate.com/culture/2026...
In my new piece for @lawfaremedia.org, I trace the longer history of the Trump administration's controversial Afrikaner refugee policy and examine South Africa's response to it: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/afri...
Afrikaner Refugees and the Limits of U.S. Pressure on South Africa
Beyond Washington’s refugee policy is a larger story about South Africa’s foreign policy and the limits of U.S. power in a multipolar world.
lawfaremedia.org
yeah, not all that surprised that a guy who was incapable of taking responsibility for any of his choices or decisions also refuses to take responsibility for this one.
BeijingPalmer@beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 4w agowhat a surprise. again, he reacted like this when the Nazi tattoo was revealed! he wasn't contrite, there was no actual acceptance or suggestion of change, it was pure entitlement and anger. All of this should have been obvious.
At no point in this sordid saga has Platner pantomimed anything resembling contrition. Somehow he always seemed to think he was the victim.
Noah Berlatsky@nberlat.bsky.social · 4w agoHe's claiming he wants to keep faith with his supporters and his movement, but he has spent the entire campaign telling vile and transparent lies to those supporters, including most recently disgusting smears of his accusers.
George Mitchell, a weary nation summons you back to public service.
Vastly more people were watching the World Cup in Redwood City's central plaza the other night.
Andrea Pitzer@andreapitzer.bsky.social · last mo.Made it inside. Still far more sparse than a regular summer weekend on the Mall, and especially paltry for a 4th of July weekend.
As an American history professor, I regularly read new books, articles, and dissertations, and also evaluate unpublished manuscripts for journals and book publishers. I would not categorize the recent and emerging historiography in the binary way that Ezra Klein does.
The NARA San Francisco office is *the* place to study histories of US immigration and western histories of all sorts. Its staff are extraordinarily valuable for researchers, historians, and citizens who visit daily to learn more about these topics. This is terrible. www.kqed.org/news/1208890...
Exclusive: The Bay Area’s National Archives Office Is Closing. Researchers Are Worried | KQED
The Bay Area collection includes original records from landmark birthright citizenship case United States v. Wong Kim Ark, and inmate records from Alcatraz. Federal officials didn’t provide details ab...
kqed.org
I got angrier and angrier as I wrote this for @damemagazine.bsky.social. The collapse of this country’s civic morality dovetails with the cruelty and corruption that dominates policy. The rest of our institutions are being dragged down by or are abetting it. That’s the thing on my mind this 4th.
How Trumpism Is Destroying America's Civic Morality
Trumpism has normalized cruelty, corruption, and public spectacle. Rebuilding democracy requires restoring civic morality, accountability, and decency.
damemagazine.com
This essay covers some of the same (literal) terrain as Jay Sexton's terrific presidential address at #SHAFR2026 foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/23/a...
From Bloody Kansas to the Rebuilding of Europe
In trying to restore order after World War II, U.S. leaders drew lessons from a dark chapter in their country’s history.
foreignpolicy.com
It was worse than that. I remember that considering the total lack of federal action some govs or medical institutions bought emergency supplies themselves, only to have them confiscated by feds for later political distribution. For example: www.latimes.com/politics/sto...
Hospitals say feds are seizing masks and other coronavirus supplies without a word
As hospitals battle the coronavirus, they're baffled as the Trump administration seizes hard-to-stock medical supplies.
latimes.com
This happened with ventilators (probably with other medical supplies) during the pandemic.
Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social · last mo.Gross: Trump is now directly linking grants of disaster aid to states right to local GOP candidates in the midterms, giving them a boost. He's crediting *them* for his decisions. This is supposed to be a neutral process! On the pod, @stevebenen.com lays it all out: newrepublic.com/article/2126...
An open letter, to readers, about Charity and Sylvia. I am very pained to feel the need to write this. #queerhistory #pride
During WWII, the US govt targeted birthright citizens with exclusionary hate & discrimination. Many of those Japanese Americans happened to be hugely talented athletes, & used sports to resist & offer an inspiring alternative. Check out my column & podcast season on baseball at the camps for more! 🗃️
Diamonds in the Rough – AHA
Baseball became a powerful form of collective resistance for Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II.
historians.org
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last mo.Mike Johnson suggest birthright citizens like US Men's National Team leading scorer Folarin Balogun are trying to "transplant Sharia Law" into the country
Another piece that I was really excited to write. Why has South Africa’s judicial transformation been so successful when the judiciary was so heavily implicated in apartheid’s crimes? And what lessons does that transformation hold for us?
Liberal Currents@liberalcurrents.com · 2mo ago“South Africa’s judicial system was wholly complicit in the crimes of apartheid and instrumental in maintaining racial oppression.” www.liberalcurrents.com/how-to-rebui...
For all of you who admired and learned from Gordon Wood's work, as I manifestly did, here is a fresh set of tributes at the Library of America website. www.loa.org/news-and-vie...
In Memoriam: Gordon S. Wood 1933–2026 - Library of America
It is with deep sadness that we learn of the death of historian Gordon S. Wood at the age of 92. Wood was a longtime friend and advisor to the Library of America who generously shared his incomparable...
loa.org
New article out, open access, in Itinerario: “West Papuans between transnationalism and internationalism.” I trace how West Papuan activists used regional organisations and the UN to push for self‑determination, linking their campaigns to debates about race, sovereignty, and representation.
West Papuans between Transnationalism and Internationalism | Itinerario | Cambridge Core
West Papuans between Transnationalism and Internationalism
cambridge.org
The Covid stuff makes me really queasy. I don’t really know what to say to that.
Noah Berlatsky@nberlat.bsky.social · 2mo agoalso! in Washington Monthly, wrote abt Sam Moyn's *Gerontocracy in America* which argues that the major problem we face right now is that the edlerly have too much power. I think this is...a really bad argument. washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/12/g...