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Brent Cebul

@brentcebul.bsky.social
1.1K followers 391 following 198 posts

I teach history and write about US politics, cities, and inequality, most recently in ILLUSIONS OF PROGRESS: Business, Poverty, and Liberalism in the American Century (Penn Press, 2023).

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Reposted by Brent Cebul
Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Exciting day for US historians as the first book in the new @uchicagopress.bsky.social America Unsettled series is out today. I had a chance to read an advance copy of OUTED by @timothysw.bsky.social and it is fantastic. Check out the book and keep your eye on this series too.
press.uchicago.edu
Outed
The story of the scandal in the LBJ administration that first brought queer life into the national political conversation in the 1960s.In 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson’s longest-serving and most trusted adv...
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Mike Glass @m-r-glass.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I'm honored to receive these awards from SACRPH, an organization that has done so much to support myself, @brentcebul.bsky.social, and other young urban scholars. 🎉🥳🍾🥂 Looking forward to celebrating with folks in Cincy!! @pennpress.bsky.social sacrph.org/awards/past2...
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Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
The Trump regime doesn't want you to know how it's arresting record numbers of immigrants It's called 287(g) I went to Trump-loving Pa. coal country to report on how local cops, promised $$$ by ICE, have created a "show me your papers" police state My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/penn...
inquirer.com
In Pa. coal country, local police join with ICE to bring arrests, fear | Will Bunch
Schuylkill County is the new face of Trump’s mass deportation, as local cops, lured by federal cash, bust scores of migrants.
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Carly Goodman @carlygoodman.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
He'll be speaking with @ingasaffron.bsky.social in Narberth next week! www.narberthbookshop.com/events--book...
narberthbookshop.com
EVENTS & BOOK GROUPS
NARBERTH BOOKSHOP
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Brent Cebul @brentcebul.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Philly people: consider signing up for this substack. You won't find better reporting on local politics in general and especially on the local Democratic Party. Essential work. substack.com/@byclaudiava...
substack.com
Claudia Vargas | Substack
Independent Philadelphia-based journalist providing original reporting and deeper context to issues impacting our region. Previously with NBC10 and Telemundo62, and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
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Brent Cebul @brentcebul.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Philly people: consider signing up for this substack. You won't find better reporting on local politics in general and especially on the local Democratic Party. Essential work. substack.com/@byclaudiava...
substack.com
Claudia Vargas | Substack
Independent Philadelphia-based journalist providing original reporting and deeper context to issues impacting our region. Previously with NBC10 and Telemundo62, and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
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Patrick Iber @patrickiber.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Most importantly, especially in the absence of real party structures and in-person events, it means that the main way that the Democratic Party interacts with me is an extractive scam rather than an organization defending the interests of working people
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Patrick Iber @patrickiber.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I really resent it that there is no way to stop the fundraising spam from the Democratic Party with messages that employ the same manipulative techniques as a guy on the subway who needs $47.25 of gas money
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Brad Simpson @bradleyrsimpson.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
This story is completely outrageous, and legally actionable. It seems that the leadership of @historians.org was using our membership dues to suppress member advocacy in violation of AHA bylaws. If true the responsible leadership of @historians.org should resign, immediately.
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Philip Gourevitch @pgourevitch.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
evernote used to be a great & affordable tool, then in 2023 my sub renewal leapt from $64 to $114/yr — & in the past yr they gummed everything up w/annoying idiotic intrusive AI “features” that you have to hunt down & kill on the regular & jacked up renewal another 40+%… our world in a nutshell
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Brent Cebul @brentcebul.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
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Charles Petersen @cpetersen.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The next deadline for the Silicon Valley Archives travel fellowship is September 1. Apply! networks.h-net.org/group/announ...
networks.h-net.org
The Silicon Valley Archives at Stanford University Libraries Announces New Travel Fellowships | H-Net
The Travel Fellowship Program is a pilot program supported by the Silicon Valley Archives to encourage awareness of the rich collections gathered by Stanford University Libraries over the past forty years in the history of Silicon Valley and to facilitate their use.This pilot program will accept applications twice a year and will initially run for academic years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027. The application deadlines are as follows:October 1, 2025March 1, 2026September 1, 2026
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Brent Cebul @brentcebul.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Terrific, clarifying, and harrowing episode of Know Your Enemy www.patreon.com/knowyourenem...
patreon.com
Archaeology and Annexation in Palestine (w/ Jasper Nathaniel) | Know Your Enemy
This episode begins by noting the proximity of two of the most significant events of the twentieth century, one archaeological, the other po
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Ian Petrie @icpetrie.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
🚨 AHOY EARLY AMERICANISTS... 🚨 McNeil Center Barra Post-Doctoral Fellowship 2 yrs, teach one course per year $67K+, $3K research funds, health insurance & your own office PLUS YOU GET TO WORK ACROSS THE STREET FROM MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 🤘
mceas.org
Postdoctoral Fellowships | The McNeil Center for Early American Studies
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melanie newport @melanienewport.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
before I quit twitter I printed out this banger from @tedmccormick.bsky.social. it remains an inspiration

Ted McCormick
@mccormick_ted • Follow
To everyone looking around at their job, home, relationships, and possessions, and asking, "is that all there is?", the answer is no. There's also historiography
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LAWCHA: Labor and Working-Class History Association @lawcha.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Nelson Lichtenstein discussed the UAW's rocky road to reform on the latest episode of the Reinventing Solidarity podcast. soundcloud.com/cunyslu/epis...
soundcloud.com
Episode 70 - UAW's Rocky Road to Reform with Nelson Lichtenstein
The eminent labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein joins New Labor Forum Editor-at-Large Micah Uetricht to talk about the ongoing conflicts in the United Auto Workers (UAW) on the latest episode of Reinv
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Brent Cebul @brentcebul.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Terrific piece by @dennismhogan.bsky.social The lack of transparency around AI compute costs seems like a next battlefield. My institution has major new contracts with ChatGPT and Anthropic. What are we spending? And for what? hedgehogreview.com/issues/the-f...
hedgehogreview.com
Artificial Negligence
Faculty sense that AI could make old-fashioned teaching and learning much more difficult to achieve, if not obsolete.
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Phil Gentry @pmgentry.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
I’m sad that they have to be on Substack, but these reported articles by Claudia Vargas on the Democratic Party machine has been some of the best writing on Philly politics I’ve read in a long time. Actually explains things, no euphemisms!
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Phil Rocco @philiprocco.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Reporting on OMB's sweeping politicization of federal grants tends to focus on science / health research. But as I note in this piece for @crisesnotes.bsky.social, the rule is a huge threat to *intergovernmental* grants and state/local fiscal stability. www.crisesnotes.com/russell-voug...
crisesnotes.com
Russell Vought is Using the Plumbing of Fiscal Federalism to Create a New Patronage System
EDITORS NOTE: I (Nathan) have struggled whether to rush to comment on this proposed OMB rule. Being a recent Fiscal Year 2026 OMB memo, and knowing that the OMB will continue to create new forms of bu...
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Matthew Guariglia @mguariglia.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
There is leverage to be found in all of your retirement funds!!!
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Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
This made me sick. I’m sharing it because it’s great investigative student reporting and I think we should understand how predators use power and root them all out
thedp.com
Inside Jeffrey Epstein’s attempts to recruit women from Penn
The convicted sex offender cultivated a relationship with a woman who would enroll at Penn Carey Law in 2013, telling her the steep tuition would be worth it if she found him girls on campus.
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JW Mason @jwmason.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
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JW Mason @jwmason.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Some very smart observations from the very smart Michael Kinnucan in this week’s New York City primaries. (thread, all quotes from him)
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Ian Petrie @icpetrie.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
JOB: TT Assistant Professor, Annenberg School for Communication, Penn Media Industry Studies apply.interfolio.com/187239
We are seeking a productive researcher, engaged scholar, and committed teacher/mentor who studies critical approaches to media industries and their intersections with media policy, political economy, advertising, and surveillance. The ideal candidate will be familiar with the historical and shifting structural and material conditions transforming the media industries, whether economic, technological, political, legal, regulatory, and socio-cultural factors. Of notable interest are critical scholars who consider how power operates within these industries and the larger socio-political relationships within which they are embedded. 
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Brent Cebul @brentcebul.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
You could read this whole thing and have no idea the scale of the devastation Israel has unleashed. The word "Palestine" doesn't appear until the 20th paragraph or so. Lebanon and the current war with Iran not at all. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/12/m...
nytimes.com
AIPAC Wants Democrats to Back Israel. Instead, They’re Turning on AIPAC.
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Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
I just learned that the term "carbon footprint" was developed by BP to offload responsibility for climate change onto individuals. Something like that's happening in higher ed with AI. Institutions capitulate or dodge; students are submitting; & they believe it's their individual failing. 7/
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Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
At the end of the term I asked my college creative wriing students to submit anonymous thoughts on AI. No real surprises: Mood ranges from resignation to despair, capitulation from embittered erosion of standards to total, feelings of betrayal from deep to furious. 1/
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Brent Cebul @brentcebul.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
He is Slugworth
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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
I had the great pleasure of reviewing @dygottlieb.bsky.social’s excellent new book YUPPIES for @newrepublic.com, AND I also had the great pleasure of meeting Dylan at the American Political History Conference last weekend. Congrats again, Dylan! 🗃️ newrepublic.com/article/2112...
newrepublic.com
The End of the Yuppie Dream
The urban professionals who transformed American cities and tastes and pulled the Democratic Party to the right are a dying breed.
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LAWCHA: Labor and Working-Class History Association @lawcha.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Anna Duensing presents a small cohort of Black Americans who fought against fascism in the Spanish Civil War and World War II in LaborOnline's second essay about the Black anti-fascist tradition. lawcha.org/2026/04/23/a...
lawcha.org
A Fighting Anti-Fascist Army | LAWCHA
Like many Black soldiers conscripted in the segregated armed forces during World War II, Burt Jackson did not need did need battlefield instruction to
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Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
My latest, for @flaminghydra.com: I reviewed @quinnslobodian.com and @bentarnoff.com’s new book, Muskism: a Guide for the Perplexed. (It’s a very good book, probably the single best text about this particular, infuriatingly influential sonofabitch.) flaminghydra.com/issue-578/#h...
flaminghydra.com
Terminal velocity
Dave Karpf on soon-to-be trillionaire (?) Elon Musk
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Waldo Jaquith @waldo.net · 03/06/2026
I’m flying home through Chicago, because it will be dinner time and I want a torta. I have a 42-minute layover. 😬 Our arrival gate is B7. Frontera is at B10. I can order via Frontera’s app when we land, and snag it as I pass by. Or so goes my theory. 🤞
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Phil Gentry @pmgentry.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Today!
Owl Talons
west Philly porchfest
Sat May 30 1:30 pm
4709 Baltimore Ave
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melanie newport @melanienewport.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
hey-o! spotted a pre-order for Bryant Simon's For Customers Only: Public Bathrooms and the Making of American Inequality @uchicagopress.bsky.social. always read everything Bryant writes! press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
press.uchicago.edu
For Customers Only
Public toilets determine who gets everyday dignity, freedom of movement, and civic belonging—and who doesn’t.Americans have nowhere to go. Nationwide, countless public spaces lack one crucial thing: b...
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Brent Cebul @brentcebul.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
👇
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 15/05/2026
compare and contrast: when IDF soldiers were caught on tape raping a Palestinian captive at Sde Teiman prison and prosecuted, Israeli civilians rioted outside the court and all charges were eventually dropped
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melanie newport @melanienewport.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
wtf
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Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
If you get sued by a government for reporting that its soldiers torture and rape people, that is the discovery opportunity of a lifetime and a pathway to court-ordered revelations or that government being forced to rely on sovereign immunity to shield itself from disclosure and lose the case.
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Brent Cebul @brentcebul.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Moving account of Arnold Hirsch's life and work - finished and not - from his son. Take the time. slate.com/life/2026/05... 🗃️
slate.com
My Father’s Hidden Life Was in a Box in His Office. By the Time I Found It, It Was Almost Too Late.
The papers held the key to his life’s work—and his legacy.
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Dylan Gottlieb @dygottlieb.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
🎉 Today is PUB DAY for YUPPIES 🎉 Join me: 5/12: @harvardbookstore.bsky.social w/ @quinnslobodian.com 5/14: Labyrinth Books w/ @kevinmkruse.bsky.social 5/15: Headhouse Books w/ @brentcebul.bsky.social 5/19: @gothamcenter.bsky.social w/ Sharon Zukin 6/9: @bookculture.com w/ Kim Phillips-Fein
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LaDale Winling @lwinling.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
One of the pieces of my students' writing I am most proud of: an obituary for Harold Kahen, who helped the NAACP defeat covenants in a 1948 U.S. Supreme Court challenge. He died six years ago at age 101 and had just a one-sentence obituary. www.chicagocovenants.com/blog/z06l44s...
chicagocovenants.com
Harold I. Kahen, Civil Rights and Corporate Lawyer, Dies at 101 — Chicago Covenants
Lawyer played key role in fight against racial covenants
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Brent Cebul @brentcebul.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Wondering if the political commentator Kevin Phillips' papers are available somewhere / planned to be? I'm interested in his "American Political Report" newsletters from the 1980s - a sort of proto-Substack of the Reagan 80s @kevinmkruse.bsky.social @larryglickman.bsky.social @rauchway.bsky.social 🗃️
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susannah glickman @susglickman.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Again, ”ai” (whatever people mean by this) as a tool, an excuse, a set of narratives, to justify codifying class war gains already made and justify taking even more. employers are not bracing for an underclass they are naturalizing the one that already exists and clearing the way for its expansion
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Brent Cebul @brentcebul.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Terrific: “The use of NDAs between governments and data center developers is controversial because the agreements swear public officials to secrecy, making them answerable not to the public but rather to private entities within the scope of the contract.” heatmap.news/politics/sha...
heatmap.news
Inside Josh Shapiro’s Attempt to Navigate the Data Center Backlash
Emails between the Pennsylvania governor’s office and Amazon illustrate the difficulty of courting big business as anti-AI fervor explodes.
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Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Some great reporting here
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Moira Donegan @moiradonegan.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
I’m fascinated by these media cycles that are unmoored from any actual development or event in the real world, but which fuel days, even weeks, of content production and commentary. Someone tweeted something, then the Times made a vitality-bait video, now TCW does his little dance—all about nothing.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 05/04/2026
starting now i am going to start sharing the books i read. finished this volume this morning. it is terrific.
Cover of “The Absolute Abolition” by Jesse Olsavsky
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