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Christopher Candy

@cacandy.bsky.social
2.3K followers 2.9K following 1.1K posts

Historian/Medievalist/Teacher. 14th century Britain, Anglo-Scottish Wars, history of tech/commerce. PhD Uni of Durham (UK). Social Studies Instructor at a magnet school, former History Dept. Chair at an independent school in the South. Opinions my own.

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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
If you wonder why I haven't been posting much, it is because I've dived into a new experience: public school teaching. Definitely the deep end, but I'll post about differences between public and private schools in the near future. If you have questions you want me to hit, let me know. #edusky
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Yeah, that moment when you find out the dental surgeon for your kid's teeth never bothered submitting the preauthorization to the insurance and told you for two months they were just waiting to hear back...
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Rachel Gunter, Ph.D. 🗃️ @phdrachel.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
I shared last week how I pair short primary source excerpts from American Yawp Reading & others with short secondary sources from places like We're History or @jstordaily.bsky.social Several peeps asked for my pairings, so I've added pairings from 1st & 2nd half U.S. history to my website 🗃️ #sschat
rmgunter.com
Rachel Michelle Gunter, Ph.D. - Pairing Primary and Secondary Sources
When choosing readings for assigned readings or class activities, I try to pair short excerpts of primary sources with secondary sources. There are 2 main ve...
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
History colleagues: for those of you who still have jobs (😢) & are updating your teaching notes/syllabi for the Fall, a reminder that free, open-access materials on teaching the Black Death are already available. Your students are pandemic survivors. Give them the narratives they need. Links ⬇️.
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BUM CHILLUPS AKA SPENCER HALL AKA PRESIDENT FOOTBALL @edsbs.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
man I cannot overemphasize how many people I know fell into some form of madness because they could not accept that their kid got an autism diagnosis and that maybe that was just how life was going to be
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Can we just make it illegal for anything to be named after a living current or former president other than their library until 20 years after their death?
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
The DOE claimed the rules and scoring of a contest about the government “of the people” was “proprietary “ - not to be seen by the people. How screwed up is that? But it is oh so reflective of the current administration.
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Seen a few 'you can't accept growth in people!' takes on Platner. I'm all for people outgrowing their younger stupidities, but if you expect votes, that process should be concluded before your run. We have enough problems with Sinemas and Fettermans, we don't need those bad from the get-go.
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
What worries me about SCOTUS's decisions are how transactional it is. It goes beyond trying to cherry-pick justifications for their political ends. It treats the entire docket as something to be divvied up. "You got your birthright citizenship, now it's time for them to get their share."
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
A friend of mine is an undocumented immigrant and has been hiding at the Great American State Fair bc he knows no one is there.
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Tits McGee @scientits.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
‘Say yes and never do it’ Mel Brooks knew how to deal with the studios
You have some wonderful stories of basically getting away with stuff at the studios.

I’d learned one very simple trick: say yes. Simply say yes. Like Joseph E. Levine, on “The Producers,” said, “The curly-haired guy—he’s funny looking. Fire him.” He wanted me to fire Gene Wilder. And I said, “Yes, he’s gone. I’m firing him.” I never did. But he forgot. After the screening of “Blazing Saddles,” the head of Warner Bros. threw me into the manager’s office, gave me a legal pad and a pencil, and gave me maybe twenty notes. He would have changed “Blazing Saddles” from a daring, funny, crazy picture to a stultified, dull, dusty old Western. He said, “No farting.” I said, “It’s out.”That’s probably the most famous scene in the movie, the campfire scene.

I know. He said, “You can’t punch a horse.” I said, “You’ll never see it again.” I kept saying, “You’re absolutely right. It’s out!” Then, when he left, I crumpled up all his notes, and I tossed it in the wastepaper basket. And John Calley, who was running [production at] Warner Bros. at the time, said, “Good filing.” That was the end of it. You say yes, and you never do it.

That’s great advice for life.

It is. Don’t fight them. Don’t waste your time struggling with them and trying to make sense to them. They’ll never understand.
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
So, because my insanity in always taking on new classes is continuing, I've agreed to teach pre-law this coming year for 11th-12th grade. So far the impression is that Streetlaw's material and books are the gold standards - any other recommendations on approaching this class?
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David Ryan Miller @davidryanmiller.com · 15/06/2026
Journalists have a duty to tell the public that the president and his aides are seriously considering suspending habeas corpus *when it is happening* rather than saving it for a book rollout over a year later
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Catherine Frieman @cjfrieman.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
One reason i think everyone should take an archaeology class is to internalise with tangible examples that there is no pure, natural past utopia and that antibiotics and vaccines are what stand between us and a 50% child mortality rate and scores of women dying needlessly during pregn and birth
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
I wonder what it says about a school that they have decided to have faculty who retired years and years ago come back to make videos telling people to send their kids to that school now. As opposed to the 40% of their total faculty they RIF'd this year.
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That Dragon Guy @paintyourdragon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Fashion designer Jeremy Scott delivers commencement speech to Kansas City Art Institute graduates. Wait for it…
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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Alito’s logic in this case—that characteristics that correlate with racial identity, like partisanship, aren’t constitutionally protected and can be used to disenfranchise legally is *the exact thinking* that gave us poll taxes and literacy tests.
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Anyone else have a problem that legislature driven redistricting goes through fine but voters voting to redistrict is never fine?
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
In a landscape where the political parties are defined by their stances towards ethnic and racial minorities, there is no such thing as separating partisan and racial gerrymandering. Stating that action can only be taken on the racial if there is no partisan component is absurdism on its face.
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
I have to admit, I did not have OPEC imploding on my bingo card.
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Given the petty love of theatre by the current administration, I would have expected their announcement on reclassifying marijuana to have come this last Monday. Wasted opportunity.
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Let's all use this occasion to take a look at the many ways Tennessee Republicans have shown how much they value and respect the Traditional Nuclear Family™
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
In medieval England, the Feet of Fines was a set of legal documents that among other things recorded fictitious legal disputes in order to publicly register money or asset transfers between two parties. No dispute actually existed - it was just a vehicle to justify payments. Sound familiar?
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
There's nothing like a friggin' spam filter rerouting an important email that looks nothing like any actual spam you ever receive to ruin your day. And with so many spam emails now clogging the internet, finding that needle in the haystack again is one hell of a chore.
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The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 14/04/2026
Péter Magyar, who unseated Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán Sunday in a landslide, shared a bombshell with reporters that the outgoing leader had diverted taxpayer funds to bankroll the American Conservative Political Action Conference. trib.al/ct7GGV3
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
I suspect the Pope sounds "woke" to many Christian conservatives because the US is steeped in prosperity theology, where the point of worship is to deliver health and wealth to believers. Thus, "feed the hungry" and "show mercy for the poor" sounds needlessly political and "woke."
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
The biggest problem people will have convincing Americans that bombing civilian infrastructure is evil is the mythic place World War II has in the American mind. Slagging the infrastructure of our enemies was a key strategy then, and so it must be acceptable, no? That is what you have to overcome.
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
If Federal agents from any agency can just be effectively transferred around to do anyone else's job at will, then arguing about which agency gets what funding is meaningless. The boondoggle of last year's mass funding of ICE simply created a huge police state regardless of on-paper boundaries.
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Kevin M. Levin @civilwarmemory.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
It is quite telling that since the horrific story of Cesar Chavez re: sexual abuse broke earlier this week and calls to change the names of schools and other public spaces named in his honor, not one conservative voice has stepped forward to object that this would be tantamount to erasing history.
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Russ Jones @russincheshire.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
Just for fun, let me tell you about somebody you've probably never heard of, but who was once one of the most famous people in England, a national hero, a disgraced fraudster, and an astonishingly accomplished piratical maniac. He led quite a life. (1/53)
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Watching all sorts of institutions this year make deliberate choices to destroy the very things that make them viable, sustainable, and in many cases profitable has been something else. This year really is full of groups having utter self-delusions about what they are and what makes them successful.
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Sometimes, even in the darkest of moments, you find out that your students learned your lessons well. Have faith in your students, and they will have faith in you. #edusky
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
So much for dignity. Not that I am surprised, mind.
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
This just sets my hair on fire.
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
The Trump Administration's foreign policy boys skipped everything in their history classes from 1890 to 1945, didn't they?
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
This is the reality the ‘just do it legally!’ people blind themselves to avoid seeing..
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Oh, the cognitive dissonance. "Lectures suck! Have your students watch this TED Talk instead!"
media.tenor.com
a man in a suit and tie is standing in front of a window with his eyes closed
ALT: a man in a suit and tie is standing in front of a window with his eyes closed
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
One of these is not like the others.
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Fighting that stupid urge to post about workplace related pettiness yet again.
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Lina. Daughter of 🌋 @pualicous3.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Because
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Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
The biggest risk in this moment is something sociologists call “symbolic compliance.” That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Or a historian, or a government/civics teacher... I teach US Government to high schoolers. Imagine how that class is going to be once we're back from the winter storm closures.
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Huh. My facebook feed had been relentless for months about throwing right-wing politics at me, and now suddenly it's wall-to-wall opposition to what happened in Minneapolis this week. That seems like something worth noticing.
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dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Minnesota's state FBI-like bureau is suing Noem. It says before pre-emptively declaring the killing righteous and abandoning the crime scene, feds took exclusive custody of evidence, including "apparently seized cellphones." MN asserts a sovereign right to investigate crimes within its borders.
storage.courtlistener.com
#1 in Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension v. Noem (D. Minnesota, 0:26-cv-00628) – CourtListener.com
COMPLAINT against All Defendants (filing fee $ 405, receipt number AMNDC-12575332) filed by Hennepin County Attorney's Office, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Filer requests summons issued....
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Again, when Bill effin' Kristol gets this and Congresscritters don't...
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Folks, holding up Pretti as a martyr is not about diminishing prior victims of ICE. It's not 'hey, brown people brutalized don't count' - anything but! It's not appealing to white supremacists either. What it is about is removing the 'but did they deserve it?' question from the table.
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
The only likely benefit of this winter storm is that I probably will get an extra day or two before having to explain this weekend to the high schoolers in my Democracy classes.
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Dimitri Drekonja, MD, MS @dimitridrekonja.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Alex Pretti was a colleague at the VA. We hired him to recruit for our trial. He became an ICU nurse- I lover working with him. He was a good kind person who lived to help and these fuckers executed him. White. Hot. Rage.
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Christopher Candy @cacandy.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
With the rapid and repeated movements of detainees to prevent lawyer access, timely court filings, venue establishment, and due process by their peers from the same area, our government is now applying the logic of using Guantanamo Bay for terrorists to American soil. It has to stop.
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