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Chris Levesque

@levesque-chris.bsky.social
5.5K followers 2.7K following 16K posts

"Loquacious history bastard." PhD in military history, adjunct professor of history, librarian, archivist. Focus on atrocities in Vietnam, Cold War culture, & religion. The opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of my employer.

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Reposted by Chris Levesque
nowhere 🏳️‍🌈 @nowhere.bsky.social · 14h
Somehow I missed that, by 2018, at least 4 women were calling Neil Degrasse Tyson a sex pest? One says she was drugged after accepting a drink, then woke up to Degrasse Tyson raping her. And we're just letting him carry on as the beloved public face of science?
The rape, she said, happened one day that semester, at his apartment. He gave her a drink in a cup that looked like a coconut shell, she said, which she thought was water. The next thing Amet remembers is waking up naked in Tyson’s bed, seeing him naked performing oral sex on her. When he realized she had woken up, she said, he began to penetrate her. The rest of her memory of the day is fragmented, she said.

“I came out of it for a moment and shook my head, and then I went out again,” Amet said. “The next thing I knew, I was at class the next day.”

Amet said that the combined trauma of the rape and of testifying in the murder trial prompted her to see a therapist at the university. At that single session, Amet remembers the therapist suggested that she drop out of school, given her difficulties. And so, after just a year in the program, she did. (The therapist, who has since moved to a university in the Midwest, declined to comment for this story.)

Amet’s ex-husband, Mario Vela, told BuzzFeed News that around the time he first met her in 1986, she told him something bad had happened with Tyson, and that he came up many times throughout their marriage.
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Corky Siemaszko @corkysiemaszko.bsky.social · 9h
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news... @corkysiemaszko.bsky.social
nbcnews.com
LSU student says she was raped by a football player who is still on the team
“LSU does really protect their athletes, especially their football players,” says the woman, whose claims are being investigated by the local district attorney.
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Zee (missing life's little cues) @miscue.bsky.social · 8h
With his finger on the pulse of the US zeitgeist, Presidential Wannabe Gavin Newsom wades into the fight against rape on the side of ....the rapists. I cannot explain to you how hard I will NOT VOTE for this man. If you put him on the ballot, you will lose
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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 9h
Going to be honest this might be my favourite headline of the AI bubble
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Holly Brewer @earlymodjustice.bsky.social · 10h
Six of the tenured faculty that the president is firing are in history. (!) It’s arbitrary. None of the members of the committee that advised Bowie State’s president about “retrenchment” were elected by the faculty senate. That’s against USM policies. Here’s the resolution CUSF passed last May:
COUNCIL of UNIVERSITY
SYSTEM FACULTY
CUSF Resolution on Bowie State University Retrenchment and Shared Governance
Passed by the Council of University System Faculty (CUSF) on May 13, 2026
22 yea, 6 abstentions, 0 nay
Whereas, a year after a vote of no confidence in the Provost at Bowie State University, and a year after the Council of University System Faculty (CUSF) passed a resolution seeking to raise awareness of the concerns at Bowie State University, most are unresolved. An evaluation was commissioned as a result of the concerns that had been raised (the "Commodore Report" in July
2025). But nine months after the Commodore report on shared governance at BSU highlighted "a distressed working relationship exists between the faculty and Provost, with tense and at times hostile communications between parties and distrust and discord from the outset of the Provost's tenure," little has been done to address the problems. According to a survey of full-time faculty concluded on May 7, 2026, 61% of respondents* of BSU faculty reported that the President and Provost have not taken appropriate steps to restore faculty trust and confidence.
Whereas, the Commodore report repeatedly described the adverse effects of neglect of shared governance and provided recommendations intended to serve as a "foundation for strengthening shared governance practices at Bowie State University," these recommendations have not been effectively followed and to date, retrenchment is being initiated by the BSU administration without convening the relevant historical shared governance body, the Faculty Senate Committee on Budget and Retrenchment.
Whereas the Provost has repeatedly violated Appointment, Rank and Tenure policies and procedures and ignored faculty committees making decisions without justification;
Whereas 75% of BSU faculty respondents* reported "fear of retaliation when I consider sharing concerns with the BSU administration:"
Whereas the administrative dysfunction throughout the u…
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Kari Dru @karidru.bsky.social · 10h
Omg you ain't wrong. I didn't know this was out yet. However much you, reader of this post, think you promo your stuff, you could probably do it more.
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Sheryl Weikal says Prosecute ICE @leftistlawyer.com · 13h
Chicagoland friends, I have a favor to ask. I have a pro bono client, a Black woman, who is currently facing charges for allegedly pointing a gun at her abusive ex - who admitted to raping her. I would love if there could be a show of support for her at her next few court dates.
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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 13h
I feel the need to note that the Romans don't really present 'power' (potentia, vis) as their chief virtue. Instead, the Romans were "always harping on fides ['faith, trust']" (Dioc. Sic. 23.1); Cicero gives the virtue where Rome surpasses others as pietas (piety, Cic. Har. resp. 9.19).
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Dale Baker @dalbak.bsky.social · 13h
ROFLMAO Anyone with half a brain would have known that reporters would be the biggest users and come hard with everything Trump didn't want to hear asked. Duh.
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Stella Sacco @antlervel.vet · 15h
Here’s the bigger ask I mentioned: I owe $6k in back rent. I’ve been selling my limited belongings to reduce the number but it is slow going and I can’t hope to cover it all, especially not in the short time I have. I have enough to cover October rent and little more. More details below.
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Reuters @reuters.com · 13h
Unsealed opinion shows why Thomson Reuters won landmark AI fair-use ruling reut.rs/4yk0B3u
reut.rs
Unsealed opinion shows why Thomson Reuters won landmark AI fair-use ruling
The Philadelphia-based 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals said in a ruling unsealed on Wednesday that defunct legal-research company Ross Intelligence did not make fair use of Thomson Reuters' copyrighted material to ​build an AI-based legal search engine.
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Chris Levesque @levesque-chris.bsky.social · 13h
Went to a new doctor’s appointment with Heather. She mentioned his name but I really didn’t pay attention. Doctor is an older Japanese American gentleman. And I’m sitting there wearing my new Godzilla baseball jersey. FML
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Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 13h
I've gotten a lot of requests from faculty about how to talk to their students about the Cornell 7. I'll post a few resources I've built over the years that I've heard are the most helpful:
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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 15h
To recap: three GOP-led states that wanted the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade in order to "send abortion back to the states" are now asking the Court to strike down abortion protections in blue states
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Padraig2112 @isomorphism.net · 14h
Thread:
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Chris Levesque @levesque-chris.bsky.social · 13h
None of these people are experts on warfare, and they’re hardly the nation’s best minds. An average upper-level history class at a public university would be better.
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Professor Nutella @jpnudell.bsky.social · 14h
New AI guidance for National History Day (laudatory).
What is NOT allowed: 

Asking ChatGPT or other Gen AI platforms to brainstorm topic ideas
Using Gemini or other platforms to find potential sources, archives, or libraries
Creating text, images, videos, or audio for a project
Using Gen AI tools to revise or rewrite text
Requesting feedback from companion chatbots
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Chris Levesque @levesque-chris.bsky.social · 14h
Writing is really important danieldrezner.substack.com/p/im-a-colle...
danieldrezner.substack.com
I’m a College Professor. Writing is Pretty Damn Important.
It’s hardly the only thing -- but it’s a very important thing!
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Robert Farley @drfarls.bsky.social · 16h
SR-71? Seriously? www.19fortyfive.com/2026/09/the-...
19fortyfive.com
The US Navy's Iowa-Class Battleships Cost a Fortune for a Few Years at Sea. NASA's SR-71 Blackbird Is Next
NASA has moved a Blackbird at Edwards into a hangar and is building a team to fly it. The engines haven't run in decades, and the people who knew them are gone.
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 16h
(even then: an LLM producing code to multiply two numbers is still an absurdly huge number of times more energy intensive than using any pre-existing calculation software)
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Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
What’s happening with American media, American education, and America’s approach to places like Greenland & Honduras harmonizes with the “network state” movement (backed by Thiel, Lonsdale, Andreessen, etc), which calls for the construction of “parallel institutions” and “parallel societies”. 1/
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Chris Levesque @levesque-chris.bsky.social · 18h
Service this morning with the Office of Undergraduate Research for our Bingo for Beginners event.
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Wagatwe Wanjuki @wagatwe.bsky.social · 21h
the sad part is that survivors fought like hell to even get expulsion for rapists on the table. when I was an activist > 10 years ago, administrators were *shocked* that we wanted expulsion as a disciplinary option.
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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I found this extremely informative. Especially the part about the ways in which shrinking radio playlists create stability for songs that top the charts.
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Chris Levesque @levesque-chris.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
My copy is a legacy of graduate school.
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Grudgie the Whale @grudgie.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Absolutely all this. A guy who was a legitimate hero for the people sabotaged his own legacy.
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I stopped reading after the lie in the first sentence: "Most college professors I know believe that students learn to think — critically, creatively, reflectively, tenaciously — only by writing." "<only> by writing"? Literally, no one thinks this. Don't. Print. Lies. In. The. Newspapers.
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Chris Levesque @levesque-chris.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I just finished refresher Title IX training and Cornell failed to comply on multiple levels.
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Kelly @justkelly.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The Cornell victim has been doxxed on X. So worried for her. I hate this planet.
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Erin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
It has been an interesting few days in my feed, but one fascinating thing is people telling me that historians have caused as much damage as bad bridge builders, but the idea seems to be that anyone who makes claims about the past is a historian and son that just ain’t true.
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Chris Levesque @levesque-chris.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
WTAF? www.themarysue.com/black-studen...
themarysue.com
Black student calls about scholarship, then gets accused of bomb threat
Zayden Leonard went to Mississippi State’s financial aid office to resolve a scholarship issue. His attorney says he left “shell-shocked” after being handcuffed over an alleged bomb threat.
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Wonkette @wonkettemedia.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We Found The Voter Fraud — It Was In The Moms For Liberty All Along www.wonkette.com/p/we-found-t... By Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social
wonkette.com
We Found The Voter Fraud — It Was In The Moms For Liberty All Along
Former Republican mayoral candidate Gaea Powell found guilty on eight counts related to voter fraud.
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Stan Oklobdzija @stano.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My first exposure to this guy was hearing him on Ezra Klein's podcast and being surprised that a computer scientist would say such things. Then, I googled him and learned he was not only *not* a computer scientist, but had never finished high school. Everything made a lot more sense after that.
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Dr. Jonathan Schroden @jjschroden.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"Secretary of War Pete Hegseth Signs Directive Halting Tenured Civilian Positions at U.S. Military Service Academies" www.war.gov/News/Release...
war.gov
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MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 28/09/2026
NEW: Food banks across America are being overwhelmed by surging demand. Scott MacFarlane went inside to see the crisis firsthand. Here’s what he found:
meidasnews.com
“They don’t understand the scale of the hunger!”- An unfolding crisis at the nation’s food banks
Weeks before the midterm elections, the cost crisis is hammering food pantries in red and blue states
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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Bluesky, the app for books
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Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I give up. I’m moving into a cave.
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Journal of Digital History @jdighist.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
New call of paper for the Journal of Digital History! journalofdigitalhistory.org/en/cfp/inter... By @myriampiguet.bsky.social, @luikki.bsky.social and Prof. Laurence Badel. #DigitalHumanities #DiploHistory #InternationalRelations #History #CallForPapers #cfp
journalofdigitalhistory.org
Investigating the Use of Digital Methods in Diplomatic and International History
Special issue | Call for Papers
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Sara Georgini @sarageorgini.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
🗃️ Pleqse share, friends! www.artsactionfund.org/take-action-...
artsactionfund.org
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Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Please don't give the DA reopening the Cornell case any cookies. District Attorney Matthew Van Houten all but called Jane Doe a liar today. He said that in Doe's initial statement, she described "her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual.” CONSENSUAL
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Dr. Damien P. Williams, dread portent down from a mountain cave @wolven.blacksky.app · 29/09/2026
Seriously, just do not use muse
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justthisguy.net @justthisguy.net · 29/09/2026
“When you cut into your leanest, most efficient state university, you are not trimming excess. You are cutting into muscle.” — President Tisa Mason, Fort Hays State University
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My Shattered Nerves @myshatterednerves.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This thread is amazing, I never knew what was coming next.
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Chris Levesque @levesque-chris.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
In an era of bad takes, this is absolutely terrible. Free day care helps *everyone*. As if less affluent people don’t struggle to find day care every day.
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T. Greg Doucette @gregdoucette.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Cops are great
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Guy Gavriel Kay @guygavrielkay.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Students are brave to be doing this.
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Noah Berlatsky @nberlat.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
thread.
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Chris Levesque @levesque-chris.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Three co-workers and I tried to shutdown a fourth’s sexist comments by telling him to stop because we didn’t want to be associated with it. His response was that he couldn’t help it. It was utter nonsense because he did eventually stop. At least around us.
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