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Robyn Schroeder

@reconstitut.bsky.social
440 followers 125 following 69 posts

teacher of places, nostalgic for things, designated remember / public historian

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Reposted by Robyn Schroeder
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 03/10/2026
I have absolutely wondered about this. Amazing.
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Casey Schmitt @csschmitt.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Hey historians! Check out this incredible CFP and please share!🗃️ atlanticexchanges.wm.edu/home-2/2027-...
atlanticexchanges.wm.edu
2027 Workshop Call for Proposals - Atlantic Exchanges Workshop
Atlantic Exchanges 2027 Slavery and the Commercial Machinery of Empires The Atlantic Exchanges Workshop invites proposals for its second edition, […]
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Max Read @maxread.info · 07/08/2026
wrote about data center protests as a kind of blowback: silicon valley's own tools and ideologies coming back to bite it in the ass www.patreon.com/MaxRead/post...
But even beyond the use of specific software platforms to undermine their parent companies' long-term aims, the tech industry is finding itself obstructed by the consequences of its own success. One thing Sun emphasizes in particular is how much this pushback is occurring in an atmosphere of almost zero trust:

My conversations make me wonder if the technical content of data center deals is mostly beside the point. Closed-loop cooling systems? “I don’t believe them.” Paying millions in taxes? “I don’t believe them.” Creating a thousand jobs? “I don’t believe them.” I hear a reflexive skepticism of every claim.

Rather, the way that AI companies engage with communities—forcing NDAs, dangling billion-dollar promises, pushing environmental externalities far away from AI’s wealthy user base—resembles a classic story about dark money in politics. Your politicians are being bought by billionaires and gigantic corporations to screw you over. It’s not Skynet: it’s the oligarchy.

Oh, there's no faith in institutions? An all-encompassing skepticism and paranoia? No local institutional news sources? I wonder how that came about. Replacing and diminishing trusted mediating institutions with advertising-surveillance platforms has been extraordinarily lucrative to Silicon Valley executives and investors over the past two decades. But the low-trust environment cultivated over the past couple decades by the tech industry's flagship companies has now created real obstacles to its ambitions. Now that tech giants are the institutions—and effectively in charge of U.S. industrial policy—they are getting a first-hand lesson in how corrosive to long-term planning institutional mistrust can be.
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 06/07/2026
Trump is preparing to fire the leadership of the Smithsonian Institution, one of America's most prestigious scientific and historical research and education organizations. He wants in particular to censor the Smithonian's American History exhibits:
pbs.org
White House report brands Smithsonian leadership as radical activists who can't be trusted
The report released late on Independence Day by the White House Domestic Policy Council comes in the midst of Trump’s aggressive campaign to overhaul some of Washington's most sacred cultural and hist...
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Soraya Nadia McDonald @soraya.press · 06/07/2026
A broadside assault on truth that must be taken seriously. This administration wants to replace independent scholarship and curation with propaganda and Prager U. drivel. The Kennedy Center was bad enough. This is worse.
nytimes.com
White House Criticizes Smithsonian Museum for ‘Extreme Political Activism’
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
This is THEFT. There is no other word for it. They are stealing almost $1.8 BILLION dollars to pay Trump‘s allies, despite knowing that these people are not legally entitled to any money and be laughed out of court if they filed a lawsuit for money damages.
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It's The Weekend 😌 @craigweekend.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Ladies and gentlemen... the weekend. (also: you are important and are not alone 🧡)
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Jonathan Ladd @jonathanmladd.com · 06/05/2026
I think a U.S. president should not use the FBI to persecute major politicians, Federal Reserve Board members, or anyone else because the president has a political or policy disagreement with them. It's the sort of behavior that should trigger impeachment by the House and removal by the Senate.
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Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
We're so past this, but I can't stop thinking of the now-cliché "What would you say if it happened in another country?"
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Robyn Schroeder @reconstitut.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
The gobbledygook is unfortunately Democrats' actual plans. "Americans are broke. SO we're going to paperwork you a tax credit that will be paid for by lifting several subsidies with various qualifying income caps!" We actually do need someone with rhetorical gifts at the top of the next ticket.
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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
So glad that congress isn’t alive to see this.
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Eric @presenteric.com · 22/03/2026
Department of Excursions
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 12/03/2026
"We started a war of aggression for no reason & commenced it by accidentally bombing an elementary school & killing over 100 kids." That simple fact is so horrific that it's just kind of bouncing on the surface of our collective consciousness. We can't absorb its full implications & significance.
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Robyn Schroeder @reconstitut.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
We tried to find the real site of the College Camp, a Williamsburg place now on William & Mary's campus, where thousands of Virginians (free, enslaved, indigenous, some women camp followers) trained and served in the era of the revolution. This place must have been nuts. news.wm.edu/2026/01/30/p...
news.wm.edu
Professor uncovers Revolutionary War history with class, tour
Through rigorous research on the revolutionary era highlighted on C-SPAN, History Professor Robyn Schroeder will launch a tour of various sites on campus in April 2026.
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
One of the reasons this is so under-appreciated is that our university presidents have been & continue to be almost totally absent from the public square in loudly & collectively condemning this existential assault on our institutions & our industry coming from the far right authoritarian party.
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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
“Trump invaded Venezuela, kidnapped its president, stole a bunch of its oil, sold it, and stashed the money in banks in Qatar” is a stone-cold CLASSIC of this genre
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Robyn Schroeder @reconstitut.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
Lincoln: Whenever I hear a man defend slavery, I have the worst urge to see it tried out on *him*. Wonder what he'd think of the defenders of masked unidentified officials shooting the faces of people who don't comply? Hard to say which defense lacks more instinct for self-preservation.
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 08/01/2026
As a government employee, my salary, my employment records, my research notes, even my email – all are public record. Meanwhile this upholstery enthusiast thinks that simply revealing the identities of his goons is a crime.
JD Vance tweet: 

I want every ICE officer to know that their president, vice presidemt, and the entire administration stands behind them. 

To the radicals assaulting them, doxxing them, and threatening them: congratulations, we're going to work even harder to enforce the law.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
New at the Free Press: A College Student Interrupted My Talk On Why Colonialism Was Good For A Solid Minute - Here IS Why That Is The Biggest Threat to Free Speech in America
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 04/01/2026
yep. i can identify any number of structural issues but at the end of the day the basic problem is the republican party. this has been apparent for at least 20 years. it is also an incredibly unpopular observation to make among “serious” people.
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Currently at the funeral for the penny, happening at the Lincoln Memorial:
People are here for the funeral of the pennyA “celebration of life” sign People are sitting down An obituary that reads “Rest in Pence”
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Sean Casten @seancasten.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
This Yglesias piece in the NYT is horrifically bad. Almost every "fact" it cites is provably false. At best it is cocktail party banter from a pundit who knows nothing of energy. At worst, it was cut/paste from oil industry talking points. So, a rebuttal: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Obama Supported It. The Left in Canada and Norway Does. Why Don’t Democrats?
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 18/12/2025
Powerful stuff.
readtpa.com
Watch Rep. Sarah McBride's Powerful Statement on Republicans' Anti-Trans Obsession
The first openly trans member of Congress made a rare, personal appeal as the GOP wages an all-out assault on trans youth.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 02/12/2025
"the issue isn’t that we need more 'boy-friendly' reforms. It’s that boys are socialized to compete only with boys and to read girls’ success as illegitimate or emasculating. The result is dissonance, resentment, and disengagement for boys—and hostile climates for girls." time.com/7335723/auto...
time.com
The Real Way Schools are Failing Boys
“If we really want boys to succeed, we need to ensure that they know how to both beat—and lose— to girls."
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Sean Casten @seancasten.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
What the hell is the point of the filibuster if not to prevent something like this? I'm at a loss for words.
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ChrisO_wiki @chriso-wiki.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
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Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
I’ve come to believe that we need to gather considerable forces and a campaign to demand the removal of face masks by ICE, Border Patrol, FBI and police. It is a practice in conflict with the principles of transparency & accountability that are central to the concept of democracy.
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
yeah, the idea that Trump will stop Boko Haram types by ending aid to the Nigerian federal government is as confused as the idea that he is actually interested in the welfare of the same Nigerian Christians he put on a categorical travel ban 5 years ago news-archive.hds.harvard.edu/news/2020/03...
news-archive.hds.harvard.edu
Faculty Insight: What Trump’s Nigeria Travel Ban Means | HDS News Archive
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Shannon Hale @shannonhale.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
I'm shaking almost too hard to type. I entered SLC airport and heard screams and cries for help. I could see people gathered around, watching. I sped over to discover this woman face down on the floor, four grown men pushing her down, while she cried "HELP ME" and pled for her child.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
I'm not saying Trump is an authoritarian who would lock up reporters for investigating his party, I'me just saying his party members think that.
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Max Weiss @maxthegirl.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
One year ago
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Sam Brody @samuelhayimbrody.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
Step by step guide to higher ed crisis for Dem candidates giving stump speeches. This isn’t hard: 1) States cut taxes to serve the rich 2) with less revenue, they cut public higher ed budgets 3) with lower budgets, schools raise tuition and throw money at investments, athletics, and development
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BirdDroneOne @birddroneone.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
The East Wing Desecrators Given the extraordinary and unprecedented destruction of the entire East Wing, built in 1942 for the Office of the First Lady, it’s important to note who enabled this. In this thread, I run through the companies and organizations involved and provide contact info. 🧵
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NPR @npr.org · 24/10/2025
Roughly 1.4 million federal workers are going without pay due to the government shutdown. About half of them are furloughed, while the other half has been deemed essential and is working without pay. n.pr/4ngKyx3
n.pr
It's supposed to be payday for many federal workers. Instead, they're getting nothing
Roughly 1.4 million federal workers are going without pay due to the government shutdown. About half of them are furloughed, while the other half has been deemed essential and is working without pay.
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Angus Johnston @angus.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
The title? "Observations Upon Certain Passages in Mr. Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, Which Appear to Have a Tendency to Subvert Religion, and Establish a False Philosophy."
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Brian Beutler @brianbeutler.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Many of my liberal peers see clearly how mainstream outlets have ruined their already imperiled businesses by capitulating to bad-faith right-wing criticism. They have a harder time seeing that the Democratic Party has fallen victim to the same kind of self-sabotage.
offmessage.net
Democrats Fell Prey To The Same Toxic Dynamics That Destroyed Mainstream News
Instead of fighting smears, they appeased the smear merchants.
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Robyn Schroeder @reconstitut.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
Emphases I saw here in Williamsburg, VA: much more insistent anti-fascism than last time, even more insistent centrality of constitutional order, rule of law. A lot appeals to history here: "If they want 1939 Germany, we'll give them 1789 France." Some very simple principles as below:
protest sign reads "NO MASKED COPS"
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Karl Jacoby @karl-jacoby.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
Proud papa moment: my son J published a letter in the @nytimes.com today (in print tomorrow) on the need to think our definitions of autism.
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Silky @silkyweineck.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
this rocks. when indiana edu killed the student newspaper, Purdue stepped up, printed the forbidden issue, drove it to Bloomington and stocked the boxes.
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Robyn Schroeder @reconstitut.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Once in a while, a succinct description of a progression of choices takes your breath away with the intentional, focused corruption.
The DOJ will not indict a sitting president, and to start his term, Mr. Trump fired 18 inspectors general, who might otherwise have been able to investigate and shine light on the critical activities of this administration. In Feb., he ordered the DOJ to suspend enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits the bribery of foreign officials. (Four months later, the suspension was lifted.) Enforcement agencies have shifted their priorities away from crypto, while the administration has helped usher in legislation preferred by the crypto industry.
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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Second article of impeachment of Richard Nixon: “He has endeavoured…to cause, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, income tax audits or other income tax investigations to be intitiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner.” www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
wsj.com
Exclusive | Trump Team Plans IRS Overhaul to Enable Pursuit of Left-Leaning Groups
The effort would install a Trump ally at the IRS’s criminal unit who has drawn up a list of investigative targets.
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Robyn Schroeder @reconstitut.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
A parable about AI in history/higher education. Yesterday, I had a student come to my office. She'd written, "I just cannot read 18th century cursive." Oh, no, I thought, finally, that young person I'm always reading about who simply *can't* read old sources, has arrived in my life.
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Robyn Schroeder @reconstitut.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
My mother clocked out and walked past the parking lot to a public sidewalk to conduct 2-minute conversations as a union rep at her federal agency, to avoid doing political work on the job. She wouldn't sign a petition, while on her lunch break on her phone.
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Robyn Schroeder @reconstitut.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
hands off, y'all, I've already locked this one down
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Robyn Schroeder @reconstitut.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
I know it's trite at this point, but I can't get over how much the description and media treatment of these incidents makes it seem like a video game and not the end of actual, real-like-you, adult people's lives
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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
“Authoritarianism is wrong, murder is evil, corruption is awful, the law must be followed, America should not be brought to its knees for Trump’s benefit” - simple principles that somehow we struggle to rally around, because of our paralyzing fear that some silent majority will not approve of them
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Kevin Gannon (now a Moo Deng fan account) @thetattooedprof.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
"one officer smiled for a selfie with her as she cried."
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