iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

One of my students is going to see beabadoobee in concert next week, and she was surprised to learn that I listened to her music.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

If this guy gets elected, the folks who voted for him are going to be tremendously disappointed when he gets caught propositioning an undercover cop in a DC bathroom.

An Austin Rogers for Congress ad: “Austin Rogers [will] take Florida values to Washington.”

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Reposted by Paul Renfro

Drafting the Past @draftingthepast.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

We picked some of our favorite nonfiction history book covers in recent memory. See what made our list and why, and tell us what you would add! www.draftingthepast.com/12-history-b... #booksky

draftingthepast.com

12 History Book Covers We Love

The covers of history books don't always stand out for their design, but these do.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I know some folks who could be very competitive for this position.

PROFESSOR OF DRAMA
APPLICATION DEADLINE: October 27, 2026
POST DATE: SEPTEMBER 29, 2026
POSITION TYPE: TENURED

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Jonathan Chait was born in 1972. The GOP has arguably been a white-nationalist party for most of his life—from Reagan’s Neshoba County Fair speech to George Bush’s William Horton ad to Newt Gingrich’s racist antiwelfare politicking to the vile xenophobia of the Bush II years and beyond.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Thank you, @nytimes.com, but I haven’t given up just yet.

“The New York Times
The Morning: How to die”

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

That party has been a mess since I got here in 2018. Hopefully they can ride the blue wave next month.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

So many Georgia ads (and ads for Florida Republicans). Still haven’t seen an ad from a Florida Dem running for statewide office.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This is one reason why the “polarization” discourse drives me up a wall. Not only do pretty significant majorities agree on a range of issues; many elected officials from both of the nation’s major political parties align on the OPPOSITE SIDE of many of those same issues.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Today in my US since 1965 grad class, we discussed Michelle Adams’s magisterial book THE CONTAINMENT, the myth of southern exceptionalism, the rise of “colorblind” racism, and the differences between trade and university presses. A rich, wide-ranging conversation, as always.🗃️

The cover of Michelle Adams’s 2025 FSG book THE CONTAINMENT: DETROIT, THE SUPREME COURT, AND THE BATTLE FOR RACIAL JUSTICE IN THE NORTH.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Here's the flyer for my senior seminar this coming spring. 🗃️

A flyer for "The United States since 1968" featuring a photograph of Bill Clinton and Al Gore in jogging attire and holding McDonald's cups. The rest of the text on the flyer reads: "Senior Seminar; HIS 4935-1; Professor Paul Renfro; Spring 2027; Wednesdays, 3–5:45 p.m."

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Congrats, @micalraz.bsky.social! This looks great. uncpress.org/978146969468... 🗃️

The cover of Mical Raz’s new book BREAKING FAMILIES, MAKING FAMILIES: ADOPTION AND CHILD WELFARE IN THE 1990s (UNC Press, 2026).

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Oh, get fucked, @wsj.com. Now and forever. 🗃️

A fatuous WSJ editorial titled “The Ph.D. Job Crisis Is a Needed Market Correction.” The dek reads:
“Universities will produce fewer underemployed, overcredentialed and aggrieved young people.”

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

That was a head-scratcher. Somehow it all worked out, though!

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

For Michigan? Looking forward to the game next week!

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Typical Saturday morning formation. (Go Hawks.)

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Yeah, most of them were four or five years old when Alexander’s book came out! Most of them seemed to be familiar with the concept. It’s a self-selecting pool, though.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Here’s the whole thing if you haven’t seen it! bsky.app/profile/renf...

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

That iced coffee looks good as hell. How could you say no to that?

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The Cyclones have had our number over the past few years! Glad we could pull it out this season. We both have huge games coming up tomorrow!

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I’ve served on and led several search committees at my university over the past several years. The topic of candidates bringing drinks into their job interviews has literally never come up. If a colleague ever tried to enforce Kai’s rule here, they would probably be removed from the committee.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Not from Iowa, but I went to grad school at UI!

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

more equitable, more caring world. That message is resonating with more and more Americans as the global economy teeters on the brink of collapse, Big Tech builds a dystopian future, and our overlords bog us down in war after war after war.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

economic order in which the rich get richer and everybody else gets shafted. Meanwhile some of the country’s most dynamic leaders—Zohran Mamdani, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Abdul El-Sayed—identify as democratic socialists. They offer something different—another path, a better, fairer, more peaceful,

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Forty percent of Americans view socialism in a positive light, even amid a low-grade red scare and a steady stream of capitalist propaganda. Liberal capitalism has failed to deliver on its promise of prosperity and freedom. Still, the nation’s two major political parties remain committed to an

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Yes. I’ve also been shaking like a leaf since I got jabbed.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Got my flu shot and my 5G COVID booster. (Go Hawks.)

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Not sure if this is still the case, but I think their grad program rankings were once just based on the impressions of history department chairs.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Today, we talked about penal modernization in Florida during the civil rights era. We spent a lot of time discussing regional dynamics within and beyond Florida. (“The further north you go, the further South you get,” as they say.) Another great conversation with a great group of young people. 🗃️

The cover of Heather Schoenfeld’s 2018 book BUILDING THE PRISON STATE: RACE & THE POLITICS OF MASS INCARCERATION.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

In our class today, we talked about Sam Klug’s excellent book THE INTERNAL COLONY; Black internationalism; the utility and the limits of the colonial analogy; and the distinctions and commonalities between transnational, comparative, global, postcolonial, imperial, and other histories. 🗃️

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

It was—“Patient O.” Randy Shilts ran with it and completely distorted our understanding of the epidemic in the process. HIV has lived in human bodies for at least one hundred years.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I realize I’m not her target audience, but I am not a fan!

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Let’s fucking gooooooooooo!

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Reposted by Paul Renfro

Derek Gottlieb @derekgottliebphd.com · 22/09/2026

I indexed this book! I was working on my education diss at the time and it TOTALLY changed my view of education efforts

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Today in my Mass Incarceration class, we discussed a chapter from Naomi Murakawa’s brilliant book THE FIRST CIVIL RIGHT. We talked about regional imaginaries, “legitimate” vs. “illegitimate” violence, and the paradoxes of “liberal law and order.” 🗃️

The cover of Naomi Murakawa’s 2014 book THE FIRST CIVIL RIGHT: HOW LIBERALS BUILT PRISON AMERICA.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Incarcerated people in Texas “deserve” AC just as much as Parisians do.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Oh my god. It’s been relentless.

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Paul Renfro @renfro.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Are you in Tally? My morning runs are about to get much more pleasant!

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