Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 30/09/2026#Skyhistorians, I could use help fact-checking. I think the only women in 17th-century English America who published *during their lifetimes* were Anne Bradstreet and Mary Rowlandson. Am I right about this? Or was there anyone else? 000
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 28/09/2026If you debase yourself for Nazis, don't be surprised when they ... act like Nazis. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...washingtonpost.comShe helped lead a far-right internet movement. Then it turned on her.Amy Dangerfield worked to become one of Nick Fuentes’s model “groypettes,” but a vicious fight left her grappling with the dark side of far-right fame. 000
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 23/09/2026L'État, c'est moi.washingtonpost.com‘I am the code’: Trump clashed with ballroom architect over safety issuesJames McCrery II resigned in October after warning that the president was insisting on designs that violated fire and safety codes. 010
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 15/09/2026But Hunter's laptop... www.propublica.org/article/dona...propublica.orgDonald Trump Jr.’s Wedding Bankrolled by Putin-Linked Russian OligarchThe oligarch, Umar Kremlev, spent hundreds of thousands on expenses like renting out a private island. He appears to have met Trump Jr. only recently, but he attended the intimate wedding with a large... 000
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 15/09/2026We can be relieved at the SCOTUS decision, or we can be horrified that we are constantly one or two votes away from losing our democracy. 000
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Is this before or after it uses all of our water and destroys all of our books? www.newsweek.com/anthropic-re...newsweek.comAnthropic researcher quits, warns AI could kill everyoneThe Anthropic researcher quit, warning future AI could wipe out humanity, with senior colleagues publicly backing concerns. 000
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 06/09/2026My job is to teach students to read, write, and think. AI teaches none of those things. There is no role for AI in history. 1315
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Just dropped my youngest off for his freshman year of college, and now I can only hope that my last fleeting words will stick with him: “I love you.” “I’m proud of you.” “Go to your professors’ office hours.” 010
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 02/09/2026Nostalgic for the good old days, when Republicans were against teen pregnancy (and, sure, also against all methods of preventing it, but at least they were partway there). 000
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 01/09/2026For those who, like me, grew up seething at Kristol's cheerfully smug and utterly confident dismissal of any idea to the left of far-right, this is ... remarkable. 000
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 30/08/2026Apparently Google doesn't know that you can't change the centuries-old name of an international body of water with an executive order. Is their motto still "Don't be evil"?google.comGoogle MapsFind local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps. 010
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 25/08/2026No. Send this news back.people.comDolly Parton, Country Music Legend, Dies at 80, Just 4 Days After Saying, ‘I Still Have so Many Things I Want to Achieve’Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80. The country music legend was known for songs including “Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You” and “9 to 5.” She also starred in movies like ‘Steel Magnolias’ and ‘T... 010
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Just FYI, this is (one reason) why diversity hiring initiatives are not just worthwhile but essential. With diverse voices in the room, this sort of nonsense doesn't happen. Come to think of it, it also doesn't happen if business majors are required to take humanities courses.washingtonpost.comTarget ‘deeply sorry’ for children’s Halloween costume compared to blackfaceThe retailer has stopped selling the “circus clown” costume after it was criticized by social media users for resembling racist caricatures. 010
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 11/08/2026I really hope no one ate any of the food that was in that catering truck. 000
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 02/08/2026I’m not sure why anyone is surprised that Wilson has criticized a film that lies squarely within her field of expertise. Have these people never gone to a historical movie with a historian? (Well, actually…) 000
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 31/07/2026This is me, staring at my unfinished book chapter and my not-yet-started syllabi, observing "How is it August already?" Day. 020
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 31/07/2026Google Earth let people do what? And why? Did they think this would go well? www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...washingtonpost.comSee how Google Earth let people make fake scenes of bombings, riots and destructionGoogle put on hold an AI feature in Google Earth just hours after it was introduced. People used it to create AI-manipulated aerial views of horrific scenes. 000
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 19/07/2026Trump wasn't thinking he'd have to present the trophy to Spain, was he? 020
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 07/07/2026Wow. I guess everything Trump touches really does turn to shit. 000
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 03/07/2026For those who are discussing how scholarship can dovetail with graphic storytelling, might I recommend this book? No, it's not the same as Charity/Sylvia/Cleves bc the scholar *is* the storyteller, but it's a perfect example of how graphic history can be transparent about the work that informs it.amazon.comWake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts: Hall, Rebecca, Martínez, Hugo: 9781982115197: Amazon.com: BooksWake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts [Hall, Rebecca, Martínez, Hugo] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts 010
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 30/06/2026If we are one justice away from blowing up the constitutional basis for citizenship, then we are too close to blowing up the Constitution itself. Reform SCOTUS. 100
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 19/06/2026If the nation survives long enough for us to grapple with the history of the Trump era, the reflecting pool will be some historian's perfect opening anecdote. 000
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 15/06/2026Upside to my conference this weekend: My panel chair gave me an idea for how to spin my paper into an article. Downside to my conference this weekend: My panel chair gave me an idea for how to spin my paper into an article. 010
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 08/06/2026Of course this is just the latest, and it won't be the last. I guess FIFA thought the made-up peace prize was supposed to prevent nonsense like this. Serves them right for thinking bribes would work. We don't deserve the World Cup.nytimes.comSomali referee denied entry to U.S. ahead of World CupOmar Artan arrived in Miami from Istanbul on Saturday but was barred from entering the country following a "routine" inspection, CBP said. 010
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 08/06/2026Yes, it *is* shocking that a city that's 80% Democratic/progressive would reject a Republican reality star for whom politics is a vanity project and who has no serious and informed policy proposals on any issue. Utterly unprecedented.washingtonpost.comU.S. attorney’s office in California announces probe into electionsThe Los Angeles U.S. attorney's office said it has launched an investigation into election fraud in California's elections. 010
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 08/06/2026I wish I had taken one of his classes as an undergrad when I had the chance (there were scheduling conflicts that seemed important at the time) -- not having done so remains one of my few regrets from my college years. Nonetheless, this book was one of the reasons I became a historian. 010
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 27/05/2026Teaching "revisionist" history = actually just teaching history. 0309
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 13/05/2026The event "is about the history and the foundations of our nation, which was built on Christian values, on the Bible ... This is really truly rededicating the country to God." So weird, then, that the (yes, mostly Christian) founders designed an aggressively secular government.washingtonpost.comWhite House to host 9-hour prayer festival focused on Christian roots of U.S.Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio and Mike Johnson will speak at the event, which centers on the idea that the founders wanted the U.S. to be explicitly Christian. 000
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 12/05/2026I'm always partial to scenarios in which the historian is the only sane person in the room. 030
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 07/05/2026If there's any upside to Canvas getting hacked, let it be that the IT tech bros in universities across the nation finally learn that human beings are more important than online platforms in the actual work of teaching. They won't learn that lesson. But a professor can dream. 120
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 24/04/2026Texas Tech is no longer in the business of educating people. 010
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 13/04/2026Well, at least he didn’t depict himself wearing a tan suit. 010
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 12/04/2026I guess no one likes Vance in Hungary, either. 010
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 09/04/2026The (First) Lady doth protest too much, methinks. 010
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 07/04/2026Just got through three hours of teaching, and I'm wondering: did I miss anything while I was in class? And should I bother prepping for Thursday? 010
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 07/04/2026I would think that at the absolute minimum, we should have the World Cup taken away. Of course, the whole FIFA participation peace prize thing would make it awkward. 000
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 04/04/2026This is several layers of unconstitutional, I think.yahoo.comPentagon To Host Good Friday Service Just For Protestants, Not Catholics“I guess so the Catholics know their kind ain’t welcome,” one Defense Department employee said. 000
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 31/03/20262026 has taken much, but every so often it gives a little back.people.comKristi Noem 'Devastated' by Report of Husband Bryon's 'Double Life' Dressing as a WomanKristi Noem has been 'blindsided' by a new report that her husband, Bryon Noem, is active on online fetish forums, allegedly posting photos of himself wearing massive fake breasts and paying thousands... 000
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 25/03/2026You don't have to study early American family life to know what happens to babies who don't have the advantage of modern medical intervention. But I do study early American family life, and I can definitely tell you what happens. Babies die. An astonishing and heartbreaking number of babies die.cnn.comIt’s not just vaccines: Parents are refusing other routine preventive care for newborns | CNNDoctors across the nation are alarmed that skepticism fueled by rising anti-science sentiment and medical mistrust is increasingly reaching beyond vaccines to other proven, routine, preventive care fo... 010
Shelby Balik @shelbymbalik.bsky.social · 20/03/2026Don't you have to be dead to have your image on a coin? www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...washingtonpost.comColumn | The message on Trump’s coin is clear. And it’s chilling.Julius Caesar also broke with tradition by putting himself on a coin. It didn’t go over so well. 000