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S Roy Chowdhury

@sroychowdhury.bsky.social
329 followers 654 following 234 posts

Historian of the (very long) twentieth century. Writer.

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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Setting off on a research trip. Will set aside some time for researching the colonial French food here. Wasn’t much French fare in evidence at the airport or at dinner.
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Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
It's not "harder to determine". We have centuries of jurisprudence on whose fault it is when an object or machine causes harm.
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
In Kolkata I notice the thatched hut beneath the flyover under construction. Once ubiquitous in rural Bengal, the square tiles woven from palm fronds were used to make walls for village houses. Here it’s temporary housing for workers. The tall buildings on the horizon signal relentless urbanization.
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Don’t know what lies ahead, but this generation of Indians has mobilized and protested with great wit and amazing humor. www.instagram.com/reel/DbJalhU...
instagram.com
Instagram
Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 19/07/2026
Nineteen years ago, Lionel Messi bathed a baby named Lamine Yamal for a charity calendar. Some call it football's most famous blessing. Others say it sounds like the plot of the perfect movie. Tomorrow, we find out how it ends at the NYNJ Stadium.
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
“In our Connecticut modesty, many people assume that Connecticut was ancillary or on the sidelines – but in every way, Connecticut is at the center of this story": Andy Horowitz, Connecticut State Historian. today.uconn.edu/2026/07/seri...
today.uconn.edu
Series of Historical Markers Celebrate America’s 250th Through a Connecticut Lens - UConn Today
And while UConn wasn’t around in 1776, its fingerprints are all over the project
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
“The gamble of civilisation is that we can learn from the past without having to go through it all again ourselves.” Timothy Garton Ash, __Homelands: A Personal History of Europe__, p. 24.
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Around 5% digitized documents is what I remember someone saying…
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will pooley @willpooley.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
people in nineteenth century france sometimes just asked Claude, too
CHIROMANCIE
M. CLAUDE, célèbre chiroman-cien, de Lille, prédit l'avenir par l'examen des lignes de la main, et Mme CLAUDE, cartomancienne également célèbre, prédit aussi l'avenir par les cartes. Rue du Blé, 10, au deuxième, à Chalon-sur-Saône. Tous les jours, de 9 heures du matin à 7 heures du soir.
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
A teeming nation of nations… My de Tocquevillean takeaway from my Philadelphia trip this week is that the public mood is noticeably cheerful. This has been boosted by the influx of happy World Cup fans who have filled bars and restaurants and public places.
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
New York City through a grimy Amtrak train window is reminiscent of Vincent Van Gogh’s “Factories at Asnières” or Laura Woodward’s “Twilight on St. Augustine.”
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Some uplifting developments in gloomy times: this summer the United States took big steps to becoming a soccer fandom loving country. It will still take a while for the US to become a soccer crazy country.
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Nieman Lab @niemanlab.org · 26/06/2026
A new partnership between Beehiiv and Cloudflare gives independent journalists a suite of tools to control which AI crawlers are scraping their work. www.niemanlab.org/2026/06/beeh...
niemanlab.org
Beehiiv’s new Cloudflare partnership gives indie journalists a new level of control over AI crawlers
Over the past year, major news publishers have taken aggressive anti-scraping measures to curb the rise of AI crawlers. So far, most of these backend interventions have been out of reach for…
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
"As Britain approaches the 10th anniversary of its vote to leave the EU, the British are beginning to debate rejoining what they call Europe. But, as in most previous British debates about “Europe”, this is Europe with the Europe left out." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
If the UK wants to rejoin the European Union, it first needs to understand it | Timothy Garton Ash
A full return will require a marathon of democratic persuasion, on the continent as much as in Britain. For one side holds most of the cards, says Guardian columnist Timothy Garton Ash
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Right now, the only people in the world 100% happy with their life are New Yorkers. 🏀⛹🏼⛹️‍♂️⛹🏾
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Any postcolonial India history that touches on whether the Nehruvian era saw large scale demolition of existing buildings? As far as I recall, there was a lot of building from scratch - RK Puram, Khan Market, Chanakyapuri, IITs, IIMs, etc. - but not much talk of demolition.
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Infiltrated the Republic of Mamdanistan to steal some culture.
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Libération @liberation.fr · 29/05/2026
L’Allemagne rend des livres volés à Marc Bloch, avant sa panthéonisation : «une reconnaissance majeure d’une injustice historique»
l.liberation.fr
L’Allemagne rend des livres volés à Marc Bloch, avant sa panthéonisation : «une reconnaissance majeure d’une injustice historique»
Lors d’une cérémonie à l’ambassade de France, sept ouvrages dérobés à l’historien par les nazis ont été remis aux descendants du résistant qui entrera au Panthéon le 23 juin. Il avait été arrêté en 1944 par la Gestapo avant d’être fusillé.
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Going to redraft Modern Europe syllabi by revisiting 19th century French novels. You're never too young to plod through Flaubert, Stendhal, Zola, Hugo, de Maupassant and all the other misérables. In any case, as Scott Dominic Carpenter tells us, the French don't like "le happy end."
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Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
It's monkeys with poor dress-sense all the way down...
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
The Anglosphere media (not so much French media) is all agog about Macron’s “platonic” affair. But true veterans of everything French remember when François Mitterand’s two families attended his 1996 funeral. All this to a great big Gallic shrug. Meanwhile, absolute furore in the UK-US media.
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will pooley @willpooley.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
the number of people who think the solution to AI hallucinated references is… more AI 👌
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Term is done, just a few loose ends to tie up before the more measured pace of summer starts. Time to enjoy a long brunch with old friends visiting from the West Coast, walk by the river, and to take in some art.
Photo of eggs Benedict Photo of art exhibition
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Everything may be falling apart but New England is still insisting on spring.
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Libération @liberation.fr · 18/04/2026
«Immense actrice», «aimée de tous», «lumineuse»… La mort de Nathalie Baye suscite une vive émotion
liberation.fr
«Immense actrice», «aimée de tous», «lumineuse»… La mort de Nathalie Baye suscite une vive émotion
L’actrice multicésarisée est morte vendredi soir à l’âge de 77 ans, ont annoncé ses proches ce samedi 18 avril. Les hommages saluant ses cinquante ans de carrière, son talent et sa personnalité affluent.
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Cruise ships with names like Celestyal Discovery & Celestyal Journey are stuck in the Straits of Hormuz. Given the geopolitical rumblings since last year, couldn’t they have sailed for the Canary Islands or Cabo Verde instead?
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Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
One of the great tricks of transnational populism, of course, is to appeal to people who literally never see or hear any news from outside their own country. Thus it can slosh around from state to state, eating its losses, knowing most of its potential supporters won’t even know they’ve happened.
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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
The Strait of Hormuz crisis is doing something a decade of subsidies and mandates struggled to achieve: making millions of people want an EV who previously discounted them. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Interest in EVs surges in Europe as fuel prices jump after Iran war
Demand at online marketplaces could settle at a new, higher normal, with the crisis leaving consumers ‘scarred’
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
The best of times. In the worst of times.
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Sarah Sweet @sarahsweet.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
NASA failed to predict the real splashdown risk.
Tabby stands on hind legs with one paw outstretched toward a TV displaying a capsule above water.
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The Japan Times @japantimes.co.jp · 07/04/2026
An ancient form of Japanese poetry is being reshaped through everyday experiences, online exchange and a new generation of writers. 👉 ebx.sh/6qgPa8
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Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
“You’re not supposed to use your phone while driving.” “Got it. Let’s install large tablet touchscreens in almost every single new car.”
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The Japan Times @japantimes.co.jp · 07/04/2026
Airlines across Asia are cutting flights, carrying extra fuel from home airports and adding refueling stops as the Middle East conflict squeezes jet fuel supply in some countries.
ebx.sh
Asian airlines trim schedules and carry extra fuel as supplies tighten
European carriers are bracing for similar disruption after Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz cut off nearly 21% of global seaborne jet fuel supply.
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WIRED @wired.com · 02/04/2026
Dealerships say they’re getting busier as the Iran war and the shipping crisis at the Strait of Hormuz drag on. www.wired.com/story/one-so...
wired.com
Gas Prices Are Soaring. So Is the Demand for Used EVs
Dealerships say they’re getting busier as the Iran war and the shipping crisis at the Strait of Hormuz drag on.
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Waiting.
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Chatting with a friend about current affairs. F: We social scientists need to stop using frameworks of rationality to explain current events. Me: ? F: We need a language of irrationality to explain the collective insanity that has gripped the world. Me: ?? F: Pralay, Apocalypse, End Days Me: 😳😱😬
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Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
More, I think, to the point is the various ways in which, however incompletely, having peace & justice was an actual theme of global governance in those decades. It WAS extraordinary, historically speaking. And it WAS destroyed.
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Dee Chan @deechan17.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
When I disabled all the notifications on my smart phone, I felt such an enormous sense of relief. It took me a while to figure out why. It was because I wasn't being constantly interrupted New psychology research reveals the cognitive cost of smartphone notifications www.psypost.org/new-psycholo...
psypost.org
New psychology research reveals the cognitive cost of smartphone notifications
A recent study in Computers in Human Behavior provides evidence that a single smartphone pop-up derails mental focus for seven seconds. Researchers found that fragmented digital habits cause more cogn...
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Isabella M. Weber @isabellamweber.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
This might be the oil shock where the world learns that you can have Nixon style queues at gas stations without price controls. Blaming shortages on price controls in a massive supply shock is like blaming the rain on the umbrella. I still recommend using an umbrella.
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History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 17/03/2026
The German Peasants' War (1524-26) was the largest uprising in Western Europe before the French Revolution. Lyndal Roper recalls how a cycle ride around Germany helped her to appreciate the sheer scale of its history.
historyworkshop.org.uk
Cycling the German Peasants’ War
The German Peasants' War (1524-26) was the largest uprising in Western Europe before the French Revolution. Lyndal Roper recalls how a cycle ride around Germany led her to appreciate the vast scale of...
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Bruno J. Navarro @brunojnavarro.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
librarians and teachers should get preboarding privileges
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Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
For the millionth time, rightwing "culture war" is deadly serious. They want to control, dominate and censor what it is possible to say in any site of symbolic expression. They really, really do want a country where dissent is impossible, because it's shouted down every time it struggles to rise.
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will pooley @willpooley.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
read “21st” for “20th” and what more is there to say? (From Benjamin’s Theses on History www.sfu.ca/~andrewf/CON...) 🗃️
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The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the 'state of emergency' in which we live is not the exception but the rule. We must attain to a conception of history that is in keeping with this insight. Then we shall clearly realize that it is our task to bring about a real state of emergency, and this will improve our position in the struggle against Fascism. One reason why Fascism has a chance is that in the name of progress its opponents treat it as a historical norm. The current amazement that the things we are experiencing are 'still' possible in the twentieth century is not philosophical. This amazement is not the beginning of knowledge-unless it is the knowledge that the view of history which gives rise to it is untenable.
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
In the 2000s I, like a gazillion people, opened a blogspot account, and wrote posts occasionally. And then, like many such projects, it became an untended garden and I forgot about it. Stumbled upon it again and am delighted to revisit my slightly younger self.
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Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Formulaic templates, cutesy acronyms, and other gimmicks that teach kids to write badly....but score well on tests: goo.gl/RIVJ49. And every example of good scores for mediocrity - or poor scores for impressive thinking - reminds us never to judge kids or schools on the basis of standardized tests.
goo.gl
The Politics of the Paragraph
The tale of a high school English teacher's journey into—and out of—formulaic writing programs as her school struggles with high-stakes exams.
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
I may not be the target audience but I’m kind of enjoying Dinosaurs on Netflix. #springbreak
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Sigh!
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
It’s the 250th year of the Declaration of Independence. The mood in the city where it all went down is a tad bit more subdued than celebratory, given all that’s going on right now. #philadelphia #usa250
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Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
If you really, really want to create a global refugee crisis…
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S Roy Chowdhury @sroychowdhury.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
By and large, the United States has dealt most matter of factly with its colonial era buildings. Keep the fussy old buildings, and then outdo them all with spectacular new ones.
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