iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

There is a moment at the very very end of Abdul El-Sayed's podcast with Ezra Klein (book recommendation section) where he talks about the idea of "speaking truth to pain" and this will be staying with me for an extremely long time. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...

But there’s also something about truth to pain. We talk a lot about truth to power, but I think it’s actually a lot harder to speak truth to pain. I say that as someone who went to medical school, realizing that in a lot of our politics right now, we’ve got to get a lot better at speaking truth to pain if we’re going to get through some of these challenges that we have.

What does “truth to pain” mean?

It’s one thing to look power in the eye and say: You’re wrong about this. But there’s a way in which pain is very difficult to reason with. Because when somebody is in their pain, they’re in their trauma. They see that pain, and they may not see what’s causing it.

I remember just very explicitly being in a trauma ward with a gunshot wound patient and watching this big guy with his hand on his gunshot wound. All the folks are trying to pull his hand off his pain, that point of his gunshot wound, this clear vulnerability.

And this emergency room doctor had the presence of mind to be like: Everyone, stop. And she looks him in the eyes, and she’s like: I get that really hurts, and I’m so sorry that you’re here. You don’t want to be here. We don’t want you to be here. But if you don’t let us fix this, you could die. So I’m going to take your hand, and I’m going to move it off, OK? Because I need to get there so that you can live.

She was speaking truth to pain. He understands he’s at the hospital, he needs care, but he also doesn’t want anybody to touch the wound. Which is a natural thing. And I think it is a really great metaphor for how we think about a lot of these challenges we talked about today.

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Angry Staff Officer @pptsapper.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Happy “liberal arts professor helps save the Union” day to all who celebrate

Charge of the 20th Maine at Little Round Top

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Native Reconstruction Project @nativerecon.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Looking forward to #SCWH26 in Richmond this weekend! On Fri. June 19, save space for "Citizenship, Sovereignty, and the Civil War in Indian Country" 10:15 - 11:45 AM, featuring @marshall-trilogy.bsky.social, @jimmyskuya.bsky.social, and Michelle Cassidy. Chaired by @theotherdrstern.bsky.social

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Alex E. Stern @theotherdrstern.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

If you like history, personally or professionally, or care about art, literature, or books, come meet Carleigh Beriont, who is running for Congress (NH-01), TOMORROW (Wed. June 17) at 7 PM Eastern. Sign up to learn what her campaign’s about & ask her questions secure.actblue.com/donate/cbfc-...

secure.actblue.com

Historians and Humanists for Carleigh!

Show your support with a contribution.

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Matt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

wow, just…wow This reminds me of that scene in The Big Short when Steve Eisman asks, “Why are they confessing?” and Vinny Daniel says, “They’re not. They’re bragging.”

chronicle.com

Is a New Report About the Humanities ‘Diabolically Evil’? We Questioned Its Authors.

K. Anthony Appiah, Paul Boghossian, Katherine Fleming, and Sean Wilentz on what’s gone wrong in the humanities.

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Alex E. Stern @theotherdrstern.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Historians! Humanists! Anyone who cares about reason, ethics, and empathy! YOU'RE INVITED! Come "meet: Carleigh Beriont, the History Ph.D., teacher, and former grad student union organizer who is running for Congress in NH-01. 🗃️ Wed. June 17, 7 PM Eastern, Online secure.actblue.com/donate/cbfc-...

Blue flyer for a political fundraiser for historians and humanists supporting Carleigh Beriont for Congress. The event takes place Wednesday June 17th at 7 PM Eastern. Flyer features Carleigh in her doctoral robes from Harvard high-fiving her daughter.

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Alex E. Stern @theotherdrstern.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Just learned that Liza Black’s hotly anticipated new book, How Settlers Get Away with Murder, is now available to preorder. What better time to reserve a copy than the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls? 🗃️

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King Algamemnon @adamrothman.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

I'm more anxious about attacks on public history, threats to the right to teach, the decline of tenure-track jobs, the rise of AI slop history, and the partisan manipulation of history for purposes of propaganda. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/a...

nytimes.com

America Is Anxious About Its 250th Birthday. So Are Historians.

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Seeadler @seeadler.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

"Defund the humanities to ensure that no one learns my brilliant insights are not novel" seems to be a working theory explaining a lot of techbro animus.

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Christopher Deutsch @drchrisdeutsch.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

My god no! It was mass slaughter! In 1915, the US government counted the largest ever horse population in the US at > 21 million, which started to drop in the 1920s until the population hit 3 million in 1960 when the count ended. Horses live for 25, 30 years. This was not natural decline.

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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

An extraordinary paragraph. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

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Jonathan Edward Durham @thisone0verhere.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

We have strayed so so far from reading books for pizza

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Nicole Hemmer @pastpunditry.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

DC friends!! Join us on this Sunday on the National Mall for a teach-in in defense of history and museums, ft. an all-star line-up! We’ll be there from sun-up to sun-down. More info here: linktr.ee/historyteachin

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Alex E. Stern @theotherdrstern.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

🔥 Brand new Greater Reconstruction scholarship, hot off the press!🗃️ Situating her reader near Nevada’s Comstock Lode, Nicole Martin shows “how the idealized free-labor home at the heart of Reconstruction policy played out in rapidly industrializing economies struggling to reconcile old/new values.”

Journal of American history article by Nicole Martin. Reconstructing the American Home: Western Boardinghouses on the Comstock Load. Published 15 September 2025.

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Joshua Weishart @joshuaweishart.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Blue states should make democracy the prevailing theme of the upcoming school year. Not just civics/social studies classes, but democracy-reinforcing lessons & experiences integrated throughout the curriculum. Boldly educate through the crisis, don't leave children in despair, teach a better way.

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Matthew L Reznicek @drreznicek.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Tell me again why Business Majors are more valuable than Humanities Majors?

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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 24/08/2025

Because structural thinking offers inoculation against authoritarianism, the Right has vilified terms that nod to structure (privilege, patriarchy, critical theory), and attacked the institutions trying to help people understand systemic problems. Refusing to use the terms emboldens further attacks.

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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

“Someday, I hope, we’re going to have a reckoning over the horrors of this moment, but I don’t think we can do it without a clearer understanding of how this fits into U.S. history. There’s a tendency to say, “This isn’t who we are,” and I get the impulse, but history is never that simple.”

startribune.com

Opinion | Concentration camps are not just part of our past, but our present and future

From David M. Perry: From Minnesota’s Fort Snelling to Japanese internment camps to Florida's Alligator Alcatraz, these camps have become an American tradition.

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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

this could fix me

Medieval painting of someone with their emotional support dragon, c. 1503-1508. (Shows person holding small dragon’s leash)

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Matthew L Reznicek @drreznicek.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Increased layoffs and demanding more from your current workers? No wonder higher ed admin is so all-in on AI.

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Alex E. Stern @theotherdrstern.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

“In the history of [EdTech] there has never been an instance of large-scale, data-intensive corporate learning infrastructure that has met the needs of learners... The goal with these technologies is to make money, not support people’s unique learning, teaching and working styles.” - Britt Paris

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T.J. Stiles @tj-stiles.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

Let me add that AI can't do this. Consuming the historiography leads to new questions leading to new sources leading to new discoveries. This is a creative act. But facts alone are never enough. Facts must be interpreted. That means immersing oneself in historians' understanding of context. 12/12

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Alex E. Stern @theotherdrstern.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

These folks did an absolutely tremendous job sharing their expertise and engaging with each other and our 40+ person audience for Insights from Indian Country: Rethinking Traditional American History Narratives. 🗃️ #SHEAR2025

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

These are the times that try men’s souls.

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Harri @hfrayling.com · 19/06/2025

I'll say it over and over. I do not believe in gate keeping. I do not believe in pulling up the ladder. I believe in kicking the wall down like the Kool-Aid man, and making room as I go for those who come next. Just because it was hard for me, doesn't mean it has to be hard for anyone else.

A photo looking out towards the sea, with a sandy path in front and long grasses leading up to the shore. White, digital text is repeated on top of the image as follows:

THERE IS ENOUGH IF WE SHARE

THERE IS ENOUGH IF WE SHARE
THERE IS ENOUGH IF WE SHARE
THERE IS ENOUGH IF WE SHARE

THERE IS ENOUGH IF WE SHARE
THERE IS ENOUGH IF WE SHARE

THERE IS ENOUGH IF WE SHARE
THERE IS ENOUGH IF WE SHARE

THERE IS ENOUGH IF WE SHARE
THERE IS ENOUGH IF WE SHARE
THERE IS ENOUGH IF WE SHARE

THERE IS ENOUGH IF WE SHARE
THERE IS ENOUGH IF WE SHARE
THERE IS ENOUGH IF WE SHARE

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Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

History requires deep, extensive research a lot of that research will end up not being directly relevant. You won't know that until you get in it. Research isn't just pulling a doc with all the answers, it's finding connections, it's understanding what's *not* being said, it's knowing context.

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Alex E. Stern @theotherdrstern.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

"If we work together, this can go unfold in a way they do not expect"

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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 07/06/2025

Every future imagined by a tech company is worse than the previous iteration.

OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has a plan to overhaul college education — by embedding its artificial intelligence tools in every facet of campus life.
If the company’s strategy succeeds, universities would give students A.I. assistants to help guide and tutor them from orientation day through graduation. Professors would provide customized A.I. study bots for each class. Career services would offer recruiter chatbots for students to practice job interviews. And undergrads could turn on a chatbot’s voice mode to be quizzed aloud ahead of a test.
OpenAI dubs its sales pitch “A.I.-native universities.”

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Alex E. Stern @theotherdrstern.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

"They will make you feel like you have to be so grateful for everything that you’re not allowed to ask for anything. Ask anyway. Ask for what you need.” 🙏 www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | Ryan Coogler’s ‘Sinners’ Deal Made Hollywood Lose Its Mind

The obsession with a Black director’s ownership package reflects the themes of his film.

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Mary Fissell @maryfissell.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Histories wanted! Are you a recently terminated federal employee? Historians want to record your story! There's so much you know; let's get it on the record. You may record anonymously if you wish. www.oah.org/2025/03/04/f...

oah.org

OAH | Federal Employees Oral History ProjectOAH | Federal Employees Oral History Project

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ElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

As I explained in my post about birthright citizenship, Native Americans do not derive their citizenship from the 14th Amendment but from the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. So this question has literally been asking and answered but Trump knows nothing about the nonwhite history of the country.

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Grapie Deltaco @grapiedeltaco.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

“What radicalized you?” Bro I was told to treat people the way I would want to be treated in kindergarten and it made sense idk what else there is to say

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Alex E. Stern @theotherdrstern.bsky.social · 24/10/2024

Planning your #2024SHA & #WHA2024 schedule? Save room on Saturday afternoon for Remembered and Forgotten: American Indian Collective Remembrances of the American Civil War & Reconstruction, featuring Malinda Maynor Lowery, @alainaroberts.bsky.social, Lindsey Peterson, myself, & Kevin Bruyneel. 🗃️

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Alex E. Stern @theotherdrstern.bsky.social · 24/10/2024

Our #WHA2024 roundtable was designed around the idea that each panelist would start by highlighting one historical actor who traversed Reconstruction's spatial and temporal boundaries. We took that idea one step further and created historical trading cards related to our featured characters. 🗃️

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Alex E. Stern @theotherdrstern.bsky.social · 23/10/2024

Today at 1:30 PM, @jenandrella.bsky.social, Kevin Waite, @evalentin25.bsky.social, Noah Ramage, @danielsharfstein.bsky.social, and I are helping open the #WHA2024 conference program with “A Nation at a Crossroads: Bridging Southern & Western Reconstruction Histories.” 🗃️

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Alex E. Stern @theotherdrstern.bsky.social · 02/01/2024

Top five reads of 2023. Here's to discovering new books in the new year. 🍾

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Alex E. Stern @theotherdrstern.bsky.social · 20/11/2023

Excited for my Spring 2024 course line up, especially to bring back Adrienne Petty's Controversies class (with my own twist). If you're a @ccnyhistory.bsky.social student, or just have an interest, enrollment is open. Sign up today!

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Alex E. Stern @theotherdrstern.bsky.social · 20/10/2023

One week! It's early but it'll be worth it 🗃️ #WHA2023

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Alex E. Stern @theotherdrstern.bsky.social · 29/09/2023

Major thank you to CUNY EARS for the invitation to workshop my article draft and everyone's sage feedback and recommendations, esp. @bencarp.bsky.social and @unlawfulentries.bsky.social. Feeling energized to get on with revisions!

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Alex E. Stern @theotherdrstern.bsky.social · 27/09/2023

Hard to believe we're already a third of the way through the reading list for Histories of American Violence. This latest crop of excellent MA students are once again making it my favorite class to teach.

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