Sign in

Tom Zoellner

@tomzoellner.bsky.social
268 followers 36 following 123 posts

Professor at @ChapmanU, editor-at-large @LAReviewofBooks, PhD in history, author of “The National Road” tinyurl.com/y6lrtzal

PostsRepliesMedia
Tom Zoellner @tomzoellner.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The magazine @slate.com really should stop writing breathless foreshadowing headlines on stories that don't deliver as promised. Can @schweather.bsky.social please object to her editors about the misleading tease put atop this five-paragraph roundup? slate.com/life/2026/08...
slate.com
Why Did Trump Lose It Over Natalie Harp—and Who Is She, Anyway? Unfortunately, I’ve Learned Too Much.
It’s not anything so obvious as an affair. It’s somehow worse.
000
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Heather Delaney Reese @itsalovelylife.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Can you imagine going back to 1776 and telling the Founding Fathers that in 250 years, the King of England would be standing in the United States Capitol lecturing American lawmakers about the importance of democratic norms?
24385902031
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
RIP to Jesse Jackson. His funeral is today. I wanted to share this clip from his appearance on Sesame Street in 1971. His important words ring just as true today as they did back then.
13883972259
Tom Zoellner @tomzoellner.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Honored to have been a guest on the most thoughtful history podcast in digital-land, Richard Kreitner's Think Back. www.thinkbackpod.com/p/how-slaver...
thinkbackpod.com
How Slavery Ended
Tom Zoellner on the messy, inspiring story of the ground-level revolt that brought about emancipation.
011
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
No one who is at all concerned with the national security of the United States can possibly support Trump. This is simply a hideous betrayal of the country and its future in exchange for a bribe.
402024887
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
$1.5T military budget $170B on ICE & Border Patrol $100B on tax cuts for the 1% $20B from Treasury for Argentina $1B to refurbish Trump's Qatar jet $500M sending National Guard into cities $250M on Kristi Noem's jets $100M+ on Trump's golf outings $75k for Kash Patel's Olympic trip Priorities.
9227411139
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Nate @nateduty.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Trump's dictatorship coup is now fully in the open. Wake up America.
29934376
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Some context… Bezos is killing the Post by choice, not by necessity…
711456561
Tom Zoellner @tomzoellner.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
Antagonists like to slam @radiofreetom.bsky.social for decrying the fascist characteristics of Trump while refusing to call it such. But they should point out a worse hypocrisy: labeling 1970s music "a horrid stew of disco and wimp-rock hits" in The Atlantic while rocking out to #AT40 in private.
0100
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
The cruelty is big business
36927452
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Amanda Carpenter @amandacarpenter.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
What the Trump Admin is telling you. -Don't record ICE -Don't carry a gun around ICE -Don't ask ICE for a warrant. So that takes out the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Amendments.
33991366
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
“Freedom is not free. We have to work at it. Nurture it. Protect it. Even sacrifice for it.”
415176757035
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences @wilkinsoncollege.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
ChapmanU Professor Tom Zoellner (English) published his new book, The Road Was Full of Thorns: Running Toward Freedom in the American Civil War. thenewpress.org/books/the-roa... @tomzoellner.bsky.social
001
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Cian McCarthy @arealmofwonder.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
Alan Watts discussing why poets are so often at their best when speaking of change.
29628
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Admirable Women @admirablewomen.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
#OTD in 2019, we lost beloved #poet Mary Oliver. Her work celebrated the natural world with simple, profound language & a sense of wonder. Perhaps America's best-selling poet, she won the #Pulitzer Prize (1984 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦) & National Book Award (1992 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘰𝘦𝘮𝘴). #booksky #poetry
Iconic black-and-white photograph of Mary Oliver, renowned American poet celebrated for her lyrical observations of nature and deep bond with dogs. Seated cross-legged on a plush couch near a bright window, she holds an open hardcover book in her lap, wearing round glasses and a simple dark turtleneck. Her expression is gentle and absorbed as she looks sideways at her fluffy white standard poodle, Percy, who stands poised on a square ottoman or cushion right beside her, ears perked and eyes fixed intently on Oliver in a moment of quiet connection and mutual regard.
110923
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
😕🇺🇸
761357424
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
🔥NYT: “Trump is the Jan. 6th president… It was a turning point toward an even more lawless version of Trump… people who violently attacked Congress & beat officers escaped w/o lasting consequence… Tragically, 🇺🇸 is still living in that political era…” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/o...
21734252
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Here, far more than majority of working journalists, are some of the villains people could focus on when they just say “the media.” Fact that so few know about outfits like this is a measure of their awful success.
78823
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
CBS paid the president of the United States millions in bribe money and now they censor news reports so it does not annoy him. I don’t know how much plainer we can put this.
451279658136
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Jake Bolster @jakebolster.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Always fun to collaborate on a story. Check out @wyattmyskow.bsky.social, @blancabegert.bsky.social, and my coverage of the state of Colorado River negotiations.
057
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Joshua Reed Eakle 🗽 @joshuaeakle.com · 15/12/2025
Never accept a lecture on decency, civility, or respect from a Trump supporter. Never tolerate it.
633161460
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 02/12/2025
i'm actually struck by how pete hegseth isn't just a cowardly man but a capital-c Coward. a guy who gets off on abusing and hurting people he thinks are weaker than him and then tries to run and hide when there might be consequences
23993071586
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Socialism is what they called public power. Socialism is what they called social security. Socialism is what they called the growth of free and independent labor organizations. Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all the people. —Harry Truman, 1952
442229357907
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Stephen King @stephenking.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
Trump: The gretest con man in American history.
2254016405
Tom Zoellner @tomzoellner.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
Please do not give any money or support to @afspnational.bsky.social, an ineffective and corrupt organization. They are in bed with the gun lobby, as this story documents. www.thetrace.org/2025/10/gun-...
thetrace.org
A Program Backed by the Gun Industry Failed to Reduce Suicide — and Was Secretly Shut Down Early
The country’s best-known suicide prevention group teamed up with the gun industry. The effort was good for public relations and raising money, but it never met its goal, and internal records show why.
010
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Tina MF @tmfab.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
True. 🇺🇸
True
821365
Tom Zoellner @tomzoellner.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
@slaveryarchive.bsky.social A review of a new book about the contraband camps in the WSJ. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
wsj.com
‘The Road Was Full of Thorns’ Review: Crossing Battle Lines to Freedom
In encampments such as Fort Monroe, Union forces in the Civil War were joined by thousands of African-Americans seeking liberty and protection.
010
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Jack El-Hai @jackelhai.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
"Radical retelling of the drama of emancipation." Today's book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author @tomzoellner.bsky.social & @thenewpress.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
021
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
If I have any credibility with you from 20 years of reporting on rightwing & fascist movements, please listen when I beg you not to celebrate Charlie Kirk getting shot. Leave aside morality: this isn’t a match in dry grass, it’s a torch. We do not want what this could ignite & we would not win.
45574971845
Tom Zoellner @tomzoellner.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
Pop cgtfgfyukjgdsaawetuopljvf
000
Tom Zoellner @tomzoellner.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
@hollyfrey.bsky.social The anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation is coming up on Sept. 22. Can I pitch a SYM episode based on this new book that reframes the story? thenewpress.org/books/the-ro...
thenewpress.org
The Road Was Full of Thorns - The New Press
A radical retelling of the drama of emancipation, from New York Times bestselling author and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award“Zoellner is a beautiful writer, a superb reporter, and a d...
030
Tom Zoellner @tomzoellner.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
Happy August 1st Day! www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020...
washingtonpost.com
Perspective | A long-forgotten holiday animates Black Lives Matter
The movement for racial equality echoes the vision of the “August First Day” holiday.
110
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
EX GREEN BERET: “In my entire career, I never witnessed the brutality and use of indiscriminate & unnecessary force against an unarmed, starving civilian population until I was in Gaza at the hands of IDF & US contractors… without question, war crimes.”
9650312090
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Iraq War Vet @corgwynmom.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
1696561901
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
27 different named women accused him of sex assault, he’s on video with Epstein where they are grossly leering at young women, Miss Teen USA contestants said he came in dressing room when they were naked, he bragged on the Access Hollywood tape about grabbing women. It’s obvious.
1215260057055
Tom Zoellner @tomzoellner.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Thank you Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty for ensuring that I won't be renting from you. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/t...
nytimes.com
A.I. Is Making Sure You Pay for That Ding on Your Rental Car
041
Tom Zoellner @tomzoellner.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
@radiofreetom.bsky.social Lawrence, Kansas (population 52,738 in the 1980 census, and home to the University of Kansas) is not a small town. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
theatlantic.com
Damn You All to Hell!
How Hollywood taught a generation to fear nuclear catastrophe
010
Tom Zoellner @tomzoellner.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
What an embarrassing profile, for both subject and writer. #shteyngart www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/s...
nytimes.com
Is Gary Shteyngart One of the Last Novelists to Make Real Money From the Craft?
000
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
😳 “as many lives lost as WW1” www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
10934011573
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Catherine Subsisting in revolting times...Unbelievable @glasscatty.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
10337651307
Tom Zoellner @tomzoellner.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Stop the cuts at the @latimes.com! From @latguild.bsky.social... Three years ago, The Times had about 450 rank-and-file journalists. Soon, we’ll have fewer than half that number. Layoffs and buyouts cut our ranks by more than 50 people in 2023 and nearly 100 more last year.
030
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Gabino Iglesias @gabino.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Only seen this photo shared by @tbretc.bsky.social, but it looks like the Chicago Sun Times had AI write about summer books…and it included some that don’t exist. Cool, cool. Could’ve paid me or someone else, you know? This is what I do. But yeah, go with AI slop. Do you.
1915337
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Kelvin Lau @klausenhauser on 🙅‍♂️🐘🪡 @klausenhauser.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
Nice Sunday read! ai-2027.com
ai-2027.com
AI 2027
A research-backed AI scenario forecast.
061
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
This
8683605212709
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
Last night was the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere's midnight ride to warn the Minutemen of approaching British troops. I want to take a moment to share an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence's grievances against King George III. Remind you of anyone?
7233213212487
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Danny Deraney @dannyderaney.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Happy 72nd Birthday to Rick Moranis. Thank you for being the Canadian treasure that you are.
1135243550
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Dr. Hilary Agro, PhD 🍄 @hilaryagro.com · 16/04/2025
I can't emphasize enough that the most important thing journalists can do right now is publish exactly this kind of article
Headline: ICE came for their neighbor so these Tennesseans formed a human chain to protect him
7816848322356
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions - rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking steps to make sure students can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. Let’s hope others follow suit.
15578916818162
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
If Stephen Miller can lie about Abrego Garcia and his case on national TV, he can do it in federal court under oath. Judge Xinis should demand his appearance, question him under oath, then jail him for Contempt when he commits Perjury. This lawless administration has to be subjected to rule of law.
773263296970
Reposted by Tom Zoellner
Rev. Benjamin Cremer @brcremer.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
A Christianity that gets offended at the idea of a society using its resources to care for one another is a Christianity that has abandoned Jesus a long time ago.
291191276