Cover of “The Absolute Abolition” by Jesse Olsavsky

starting now i am going to start sharing the books i read. finished this volume this morning. it is terrific.

This afternoon! 👇🏻

Obama's former minister once said "God Damn America" and we never heard the end of it.

Philly and @oah.org visitors: join us next Wednesday for a conversation with @danielle-wiggins.bsky.social and the great Marcia Chatelain on BLACK EXCELLENCE, Danielle Wiggins' terrific new book on Black liberalism. Free and open to the public and no need to register

Philly and @oah.org visitors: join us next Wednesday for a conversation with @danielle-wiggins.bsky.social and the great Marcia Chatelain on BLACK EXCELLENCE, Danielle Wiggins' terrific new book on Black liberalism. Free and open to the public and no need to register

Why did elite professionals start calling their firms "sweatshops"? And who reaped the rewards of all that work?

Read this excerpt from my new book, Yuppies, to find out.

The Great AI Grift Tech leaders and the Trump administration want you to believe that AI is the key to a new golden age. The reality looks more like a bold daylight heist.

new piece in @thenation.com with @ainowinstitute.bsky.social @smw.bsky.social @ambakak.bsky.social
www.thenation.com/article/econ...

Also, boycott Starbucks. I can't believe you're still giving that miserable company your money for its bad, overpriced coffee.

Book cover for Rachel A. Shelden, The Political Supreme Court: A Forgotten History

Not sure whether this is apt or terrible timing but here’s the official cover of my book due out with @uncpress.bsky.social W. Hodding Carter III imprint this fall. 🎉

I do think that those lawyers and law professors who tried to fabricate a historical or legal case against birthright citizenship should be socially and professionally ostracized for their shocking cynicism and intellectual dishonesty as well as for their bald hostility to pluralist American values.

Syracuse is a private research university in a northern blue state. The attack on higher education transcends tidy public/private, regional, and partisan/political classifications.

Invitation to celebration of unveiling of W. Hodding Carter III trade imprint from UNC Press at OAH annual meeting, April 16th, 4:30 pm in the book exhibit

So honored that my book, White Power: Policing American Slavery, will be the first in the new W. Hodding Carter III trade imprint from @uncpress.bsky.social. For those attending #OAH2026, please join us for a celebration of the new imprint!

Pre-order the book here! tinyurl.com/mwcc4977

Very funny to me that they think this is Trump's doing and not these venal men grossly overstating their shoe sizes to impress each other

It’s easy (more easy than accurate) to dismiss academic critics of generative AI as uninformed or emotive, which is often anyway code for “moralizing.” But it’s remarkable how much gen AI boosterism requires feigning ignorance that theft and impersonation are widely seen as wrong, for good reasons.

DIY Democracy: Rethinking Liberalism in the Current Political Moment I spoke with Lily Geismer and Brent Cebul about their recent book, Mastery and Drift: Professional Class Liberals Since the 1960s. We discussed what we mean when we talk about liberal as a political p...

Working to build a stronger philosophical foundation personally, so I spoke with @brentcebul.bsky.social and @lilygeismer.bsky.social about the issues with liberalism and the Democratic Party in the last half-century.

Dream Lab is a kind of Digital Humanities Summer Camp designed with grad students and early career humanities professionals in mind. In summer 2026, we are excited to offer six classes. Learn more about the classes below and click the links for registration information and instructor bios. Check out the FAQ for information about registration fees and daily schedules.

🚨 DREAM LAB AT PENN, MAY 26-29 MOTHERFUCKERS 🚨

This "Into the Stacks" feature was very fun to contribute to, in large part because it gave me a chance to highlight all of the wonderful work that @shafrhistorians.bsky.social have been doing in the past few decades to integrate religion more holistically into the study of U.S. foreign relations. 🗃️

still pondering this piece. if you are interested in why rents (particularly in NYC) are so high, can't recommend it enough

2026: the year of three day school weeks

Penn announced we were open before we heard, which led me to believe / hope Penn knew the schools would be open. 😵

Francois Furstenberg on the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute — and much else, a great piece for @publicbooks.bsky.social

www.publicbooks.org/the-misuses-...

How and why police actually support the federal invasions—I have been working on this article for ~6 months, trying to make sense of Trump’s nationwide surge of DHS officers, how it has evolved, what brought us here, and what will remain after it ends.

Late last century I had the honor of earning a Ph.D from the finest American Studies department in the world at @utaustin.bsky.social.

This week the president of UT bowed to white supremacy and ended the department. I’m sick and angry. This is a dumb way to run a university.

How the groups behind ‘Penn Forward’ are shaping the University’s future The six working groups have submitted their recommendations to the plan’s steering committee ahead of a public release in “early 2026.” 

So inspired by all the management consultant speak glossing the otherwise confidential recommendations to overhaul the university. Sorry, "advance" the university. This is gonna be great. So many battlefronts.

www.thedp.com/article/2026...

I said this yesterday and I'll say it again. The Trump regime is running a squalid, disease-ridden and deadly concentration camp at Fort Bliss called Camp East Montana. Is it any wonder they don't want drones observing what happens there?

AI Doesn’t Reduce Work—It Intensifies It One of the promises of AI is that it can reduce workloads so employees can focus more on higher-value and more engaging tasks. But according to new research, AI tools don’t reduce work, they consisten...

Now wait just a minute?!

hbr.org/2026/02/ai-d...

Well hello there @dygottlieb.bsky.social! So excited to jump into this! Congratulations!

Older daughter to younger after tickling her: “I just took my happiness out on you”

The closure of the Bryn Mawr birth center is an inconceivable loss | Opinion After 47 years and over 16,000 deliveries, the birth center will close its doors. The reason is simple and stark: It can no longer afford the rising cost of insurance.

This is such a shame