Author | Lightnews

Megan Birk

@megbirk.bsky.social

190 followers 81 following 42 posts

Historian, basset hound person, national park visitor, sloth hiking team (we get there when we get there), Costco member, wine drinker, etc… Author of Fostering on the Farm, and The Fundamental Institution - UIL press. Views my own and so forth and so on

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Megan Birk @megbirk.bsky.social · Oct 2

We are so fucked

Megan Birk @megbirk.bsky.social · Sep 25

My usual first stop in DSM - The Early Bird saves me from archival stomach rumblings and a caffeine withdrawal headache every time

Reposted by Megan Birk

Midwestern History Association @midwesternhistory.bsky.social · Aug 12

🚨CFP🚨 The Midwestern History Association invites proposals for the 12th Midwestern History Conference, Thursday, April 30–Friday, May 1, 2026, hosted by Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in conjunction with its annual Altman Symposium in the humanities. Submission Deadline: Monday, December 8, 2025.

2026 Conference — Midwestern History Association

www.midwesternhistory.com

1 11 15

Reposted by Megan Birk

John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · Aug 21

BREAKING: A new experiment in Philly shows cash rental assistance slashed homelessness rates by 57–67%.

87 1.2K 4.3K

Reposted by Megan Birk

Nikita Gill @nikitagill.bsky.social · Mar 4

A few people have shared this here today, so I thought I’d post it.

The rage you are feeling comes from the same place inside your heart as the love.
This is why you refuse to accept a world where cruelty reigns and the fire consumes all.
You have known hope and joy and kindness like you have known water.
And justice is a river that demands
you do not give up on it.
- Nikita Gill

36 540 1.6K

Reposted by Megan Birk

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Jul 10

"The nation has faced, many times, a conservative Court aligned with bigotry and big business. But the nation has not previously faced a conservative Court aligned with helping the president become a king." — @snipy.bsky.social

The worst chief justice of all time

Move over, Roger Taney and Melville Fuller.

www.publicnotice.co

99 810 2.6K

Megan Birk @megbirk.bsky.social · Jul 9

Ahh yes, the old “these poors can work to feed themselves” line. I’m just going to drop this here for my own edification. I know these people don’t read www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=87...

Reposted by Megan Birk

SpecLion 🔜 PAWcon @spectacledlion.bsky.social · May 28

Time to post it again.

A meme from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. In the top panel, one man labeled "literally every company" hands a plate labeled "AI" to a man labeled "me." In the bottom panel, the man labeled "me" nonchalantly tosses the plate down the hallway, discarding it with casual disdain while the first man watches.

96 12K 26K

Megan Birk @megbirk.bsky.social · May 17

A huge thank you to everyone who came and made #mha2025 a huge success. The team at #SHSI was amazing - we couldn’t ask for better partners. There is amazing scholarship about the Midwest happening (grad students you rocked) and next year can’t come soon enough! First, I need a nap!

Megan Birk @megbirk.bsky.social · Apr 18

I felt this in my bones

🏳️‍⚧️ Josephine Riesman @josie.zone · Apr 18

Damn, this book is gonna be good

I hope society doesn't collapse before I can publish

Megan Birk @megbirk.bsky.social · Apr 13

When the research and the news are too close for comfort

The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · Apr 13

RFK Jr.’s clearest proposal so far is his campaign promise to create wellness farms where Americans would reconnect with the soil, an old idea that’s failed many times, @shaylalove.bsky.social reports:

RFK Jr.’s 18th-Century Idea About Mental Health

The health secretary’s clearest plans for psychiatric treatment are a retreat to the past.

bit.ly

Megan Birk @megbirk.bsky.social · Apr 9

Who among us does not know every word of this banger?

Nicholas Wallace @wallace.bsky.social · Apr 9

Many of modern America’s problems can be traced back to the 2000 smash hit “It wasnt me” by Shaggy, which pioneered the sort of shameless dishonesty in the face of directly contradictory facts that is now sadly commonplace in our culture

Megan Birk @megbirk.bsky.social · Apr 5

Happening now: What’s Next in Midwestern History at OAH

Megan Birk @megbirk.bsky.social · Apr 3

We had a fantastic turnout today for the MHA ⚡️round at OAH. It was inspiring to hear from our future colleagues about their work

Presenters discuss their dissertation research seated at a long table in a conference room

Megan Birk @megbirk.bsky.social · Apr 2

The MHA is excited to promote graduate student work tomorrow at OAH - please join us for the ⚡️round at 2:45

Reposted by Megan Birk

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · Mar 30

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

7 120 400

Reposted by Megan Birk

Hamilton Nolan @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social · Mar 25

Labor friends in Washington state tell me that ICE “violently” detained farmworker activist Lelo Juarez today. They’re looking for immediate support. More info at this link, and below.

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

7 260 540

Megan Birk @megbirk.bsky.social · Mar 14

Step aside and let someone else lead - it’s the least you could do at this point

Reposted by Megan Birk

Truthout @truthout.org · Mar 5

Sen. Bernie Sanders highlighted a new analysis showing that the wealthiest 1% has extracted $79 trillion from the bottom 90% of Americans since 1975. In 2023 alone, $3.9 trillion was redirected upward—enough to provide every U.S. worker with a $32,000 raise.

Sanders: 1 Percent Has Sapped $79T in Wealth From Bottom 90 Percent Since 1975

In 2023 alone, $3.9 trillion was sapped from the bottom 90 percent— enough to give every worker a $32,000 raise.

buff.ly

27 640 1.6K

Reposted by Megan Birk

Emily L. Hauser (she/her) ❌👑 @emilylhauser.bsky.social · Feb 6

This is very nearly the text of the recently-surging-in-popularity 1944 OSS (proto-CIA) publication "Simple Sabotage Field Manual" which suggests, among other things: "WORK SLOWLY," "misroute materials," "snarl up administration in every possible way," & "misunderstand all sorts of regulations"💪

7 61 220

Megan Birk @megbirk.bsky.social · Jan 29

In addition to feeding people: babies, children, the elderly, WIC and SNAP generate between $4-$9 for every dollar spent by the programs. Just maybe a relevant issue for the week. Government spending doesn’t just help people, programs and grants are also economic engines at the local and state level

Reposted by Megan Birk

AHeise @aheise.bsky.social · Jan 23

If people want to write their senators this site has info on how much economic impact NIH has in each state:

www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-...

20 110 160

Megan Birk @megbirk.bsky.social · Dec 12

Friendly reminder on Jan. 15 deadline for the MHA Gjerde Book Prize @illinoispress.bsky.social @univnebpress.bsky.social @uchicagopress.bsky.social @uminnpress.bsky.social @ucpress.bsky.social @uncpress.bsky.social

Jon Gjerde Prize — Midwestern History Association

www.midwesternhistory.com

Megan Birk @megbirk.bsky.social · Dec 6

Feel free to call

Reposted by Megan Birk

ProPublica @propublica.org · Dec 5

In case you missed it, we recently re-shared our story of an 8-year-old who was killed on a Wisconsin dairy farm.

You can read the full "America's Dairyland" series here: www.propublica.org/series/ameri...

7 64 220