Benjamin L. Carp 🎏
@bencarp.bsky.social
Historian of Early America, Brooklyn College & Graduate Center, CUNY. Leading AHA wit. Latest AmRev book: "The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution" 🔥 Dad, Mets fan, fantasy reader
Pinned
Benjamin L. Carp 🎏
@bencarp.bsky.social
· Jul 21
Here I am, as the Scorpions once foretold.
A new review of (and excerpts from) my book on the Great New York Fire of 1776: www.americanhistorycentral.com/great-new-yo...
Great New York Fire of 1776 | Review and Excerpts
Read AHC's review of the Great New York Fire of 1776 by Benjamin Carp. With excerpts and links to AHC entries.
www.americanhistorycentral.com
December 6, 2025 at 1:40 AM
A new review of (and excerpts from) my book on the Great New York Fire of 1776: www.americanhistorycentral.com/great-new-yo...
A Pomeranian origin story
December 5, 2025 at 3:01 PM
A Pomeranian origin story
Reposted by Benjamin L. Carp 🎏
As part of our ongoing 250: An Independent History series for the @baruch.cuny.edu community, we're hosting @brooklyncollege.bsky.social @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social @historygc.bsky.social prof. Benjamin Carp who will join our very own prof. Alexander Manevitz on Dec 9 to discuss Revolutionary NYC
December 4, 2025 at 8:01 PM
As part of our ongoing 250: An Independent History series for the @baruch.cuny.edu community, we're hosting @brooklyncollege.bsky.social @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social @historygc.bsky.social prof. Benjamin Carp who will join our very own prof. Alexander Manevitz on Dec 9 to discuss Revolutionary NYC
I like making my mom laugh
December 3, 2025 at 3:19 PM
I like making my mom laugh
12yo wanted to put on the Humpty Dance, which he learned about from one of the Sing movies; this led Spotify to play Outkast, Naughty by Nature, Eric B. and Rakim, Rob Base...
December 3, 2025 at 1:32 AM
12yo wanted to put on the Humpty Dance, which he learned about from one of the Sing movies; this led Spotify to play Outkast, Naughty by Nature, Eric B. and Rakim, Rob Base...
New article idea just dropped
“”Touching, cowboy’/Touching Cowboy: The Yuletide Critique of American Exceptionalism in ‘Die Hard’ and ‘Love, Actually.’”
December 2, 2025 at 2:39 PM
New article idea just dropped
If you’d rather see Alan Rickman in “Love, Actually,” then I don’t know what to tell you
British public’s verdict is in: Die Hard is not a Christmas movie
British public’s verdict is in: Die Hard is not a Christmas movie
Survey also reveals Britons’ favourite festive film, views on tear-jerkers and family cinema trips
When Macaulay Culkin recently said he didn’t consider Die Hard to be a Christmas film – wading into one of pop culture’s most heated holiday debates – he was booed by a live audience.
But it looks like the British people are behind the actor, with a survey revealing that Home Alone is the UK’s favourite festive film, while Die Hard has officially been voted not a Christmas movie. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:34 PM
If you’d rather see Alan Rickman in “Love, Actually,” then I don’t know what to tell you
Today in class a student asked me how history scholars separate their traumatic response from reading about slavery in the archives from their mandate to teach rationally about slavery--this makes me optimistic that all is not yet lost (granted--I am unionized, tenured, in Mamdani's NYC, etc.)
An issue we're seeing at all levels of university is that many students are simply refusing to do *anything*. They aren't reading the syllabus, aren't following assignment guidelines, aren't engaging with material, ignoring deadlines. And this might seem like old news, but it truly has ramped up.
December 1, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Today in class a student asked me how history scholars separate their traumatic response from reading about slavery in the archives from their mandate to teach rationally about slavery--this makes me optimistic that all is not yet lost (granted--I am unionized, tenured, in Mamdani's NYC, etc.)
Reposted by Benjamin L. Carp 🎏
“Based on the available evidence, the skills that future graduates will most need in the AI era—creative thinking, the capacity to learn new things, flexible modes of analysis—are precisely those that are likely to be eroded by inserting AI into the educational process.”
“When you allow a machine to summarize your reading, to generate the ideas for your essay, and then to write that essay, you’re not learning how to read, think, or write.“
November 30, 2025 at 11:10 AM
“Based on the available evidence, the skills that future graduates will most need in the AI era—creative thinking, the capacity to learn new things, flexible modes of analysis—are precisely those that are likely to be eroded by inserting AI into the educational process.”
Admit it, though: if YOU had a hammer, you’d hammer in the morning, you’d hammer in the evening, all over this land…
November 27, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Admit it, though: if YOU had a hammer, you’d hammer in the morning, you’d hammer in the evening, all over this land…
Thank you, Heather, for the firehose of mentions! I also like to inaugurate the holiday season with this piece from @ageofrevolutions.bsky.social about how the same people who invented Santa Claus distorted the Revolutionary history of NYC: ageofrevolutions.com/2022/12/05/m...
November 25, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Thank you, Heather, for the firehose of mentions! I also like to inaugurate the holiday season with this piece from @ageofrevolutions.bsky.social about how the same people who invented Santa Claus distorted the Revolutionary history of NYC: ageofrevolutions.com/2022/12/05/m...
NARRATOR (Motoring): What's your price for flight?
November 25, 2025 at 4:03 AM
NARRATOR (Motoring): What's your price for flight?
The Bulldogocracy!
I'm excited to announce that I have been asked to join the Mamdani Transition Team to work on community safety issues. A New Era for NYC.
November 25, 2025 at 12:21 AM
The Bulldogocracy!
This is my Thanksgivingest social media post of all time. Have a great one, everybody! 🦃
Nothing like a big family for reducing stress
November 24, 2025 at 3:44 PM
This is my Thanksgivingest social media post of all time. Have a great one, everybody! 🦃
Reposted by Benjamin L. Carp 🎏
Brandon Nimmo is the first millionaire to flee Zohran Mamdani's Communist New York City
November 23, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Brandon Nimmo is the first millionaire to flee Zohran Mamdani's Communist New York City
Say what you will about Trump, he went from “Quiet, Piggy!” to embracing the halal cart guy in record time
November 22, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Say what you will about Trump, he went from “Quiet, Piggy!” to embracing the halal cart guy in record time
An argument for learning more about typhus, smallpox, etc., during the American Revolution: “Remember the maladies!”
November 21, 2025 at 4:43 PM
An argument for learning more about typhus, smallpox, etc., during the American Revolution: “Remember the maladies!”
🎄 Just in time for the holidays, we're doing a departmental elf study today! 🧝 I'm not sure why this is necessary for our college's accreditation--I just do what they tell me.
November 20, 2025 at 2:34 PM
🎄 Just in time for the holidays, we're doing a departmental elf study today! 🧝 I'm not sure why this is necessary for our college's accreditation--I just do what they tell me.
I got my son to laugh at this oldie:
A rabbit, a priest and an imam walk into a bar.
The rabbit says, "I think I'm a typo."
A rabbit, a priest and an imam walk into a bar.
The rabbit says, "I think I'm a typo."
November 20, 2025 at 1:21 AM
I got my son to laugh at this oldie:
A rabbit, a priest and an imam walk into a bar.
The rabbit says, "I think I'm a typo."
A rabbit, a priest and an imam walk into a bar.
The rabbit says, "I think I'm a typo."
To paraphrase Dennis Hopper in "Speed," in 249 years we've gone from "I regret but I have one life to give for my country" to "Quiet, piggy!"
November 19, 2025 at 12:55 AM
To paraphrase Dennis Hopper in "Speed," in 249 years we've gone from "I regret but I have one life to give for my country" to "Quiet, piggy!"
Something else just occurred to me, thinking about old movies: maybe those conference hotel room interviews were a throwback to a time when academic departments could afford palatial suites with a separate living area? And things contracted…
November 17, 2025 at 3:11 AM
Something else just occurred to me, thinking about old movies: maybe those conference hotel room interviews were a throwback to a time when academic departments could afford palatial suites with a separate living area? And things contracted…
You know who else had a hotel room interview? The hapless wheelman in the original “Thomas Crown Affair”
November 16, 2025 at 11:56 PM
You know who else had a hotel room interview? The hapless wheelman in the original “Thomas Crown Affair”
This is the best dialogue exchange in “Clueless” by far, I love it forever.
Josh: Which I'll bet serves your interests more than theirs. You know, If I ever saw you do anything that wasn't ninety percent selfish, I'd die of shock.
Cher: Oh, that'd be reason enough for me.
Josh: Which I'll bet serves your interests more than theirs. You know, If I ever saw you do anything that wasn't ninety percent selfish, I'd die of shock.
Cher: Oh, that'd be reason enough for me.
November 16, 2025 at 4:35 PM
This is the best dialogue exchange in “Clueless” by far, I love it forever.
Josh: Which I'll bet serves your interests more than theirs. You know, If I ever saw you do anything that wasn't ninety percent selfish, I'd die of shock.
Cher: Oh, that'd be reason enough for me.
Josh: Which I'll bet serves your interests more than theirs. You know, If I ever saw you do anything that wasn't ninety percent selfish, I'd die of shock.
Cher: Oh, that'd be reason enough for me.