Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

C. E. Aubin

@ceaubin.bsky.social

8.7K followers 1.7K following 2K posts

"A scholar and a hater" - The Guardian ◦ historian of nazis & america @ Yale ◦ fellow, RITM and @yalewhc ◦ THE HOMELAND, Cambridge UP 2026 ◦ host of This Guy Sucked, the world’s meanest history podcast opinions my own. https://thisguysucked.com

thisguysucked.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · Aug 5

I’m so beyond excited to share that This Guy Sucked was selected by Apple Podcasts as one of their top ten best new shows of 2025! How wild is that?!

Check out the rest of the list here: apple.co/bestsofar

13 18 170

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 7h

We might take some heat for this one!!!

1 9

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 7h

THIS THURSDAY ON TGS: Podmaster @ericsilver.bsky.social joins us for a chat about a guy who is beloved by many people but was not beloving them back. He mostly was beloving money and fame. Beloving is not a word.

A man sits at a table, gesturing. His face is scribbled out.

3 1 16

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 7h

Appalling. Gauche. Embarrassing

5 1 27

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 7h

To build on this, the interiors trend of putting books facing backwards so they become purely aesthetic mystery objects rather than things you intend to interact with should be criminalized

Nick Pettigrew @nick-pettigrew.bsky.social · 1d

The veneration of Books As Objects misses the point entirely. If you're reading a book, turn the corners down, break the spine, spill soup on it. It's your book, go nuts. A pristine, unread book is a tragedy in a way that a beloved, much-read book that looks like the dog's been at it could never be.

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

2 2 31

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 17h

Getting scolded for bald-shaming Himmler lives rent free in my head

Twitter post: just wanted to make sure everyone knows that not only was Himmler an extraordinarily cruel and evil man, he also had extremely bad hair. A slicked back tonsure.

Reply: there’s so much to hate on him for, it’s a bad look to bald shame or fashion shame him. Oof, expecting spicy replies

2 3 49

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 18h

Okay so what if I told you there was a podcast where we —

Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 1d

I used to think people just didn’t understand what Columbus did but now I think some are really attached to him (as opposed to other worthy italians to celebrate) because their whole thing is not only getting away with doing horrible things but forcing everyone to praise them for being horrible

2 20

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 1d

yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reposted by C. E. Aubin

Patrick Wyman @patrickwyman.bsky.social · 1d

Big news, friends: on December 3rd, I'll be launching a brand-new history show, "Past Lives." Every episode focuses on the life of a real person from history and tries to make sense of their experiences and their world. There will be weekly scripted episodes and tons of bonus content on Patreon.

21 69 590

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 1d

I haven’t heard the word ‘cafetorium’ in years

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 1d

I am learning that every Portlander had this in their bathroom specifically - which is funny because *we* had it in our bathroom

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 1d

Here is a poster that hung in my house my entire life, and which my mom gave to me when we moved to CT. The photo in it was taken in downtown Portland in 1978, and the man in it was a bar owner at the time - six years later he became the Mayor.

THIS is Portland humor, which is not new!

2 1 42

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 1d

It was in our downstairs bathroom as well!

Reposted by C. E. Aubin

jon ben-menachem @jbenmenachem.com · 1d

need an automated filter for replies of the genre "If I had posted this, I would have changed this one word"

Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social · 1d

going viral here is worse than it used to be on twitter because half of the replies will just be pure pedantry

2 36

Reposted by C. E. Aubin

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 1d

Have you ever wondered What Happened To The Internet? Well, the gang from Wow If True ( @amanda.omg.lol and @isabel.kim) joined me for a collab episode to dive head first into enshittification and the history of our online world!

4 39 95

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 1d

Took on too many things this month and I am very much experiencing the consequences of ‘saying yes to everything’ in real time

Reposted by C. E. Aubin

Deborah McDowell @dem8z.bsky.social · 1d

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!!

The University of Texas-Austin is beginning a process to eliminate the Black Studies, Latino Studies, and Gender Studies departments in the College of Liberal Arts. This is a grave threat to the educational liberty of students, faculty, staff, and the people of Texas. 1/

24 960 1.2K

Reposted by C. E. Aubin

Josh Shepperd @joshshepperd.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks to American Campus, the podcast about the history of higher education, for featuring my book. We talk about how NPR and PBS emerged from equal access to education discourses. And how Media Studies originated as a strategy of public media activism.

How universities created NPR and PBS with Josh Shepperd - American Campus Podcast

How public universities gave rise to public mediaReferences and suggested readings:Josh Shepperd. 2023. Shadow of the New Deal: The Victory of Public Broadcasting. University of Illinois Press.Laura G...

americancampuspodcast.buzzsprout.com

1 43 130

Reposted by C. E. Aubin

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 1d

I'd add just one wrinkle to what C.E. has said here--and that has to do with the place of Portland in the imaginations of the more reactionary Oregon libertarians who live outside of Portland (or Eugene). Nothing says "Oregon libertarian" like wanting to impose authoritarian control over Portland.

5 26 180

Reposted by C. E. Aubin

ashley scarebanks 💀🕯️ @ziibiing.com · 1d

lol “find your own instead of stealing” in defense of columbus day

AJ West • 1h
Find your own holiday instead of stealing. Today is Columbus Day as designated by the federal government
Reply
6

130 1.1K 5.8K

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 1d

Yes to all of this!!! Portland as an aspirational imaginary entity for Oregonians living outside of it (both in terms of the aspiration of imposing control and the aspiration of escaping control) is very real and important.

Reposted by C. E. Aubin

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 1d

Intergenerational tension is a thing in any modern society, but in Oregon those tensions often map onto one's feelings about Portland. Young kids who don't fit in somewhere in Oregon will dream about escaping their families/towns and moving to Portland. Conservative parents fear this will happen.

5 18 150

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 1d

I also want to add - this wasn’t to say Portland is the greatest city ever, since there are a LOT of problems that get routinely glossed over in the ‘teehee shitposter’ narrative. For example, the long-term virulent racism and more recent gentrification of working class/minority ethnic neighborhoods

15 25 610

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 1d

I am being reminded of so many things I could have included as touchstones of Portland culture!!! Zoobombing! The Velveteria! 24 Hour Church of Elvis! The Roxy!

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 1d

What The Hell Is Going On, a thread:

I’ve seen some thinkpieces and posts about Portland protests that fail to understand the long-term hyperspecificity of Portland culture/humor, and frame it as a sort of shitposting meme-pilled ironic thing. Which is wrong.

So I’m gonna give you my breakdown.

3 5 41

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 1d

Zoobombing!!!!!

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 1d

We can agree to disagree. This thread was aimed at people who don’t know or understand what Portland’s political culture is like and could use some context, so if you already do then that’s wonderful!

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 1d

The 24 hour church of Elvis!!!!!