Elsbeth
@historecluse.bsky.social
Historian of epidemics, exhibitions, hospital medicine, the state, taxes, civilization and, currently, US economic thought.
Pinned
Elsbeth
@historecluse.bsky.social
· Jul 7
"Historical scholarship, pluralism, and the possibility of sharing wealth and power," by E.A. Heaman, part of @earlycanada.bsky.social's final series--speaking to our present political moment. earlycanadianhistory.ca/2025/07/07/h...
Historical scholarship, pluralism, and the possibility of sharing wealth and power
E.A. Heaman Editors’ note: This week marks the final series for Borealia after a decade of online public history and conversation. You can read our thank you remarks here, and will be able to…
earlycanadianhistory.ca
Shorter Heaman thesis.
Reposted by Elsbeth
That was fast. A right-wing mayor elected last month, first cycle paths removed in favour of cat parking already. Boom.
Une piste cyclable éliminée pour tout l’hiver à Outremont
www.ledevoir.com/actualites/t...
Une piste cyclable éliminée pour tout l’hiver à Outremont
www.ledevoir.com/actualites/t...
Une piste cyclable éliminée pour tout l’hiver à Outremont
Cela ajoutera des cases de stationnement, plus rares à cause du déneigement, explique la mairesse de l’arrondissement.
www.ledevoir.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:17 PM
That was fast. A right-wing mayor elected last month, first cycle paths removed in favour of cat parking already. Boom.
Une piste cyclable éliminée pour tout l’hiver à Outremont
www.ledevoir.com/actualites/t...
Une piste cyclable éliminée pour tout l’hiver à Outremont
www.ledevoir.com/actualites/t...
Reposted by Elsbeth
Bought and sold
November 21, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Bought and sold
Reposted by Elsbeth
Canada and the real allies of democracy must do more to support Ukraine.
This is not a peace deal and it’s not asking anything of the Russians. It’s just the US on behalf of the Russians pressuring Ukraine to surrender www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
U.S. pushing Ukraine to sign peace deal by Thanksgiving or lose support
The U.S. is now sending “signals” that everything could be off the table if Kyiv does not quickly sign a proposal, which was drawn up by special envoy Witkoff.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Canada and the real allies of democracy must do more to support Ukraine.
Reposted by Elsbeth
I am very pleased and grateful to share this announcement of our recent award from the @wellcometrust.bsky.social for a project on history of smallpox and measles #histmed #histsci news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-h... The project will be based @exeter.ac.uk @cceh-u24.bsky.social led by ... 1/2
Exeter scholars secure significant research funding to investigate the early history of Smallpox and Measles
The early histories of smallpox and measles – and the insight they might offer to contemporary health and medicine – will be under the microscope of a new research project. Pustules, Palaeogenetics an...
news.exeter.ac.uk
November 19, 2025 at 12:54 PM
I am very pleased and grateful to share this announcement of our recent award from the @wellcometrust.bsky.social for a project on history of smallpox and measles #histmed #histsci news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-h... The project will be based @exeter.ac.uk @cceh-u24.bsky.social led by ... 1/2
Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins on lessons from the twentieth century for the twenty-first.
wesleyanargus.com/2025/11/21/l...
wesleyanargus.com/2025/11/21/l...
Letters on Pragmatic Hope: Political Faith in an Age of Despair – The Wesleyan Argus
wesleyanargus.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins on lessons from the twentieth century for the twenty-first.
wesleyanargus.com/2025/11/21/l...
wesleyanargus.com/2025/11/21/l...
Reposted by Elsbeth
"In Anne of Green Gables, I found the kindred spirits and queer prophets I needed".
In Anne of Green Gables, I found the kindred spirits and queer prophets I needed | CBC Arts
In the latest edition of Emerging Queer Voices, writer Julia Smeaton considers the impact of Lucy Maud Montgomery's novels on her own identity.
www.cbc.ca
November 21, 2025 at 11:25 AM
"In Anne of Green Gables, I found the kindred spirits and queer prophets I needed".
Reposted by Elsbeth
“Claudia Sahm, a former Fed economist who blasted Summers and others for sexism in a widely shared and highly critical 2020 blog post, sounded vindicated. “Okay, so maybe I wasn’t too mean to him…” she said on social media after the emails were made public last week.” www.wsj.com/us-news/larr...
How Larry Summers’s Power Delayed the Reckoning Over His Epstein Ties
The former Treasury Secretary and Harvard president’s enormous network and clout kept him immune from past Jeffrey Epstein revelations. But this time was just too much.
www.wsj.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:02 AM
“Claudia Sahm, a former Fed economist who blasted Summers and others for sexism in a widely shared and highly critical 2020 blog post, sounded vindicated. “Okay, so maybe I wasn’t too mean to him…” she said on social media after the emails were made public last week.” www.wsj.com/us-news/larr...
Reposted by Elsbeth
LLMs give people with delusional belief systems a way to organise those beliefs. The model fills in gaps, supplies connective tissue, and wraps the madness in formal language.
It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.
It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.
November 19, 2025 at 2:22 PM
LLMs give people with delusional belief systems a way to organise those beliefs. The model fills in gaps, supplies connective tissue, and wraps the madness in formal language.
It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.
It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.
Reposted by Elsbeth
I am by no means a prominent public intellectual, but my inbox is increasingly filled with messages from people who have been convinced by sycophantic chatbots that they have discovered revolutionary theories that entirely upend our scientific understanding of the universe.
November 21, 2025 at 2:49 AM
I am by no means a prominent public intellectual, but my inbox is increasingly filled with messages from people who have been convinced by sycophantic chatbots that they have discovered revolutionary theories that entirely upend our scientific understanding of the universe.
Reposted by Elsbeth
I asked grok who was the better role model for humanity, Jesus Christ or Elon Musk. GUESS WHAT.
November 20, 2025 at 8:34 PM
I asked grok who was the better role model for humanity, Jesus Christ or Elon Musk. GUESS WHAT.
Reposted by Elsbeth
Again -- DHS doing a well-worn template. Cf. this 1938 postage stamp from the German Reich with its simple, straightforward message ("The housing shortage is the Jews' fault")
November 20, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Again -- DHS doing a well-worn template. Cf. this 1938 postage stamp from the German Reich with its simple, straightforward message ("The housing shortage is the Jews' fault")
Reposted by Elsbeth
Let's see....
1. It's noticed that Trump's voice is markedly raspy.
2. Trump begins random calls out for executions.
Yes, it would seem that the U.S. has reached the Steiner Rant stage.....
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjPe...
1. It's noticed that Trump's voice is markedly raspy.
2. Trump begins random calls out for executions.
Yes, it would seem that the U.S. has reached the Steiner Rant stage.....
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjPe...
Downfall: Famous Bunker Scene (Actual Translation, Remastered, 1080p)
YouTube video by Gaming Tohru aka Shinoa Hiiragi
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Let's see....
1. It's noticed that Trump's voice is markedly raspy.
2. Trump begins random calls out for executions.
Yes, it would seem that the U.S. has reached the Steiner Rant stage.....
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjPe...
1. It's noticed that Trump's voice is markedly raspy.
2. Trump begins random calls out for executions.
Yes, it would seem that the U.S. has reached the Steiner Rant stage.....
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjPe...
Reposted by Elsbeth
absolutely right!
November 20, 2025 at 2:43 PM
absolutely right!
Reposted by Elsbeth
Andrew's book on the politics of smallpox in the American Revolution is such a great book and his argument below about people articulating inoculation as a *right* of the people is so important! @bachynski.bsky.social
November 20, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Andrew's book on the politics of smallpox in the American Revolution is such a great book and his argument below about people articulating inoculation as a *right* of the people is so important! @bachynski.bsky.social
Reposted by Elsbeth
'For academics it is time for a reckoning, as they need to find a way to deal with “fake research” by illiberal mercenaries. Academic ideals mandate engaging with challenging ideas, but what if these ideas are funded by an authoritarian state?'
Castles of Illiberal Thought
verfassungsblog.de
November 20, 2025 at 1:07 AM
'For academics it is time for a reckoning, as they need to find a way to deal with “fake research” by illiberal mercenaries. Academic ideals mandate engaging with challenging ideas, but what if these ideas are funded by an authoritarian state?'
Reposted by Elsbeth
Deze prachtige draad maakt echt nieuwgierig!
Een ‘zondvloedland,’ zo karakteriseerde ik het beeld van de Lage Landen in 17de- en 18de-eeuwse geleerde natuurgeschiedenissen. Het denken over het verleden van de Aarde bewoog tussen Bijbelse zondvloed en de volgende dijkdoorbraak, tussen schriftgeleerden en turfstekers. 1/
November 20, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Deze prachtige draad maakt echt nieuwgierig!
Reposted by Elsbeth
Whenever you hear anyone spouting racism, and spreading misinformation: this what they are desperately trying to deflect attention from. The billionaires are the real problem.
November 20, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Whenever you hear anyone spouting racism, and spreading misinformation: this what they are desperately trying to deflect attention from. The billionaires are the real problem.
Reposted by Elsbeth
Can’t believe the whole country has to suffer through the return of Dickensian childhood diseases because the worst, most ignorant attention-demanders decided other people’s expertise makes them feel bad
November 20, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Can’t believe the whole country has to suffer through the return of Dickensian childhood diseases because the worst, most ignorant attention-demanders decided other people’s expertise makes them feel bad
Reposted by Elsbeth
Thrilled to see our latest paper published in @iojournal.bsky.social! 🥳
"Dollar Diminished: The Unmaking of US Financial Hegemony Under Trump" co-authored with Tobias Pforr (@eui-eu.bsky.social) and @fabianpape.bsky.social 🙂
doi.org/10.1017/S002...
"Dollar Diminished: The Unmaking of US Financial Hegemony Under Trump" co-authored with Tobias Pforr (@eui-eu.bsky.social) and @fabianpape.bsky.social 🙂
doi.org/10.1017/S002...
November 20, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Thrilled to see our latest paper published in @iojournal.bsky.social! 🥳
"Dollar Diminished: The Unmaking of US Financial Hegemony Under Trump" co-authored with Tobias Pforr (@eui-eu.bsky.social) and @fabianpape.bsky.social 🙂
doi.org/10.1017/S002...
"Dollar Diminished: The Unmaking of US Financial Hegemony Under Trump" co-authored with Tobias Pforr (@eui-eu.bsky.social) and @fabianpape.bsky.social 🙂
doi.org/10.1017/S002...
Reposted by Elsbeth
Ok BlueSky: what are your favorite history books in terms of sheer page-turning, narrative propulsion? Thinking along the line of Killers of the Flower Moon, etc. Nonfiction chronicles that read like novels or movies.
November 19, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Ok BlueSky: what are your favorite history books in terms of sheer page-turning, narrative propulsion? Thinking along the line of Killers of the Flower Moon, etc. Nonfiction chronicles that read like novels or movies.
Reposted by Elsbeth
My book has a webpage!
In case you want to pre-order a copy (or, more probably, request that your library does so).
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
In case you want to pre-order a copy (or, more probably, request that your library does so).
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
global.oup.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:01 PM
My book has a webpage!
In case you want to pre-order a copy (or, more probably, request that your library does so).
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
In case you want to pre-order a copy (or, more probably, request that your library does so).
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Reposted by Elsbeth
“Nobody is capable of free speech unless he knows how to use language, and such knowledge is not a gift: it has to be learned and worked at.” Northrup Frye (APS 1976)
Check back weekly for APS Members' words of wisdom!
#usefulknowledge #wordsofwisdom #learning
Check back weekly for APS Members' words of wisdom!
#usefulknowledge #wordsofwisdom #learning
November 19, 2025 at 2:15 PM
“Nobody is capable of free speech unless he knows how to use language, and such knowledge is not a gift: it has to be learned and worked at.” Northrup Frye (APS 1976)
Check back weekly for APS Members' words of wisdom!
#usefulknowledge #wordsofwisdom #learning
Check back weekly for APS Members' words of wisdom!
#usefulknowledge #wordsofwisdom #learning
Reposted by Elsbeth
#ArtHistory 🗃️ 🐡
While Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was creating paintings for a French brothel, he learned that women who support themselves by catering to the sexual wants of men often seek genuine affection from one another.
"The Two Friends" (1895) is one of his most beautiful paintings.
While Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was creating paintings for a French brothel, he learned that women who support themselves by catering to the sexual wants of men often seek genuine affection from one another.
"The Two Friends" (1895) is one of his most beautiful paintings.
November 18, 2025 at 10:07 PM
#ArtHistory 🗃️ 🐡
While Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was creating paintings for a French brothel, he learned that women who support themselves by catering to the sexual wants of men often seek genuine affection from one another.
"The Two Friends" (1895) is one of his most beautiful paintings.
While Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was creating paintings for a French brothel, he learned that women who support themselves by catering to the sexual wants of men often seek genuine affection from one another.
"The Two Friends" (1895) is one of his most beautiful paintings.
Reposted by Elsbeth
My stupid galaxy brain continues to be "a foundational problems with the modern American left is that its luminaries are largely entertainers & academics, two groups who not only don't have to pass policy but actually benefit from continued leftist marginal status by retaining their cool cred."
November 18, 2025 at 7:01 PM
My stupid galaxy brain continues to be "a foundational problems with the modern American left is that its luminaries are largely entertainers & academics, two groups who not only don't have to pass policy but actually benefit from continued leftist marginal status by retaining their cool cred."
Reposted by Elsbeth
The @washingtonpost op-ed page on Friday, October 5, 2018
November 18, 2025 at 7:13 PM
The @washingtonpost op-ed page on Friday, October 5, 2018