Rebecca Spang
@rlspang.bsky.social
Professor of History, sometimes administrator at big public university in Midwest. Writes about money, French Revolution, restaurants. Friend to vert paleo.
ex UCL History; Yale SOM Visiting Fellow; Guggenheim and New America Fellow.
once/future Mainer
ex UCL History; Yale SOM Visiting Fellow; Guggenheim and New America Fellow.
once/future Mainer
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
11/29/25 At Noon Audacity CAT on Thanksgiving Saturday. A frigid and beautiful day in Rockland, Maine with a wind chill and 145 cheerful people came to offer serious resistance to the MAGA leadership seeking to control our country. Only the people driving by and offering honking support felt warm!
November 29, 2025 at 9:39 PM
11/29/25 At Noon Audacity CAT on Thanksgiving Saturday. A frigid and beautiful day in Rockland, Maine with a wind chill and 145 cheerful people came to offer serious resistance to the MAGA leadership seeking to control our country. Only the people driving by and offering honking support felt warm!
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
“The people whose rights are being violated don’t have a lot of power, and the people responsible for the pollution are huge mega corporations with a lot of power…And they’ve been getting away with this for decades now.”
'The Precedent Is Flint': How Oregon's Data Center Boom Is Supercharging a Water Crisis
Amazon data centers constructed in eastern Oregon's farmland have worsened a water pollution problem that’s been linked to cancer and miscarriages.
www.rollingstone.com
November 29, 2025 at 3:01 PM
“The people whose rights are being violated don’t have a lot of power, and the people responsible for the pollution are huge mega corporations with a lot of power…And they’ve been getting away with this for decades now.”
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Think one of the reasons people don’t teach books is that it’s a lot harder to design lessons that people now associate with “good instruction” when you just need, for example, to popcorn read and chat with your kids
November 29, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Think one of the reasons people don’t teach books is that it’s a lot harder to design lessons that people now associate with “good instruction” when you just need, for example, to popcorn read and chat with your kids
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
The newsletter is out! I teach my kids about probability, I teach you about gambling, I learn about how miserable flying is, and more! All free to read, as always.
www.howtoreadthisch.art/thanks-visua...
www.howtoreadthisch.art/thanks-visua...
Thanks, visualized
I'm mixing it up a bit this week, presenting charts and data visualizations and maps and so on but with a contrived theme: Things for which I am thankful. See, on Thursday it was Thanksgiving, a holid...
www.howtoreadthisch.art
November 29, 2025 at 3:17 PM
The newsletter is out! I teach my kids about probability, I teach you about gambling, I learn about how miserable flying is, and more! All free to read, as always.
www.howtoreadthisch.art/thanks-visua...
www.howtoreadthisch.art/thanks-visua...
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Some of us were saying during the shutdown that Democrats should have at least made the demand that Trump fire Vought to reopen the government since he's doing impoundment
Think of how to force the firing of Miller, Vought, Bondi, Hegseth, Noem, RFK & finding leverage to make it costly to keep them
Think of how to force the firing of Miller, Vought, Bondi, Hegseth, Noem, RFK & finding leverage to make it costly to keep them
November 29, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Some of us were saying during the shutdown that Democrats should have at least made the demand that Trump fire Vought to reopen the government since he's doing impoundment
Think of how to force the firing of Miller, Vought, Bondi, Hegseth, Noem, RFK & finding leverage to make it costly to keep them
Think of how to force the firing of Miller, Vought, Bondi, Hegseth, Noem, RFK & finding leverage to make it costly to keep them
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Indiana Senate Republican Greg Walker “said he would have reported the alleged violation to federal authorities “if I thought that there was anyone of integrity in Washington that would follow through on my accusation ..”
@adamwren.bsky.social #redistrict
dailyjournal.net/2025/11/26/s...
@adamwren.bsky.social #redistrict
dailyjournal.net/2025/11/26/s...
November 29, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Indiana Senate Republican Greg Walker “said he would have reported the alleged violation to federal authorities “if I thought that there was anyone of integrity in Washington that would follow through on my accusation ..”
@adamwren.bsky.social #redistrict
dailyjournal.net/2025/11/26/s...
@adamwren.bsky.social #redistrict
dailyjournal.net/2025/11/26/s...
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Every holiday season since 1966, the city of Gävle, Sweden, has erected a giant Yule goat made of straw in the town square.
This festive symbol has become famous not only for its impressive size, but also for its history of repeated arson. ➡️ w.wiki/_BC2
This festive symbol has become famous not only for its impressive size, but also for its history of repeated arson. ➡️ w.wiki/_BC2
December 24, 2024 at 11:40 AM
Every holiday season since 1966, the city of Gävle, Sweden, has erected a giant Yule goat made of straw in the town square.
This festive symbol has become famous not only for its impressive size, but also for its history of repeated arson. ➡️ w.wiki/_BC2
This festive symbol has become famous not only for its impressive size, but also for its history of repeated arson. ➡️ w.wiki/_BC2
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Another Indiana Republican Senator makes it clear he’s still opposing the GOP push to re-gerrymander the state. dailyjournal.net/2025/11/26/s...
November 29, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Another Indiana Republican Senator makes it clear he’s still opposing the GOP push to re-gerrymander the state. dailyjournal.net/2025/11/26/s...
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
No one will stop me from defending our freedoms.
November 29, 2025 at 1:02 AM
No one will stop me from defending our freedoms.
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Every single congressional Democrat needs to be out there, right now, insisting that Pete Hegseth resign right now and announcing that he will be held accountable for committing war crimes.
If you do not demand accountability here and now, they will only become more emboldened.
If you do not demand accountability here and now, they will only become more emboldened.
Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Every single congressional Democrat needs to be out there, right now, insisting that Pete Hegseth resign right now and announcing that he will be held accountable for committing war crimes.
If you do not demand accountability here and now, they will only become more emboldened.
If you do not demand accountability here and now, they will only become more emboldened.
If you're anywhere near Indianapolis between now and the end of March, I *strongly* recommend that you go to the "Reawakening the Rococo" exhibit (3 contemporary queer artists) at Newfields/Indianapolis Museum of Art. The rococo "artist's room" is AMAZING www.journal18.org/nq/room-for-...
Room for the Lost Paradise: A Symposium – by Jason M. Kelly
On June 6, 2025, Resplendent Dreams: Reawakening the Rococo opened at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) in Indianapolis. The exhibition brings together three artists—Robert Horvath, Diego Montoya, ...
www.journal18.org
November 28, 2025 at 4:42 PM
If you're anywhere near Indianapolis between now and the end of March, I *strongly* recommend that you go to the "Reawakening the Rococo" exhibit (3 contemporary queer artists) at Newfields/Indianapolis Museum of Art. The rococo "artist's room" is AMAZING www.journal18.org/nq/room-for-...
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
The DC shooting story is really getting to me because we literally trained this man as a child soldier for a death squad in a forever war and Stephen Miller et al want to blame it on other cultures? It's our culture, American culture, that killed that woman.
November 28, 2025 at 1:40 PM
The DC shooting story is really getting to me because we literally trained this man as a child soldier for a death squad in a forever war and Stephen Miller et al want to blame it on other cultures? It's our culture, American culture, that killed that woman.
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Details--including the history building up to this moment--in my pamphlet-sized (120 page) book that came out last year:
brookeharrington.com/books/offsho...
Full text of the Atlantic article: brookeharrington.com/wp-content/u...
brookeharrington.com/books/offsho...
Full text of the Atlantic article: brookeharrington.com/wp-content/u...
November 28, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Details--including the history building up to this moment--in my pamphlet-sized (120 page) book that came out last year:
brookeharrington.com/books/offsho...
Full text of the Atlantic article: brookeharrington.com/wp-content/u...
brookeharrington.com/books/offsho...
Full text of the Atlantic article: brookeharrington.com/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
In 1945, the US Army put out a training manual designed to equip rank and file soldiers with the tools to spot and combat incipient fascism were it to emerge in post-war America. Those lessons are just as American as Miller's illiberal bigotry, and worth remembering today. bsky.app/profile/seth...
The first fascistic tactic to look out for is a hate campaign against a particular religious, racial, or ethnic group. Like, for example, let's say a candidate emerges who calls all people of one nationality "rapists" and "criminals," while promising to ban immigrants from only one religious group.
November 28, 2025 at 2:41 PM
In 1945, the US Army put out a training manual designed to equip rank and file soldiers with the tools to spot and combat incipient fascism were it to emerge in post-war America. Those lessons are just as American as Miller's illiberal bigotry, and worth remembering today. bsky.app/profile/seth...
A lovely meditation on families, holidays, and art
My memoir-essay on growing up with Norman Rockwell Thanksgivings is up in Vogue this morning. Here’s a small extract: www.vogue.com/article/norm...
November 28, 2025 at 1:30 PM
A lovely meditation on families, holidays, and art
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Don't make this mistake when subtracting
November 18, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Don't make this mistake when subtracting
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Happy Thanksgiving! How many different ways can 6 people sit at a table?
November 27, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Happy Thanksgiving! How many different ways can 6 people sit at a table?
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
A Winter Storm Watch goes into effect Friday night. Here's a county-by-county snow forecast for Central Indiana.
https://www.wrtv.com/weather/county-by-county-snow-forecast-in-central-indiana
https://www.wrtv.com/weather/county-by-county-snow-forecast-in-central-indiana
County-by-County: Snow forecast in Central Indiana
It's Thanksgiving weekend and the WRTV weather team has broken down, by county, what to watch for as snow is set to hit several parts of Central Indiana.
www.wrtv.com
November 28, 2025 at 2:04 AM
A Winter Storm Watch goes into effect Friday night. Here's a county-by-county snow forecast for Central Indiana.
https://www.wrtv.com/weather/county-by-county-snow-forecast-in-central-indiana
https://www.wrtv.com/weather/county-by-county-snow-forecast-in-central-indiana
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Nov. 27, 1925: Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle makes a purchase at a Manchester bazaar to benefit construction of a spiritualist headquarters in the English city. He says future religion will combine the "Sermon on the mount" and "direct communication with angels."
November 27, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Nov. 27, 1925: Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle makes a purchase at a Manchester bazaar to benefit construction of a spiritualist headquarters in the English city. He says future religion will combine the "Sermon on the mount" and "direct communication with angels."
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Nov. 27, 1925: Horace Saks, who inherited the Saks retail empire from his late father Andrew Saks, dies at 41 of blood poisoning that stemmed from an infected carbuncle. The younger Saks sold the company to the Gimbels and helped them open the original Saks Fifth Avenue in 1924.
November 27, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Nov. 27, 1925: Horace Saks, who inherited the Saks retail empire from his late father Andrew Saks, dies at 41 of blood poisoning that stemmed from an infected carbuncle. The younger Saks sold the company to the Gimbels and helped them open the original Saks Fifth Avenue in 1924.
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
This 22min video literally gave me my life back. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsE4...
Yoga For Psoas | Yoga With Adriene
YouTube video by Yoga With Adriene
www.youtube.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:58 PM
This 22min video literally gave me my life back. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsE4...
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
The US produced about 1.4 billion pounds of pumpkins in 2024.
By far the leading producer is Illinois, producing more than the next 4 top states combined. 🎃 🥧
www.ers.usda.gov/newsroom/tre...
By far the leading producer is Illinois, producing more than the next 4 top states combined. 🎃 🥧
www.ers.usda.gov/newsroom/tre...
November 27, 2025 at 5:23 PM
The US produced about 1.4 billion pounds of pumpkins in 2024.
By far the leading producer is Illinois, producing more than the next 4 top states combined. 🎃 🥧
www.ers.usda.gov/newsroom/tre...
By far the leading producer is Illinois, producing more than the next 4 top states combined. 🎃 🥧
www.ers.usda.gov/newsroom/tre...
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Wrote this up on a comment thread at FB and decided to bring it over here too. Happy US Thanksgiving— or, as some of my Canadian friends call it, Yanksgiving, which is even more appropriate than they intend because it really is a Yankee holiday.
Weirdest day to be an American emigrant or expat.
Weirdest day to be an American emigrant or expat.
November 23, 2023 at 1:48 PM
Wrote this up on a comment thread at FB and decided to bring it over here too. Happy US Thanksgiving— or, as some of my Canadian friends call it, Yanksgiving, which is even more appropriate than they intend because it really is a Yankee holiday.
Weirdest day to be an American emigrant or expat.
Weirdest day to be an American emigrant or expat.
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
This seems like an important story.
The US is deregulating banks. Will the rest of the world follow?
New rules will boost lending and profits and entrench American dominance. But critics say they could lead to another crash
www.ft.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:49 AM
This seems like an important story.
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
This is why OpenAI is selling so aggressively to education at all levels—they want to create entire generations of users incapable of reading, writing and thinking without ChatGPT to hold their hands
And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is
And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is
To bear out this rosy projection, HSBC assumes that OpenAI will become "as ubiquitous [...] as Microsoft 365" (345mm users worldwide) while bringing in 10x the number of users (3bn).
November 25, 2025 at 11:11 PM
This is why OpenAI is selling so aggressively to education at all levels—they want to create entire generations of users incapable of reading, writing and thinking without ChatGPT to hold their hands
And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is
And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is