Sam Ulmschneider
@samulmschneider.bsky.social
Teaching Constitutional studies, poli sci, political theory, US history topics in Virginia. Own views & comments, these don't reflect my institutional affiliations. Husband / cat person / Madisonian / Lincolnite / Trekkie / strategy gamer / metalhead.
man, it is so much harder to convince myself to go for a run when it refuses to budge above like 45 degrees, even when I know I will enjoy it and feel better afterwards.
November 29, 2025 at 7:13 PM
man, it is so much harder to convince myself to go for a run when it refuses to budge above like 45 degrees, even when I know I will enjoy it and feel better afterwards.
One way in which policy choices deadened student reading: years ago, it was reasonable to include one or several whole works, fiction or nonfiction, in AP US History and AP US Gov't. That's eye-of-a-needle hard now bc we steer students into mad 5-7/year AP schedules, test-centric expectations.
November 29, 2025 at 5:19 PM
One way in which policy choices deadened student reading: years ago, it was reasonable to include one or several whole works, fiction or nonfiction, in AP US History and AP US Gov't. That's eye-of-a-needle hard now bc we steer students into mad 5-7/year AP schedules, test-centric expectations.
Reposted by Sam Ulmschneider
and I think it is important for us to realize that these are policy decisions, not the result of some emerging weakness or lack of intellectual virtue of the students. They are as curious, bright, and capable as they ever were and we are refusing to develop their independent reading appetites.
November 29, 2025 at 3:29 PM
and I think it is important for us to realize that these are policy decisions, not the result of some emerging weakness or lack of intellectual virtue of the students. They are as curious, bright, and capable as they ever were and we are refusing to develop their independent reading appetites.
Reposted by Sam Ulmschneider
“President says thing” is generally newsworthy because, well, it usually results in actual policy changes
increasingly, it’s just an angry old man typing into the void
increasingly, it’s just an angry old man typing into the void
President Trump said Friday he would reverse any law, pardon and executive order former President Biden signed with an autopen, though it wasn’t clear how that would work or whether it would be legal @jennifershutt.bsky.social reports wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/11/28/r...
Trump social media post claims to void Biden orders • Wisconsin Examiner
President Trump said Friday he would reverse any law, pardon or executive order that former President Biden signed with an autopen
wisconsinexaminer.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:06 PM
“President says thing” is generally newsworthy because, well, it usually results in actual policy changes
increasingly, it’s just an angry old man typing into the void
increasingly, it’s just an angry old man typing into the void
Finished American Revolution. Last episode = culmination of the series' greatest virtues and vices. Probably was the best we can hope for in broad-audience documentary film. But on the Constitution, especially, I am disappointed. Series doesn't live up to the idea that the war is not the revolution.
November 28, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Finished American Revolution. Last episode = culmination of the series' greatest virtues and vices. Probably was the best we can hope for in broad-audience documentary film. But on the Constitution, especially, I am disappointed. Series doesn't live up to the idea that the war is not the revolution.
Reposted by Sam Ulmschneider
I found this terribly sad. A young woman with her life ahead of her, and she becomes one of the last American victims of the Long War.
November 28, 2025 at 2:07 AM
I found this terribly sad. A young woman with her life ahead of her, and she becomes one of the last American victims of the Long War.
Almost finished listening to Mike Duncan’s Martian Revolution during all my cooking today. What an incredibly interesting use of a medium and what a cool piece of well-framed fiction.
November 27, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Almost finished listening to Mike Duncan’s Martian Revolution during all my cooking today. What an incredibly interesting use of a medium and what a cool piece of well-framed fiction.
Kind of remarkable how Brazil and Korea and Taiwan and France - for all their flaws as stable democracies or places that value equality, and those flaws are legion - have all done better at policing the balance of powers+rule of law in the executive branch than we have over the last couple decades.
November 26, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Kind of remarkable how Brazil and Korea and Taiwan and France - for all their flaws as stable democracies or places that value equality, and those flaws are legion - have all done better at policing the balance of powers+rule of law in the executive branch than we have over the last couple decades.
My teachers used to send me home for Winter Break and Spring Break with whole novels to read for discussion or to write a paper upon my return. Now, as I teacher, we have a hard policy against ANY work over breaks. Yet the kids are somehow more crushed and stressed now than I was!
November 26, 2025 at 12:43 AM
My teachers used to send me home for Winter Break and Spring Break with whole novels to read for discussion or to write a paper upon my return. Now, as I teacher, we have a hard policy against ANY work over breaks. Yet the kids are somehow more crushed and stressed now than I was!
Most of the way through KB American Revolution, only one episode to go, and if there's one critique I have it is one I never thought would be possible: we spend too much time with George Washington. I know why the film makes that choice, and I can't be REALLY mad about it, but it robs other stories
November 25, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Most of the way through KB American Revolution, only one episode to go, and if there's one critique I have it is one I never thought would be possible: we spend too much time with George Washington. I know why the film makes that choice, and I can't be REALLY mad about it, but it robs other stories
Illegal orders stuff is hard. Not every Guard private should be analyzing the constitutionality/legality of their mobilization or transit orders under the National Emergencies act, but also no one in uniform should feel bound to shoot an unarmed protester posing no threat if ordered to do so.
November 25, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Illegal orders stuff is hard. Not every Guard private should be analyzing the constitutionality/legality of their mobilization or transit orders under the National Emergencies act, but also no one in uniform should feel bound to shoot an unarmed protester posing no threat if ordered to do so.
is the only question at this point whether the AI bubble burst is going to look more like A) 2001 dot-com bubble ; B) 1990 inflation control recession or C) 2008 financial infrastructure implosion? I rarely see anyone suggesting it is financially sustainable.
November 25, 2025 at 4:33 PM
is the only question at this point whether the AI bubble burst is going to look more like A) 2001 dot-com bubble ; B) 1990 inflation control recession or C) 2008 financial infrastructure implosion? I rarely see anyone suggesting it is financially sustainable.
I'd like to read a good history of folk music, esp post-1960s resurgence. I haven't much clue what the underlying dynamics are that roots/folk spaces, which culturally ought to be right leaning by most rights, are rarely home to the UKIP/Trump types as much as they are to granola-acceptance types.
November 25, 2025 at 3:40 AM
I'd like to read a good history of folk music, esp post-1960s resurgence. I haven't much clue what the underlying dynamics are that roots/folk spaces, which culturally ought to be right leaning by most rights, are rarely home to the UKIP/Trump types as much as they are to granola-acceptance types.
I figure Ken Burns has one, maybe two big documentary series in him before he fully retires. What do you think they should be? My votes include Football, Hip-Hop, World War 1, Reconstruction (though Skip Gates did this one well), Iraq/Afghanistan, 19th Century Expansionism.
November 24, 2025 at 11:46 PM
I figure Ken Burns has one, maybe two big documentary series in him before he fully retires. What do you think they should be? My votes include Football, Hip-Hop, World War 1, Reconstruction (though Skip Gates did this one well), Iraq/Afghanistan, 19th Century Expansionism.
before COVID I used to re-read Moby Dick, which I used to call my favorite book, once every couple of years and I'll admit I haven't since like....2017 maybe? I need to read it again but also need some fellow adults to talk it out with, which is harder and harder to find these days.
November 22, 2025 at 1:24 AM
before COVID I used to re-read Moby Dick, which I used to call my favorite book, once every couple of years and I'll admit I haven't since like....2017 maybe? I need to read it again but also need some fellow adults to talk it out with, which is harder and harder to find these days.
Reposted by Sam Ulmschneider
I don't mean this in an "I told you so" way, but it was very obvious to me that the Mamdani/Trump meeting would go the way it did, because Mamdani is ascendant, popular, powerful and charismatic, all things that Trump wants to glom on to. Trump has no principles; it's not like he has converted.
November 21, 2025 at 11:44 PM
I don't mean this in an "I told you so" way, but it was very obvious to me that the Mamdani/Trump meeting would go the way it did, because Mamdani is ascendant, popular, powerful and charismatic, all things that Trump wants to glom on to. Trump has no principles; it's not like he has converted.
I love that they got Paul Giamatti to be John Adams in the Ken Burns American Revolution. It's a small and shallow thing, but it is a touch which enhances the larger and more deeply important elements.
November 21, 2025 at 11:55 PM
I love that they got Paul Giamatti to be John Adams in the Ken Burns American Revolution. It's a small and shallow thing, but it is a touch which enhances the larger and more deeply important elements.
Teaching has costs and problems aplenty, but at least I know that every time I go in and all the hours of work are aimed at providing a social good to others directly and primarily rather than making some CEO or stock picker richer.
November 21, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Teaching has costs and problems aplenty, but at least I know that every time I go in and all the hours of work are aimed at providing a social good to others directly and primarily rather than making some CEO or stock picker richer.
The man who taught me this, a man who was my teacher in high school and my mentor in becoming a teacher as an adult, died this week. That fact is occupying an enormous amount of psychological terrain right now, and it's proving oddly hard to navigate around.
The most important teacher in my life told me I needed to have a fire in the belly. I think about that a lot because it means many things from many angles and for many purposes, but no matter how I'm refracting, applying, or analyzing that statement it remains true and important and powerful.
What’s the most significant advice you received from a teacher?
I had a Geology prof who always said “have strong opinions, loosely held”
Be passionate, assess alternatives with conviction, take sides. But don’t fall so in love with your opinions that you can’t change them with better data.
I had a Geology prof who always said “have strong opinions, loosely held”
Be passionate, assess alternatives with conviction, take sides. But don’t fall so in love with your opinions that you can’t change them with better data.
November 21, 2025 at 2:27 AM
The man who taught me this, a man who was my teacher in high school and my mentor in becoming a teacher as an adult, died this week. That fact is occupying an enormous amount of psychological terrain right now, and it's proving oddly hard to navigate around.
Rousseauvian ; Rousseauan ; Rousseauean - which do you prefer for "applying or having to do with the ideals of JJR"? I've always thought the first was the correct one but I have no real coherent reason justifying that preference.
November 21, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Rousseauvian ; Rousseauan ; Rousseauean - which do you prefer for "applying or having to do with the ideals of JJR"? I've always thought the first was the correct one but I have no real coherent reason justifying that preference.
The most important teacher in my life told me I needed to have a fire in the belly. I think about that a lot because it means many things from many angles and for many purposes, but no matter how I'm refracting, applying, or analyzing that statement it remains true and important and powerful.
What’s the most significant advice you received from a teacher?
I had a Geology prof who always said “have strong opinions, loosely held”
Be passionate, assess alternatives with conviction, take sides. But don’t fall so in love with your opinions that you can’t change them with better data.
I had a Geology prof who always said “have strong opinions, loosely held”
Be passionate, assess alternatives with conviction, take sides. But don’t fall so in love with your opinions that you can’t change them with better data.
November 21, 2025 at 1:34 AM
The most important teacher in my life told me I needed to have a fire in the belly. I think about that a lot because it means many things from many angles and for many purposes, but no matter how I'm refracting, applying, or analyzing that statement it remains true and important and powerful.
I am once again reminded that when it was good (which was....half the time?) the Battlestar Galactica reboot was really, really, really good.
November 21, 2025 at 1:28 AM
I am once again reminded that when it was good (which was....half the time?) the Battlestar Galactica reboot was really, really, really good.
Really enjoying teaching a political theory class this year, but there are some texts I wish I was spending time with that I had to leave behind which I intend to bring in next time, especially Spirit of the Laws and Democracy In America.
November 21, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Really enjoying teaching a political theory class this year, but there are some texts I wish I was spending time with that I had to leave behind which I intend to bring in next time, especially Spirit of the Laws and Democracy In America.
I'd love your ideas, Bluesky! Three the things I struggle w most in this class are (1) How to integrate sports history with other pop culture topics (2) How to bring more diversity, esp gender diversity, to my topics+selections (3) Integrating globalization - wanted to find room for anime, couldn't.
Suggestions wanted! High school means I have to ask for book purchases before December. Here's my plan for History of 20th Century US Popular Culture (taught as an elective to high achieving juniors and seniors). I'd love suggestions for how to spend a book/DVD budget in addition to what's here:
November 20, 2025 at 3:46 PM
I'd love your ideas, Bluesky! Three the things I struggle w most in this class are (1) How to integrate sports history with other pop culture topics (2) How to bring more diversity, esp gender diversity, to my topics+selections (3) Integrating globalization - wanted to find room for anime, couldn't.
I can't think for very long about abuses in elite academia, like Summers, without getting incandescent and incoherent. A lot is personal and particular, and then it generalizes out to how it harms others, often much more directly it does me. Rare topic I can't have civil or coherent thoughts about.
November 20, 2025 at 3:46 AM
I can't think for very long about abuses in elite academia, like Summers, without getting incandescent and incoherent. A lot is personal and particular, and then it generalizes out to how it harms others, often much more directly it does me. Rare topic I can't have civil or coherent thoughts about.