Adam Arenson
@adamarenson.bsky.social
Writing and teaching history for a wider public. Black North American border-crossing after the Underground Railroad; Civil War and Reconstruction in the West; Mid-Century Modern art and architecture from Millard Sheets. Californian in NYC. adamarenson.com
Reposted by Adam Arenson
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz
Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison
www.forever-wars.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:40 PM
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Reposted by Adam Arenson
The President of the United States unilaterally levied a tax on all of us and is redistributing our taxes to a core segment of his supporters.
Trump: "I'm delighted to announce this afternoon that the US will be taking a small portion of the hundreds of billions of dollars we receive in tariffs ... and we're going to be giving and providing it to the farmers in economic assistance. We love our farmers. The farmers like me ... $12 billion"
December 8, 2025 at 7:48 PM
The President of the United States unilaterally levied a tax on all of us and is redistributing our taxes to a core segment of his supporters.
Reposted by Adam Arenson
“The University of Chicago plans to reduce the number of internally funded doctoral students by 30% by the 2030-31 academic year. Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts & Sciences will admit fewer than half of its usual number of students across the next two admissions cycles.“
Has the Graduate-School Collapse Begun?
The Trump administration’s policies, and institutional budget cuts, are straining the delivery of master’s and doctoral degrees.
www.chronicle.com
December 8, 2025 at 10:44 AM
“The University of Chicago plans to reduce the number of internally funded doctoral students by 30% by the 2030-31 academic year. Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts & Sciences will admit fewer than half of its usual number of students across the next two admissions cycles.“
Reposted by Adam Arenson
By the end of the ratification debates, everyone understood that the 14th Amendment would grant birthright citizenship to the children of immigrants. The only live question was whether that was a *good* thing. Some senators argued it wasn’t. But they lost! applyliberally.substack.com/p/birthright...
December 7, 2025 at 7:26 PM
By the end of the ratification debates, everyone understood that the 14th Amendment would grant birthright citizenship to the children of immigrants. The only live question was whether that was a *good* thing. Some senators argued it wasn’t. But they lost! applyliberally.substack.com/p/birthright...
Such an important perspective on the realities vs myths of Jewish history, inside and outside the Holy Land:
Embracing Exile - Dr. David Kraemer in Conversation with Rabbi Sharon Brous
Podcast Episode · IKAR Podcasts · 12/07/2025 · 59m
podcasts.apple.com
December 7, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Such an important perspective on the realities vs myths of Jewish history, inside and outside the Holy Land:
Reposted by Adam Arenson
This is where originalism is really spiritually aligned with straussianism—you, the clever contemporary scholar, are capable of uncovering the true hidden meaning that for centuries has eluded all those other chumps
It’s also plainly absurd that someone just happened to discover the true meaning of the common law that just evaded everyone else for 800 years in a few weeks of work. I don’t even know what to do with that.
the idea that a handful of conservative legal scholars have an understanding that should supersede a settlement affirmed my generations of american is astoundingly arrogant, and the idea that trump — or any president — can unilaterally overturn that settlement is just despotism
December 7, 2025 at 7:43 PM
This is where originalism is really spiritually aligned with straussianism—you, the clever contemporary scholar, are capable of uncovering the true hidden meaning that for centuries has eluded all those other chumps
Reposted by Adam Arenson
imagine investing in public media and ensuring that media literacy (and spotting unreliable narrators) was integral in primary school education
Finland has emerged as a global leader in countering “fake news”. Here's how they've done it
Teaching when to trust
As fake news accelerates, we need to teach our children how to think critically. Finnish schools are leading the charge
newhumanist.org.uk
December 7, 2025 at 2:32 PM
imagine investing in public media and ensuring that media literacy (and spotting unreliable narrators) was integral in primary school education
Reposted by Adam Arenson
In the era of slavery, free black people had to carry their "free papers" with them so they could prove to the authorities that they were free, or else they would be thrown in jail and sold.
BASH: If ICE says it doesn't arrest US citizens, why do we keep seeing incidents of them aggressively pursuing citizens?
HOMAN: I can't tell you how many times an illegal alien claims to be a US citizen. It happens all the time.
HOMAN: I can't tell you how many times an illegal alien claims to be a US citizen. It happens all the time.
December 7, 2025 at 2:32 PM
In the era of slavery, free black people had to carry their "free papers" with them so they could prove to the authorities that they were free, or else they would be thrown in jail and sold.
Reposted by Adam Arenson
We should never go back to a system that made collective judgments about the worthiness of specific nationalities to immigrate to the United States — particularly not based on an incident involving a single person.
Well said @amandafrost.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/o...
Well said @amandafrost.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/o...
Opinion | This Is the Kind of Bigotry We Rejected Decades Ago
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 2:35 PM
We should never go back to a system that made collective judgments about the worthiness of specific nationalities to immigrate to the United States — particularly not based on an incident involving a single person.
Well said @amandafrost.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/o...
Well said @amandafrost.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/o...
Reposted by Adam Arenson
Without a higher education program, the University of Nebraska is going to have a hard time recruiting and keeping the next generation of higher education leaders when competing institutions offer the chance for staff members to further their education. This decision will backfire.
BREAKING: ‘This hurts’: UNL eliminates 4 programs despite faculty, student pleas
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln eliminates the Earth and atmospheric sciences 8-0, educational administration 7-1, statistics 7-1, textiles, merchandising and fashion design 7-1 programs.
www.dailynebraskan.com
December 7, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Without a higher education program, the University of Nebraska is going to have a hard time recruiting and keeping the next generation of higher education leaders when competing institutions offer the chance for staff members to further their education. This decision will backfire.
Reposted by Adam Arenson
Reposted by Adam Arenson
Reposted by Adam Arenson
The entire debate over birthright citizenship is anti-constitutional because the purpose, intent, and text of the 14th Amendment were designed to foreclose any argument about who counts as an American citizen.
December 5, 2025 at 6:54 PM
The entire debate over birthright citizenship is anti-constitutional because the purpose, intent, and text of the 14th Amendment were designed to foreclose any argument about who counts as an American citizen.
Reposted by Adam Arenson
I can't stop thinking about the purported drug smugglers being murdered by the US military. The punishment for drug offenses isn't the death penalty. This is just bloodlust and men in suits playing with lives they don't care about. It's truly grotesque and gravely compromises this country.
December 5, 2025 at 4:12 PM
I can't stop thinking about the purported drug smugglers being murdered by the US military. The punishment for drug offenses isn't the death penalty. This is just bloodlust and men in suits playing with lives they don't care about. It's truly grotesque and gravely compromises this country.
Reposted by Adam Arenson
"We are exporting the very labor of teaching and learning—the slow work of wrestling with ideas, the enduring of discomfort, doubt and confusion, the struggle of finding one’s own voice." This was my rationale for saying no GenAI in our MA; others disagreed. www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself
Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 4, 2025 at 2:06 AM
"We are exporting the very labor of teaching and learning—the slow work of wrestling with ideas, the enduring of discomfort, doubt and confusion, the struggle of finding one’s own voice." This was my rationale for saying no GenAI in our MA; others disagreed. www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
Reposted by Adam Arenson
I was literally thinking about this two days ago. Yes, yes, yes!!
Opinion | We Have a Way to Pay for Free Buses. It Means Free Street Parking Is Over.
www.nytimes.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:09 AM
I was literally thinking about this two days ago. Yes, yes, yes!!
Reposted by Adam Arenson
Super last day with my undergrads. They loved that their classmates showed up prepared & that they learned things from each other.
I told them: so many profs want to quit/retire because of political pressure/admins + getting AI slop in papers. Keep sharing YOUR thoughts & we'll keep teaching you!💙
I told them: so many profs want to quit/retire because of political pressure/admins + getting AI slop in papers. Keep sharing YOUR thoughts & we'll keep teaching you!💙
December 4, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Super last day with my undergrads. They loved that their classmates showed up prepared & that they learned things from each other.
I told them: so many profs want to quit/retire because of political pressure/admins + getting AI slop in papers. Keep sharing YOUR thoughts & we'll keep teaching you!💙
I told them: so many profs want to quit/retire because of political pressure/admins + getting AI slop in papers. Keep sharing YOUR thoughts & we'll keep teaching you!💙
Reposted by Adam Arenson
NEWS: The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored ALL previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge in Rhode Island last month.
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
December 3, 2025 at 10:18 PM
NEWS: The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored ALL previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge in Rhode Island last month.
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
Reposted by Adam Arenson
Really appreciate the clarity of the president saying black people are ruining the country and this entire room of groveling empty suits saying nothing bsky.app/profile/just...
Trump, continued: "What the Somalian people have done to Minnesota is not even believable. It’s not even believable. And a lot of it starts with the governor. A lot of it starts with Barack HUSSEIN Obama, because that’s when people started coming in... They want to kiss our country good night."
December 3, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Really appreciate the clarity of the president saying black people are ruining the country and this entire room of groveling empty suits saying nothing bsky.app/profile/just...
Reposted by Adam Arenson
People have NO IDEA how much of what they think is "normal human behaviour" comes from an experiment someone ran on a dozen psych students in 1974 for a $5 reward, and could never actually replicate, but managed to get the results into a textbook anyway.
December 3, 2025 at 6:37 PM
People have NO IDEA how much of what they think is "normal human behaviour" comes from an experiment someone ran on a dozen psych students in 1974 for a $5 reward, and could never actually replicate, but managed to get the results into a textbook anyway.
Reposted by Adam Arenson
New: NYPD Internal Affairs is investigating the department's response to this month's raucous pro-Palestine protest outside Park East Synagogue — a move that comes after Mayor Adams grew angry with Commissioner Tisch over the incident, per sources.
www.nydailynews.com/2025/11/29/n...
www.nydailynews.com/2025/11/29/n...
NYPD grills commanders in investigation of handling of Park East Synagogue protest
The NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau has been interviewing Manhattan North commanders in connection with a pro-Palestinian protest at Park East Synagogue last week that sparked outrage and questions …
www.nydailynews.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:33 PM
New: NYPD Internal Affairs is investigating the department's response to this month's raucous pro-Palestine protest outside Park East Synagogue — a move that comes after Mayor Adams grew angry with Commissioner Tisch over the incident, per sources.
www.nydailynews.com/2025/11/29/n...
www.nydailynews.com/2025/11/29/n...
Reposted by Adam Arenson
In attempting to call off his corruption trial, Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t incriminate himself, but he did something just as damning, @yair-rosenberg.bsky.social argues:
Netanyahu Just Admitted He Shouldn’t Be Israel’s Prime Minister
In attempting to call off his corruption trial, Netanyahu didn’t incriminate himself, but he did something just as damning.
bit.ly
December 2, 2025 at 11:17 PM
In attempting to call off his corruption trial, Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t incriminate himself, but he did something just as damning, @yair-rosenberg.bsky.social argues:
Reposted by Adam Arenson
"In times of rapid change to a physical and cultural landscape, we become more aware of the historical weight of the present. I realized if I wanted to photograph these buildings and the people occupying them, I’d have to start immediately, before there was nothing left but rubble."
—Liz Moskowitz
—Liz Moskowitz
The Texas Department of Transportation is annexing properties along I-35 in Austin to make way for an expansion of the interstate. Here are some of the people and businesses being displaced:
Along a Path of Impermanence
A documentary photographer records some of the people and places being disrupted by an expansion of Interstate 35 through the center of Austin, Texas.
placesjournal.org
December 2, 2025 at 11:22 PM
"In times of rapid change to a physical and cultural landscape, we become more aware of the historical weight of the present. I realized if I wanted to photograph these buildings and the people occupying them, I’d have to start immediately, before there was nothing left but rubble."
—Liz Moskowitz
—Liz Moskowitz
Reposted by Adam Arenson
The Trump admin has paused all immigration and naturalization processes for people from one of the 19 travel ban countries; including Cuba and Venezuela.
Even people who fully passed the citizenship exam are having their cases put on hold, just inches from the finish line.
Even people who fully passed the citizenship exam are having their cases put on hold, just inches from the finish line.
Scoop: The Trump administration has paused all immigration applications filed by people from 19 countries banned from travel to the United States earlier this year, halting green card and U.S. citizenship processing for broad swaths of people.
More coming soon.
More coming soon.
December 2, 2025 at 9:19 PM
The Trump admin has paused all immigration and naturalization processes for people from one of the 19 travel ban countries; including Cuba and Venezuela.
Even people who fully passed the citizenship exam are having their cases put on hold, just inches from the finish line.
Even people who fully passed the citizenship exam are having their cases put on hold, just inches from the finish line.