David Waldstreicher
@dwaldstreicher.bsky.social
Historian, CUNY Graduate Center. The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley (Farrar Straus & Giroux/ Picador), Slavery's Constitution, & Runaway America (Hill and Wang). More at www.bostonreview.net/authors/david-waldstreicher
“Most of our political evils may be traced to our commercial ones, as most of our moral may to our political.”
--James madison to thomas jefferson, 1786
--James madison to thomas jefferson, 1786
November 24, 2025 at 10:21 PM
“Most of our political evils may be traced to our commercial ones, as most of our moral may to our political.”
--James madison to thomas jefferson, 1786
--James madison to thomas jefferson, 1786
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
On Phillis Wheatley, check out our recent podcast interview with Wheatley biographer David Waldstreicher: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
Episode 127: Phillis Wheatley: A Black Evangelical Poet in Revolutionary America
Podcast Episode · The Way of Improvement Leads Home: American History, Religion, Politics, and Academic life. · 11/04/2025 · 55m
podcasts.apple.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:08 AM
On Phillis Wheatley, check out our recent podcast interview with Wheatley biographer David Waldstreicher: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
I've had a missile blow up next to my airplane, been shot at dozens of times by anti-aircraft fire, and launched into orbit — all for my country. I never thought I'd see a President call for my execution.
Trump doesn’t understand the Constitution, and we're all less safe for it.
Trump doesn’t understand the Constitution, and we're all less safe for it.
November 20, 2025 at 8:40 PM
I've had a missile blow up next to my airplane, been shot at dozens of times by anti-aircraft fire, and launched into orbit — all for my country. I never thought I'd see a President call for my execution.
Trump doesn’t understand the Constitution, and we're all less safe for it.
Trump doesn’t understand the Constitution, and we're all less safe for it.
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
The only reason Trump got away with it with the Mueller Report is that the press rushed out to publish "Mueller finds no wrongdoing!" headlines. Will they do the same thing with Epstein? (Yes, they will.)
Just a reminder that Trump had his attorney general preempt the Mueller Report with a self-serving “summary” and the media ran with it and it defined everything that came after.
Something to remember as we wait for a probably doctored and scrubbed “Epstein Files” report.
Something to remember as we wait for a probably doctored and scrubbed “Epstein Files” report.
November 20, 2025 at 8:42 PM
The only reason Trump got away with it with the Mueller Report is that the press rushed out to publish "Mueller finds no wrongdoing!" headlines. Will they do the same thing with Epstein? (Yes, they will.)
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
'This isn’t “gotcha” anti-Americanism. It’s an argument that the Revolution created three incompatible projects—republican, capitalist, and imperial—that we’ve spent 250 years pretending are the same thing. They’re not. And our refusal to face that fact is why we’re still fighting about 1776.'
"The real question for the Semiquincentennial isn’t whether we can celebrate the Revolution, but whether we can finally afford to understand it—not the comforting mythology Burns offers, but the history scholarship reveals: disturbing, illuminating, and indispensable."
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
What Ken Burns Won’t Tell You About How 1776 Built a Democracy—and an Empire
Founding Myths vs Founding Realities
substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:19 AM
'This isn’t “gotcha” anti-Americanism. It’s an argument that the Revolution created three incompatible projects—republican, capitalist, and imperial—that we’ve spent 250 years pretending are the same thing. They’re not. And our refusal to face that fact is why we’re still fighting about 1776.'
"The real question for the Semiquincentennial isn’t whether we can celebrate the Revolution, but whether we can finally afford to understand it—not the comforting mythology Burns offers, but the history scholarship reveals: disturbing, illuminating, and indispensable."
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
What Ken Burns Won’t Tell You About How 1776 Built a Democracy—and an Empire
Founding Myths vs Founding Realities
substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:10 AM
"The real question for the Semiquincentennial isn’t whether we can celebrate the Revolution, but whether we can finally afford to understand it—not the comforting mythology Burns offers, but the history scholarship reveals: disturbing, illuminating, and indispensable."
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
What an honor to sit between Robin Kelley and Vivian Gornick, so a reading, discuss, & celebrate the Boston Review! Thanks to Brooklyn Public Library too (recording linked below)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LahH...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LahH...
Vivian Gornick, Robin D.G. Kelley & David Waldstreicher on Boston Review at 50.
YouTube video by BPLvideos
www.youtube.com
November 16, 2025 at 11:57 PM
What an honor to sit between Robin Kelley and Vivian Gornick, so a reading, discuss, & celebrate the Boston Review! Thanks to Brooklyn Public Library too (recording linked below)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LahH...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LahH...
Excellent - next let's do Meyer London!
www.msn.com/en-us/news/w...
www.msn.com/en-us/news/w...
MSN
www.msn.com
November 3, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Excellent - next let's do Meyer London!
www.msn.com/en-us/news/w...
www.msn.com/en-us/news/w...
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
In today’s Guardian with @kcarterjackson.bsky.social, explaining why teach-ins (like the one we’re holding Sunday!) are a vital part of activism.
Why we’re holding a teach-in about American history at the Smithsonian | Kellie Carter Jackson and Nicole Hemmer
Podcasters, professors, journalists and ordinary citizens will gather in Washington as the Trump regime wages war on history
www.theguardian.com
October 24, 2025 at 1:10 PM
In today’s Guardian with @kcarterjackson.bsky.social, explaining why teach-ins (like the one we’re holding Sunday!) are a vital part of activism.
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
BREAKING: Letitia James has announced a Government portal for Videos and images of ICE Agents who may have committed crimes.
Please Use it and SHARE!
ag.ny.gov/federal-acti...
Please Use it and SHARE!
ag.ny.gov/federal-acti...
Federal Action Reporting Form
Federal Action Reporting Form Please use this form to share information regarding federal government action in New York state. Filing a complaint does not start
ag.ny.gov
October 23, 2025 at 3:02 PM
BREAKING: Letitia James has announced a Government portal for Videos and images of ICE Agents who may have committed crimes.
Please Use it and SHARE!
ag.ny.gov/federal-acti...
Please Use it and SHARE!
ag.ny.gov/federal-acti...
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
🔇Fourth Annual Judith S. Stein Lecture in Political Economy.
✨Speaker: Robin D. G. Kelley✨
📍Hybrid event - RSVP:
📩In-Person: email [email protected]
💻Online: scan the QR code on the flyer
#history #historyphd #politicaleconomy #judithsteinlecturer #gchistory #blacklaborhistories #classstruggle
✨Speaker: Robin D. G. Kelley✨
📍Hybrid event - RSVP:
📩In-Person: email [email protected]
💻Online: scan the QR code on the flyer
#history #historyphd #politicaleconomy #judithsteinlecturer #gchistory #blacklaborhistories #classstruggle
October 1, 2025 at 1:52 PM
🔇Fourth Annual Judith S. Stein Lecture in Political Economy.
✨Speaker: Robin D. G. Kelley✨
📍Hybrid event - RSVP:
📩In-Person: email [email protected]
💻Online: scan the QR code on the flyer
#history #historyphd #politicaleconomy #judithsteinlecturer #gchistory #blacklaborhistories #classstruggle
✨Speaker: Robin D. G. Kelley✨
📍Hybrid event - RSVP:
📩In-Person: email [email protected]
💻Online: scan the QR code on the flyer
#history #historyphd #politicaleconomy #judithsteinlecturer #gchistory #blacklaborhistories #classstruggle
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
It’s not just people outside NYC who are clueless about what taking transit is like in New York City. Manhattanites who haven’t stepped foot on it in decades keep telling me how dangerous it is. Meanwhile I keep getting places faster and more pleasantly than they do.
October 17, 2025 at 2:18 PM
It’s not just people outside NYC who are clueless about what taking transit is like in New York City. Manhattanites who haven’t stepped foot on it in decades keep telling me how dangerous it is. Meanwhile I keep getting places faster and more pleasantly than they do.
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
This is almost literally what the English Civil War was fought over.
President Trump on Wednesday signed a memorandum expanding his administration’s authority to repurpose unspent federal funds to pay members of the military during the government shutdown, escalating his challenge to the authority of Congress on spending matters.
Trump Signs Memo Expanding His Authority to Spend Federal Money
The president gave Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wide authority to repurpose funds to pay members of the military without approval from Congress, which has the sole constitutional authority to decide federal spending.
nyti.ms
October 16, 2025 at 12:17 AM
This is almost literally what the English Civil War was fought over.
November 6:
www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/viv...
www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/viv...
Vivian Gornick, Robin D.G. Kelley & David Waldstreicher on Boston Review at 50, with Gianpaolo Baiocchi | Brooklyn Public Library
Join BPL Presents as we celebrate the legendary Boston Review, as it turns fifty this year—with appearances by Vivian Gornick, Robin D.G. Kelley, David Waldstreicher, moderator Gianpaolo Baiocchi, and...
www.bklynlibrary.org
October 16, 2025 at 11:48 PM
November 6:
www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/viv...
www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/viv...
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
Hey, remember in 1783 how Philadelphia built a triumphal arch to celebrate the end of the Revolution and then God used the celebratory fireworks to burn it down and kill people and injure its designer, who came to regard it as punishment for his hubris? Anyway.
www.amphilsoc.org/item-detail/...
www.amphilsoc.org/item-detail/...
October 16, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Hey, remember in 1783 how Philadelphia built a triumphal arch to celebrate the end of the Revolution and then God used the celebratory fireworks to burn it down and kill people and injure its designer, who came to regard it as punishment for his hubris? Anyway.
www.amphilsoc.org/item-detail/...
www.amphilsoc.org/item-detail/...
Vice-Presidents these days....
They weren't kids.
And you're really telling on yourself if you think being racist and praising Hitler are things that kids do.
And you're really telling on yourself if you think being racist and praising Hitler are things that kids do.
JD Vance brushes off racist texts by adults in Republican group chat as ‘what kids do’
October 16, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Vice-Presidents these days....
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
I don’t know how to make it matter but I want to pay a lot more attention to the people who refuse along the way than the little fascists destroying everything. The student editors, this fired director. People who rise to the ethical challenges before them, for no glory.
Indiana University Media School Dean David Tolchinsky terminated Director of Student Media Jim Rodenbush on Tuesday afternoon after he refused to censor the Indiana Daily Student.
LETTER FROM THE EDITORS: IU fires student media director after he refused to censor the IDS
Indiana University directed the IDS to stop printing news.
www.idsnews.com
October 16, 2025 at 11:56 AM
I don’t know how to make it matter but I want to pay a lot more attention to the people who refuse along the way than the little fascists destroying everything. The student editors, this fired director. People who rise to the ethical challenges before them, for no glory.
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
David Waldstreicher @dwaldstreicher.bsky.social reviews 'Democracy in Darkness: Secrecy and Transparency in the Age of Revolutions', by Katlyn Marie Carter
academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-...
@yalepress.bsky.social @yalebooks.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-...
@yalepress.bsky.social @yalebooks.bsky.social
Democracy in Darkness: Secrecy and Transparency in the Age of Revolutions, by Katlyn Marie Carter
A book about secrecy and transparency in politics needs to be both subtle and hard-hitting; when it is also comparative, treating both the American and Fre
academic.oup.com
October 16, 2025 at 11:01 AM
David Waldstreicher @dwaldstreicher.bsky.social reviews 'Democracy in Darkness: Secrecy and Transparency in the Age of Revolutions', by Katlyn Marie Carter
academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-...
@yalepress.bsky.social @yalebooks.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-...
@yalepress.bsky.social @yalebooks.bsky.social
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
This is correct but that era of prestige & good pay was v short, a mid-century blip—much like it was for auto workers in the US. Prior to WWII the professoriate was white-male dominated and moderately high prestige, but by no means “well paid”. It’s most prosperous days were the immediate postwar.
To add to this, the US professoriate was overwhelmingly, relentlessly white and male before 1960, and it was overwhelmingly a well-paid white collar job.
1964 CRA prevents ed discrimination. It takes 5 years to complete a PhD. 1969 begins a trend towards adjuncts and lower pay.
1964 CRA prevents ed discrimination. It takes 5 years to complete a PhD. 1969 begins a trend towards adjuncts and lower pay.
"an occupation’s general prestige and perceived potency (but not its moral standing) declines when it becomes increasingly stereotyped as female" journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
October 12, 2025 at 8:35 PM
This is correct but that era of prestige & good pay was v short, a mid-century blip—much like it was for auto workers in the US. Prior to WWII the professoriate was white-male dominated and moderately high prestige, but by no means “well paid”. It’s most prosperous days were the immediate postwar.
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
Hard co-sign. Like wtaf
It’s actually incredible that as a society we never managed to find the political will to force elected officials to tell the truth on TV.
October 12, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Hard co-sign. Like wtaf
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
📝 Wondering what goes into a successful dissertation proposal (and why that matters)? Join us to hear from Professors Dagmar Herzog and David Waldstreicher as they share their experiences advising students.
💡 A Q&A period will follow their presentation.
💡 A Q&A period will follow their presentation.
October 10, 2025 at 7:08 PM
📝 Wondering what goes into a successful dissertation proposal (and why that matters)? Join us to hear from Professors Dagmar Herzog and David Waldstreicher as they share their experiences advising students.
💡 A Q&A period will follow their presentation.
💡 A Q&A period will follow their presentation.
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
Hi Sally. When Weiss published a supposed expose on the death of George Floyd, a veteran criminal justice reporter showed in deep detail that the piece was not just wrong but filled with falsehoods and misrepresentations. Weiss did not retract the piece. What do you think of that?
This is really smart. Amazed at the hysteria over the ascendance of a woman entrepreneur who clearly knows how to cover and sell news and who's not afraid to take on a mob. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Don’t Bet Against Bari Weiss
The new editor in chief of CBS News triumphs over her critics.
www.theatlantic.com
October 12, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Hi Sally. When Weiss published a supposed expose on the death of George Floyd, a veteran criminal justice reporter showed in deep detail that the piece was not just wrong but filled with falsehoods and misrepresentations. Weiss did not retract the piece. What do you think of that?
Reposted by David Waldstreicher
Sic semper tyrannis...
The Virginia Senate just told UVA it’s not getting state funding if it accepts the compact since UVA exists to serve Virginia, its residents, & their interests—not be a tool of the federal govt. Scoop from our student newspaper, who’ve been doing vital reporting www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...
October 11, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Sic semper tyrannis...