Janice Liedl
@jliedl.bsky.social
Historian at Laurentian University (Canada). Researching early modern crime and urban women's lives, but I can never stay away from questions of popular culture & history. Technophile, fan, fibre artist.
Pinned
Janice Liedl
@jliedl.bsky.social
· Jun 11
So, how many of you have the patience to stab something 47,000 times just for fun? #DnD #cross-stitch
I have found my people.
Buckaroo Banzai vs. The World Crime League
If you were a despotic president, what movie would you force Hollywood to make? I want to see Quentin's Star Trek movie or maybe Kill Bill Vol 3.
November 26, 2025 at 2:12 AM
I have found my people.
Reposted by Janice Liedl
100 yrs ago meds cld be marketed as cure-all. This did great harm as ppl took aspirin 4 cancer, liver-harming meds 4 liver ills etc. Regulation requiring meds to be *for something* reduced harm
Just so, even if LLMs are useful 4 specific things, they must not be marketed as universal search engines
Just so, even if LLMs are useful 4 specific things, they must not be marketed as universal search engines
"LLM search results are even worse."
it depends on the subject
I work with computer programming, and LLMs are very reliable in this field ... also, it's possible to learn *a lot* with LLMs
it depends on the subject
I work with computer programming, and LLMs are very reliable in this field ... also, it's possible to learn *a lot* with LLMs
November 25, 2025 at 5:13 PM
100 yrs ago meds cld be marketed as cure-all. This did great harm as ppl took aspirin 4 cancer, liver-harming meds 4 liver ills etc. Regulation requiring meds to be *for something* reduced harm
Just so, even if LLMs are useful 4 specific things, they must not be marketed as universal search engines
Just so, even if LLMs are useful 4 specific things, they must not be marketed as universal search engines
You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who’s coming to save you?
At least it will be entertaining!
At least it will be entertaining!
November 25, 2025 at 2:53 PM
You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who’s coming to save you?
At least it will be entertaining!
At least it will be entertaining!
Reposted by Janice Liedl
The HBC, ending as it began: putting profit before this land and its people. What a history lesson for all of us.
The royal charter that created Hudson’s Bay in 1670 is on its way to the auction block with two of Canada's richest families —the Westons and Thomsons — starting the bidding at $18 million.
www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/business/cou...
www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/business/cou...
Court approves Hudson's Bay plan to auction its royal charter; $18M bid expected
TORONTO - The royal charter that created Hudson’s Bay in 1670 is on its way to the auction block.
www.thecanadianpressnews.ca
November 24, 2025 at 2:21 PM
The HBC, ending as it began: putting profit before this land and its people. What a history lesson for all of us.
Grainne advises me to rethink the stopping of scritches.
November 23, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Grainne advises me to rethink the stopping of scritches.
Reposted by Janice Liedl
What a great interview! A window into this really important research on textiles and slavery, and the ways the researcher’s body in motion can figure things out that might otherwise elude us. It’s also such a good example of how research and teaching can build each other up.
An interview with a historian who set out to weave a textile of the type that would have been sold to plantations for use by enslaved people, using period equipment.
www.publicbooks.org/cloth-and-co...
www.publicbooks.org/cloth-and-co...
Cloth and Complicity: Seth Rockman on Plantations, Textiles, and the Art of Weaving - Public Books
“But I had found a set of instructions in the archives of one of New England's leading manufacturers of low-end woollen cloth for enslaved wearers.”
www.publicbooks.org
November 22, 2025 at 2:45 PM
What a great interview! A window into this really important research on textiles and slavery, and the ways the researcher’s body in motion can figure things out that might otherwise elude us. It’s also such a good example of how research and teaching can build each other up.
Reposted by Janice Liedl
The text being proposed by Washington is basically the same deal that Steve Witkoff tried to foist on Ukraine earlier this year. I broke down the nuance of it here: www.bugeyedandshameless.com/p/next-time-...
Next Time, in Moscow
Trump thinks peace is at hand. He's being played.
www.bugeyedandshameless.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:08 PM
The text being proposed by Washington is basically the same deal that Steve Witkoff tried to foist on Ukraine earlier this year. I broke down the nuance of it here: www.bugeyedandshameless.com/p/next-time-...
Reposted by Janice Liedl
The first episode of the new Ken Burns American Revolution documentary gives a quick passing mention to the Pine Tree Riots. If you're curious about how New England white pines figured into the run up to the war, I wrote about it last year over at JSTOR Daily:
daily.jstor.org/tree-of-peac...
daily.jstor.org/tree-of-peac...
Tree of Peace, Spark of War - JSTOR Daily
The white pines of New England may have done more than any leaf of tea to kick off the American Revolution.
daily.jstor.org
November 22, 2025 at 5:11 AM
The first episode of the new Ken Burns American Revolution documentary gives a quick passing mention to the Pine Tree Riots. If you're curious about how New England white pines figured into the run up to the war, I wrote about it last year over at JSTOR Daily:
daily.jstor.org/tree-of-peac...
daily.jstor.org/tree-of-peac...
Reposted by Janice Liedl
Well, re-identified. We've known about her since 1985, & w/ more exactitude since 1995 and 2007. The difference now is simply we have newly available photographic proof. Here's a quick timeline:
November 21, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Well, re-identified. We've known about her since 1985, & w/ more exactitude since 1995 and 2007. The difference now is simply we have newly available photographic proof. Here's a quick timeline:
Reposted by Janice Liedl
Really enjoying Tor Bukkvoll's book "Spetsnaz: A History of the Soviet and Russian Special Forces" from the wonderful @univpressofkansas.bsky.social. It's fascinating military history and also intelligence history as, with a brief interruption, the forces in question belonged to intel agencies. 1/2
Spetsnaz
In January 1951, Lieutenant Evgeniy Borisov was sent to the headquarters of the Soviet 5th Army in Spassk-Dalnii, a small city in the Russian Far East. Boris...
kansaspress.ku.edu
November 21, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Really enjoying Tor Bukkvoll's book "Spetsnaz: A History of the Soviet and Russian Special Forces" from the wonderful @univpressofkansas.bsky.social. It's fascinating military history and also intelligence history as, with a brief interruption, the forces in question belonged to intel agencies. 1/2
Reposted by Janice Liedl
Here's that PSA that the President wants to punish by death
November 20, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Here's that PSA that the President wants to punish by death
Reposted by Janice Liedl
My favorite ever letter of recommendation is one Ficino wrote in the late 1500s, recommending a pupil for a secretary job with King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, in which he says the young man is “the reincarnation of Saint Thomas Aquinas.”
It’s letter-of-recommendation season again, when universities ask me to rate a 21 year old student’s ability to “see the big picture of life” while I eat leftover pasta in a Tupperware…
a man with a mustache says but why in yellow letters
ALT: a man with a mustache says but why in yellow letters
media.tenor.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:04 PM
My favorite ever letter of recommendation is one Ficino wrote in the late 1500s, recommending a pupil for a secretary job with King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, in which he says the young man is “the reincarnation of Saint Thomas Aquinas.”
Reposted by Janice Liedl
Chicago Manual of Style arcana!
In my meeting with a student about to file his thesis, he told me he realized there's an asterisk to the idea that CMS 18 does away with place of publication.
It only does that if the book is post-1900!
Before that, you keep place & normally omit publisher!
In my meeting with a student about to file his thesis, he told me he realized there's an asterisk to the idea that CMS 18 does away with place of publication.
It only does that if the book is post-1900!
Before that, you keep place & normally omit publisher!
![14: Source Citations: Examples
14.31: Place and date only, for books published before 1900
Chapter Contents / Books / Facts of Publication / Place of Publication
For books published before 1900, the city of publication is typically of greater interest than the name of the publisher (often a long-defunct printer); it is therefore usually preferable to omit publishers’ names and instead include only a place and date of publication. A comma follows the place. See also 14.30.
1. Oliver Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield (Salisbury, 1766).
Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de. El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. 2 vols. Madrid, 1605–15.
If for any reason the publisher is included, retain the city of publication, followed by a colon.
Austen, Jane [as “A Lady”]. Sense and Sensibility. London: T. Egerton, 1811.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7mpwyqkv2tdiho653oyczicd/bafkreidywdczjom3bt6stsfimfqlklwlkmvvfdfu2xwjidhjrpidey5biq@jpeg)
November 17, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Chicago Manual of Style arcana!
In my meeting with a student about to file his thesis, he told me he realized there's an asterisk to the idea that CMS 18 does away with place of publication.
It only does that if the book is post-1900!
Before that, you keep place & normally omit publisher!
In my meeting with a student about to file his thesis, he told me he realized there's an asterisk to the idea that CMS 18 does away with place of publication.
It only does that if the book is post-1900!
Before that, you keep place & normally omit publisher!
Reposted by Janice Liedl
HISTORIANS ARE VERY TIRED AND EVERYONE ELSE IS TERRIBLE, BURN IT ALL DOWN.
November 17, 2025 at 1:08 PM
HISTORIANS ARE VERY TIRED AND EVERYONE ELSE IS TERRIBLE, BURN IT ALL DOWN.
Reposted by Janice Liedl
Same!! I joke that it's nice to be able to stab something a thousand times & not go to prison.
November 16, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Same!! I joke that it's nice to be able to stab something a thousand times & not go to prison.
Reposted by Janice Liedl
This is how predators work. In the initial emails, he thinks he can still fuck her, and describes her willingness as:
* listened to the comments of a LEADING ECONOMIST IN THE FIELD about her presentation
* didn't object when he commented on her outfit
* let him whine about his marriage.
* listened to the comments of a LEADING ECONOMIST IN THE FIELD about her presentation
* didn't object when he commented on her outfit
* let him whine about his marriage.
The sense I am getting through all of this is that Larry Summers used his position to get a substantially junior colleague to listen to him whine about his marriage, then tried to get her to “have a drink with him” and stormed off when she was like no thanks I have a presentation tomorrow.
The emails have Summers reporting to Epstein about his attempts to date a Harvard economics student & to hit on her during a seminar she was giving.
November 16, 2025 at 4:19 PM
This is how predators work. In the initial emails, he thinks he can still fuck her, and describes her willingness as:
* listened to the comments of a LEADING ECONOMIST IN THE FIELD about her presentation
* didn't object when he commented on her outfit
* let him whine about his marriage.
* listened to the comments of a LEADING ECONOMIST IN THE FIELD about her presentation
* didn't object when he commented on her outfit
* let him whine about his marriage.
Reposted by Janice Liedl
Fantastic news from @themedievaldrk.bsky.social and from my university’s press @concordiapress.bsky.social ! So glad to see this out!
Hey hey, it’s now official on Concordia UP’s website, 20% discount code KENNEDY2026 at CUP (CAN) or Chicago (USD, link in next post) for Illuminating Media: Transmitting the Renaissance in England, 1400-1550! concordia.ca/press/illumi...
November 13, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Fantastic news from @themedievaldrk.bsky.social and from my university’s press @concordiapress.bsky.social ! So glad to see this out!
Reposted by Janice Liedl
"Remember Trafalgar Square"
Exactly a week later, on 20 November 1887, a second protest took place in London - with fatal consequences
William Morris & Walter Crane combined to publish 'A Death Song', a fundraiser in aid of the children of young clerk Alfred Linnell
Exactly a week later, on 20 November 1887, a second protest took place in London - with fatal consequences
William Morris & Walter Crane combined to publish 'A Death Song', a fundraiser in aid of the children of young clerk Alfred Linnell
November 13, 2025 at 5:12 PM
"Remember Trafalgar Square"
Exactly a week later, on 20 November 1887, a second protest took place in London - with fatal consequences
William Morris & Walter Crane combined to publish 'A Death Song', a fundraiser in aid of the children of young clerk Alfred Linnell
Exactly a week later, on 20 November 1887, a second protest took place in London - with fatal consequences
William Morris & Walter Crane combined to publish 'A Death Song', a fundraiser in aid of the children of young clerk Alfred Linnell
Today's remarkably enjoyable sabbatical read: Jan de Vries' "The Industrious Revolution" (2008).
November 12, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Today's remarkably enjoyable sabbatical read: Jan de Vries' "The Industrious Revolution" (2008).
Reposted by Janice Liedl
"Historical analysis is fundamentally different and more complex than producing a mass of visualizations and statistics that are the lifeblood of many A.I. programmes."
Gordon McKelvie @gordonmckelvie.bsky.social on the problematic use of A.I. within historical research.
Gordon McKelvie @gordonmckelvie.bsky.social on the problematic use of A.I. within historical research.
Artificial Intelligence: A Warning for History
Does A.I. have the potential to simplify, and ultimately impoverish, our study of the past? Gordon McKelvie considers the recent explosion in A.I. and what it means for historians facing the current H...
www.historyworkshop.org.uk
November 11, 2025 at 12:45 PM
"Historical analysis is fundamentally different and more complex than producing a mass of visualizations and statistics that are the lifeblood of many A.I. programmes."
Gordon McKelvie @gordonmckelvie.bsky.social on the problematic use of A.I. within historical research.
Gordon McKelvie @gordonmckelvie.bsky.social on the problematic use of A.I. within historical research.
Kaiser says, "Relax!"
November 8, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Kaiser says, "Relax!"
I was volume "H" of the World Book Encyclopedia for Halloween when I was eleven. My own design and doing! (H is for horses, in case you wondered.)
None of these are weird, all of them are pretty common for people at least 45 years old and up in North America, and my encyclopedia comes from 1911.
November 8, 2025 at 7:19 PM
I was volume "H" of the World Book Encyclopedia for Halloween when I was eleven. My own design and doing! (H is for horses, in case you wondered.)
Reposted by Janice Liedl
As Ta-Nehisi Coates said last month:
“.. it’s either one of two things: either you’re cowards or you’re with him. And if you’re with him, you never believed in the things you were talking about to begin with.”
“.. it’s either one of two things: either you’re cowards or you’re with him. And if you’re with him, you never believed in the things you were talking about to begin with.”
Breaking News: Cornell University reached an agreement with the Trump administration that would restore hundreds of millions in funding to the university. It's expected to pay a $30 million fine to the government and to invest $30 million in agriculture and farming programs.
Cornell Reaches Deal with Trump Administration to Restore Research Funds
The Ivy League university had warned of layoffs after the Trump administration stripped it of funds this year. The cuts were among the deepest in higher education.
nyti.ms
November 7, 2025 at 5:30 PM
As Ta-Nehisi Coates said last month:
“.. it’s either one of two things: either you’re cowards or you’re with him. And if you’re with him, you never believed in the things you were talking about to begin with.”
“.. it’s either one of two things: either you’re cowards or you’re with him. And if you’re with him, you never believed in the things you were talking about to begin with.”
Reposted by Janice Liedl
Trump administration thinks they're silencing dissent with their actions, but they're really forging heroes for us.
“Let us not forget that the great seal of the US says E Pluribus Unum. That means Out of many, one
Every life matters no matter where you came from, no matter how you got here, no matter how you identify. You have the right to live a life that is free”
DC Sandwich Guy Sean Dunn
Every life matters no matter where you came from, no matter how you got here, no matter how you identify. You have the right to live a life that is free”
DC Sandwich Guy Sean Dunn
November 7, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Trump administration thinks they're silencing dissent with their actions, but they're really forging heroes for us.
Reposted by Janice Liedl
hey y'all! my questionnaire on player experience in historical videogames is now LIVE! if you play videogames about the past, we want to hear from you! edu.nl/7w3yn
November 6, 2025 at 10:35 AM
hey y'all! my questionnaire on player experience in historical videogames is now LIVE! if you play videogames about the past, we want to hear from you! edu.nl/7w3yn