Kirke D.A. Elsass
@kelsass.bsky.social
Historian; writing on cement and its role in co-creating life in the U.S. by making the environments of prisons, sidewalks, & basements; developing publicly available curriculum for Yale Environmental Humanities; love being outdoors; he/him/Dada
Charging my lights for a train+bike to Brooklyn adventure today! With some reading material for the rail portion. @thewaroncars.bsky.social
October 28, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Charging my lights for a train+bike to Brooklyn adventure today! With some reading material for the rail portion. @thewaroncars.bsky.social
Media industry expert Howard Homonoff actually predicted this in August when the proposed Nexstar-Tegna merger was announced. This is what he wrote after first saying Trump's FCC is likely to ignore legal precedent and approve the deal without involving Congress.
September 24, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Media industry expert Howard Homonoff actually predicted this in August when the proposed Nexstar-Tegna merger was announced. This is what he wrote after first saying Trump's FCC is likely to ignore legal precedent and approve the deal without involving Congress.
With a kid who just got super into Spidey & His Amazing Friends, this was not the simplest choice. Still simple enough.
September 20, 2025 at 6:31 PM
With a kid who just got super into Spidey & His Amazing Friends, this was not the simplest choice. Still simple enough.
Why aren't more folks shouting about authoritarian-militarized-billionaire bros pushing nuclear over wind/solar when this is history of technology 101?
(I've seen plenty of appropriate shouting about attacks on wind/solar and about energy footprint of data centers, but not so much on this aspect.)
(I've seen plenty of appropriate shouting about attacks on wind/solar and about energy footprint of data centers, but not so much on this aspect.)
September 10, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Why aren't more folks shouting about authoritarian-militarized-billionaire bros pushing nuclear over wind/solar when this is history of technology 101?
(I've seen plenty of appropriate shouting about attacks on wind/solar and about energy footprint of data centers, but not so much on this aspect.)
(I've seen plenty of appropriate shouting about attacks on wind/solar and about energy footprint of data centers, but not so much on this aspect.)
Just had to check that Google hadn't already changed it
August 13, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Just had to check that Google hadn't already changed it
Moving is exhausting. Just ask Nigel here.
July 21, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Moving is exhausting. Just ask Nigel here.
My daughter wore her Elsa dress and made this sign and I think she won her age group if that's a thing.
June 14, 2025 at 10:33 PM
My daughter wore her Elsa dress and made this sign and I think she won her age group if that's a thing.
Sharing a small joy in dark days: I successfully defended my dissertation on how cement shaped environments & cultures in US history.
I'm grateful to so many who aided the journey. Overwhelmingly, they are people. But my last-minute prep of defense slides benefitted from a Bozeman friend seen here.
I'm grateful to so many who aided the journey. Overwhelmingly, they are people. But my last-minute prep of defense slides benefitted from a Bozeman friend seen here.
April 14, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Sharing a small joy in dark days: I successfully defended my dissertation on how cement shaped environments & cultures in US history.
I'm grateful to so many who aided the journey. Overwhelmingly, they are people. But my last-minute prep of defense slides benefitted from a Bozeman friend seen here.
I'm grateful to so many who aided the journey. Overwhelmingly, they are people. But my last-minute prep of defense slides benefitted from a Bozeman friend seen here.
It's coloring time.
April 5, 2025 at 1:32 PM
It's coloring time.
Coincidentally, just encountered this: the custom bumper sticker I ordered for myself and some friends back then.
March 24, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Coincidentally, just encountered this: the custom bumper sticker I ordered for myself and some friends back then.
Also, "to the extent permitted by law" would be a VERY limited extent as I now understand it.
January 28, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Also, "to the extent permitted by law" would be a VERY limited extent as I now understand it.
Finishing the dissertation requires motivation I did NOT get from discovering ProQuest's beta AI that recasts your thesis in word vomit and then implies an old op-ed is more important.
January 27, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Finishing the dissertation requires motivation I did NOT get from discovering ProQuest's beta AI that recasts your thesis in word vomit and then implies an old op-ed is more important.
Revising a chapter and once again appreciating how well this 1914 sketch by geologist & Lafayette College prof Fred B. Peck demonstrates the phenomenon of viewing limestones & shales as ingredients for cement.
January 16, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Revising a chapter and once again appreciating how well this 1914 sketch by geologist & Lafayette College prof Fred B. Peck demonstrates the phenomenon of viewing limestones & shales as ingredients for cement.
In the category of low-priority but fun archival projects is a compilation of realtors notes to one another about pets. It has good coffee table book potential.
January 6, 2025 at 8:52 PM
In the category of low-priority but fun archival projects is a compilation of realtors notes to one another about pets. It has good coffee table book potential.
From all the "write us! we'll send you stuff back!" promotions like this, it's easy to imagine that staff of the Portland Cement Association c1920 just LOVED receiving mail/had a constant itch for new pen pals.
January 4, 2025 at 9:38 PM
From all the "write us! we'll send you stuff back!" promotions like this, it's easy to imagine that staff of the Portland Cement Association c1920 just LOVED receiving mail/had a constant itch for new pen pals.
103 years after this twentieth-anniversary booklet from the Portland Cement Association. Good thing all our concrete infrastructure is perfectly and indefinitely self-maintaining...
#histtech #maintenance @leev.bsky.social
#histtech #maintenance @leev.bsky.social
January 4, 2025 at 5:06 PM
103 years after this twentieth-anniversary booklet from the Portland Cement Association. Good thing all our concrete infrastructure is perfectly and indefinitely self-maintaining...
#histtech #maintenance @leev.bsky.social
#histtech #maintenance @leev.bsky.social
1894. Speed limits were vague for multiple reasons, but definitely one was moral agreement on "let's not endanger each other."
October 19, 2024 at 5:29 PM
1894. Speed limits were vague for multiple reasons, but definitely one was moral agreement on "let's not endanger each other."
Why did the 1894 Massachusetts prison commissioners stick this in their report to fellow state officials like it was a wedding favor or a hotel shampoo?
October 17, 2024 at 3:23 PM
Why did the 1894 Massachusetts prison commissioners stick this in their report to fellow state officials like it was a wedding favor or a hotel shampoo?
For sure @thewaroncars.bsky.social chose a solid name, but "the war to promote and facilitate popular use of various vehicles of propulsion" would have really spoken to the 1890s municipal government crowd.
September 10, 2024 at 1:32 PM
For sure @thewaroncars.bsky.social chose a solid name, but "the war to promote and facilitate popular use of various vehicles of propulsion" would have really spoken to the 1890s municipal government crowd.
I imagine "breathability" was not a strength of this 1880 rubber suit. Makes me uncomfortable just looking at it.
September 1, 2024 at 2:58 PM
I imagine "breathability" was not a strength of this 1880 rubber suit. Makes me uncomfortable just looking at it.
Reminds me of this, which makes sense given the layers of insurance and the incredible wealth such a project would likely entail.
March 11, 2024 at 2:12 PM
Reminds me of this, which makes sense given the layers of insurance and the incredible wealth such a project would likely entail.
Long-time listener, first-time enlistee. Thanks for what you do, @thewaroncars.bsky.social!
December 5, 2023 at 7:37 PM
Long-time listener, first-time enlistee. Thanks for what you do, @thewaroncars.bsky.social!