Chris Riedel
@medievalhistory.bsky.social
Teaching medieval & ancient history at a SLAC in Michigan. Researches nostalgia. Lots of nerdy things. A greyhound named Malibu. Still misses old Twitter. he/him 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
So no one knows this, but if my sign off is ever "sincerely" I am at the least deeply exasperated, and quite possibly actively enraged.
November 21, 2025 at 11:00 PM
So no one knows this, but if my sign off is ever "sincerely" I am at the least deeply exasperated, and quite possibly actively enraged.
And to Cuivienen there is no returning
November 21, 2025 at 5:51 PM
And to Cuivienen there is no returning
“...Time, irresistible, ever moving, carries off & bears away all things...History is a great bulwark against this stream of Time...it holds in a tight grasp whatever it can seize floating on the surface & will not allow it to slip away into the depths of Oblivion.”
- Anna Komnena, The Alexiad
- Anna Komnena, The Alexiad
November 13, 2025 at 10:46 AM
“...Time, irresistible, ever moving, carries off & bears away all things...History is a great bulwark against this stream of Time...it holds in a tight grasp whatever it can seize floating on the surface & will not allow it to slip away into the depths of Oblivion.”
- Anna Komnena, The Alexiad
- Anna Komnena, The Alexiad
Hear me out: the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, but just five hours of Shire music with the occasional elven hymn thrown in.
November 9, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Hear me out: the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, but just five hours of Shire music with the occasional elven hymn thrown in.
Reposted by Chris Riedel
The greatest con the Right ever pulled off is convincing America that mainstream media leans left.
November 9, 2025 at 1:47 PM
The greatest con the Right ever pulled off is convincing America that mainstream media leans left.
Reposted by Chris Riedel
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 9:23 AM
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
Reposted by Chris Riedel
A high-resolution digital map allows people to plan their routes along the ancient roads of the Roman Empire
go.nature.com/4nHZmoM
go.nature.com/4nHZmoM
‘Google Maps’ for Roman roads reveals vast extent of ancient network
Nature - A high-resolution digital map nearly doubles the known length of the ancient road network.
go.nature.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:08 AM
A high-resolution digital map allows people to plan their routes along the ancient roads of the Roman Empire
go.nature.com/4nHZmoM
go.nature.com/4nHZmoM
Reposted by Chris Riedel
and her and my joint article which introduces the concept of the prodrome of the pandemic www.cambridge.org/core/journal... 3/4
Plague history, Mongol history, and the processes of focalisation leading up to the Black Death: a response to Brack et al. | Medical History | Cambridge Core
Plague history, Mongol history, and the processes of focalisation leading up to the Black Death: a response to Brack et al. - Volume 68 Issue 4
www.cambridge.org
November 7, 2025 at 8:32 AM
and her and my joint article which introduces the concept of the prodrome of the pandemic www.cambridge.org/core/journal... 3/4
Ugh. Daylight savings ending combined with other stressors seems to be giving me insomnia. An unfortunate week to have to make my 105 mile round trip commute all five days.
November 6, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Ugh. Daylight savings ending combined with other stressors seems to be giving me insomnia. An unfortunate week to have to make my 105 mile round trip commute all five days.
Wow. Watching R1s finally realize that academia is dying because it's starting to impact them is... well, it turns out, just as annoying as when they were oblivious. It's still all about them. They still have no idea what higher ed looks like beyond their quads.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Ph.D. Cuts Are the Beginning of the End for Academia | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson
Trump’s attacks have irrevocably altered the playing field for academia, and it may never recover.
www.thecrimson.com
November 1, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Wow. Watching R1s finally realize that academia is dying because it's starting to impact them is... well, it turns out, just as annoying as when they were oblivious. It's still all about them. They still have no idea what higher ed looks like beyond their quads.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Reposted by Chris Riedel
🚨 COMING TOMORROW🚨 🎙️ Dive into the untold history of Eastern Europe with @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social ! Explore the significance of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth and the rich tapestry of cultures that exist beyond the 20th century narrative.
October 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM
🚨 COMING TOMORROW🚨 🎙️ Dive into the untold history of Eastern Europe with @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social ! Explore the significance of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth and the rich tapestry of cultures that exist beyond the 20th century narrative.
I'm rewatching Picard after a complete rewatch of TNG (post season 1), DS9, & VOY, and at first I was surprised, it seemed much better than I remembered, but about seven episodes into season one the writing takes a real downturn in quality.
October 26, 2025 at 2:34 AM
I'm rewatching Picard after a complete rewatch of TNG (post season 1), DS9, & VOY, and at first I was surprised, it seemed much better than I remembered, but about seven episodes into season one the writing takes a real downturn in quality.
Signum amoris in operibus
October 25, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Signum amoris in operibus
My (delightful) partner, assessing our visit to Segovia: "It's only a real castle if it's in Castile, otherwise it's just sparkling battlements."
October 24, 2025 at 11:38 PM
My (delightful) partner, assessing our visit to Segovia: "It's only a real castle if it's in Castile, otherwise it's just sparkling battlements."
If the purpose of your economy is not to benefit all the people who participate in it, then your economy needs work.
October 24, 2025 at 1:52 AM
If the purpose of your economy is not to benefit all the people who participate in it, then your economy needs work.
Reposted by Chris Riedel
Today, the White House Press Secretary told the country that this ridiculous damn ballroom is “the president’s main priority”…not reopening the government, not lowering the cost of groceries, not lowering the cost of housing, not lowering the cost of healthcare….building a ballroom
October 23, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Today, the White House Press Secretary told the country that this ridiculous damn ballroom is “the president’s main priority”…not reopening the government, not lowering the cost of groceries, not lowering the cost of housing, not lowering the cost of healthcare….building a ballroom
So I've been chair for a few months, and there are two parts of the job I actively resent:
1) Not the initial email, but the follow-up "did you actually do the thing (spoiler: you didn't)?" email.
2) Being unsubtly deputized to harass my colleagues on behalf of higher-ups.
I see a theme here.
1) Not the initial email, but the follow-up "did you actually do the thing (spoiler: you didn't)?" email.
2) Being unsubtly deputized to harass my colleagues on behalf of higher-ups.
I see a theme here.
October 23, 2025 at 2:18 PM
So I've been chair for a few months, and there are two parts of the job I actively resent:
1) Not the initial email, but the follow-up "did you actually do the thing (spoiler: you didn't)?" email.
2) Being unsubtly deputized to harass my colleagues on behalf of higher-ups.
I see a theme here.
1) Not the initial email, but the follow-up "did you actually do the thing (spoiler: you didn't)?" email.
2) Being unsubtly deputized to harass my colleagues on behalf of higher-ups.
I see a theme here.
I dream of handwriting a manuscript of the Silmarillion, but with a bunch of stuff from The History of Middle Earth (like the Statute of Finwe and Miriel and the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth) added, with some great fragments written in the margins (like Luthien's lengthening spell).
October 22, 2025 at 2:25 AM
I dream of handwriting a manuscript of the Silmarillion, but with a bunch of stuff from The History of Middle Earth (like the Statute of Finwe and Miriel and the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth) added, with some great fragments written in the margins (like Luthien's lengthening spell).
This is not what ceasefire means.
Trump's "peace" is a lie.
Trump's "peace" is a lie.
BREAKING: At least 51 Palestinians have been killed across Gaza by Israeli attacks since the ceasefire came into effect less than two weeks ago, medical sources have told Al Jazeera.
🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/z1q2d3
🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/z1q2d3
October 19, 2025 at 2:28 PM
This is not what ceasefire means.
Trump's "peace" is a lie.
Trump's "peace" is a lie.
Reposted by Chris Riedel
So for-profit AI companies have trained on the world's largest collaborative volunteer project and a precious free resource, to make money for their for-profit enterprises. They have crushed traffic to the volunteer project, starving it of donors and volunteers
www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...
www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...
Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors
“With fewer visits to Wikipedia, fewer volunteers may grow and enrich the content, and fewer individual donors may support this work.”
www.404media.co
October 17, 2025 at 2:28 PM
So for-profit AI companies have trained on the world's largest collaborative volunteer project and a precious free resource, to make money for their for-profit enterprises. They have crushed traffic to the volunteer project, starving it of donors and volunteers
www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...
www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...
Reposted by Chris Riedel
Looking forward to the inevitable bombshell report exposing exactly how many university administrators took bribes from edtech AI companies
"Key priorities include embedding artificial intelligence (AI) learning opportunities into the curriculum, cultivating strategic partnerships, strengthening ties with external stakeholders...."
the call still coming from inside the house.
the call still coming from inside the house.
October 16, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Looking forward to the inevitable bombshell report exposing exactly how many university administrators took bribes from edtech AI companies
Reposted by Chris Riedel
These are all sourced from “A People’s History of the United States,” and I struggle to think of a more prescient page from a history book that I have read than this one:
October 13, 2025 at 12:50 PM
These are all sourced from “A People’s History of the United States,” and I struggle to think of a more prescient page from a history book that I have read than this one:
I stood in front of this Monet at the DIA yesterday, & had a profound sense that my departed mother, who adored Impressionists, was standing beside me. I felt almost as if I could see her there & reach out to her. I had to move on before I completely broke down. Art has such power to move the soul.
October 12, 2025 at 2:39 PM
I stood in front of this Monet at the DIA yesterday, & had a profound sense that my departed mother, who adored Impressionists, was standing beside me. I felt almost as if I could see her there & reach out to her. I had to move on before I completely broke down. Art has such power to move the soul.
Reposted by Chris Riedel
The Long Neolithic lives as a sense of wonder. It sits in distant fields and summons us to not only witness its stone persistence, but to engage with its slow release of mystery. Its power bends not only the landscape, but our sense of story. – Dr. K. Brophy #StandingStoneSunday
October 12, 2025 at 11:28 AM
The Long Neolithic lives as a sense of wonder. It sits in distant fields and summons us to not only witness its stone persistence, but to engage with its slow release of mystery. Its power bends not only the landscape, but our sense of story. – Dr. K. Brophy #StandingStoneSunday
Why did I think in-text citations went after the period all this time? Did that used to be a thing?
October 10, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Why did I think in-text citations went after the period all this time? Did that used to be a thing?