Rebecca Spang
@rlspang.bsky.social
Professor of History, sometimes administrator at big public university in Midwest. Writes about money, French Revolution, restaurants. Friend to vert paleo.
ex UCL History; Yale SOM Visiting Fellow; Guggenheim and New America Fellow.
once/future Mainer
ex UCL History; Yale SOM Visiting Fellow; Guggenheim and New America Fellow.
once/future Mainer
How DARE they name any of their attacks on human beings after anything connected with that book?!!!!
It's true, E.B. White's _One Man's Meat_ is full of his musings on the rise of fascism (and the challenges of being an egg farmer).
It's true, E.B. White's _One Man's Meat_ is full of his musings on the rise of fascism (and the challenges of being an egg farmer).
NEW: Gregory Bovino is exactly who E.B. White — author of 'Charlotte's Web' — warned us about.
DHS named its North Carolina anti-immigrant effort "Operation Charlotte's Web." In 1940, White wrote of the "smell" that "rises" from those who "adjust to fascism" over freedom.
Tonight, at Law Dork:
DHS named its North Carolina anti-immigrant effort "Operation Charlotte's Web." In 1940, White wrote of the "smell" that "rises" from those who "adjust to fascism" over freedom.
Tonight, at Law Dork:
Gregory Bovino is exactly who E.B. White — author of 'Charlotte's Web' — warned us about
DHS named its North Carolina anti-immigrant effort "Operation Charlotte's Web." In 1940, White wrote of the "smell" that "rises" from those who "adjust to fascism" over freedom.
www.lawdork.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:36 AM
How DARE they name any of their attacks on human beings after anything connected with that book?!!!!
It's true, E.B. White's _One Man's Meat_ is full of his musings on the rise of fascism (and the challenges of being an egg farmer).
It's true, E.B. White's _One Man's Meat_ is full of his musings on the rise of fascism (and the challenges of being an egg farmer).
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Good morning, Asia. While you were sleeping, this was our most-read story: on.ft.com/47Iar4u
November 17, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Good morning, Asia. While you were sleeping, this was our most-read story: on.ft.com/47Iar4u
For the only time in my life, I may agree with DJT: “Mike Braun is not working the way he should!”
Everyone who capitulated to this guy over the last 9 months should be ridiculed mercilessly
November 16, 2025 at 9:39 PM
For the only time in my life, I may agree with DJT: “Mike Braun is not working the way he should!”
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
I spent the evening reading "Sir Gawain & the Green Knight" & enjoyed it more than I expected to.
November 16, 2025 at 10:05 AM
I spent the evening reading "Sir Gawain & the Green Knight" & enjoyed it more than I expected to.
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
She was always THE woman. Looking right at you from 1590: Infanta Catalina Micaela (almost surely), painted by Sofonisba Anguissola (probably). Surely one of the greatest renaissance portraits.
November 16, 2025 at 7:52 PM
She was always THE woman. Looking right at you from 1590: Infanta Catalina Micaela (almost surely), painted by Sofonisba Anguissola (probably). Surely one of the greatest renaissance portraits.
Can it possibly be the case that no one has written a single volume 1840s-1980s history of the American "office products" industry?!
Colleagues, please tell me I'm missing something obvious.
Colleagues, please tell me I'm missing something obvious.
November 16, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Can it possibly be the case that no one has written a single volume 1840s-1980s history of the American "office products" industry?!
Colleagues, please tell me I'm missing something obvious.
Colleagues, please tell me I'm missing something obvious.
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Look what else Susan Collins let into the gov’t funding bill Maybe a reporter could ask her about it www.levernews.com/shutdown-dea... #MeSen #MePolitics
Shutdown Deal Kills Food Safety Rules
After lobbyists spent big on the Trump administration and Democratic defectors, the government funding bill cut food-contamination rules and limited ultraprocessed-food research.
www.levernews.com
November 15, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Look what else Susan Collins let into the gov’t funding bill Maybe a reporter could ask her about it www.levernews.com/shutdown-dea... #MeSen #MePolitics
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
"A circular economy of loans and debts and froth and hype…all entirely dependent upon one another. This emperor has $1 trillion and not a stitch to wear.
Wiley Coyote at the edge of a cliff doesn’t fall until he looks down. When are people going to look down? The finances don’t make any sense."
Wiley Coyote at the edge of a cliff doesn’t fall until he looks down. When are people going to look down? The finances don’t make any sense."
NEW: Welcome to the Great AI Bubble. Yes, it’s here. And yes, it’s going to burst.
It’s also got way more in common with the Epstein scandal than you really want to know.
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
It’s also got way more in common with the Epstein scandal than you really want to know.
open.substack.com/pub/broligar...
The Great AI Bubble
Yes, it's a bubble. And yes, it's going to burst.
open.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:49 PM
"A circular economy of loans and debts and froth and hype…all entirely dependent upon one another. This emperor has $1 trillion and not a stitch to wear.
Wiley Coyote at the edge of a cliff doesn’t fall until he looks down. When are people going to look down? The finances don’t make any sense."
Wiley Coyote at the edge of a cliff doesn’t fall until he looks down. When are people going to look down? The finances don’t make any sense."
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
I travelled to NYC to help launch (last night) Joanna Stalnaker's astonishing new book _The Rest is Silence: Enlightenment Philosophers Facing Death_. The book is a treasure, humane and moving: a vindication both of the #18thc philosophes and of what literary studies scholarship can do with them.
November 14, 2025 at 1:52 PM
I travelled to NYC to help launch (last night) Joanna Stalnaker's astonishing new book _The Rest is Silence: Enlightenment Philosophers Facing Death_. The book is a treasure, humane and moving: a vindication both of the #18thc philosophes and of what literary studies scholarship can do with them.
The land of my birth is well on its way to being a totalitarian failed state and many of us are going to have pet raccoons. www.scientificamerican.com/article/racc...
City Raccoons Are Evolving to Look More Like Pets
City-dwelling raccoons seem to be evolving a shorter snout—a telltale feature of our pets and other domesticated animals
www.scientificamerican.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:41 AM
The land of my birth is well on its way to being a totalitarian failed state and many of us are going to have pet raccoons. www.scientificamerican.com/article/racc...
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
The 2025 Pfizer Award, awarded annually for an outstanding book in the history of science, is given to Adrian Johns for The Science of Reading: Information, Media & Mind in Modern America.
(Apparently he wrote the entire book in ~8 months during COVID!)
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo... #HSS2025
(Apparently he wrote the entire book in ~8 months during COVID!)
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo... #HSS2025
November 16, 2025 at 12:28 AM
The 2025 Pfizer Award, awarded annually for an outstanding book in the history of science, is given to Adrian Johns for The Science of Reading: Information, Media & Mind in Modern America.
(Apparently he wrote the entire book in ~8 months during COVID!)
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo... #HSS2025
(Apparently he wrote the entire book in ~8 months during COVID!)
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo... #HSS2025
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
The 2025 Margaret Rossiter History of Women in Science Prize goest o Alison M. Downham Moore for her book, The French Invention of Menopause and the Medicalisation of Women's Aging.
global.oup.com/academic/pro... #HSS2025
global.oup.com/academic/pro... #HSS2025
November 16, 2025 at 12:13 AM
The 2025 Margaret Rossiter History of Women in Science Prize goest o Alison M. Downham Moore for her book, The French Invention of Menopause and the Medicalisation of Women's Aging.
global.oup.com/academic/pro... #HSS2025
global.oup.com/academic/pro... #HSS2025
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
There is an old Radiolab podcast about an elderly couple hit with ransomware payable in crypto currency. The elderly woman says, "I didn't know what bitcoin was so I looked it up. The first definition is, 'A currency predominantly used to pay ransomware.' "
November 14, 2025 at 4:20 PM
There is an old Radiolab podcast about an elderly couple hit with ransomware payable in crypto currency. The elderly woman says, "I didn't know what bitcoin was so I looked it up. The first definition is, 'A currency predominantly used to pay ransomware.' "
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
If you need me, tap me on the shoulder. I’ll be happily working all day listening to this on a loop.
November 13, 2025 at 1:49 PM
If you need me, tap me on the shoulder. I’ll be happily working all day listening to this on a loop.
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
"The deskilling, denigration, and displacement of teachers and scholars have historically been central to fascist takeovers, since educators serve as bulwarks against propaganda, anti-intellectualism, and illiteracy."
“While the AI industry claims its models can “think,” “reason,” and “learn,” their supposed achievements rest on marketing hype and stolen intellectual labor. In reality, AI erodes academic freedom, weakens critical reading, and subordinates the pursuit of knowledge to corporate interests.”
AI Is Hollowing Out Higher Education
Olivia Guest & Iris van Rooij urge teachers and scholars to reject tools that commodify learning, deskill students, and promote illiteracy.
www.project-syndicate.org
November 15, 2025 at 10:31 PM
"The deskilling, denigration, and displacement of teachers and scholars have historically been central to fascist takeovers, since educators serve as bulwarks against propaganda, anti-intellectualism, and illiteracy."
I'm sorry, I don't think I can alt-text caption this ridiculously cherubic, balding, middle-aged businessman in pseudo-Roman gear who (for reasons obviously related to the city's name etc.) featured in the publications of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce
November 15, 2025 at 7:03 PM
I'm sorry, I don't think I can alt-text caption this ridiculously cherubic, balding, middle-aged businessman in pseudo-Roman gear who (for reasons obviously related to the city's name etc.) featured in the publications of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce
From my brilliant friend and colleague @richardtn.bsky.social who (having spent much of his life at the race track) knows a thing or two about gamblers
November 15, 2025 at 3:51 PM
From my brilliant friend and colleague @richardtn.bsky.social who (having spent much of his life at the race track) knows a thing or two about gamblers
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Of Tether, Cantor, and Satoshi statue soft-power diplomacy . . .
[FREE TO READ] State of the art
on.ft.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
On advance access: "Economic Change, Silver, and the Plague of 664-687 in England"
by @rorynaismith.bsky.social (University of Cambridge)
#OpenAccess
doi.org/10.1093/past...
by @rorynaismith.bsky.social (University of Cambridge)
#OpenAccess
doi.org/10.1093/past...
Economic Change, Silver, and the Plague of 664–687 in England*
Abstract. Bede and other authors describe a destructive wave of plague sweeping across Britain and Ireland in the period 664–87. In the decades around and
doi.org
November 14, 2025 at 2:39 PM
On advance access: "Economic Change, Silver, and the Plague of 664-687 in England"
by @rorynaismith.bsky.social (University of Cambridge)
#OpenAccess
doi.org/10.1093/past...
by @rorynaismith.bsky.social (University of Cambridge)
#OpenAccess
doi.org/10.1093/past...
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Too few people are talking about the fact that for eight years (2011-2019), while Jeffrey Epstein was raping young girls and trafficking them to hundreds of other rapists from his home base in Palm Beach, Florida, the Florida district attorney was Pam Bondi. Connect the dots.
November 15, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Too few people are talking about the fact that for eight years (2011-2019), while Jeffrey Epstein was raping young girls and trafficking them to hundreds of other rapists from his home base in Palm Beach, Florida, the Florida district attorney was Pam Bondi. Connect the dots.
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Starting up #FridayNightZillow
In Cuba, Missouri, we can get a 14BR, 14BA lodge on the river for just $850K. It has a heckuva back story: Originally built as a brothel for local fur trappers, it later was frequented by famous St. Louis mobsters. +Bald eagles!
www.zillow.com/homedetails/...
In Cuba, Missouri, we can get a 14BR, 14BA lodge on the river for just $850K. It has a heckuva back story: Originally built as a brothel for local fur trappers, it later was frequented by famous St. Louis mobsters. +Bald eagles!
www.zillow.com/homedetails/...
November 15, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Starting up #FridayNightZillow
In Cuba, Missouri, we can get a 14BR, 14BA lodge on the river for just $850K. It has a heckuva back story: Originally built as a brothel for local fur trappers, it later was frequented by famous St. Louis mobsters. +Bald eagles!
www.zillow.com/homedetails/...
In Cuba, Missouri, we can get a 14BR, 14BA lodge on the river for just $850K. It has a heckuva back story: Originally built as a brothel for local fur trappers, it later was frequented by famous St. Louis mobsters. +Bald eagles!
www.zillow.com/homedetails/...
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
If you haven't joined your local AAUP, now is a great time to do so.
BREAKING: In AAUP et al v. Trump (wall-to-wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of TItle VI to reshape the University of California system), the faculty and staff of the UC system WON!!!
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
November 15, 2025 at 12:51 AM
If you haven't joined your local AAUP, now is a great time to do so.
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
The intro to Judge Rita Lin's 76-page opinion holding that the Trump admin's pressure campaign against the University of California system is coercive and retaliatory in violation of the First Amendment. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
November 15, 2025 at 1:12 AM
The intro to Judge Rita Lin's 76-page opinion holding that the Trump admin's pressure campaign against the University of California system is coercive and retaliatory in violation of the First Amendment. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Rebecca Spang
Wow. Word amongst the former Republicans I know in Indiana was that the plan would fail. To put it mildly, I did not believe them. www.wfyi.org/news/article...
Indiana Senate rejects Trump call for redistricting, won't convene in December
Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray said the Senate will not convene because there are not enough votes in support of redistricting.
www.wfyi.org
November 14, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Wow. Word amongst the former Republicans I know in Indiana was that the plan would fail. To put it mildly, I did not believe them. www.wfyi.org/news/article...