Zeb Larson
@zeblarson.bsky.social
Freelance writer with a PhD in history. Ex-academic; studied the anti-apartheid movement. Emeritus adjunct. Became a software engineer in 2020. Words in Teen Vogue, Smithsonian, Jacobin, BBC.
He/Him
zeb-larson.com
He/Him
zeb-larson.com
Pinned
Who Is Really Running the Oval Office? - Dame Magazine
Donald Trump has never been a leader who is particularly concerned with details or even specific issues day-to-day. In 2016, he allegedly offered control of both domestic and foreign policy to former ...
www.damemagazine.com
My latest piece for @damemagazine.bsky.social on the Trump shadow presidency, what happens as autocrats grow old and infirm, and what it means for the rest of us.
Reposted by Zeb Larson
One thing I care about that no one else cares about is that the hierarchical, network, and relational database models were *all* explicitly developed to handle manufacturing data.
November 25, 2025 at 12:10 AM
One thing I care about that no one else cares about is that the hierarchical, network, and relational database models were *all* explicitly developed to handle manufacturing data.
Reposted by Zeb Larson
The part that Tom Flanagan forgot to mention in his little grift column in the National Post is that Canada has very rarely lived up to its full treaty obligations.
So when he says that land changed hands fairly and peacefully, he's lying through his teeth.
But then again, it's the National Post.
So when he says that land changed hands fairly and peacefully, he's lying through his teeth.
But then again, it's the National Post.
November 24, 2025 at 9:59 PM
The part that Tom Flanagan forgot to mention in his little grift column in the National Post is that Canada has very rarely lived up to its full treaty obligations.
So when he says that land changed hands fairly and peacefully, he's lying through his teeth.
But then again, it's the National Post.
So when he says that land changed hands fairly and peacefully, he's lying through his teeth.
But then again, it's the National Post.
Reposted by Zeb Larson
if you’re looking for more ways to support independent media and fight fascism, help my friends at @liberalcurrents.com reach their $500k fundraising goal!
gofund.me/4e2ac0714
gofund.me/4e2ac0714
November 24, 2025 at 3:09 PM
if you’re looking for more ways to support independent media and fight fascism, help my friends at @liberalcurrents.com reach their $500k fundraising goal!
gofund.me/4e2ac0714
gofund.me/4e2ac0714
Reposted by Zeb Larson
Jimmy Cliff, the charismatic reggae pioneer and actor who preached joy, defiance and resilience in such classics as “Many Rivers to Cross,” “You Can Get it If You Really Want” and “Vietnam” and starred in the landmark movie “The Harder They Come,” has died at 81. https://to.pbs.org/4ptgRug
Jimmy Cliff, reggae giant and star of landmark Jamaican film 'The Harder They Come,' dead at 81
Cliff was nominated for seven Grammys and won twice for best reggae album.
www.pbs.org
November 24, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Jimmy Cliff, the charismatic reggae pioneer and actor who preached joy, defiance and resilience in such classics as “Many Rivers to Cross,” “You Can Get it If You Really Want” and “Vietnam” and starred in the landmark movie “The Harder They Come,” has died at 81. https://to.pbs.org/4ptgRug
I wanted to be an academic historian, but the job market was atrocious. I wanted to keep writing but didn’t want to depend on it financially, so I learned to code so that I could subsidize the rest of my life.
November 24, 2025 at 2:25 AM
I wanted to be an academic historian, but the job market was atrocious. I wanted to keep writing but didn’t want to depend on it financially, so I learned to code so that I could subsidize the rest of my life.
This is why I’m really skeptical of the parent post’s (not Jaqueline’s) ebullience about how the humanities are faring at Berkeley. UC Berkeley is a wonderful place, but it’s not typical: I want to see places like OSU or Indiana or Iowa investing in the humanities. Or better yet, regional campuses!
My hot take is that over the next 10 years, we're going to see more emphasis on and investment in the humanities at Ivy League and other fancy schools just as state schools and small privates continue to decimate and even eliminate the humanities.
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
November 23, 2025 at 7:04 PM
This is why I’m really skeptical of the parent post’s (not Jaqueline’s) ebullience about how the humanities are faring at Berkeley. UC Berkeley is a wonderful place, but it’s not typical: I want to see places like OSU or Indiana or Iowa investing in the humanities. Or better yet, regional campuses!
Baby slept the whole flight from Columbus to Chicago; I cannot overemphasize how happy we were. I read a book, sans interruption, FOR AN HOUR.
November 23, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Baby slept the whole flight from Columbus to Chicago; I cannot overemphasize how happy we were. I read a book, sans interruption, FOR AN HOUR.
Reposted by Zeb Larson
Do you appreciate that our editors put together such fantastic topical series in #envhist and #envhum? And that we can offer honoraria to our grad student & precarious contributors? Then please contribute to our fundraising campaign! We are 60% of the way to our goal.
fundrazr.com/niche2025?re...
fundrazr.com/niche2025?re...
Help NiCHE Write the Next Chapter of Environmental History: 2025 Campaign
The Network in Canadian History and Environment is a not-for-profit public history organization dedicated to the dissemination of environmental history research in Canada and building a network of res...
fundrazr.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Do you appreciate that our editors put together such fantastic topical series in #envhist and #envhum? And that we can offer honoraria to our grad student & precarious contributors? Then please contribute to our fundraising campaign! We are 60% of the way to our goal.
fundrazr.com/niche2025?re...
fundrazr.com/niche2025?re...
Reposted by Zeb Larson
Making Nonfiction Comics by Shay Mirk & Eleri Harris is the next great comic making textbook. @mirkdrop.bsky.social @elerimai.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Making Nonfiction Comics by Shay Mirk & Eleri Harris is the next great comic making textbook. @mirkdrop.bsky.social @elerimai.bsky.social
Reposted by Zeb Larson
I’ve often called this song—“Just Like Heaven”—the finest single of the 80s and meant it. This cover’s arrangement only confirms it for me 💜🔥
November 21, 2025 at 9:11 PM
I’ve often called this song—“Just Like Heaven”—the finest single of the 80s and meant it. This cover’s arrangement only confirms it for me 💜🔥
Reposted by Zeb Larson
The Guardian’s investigation into the Free Birth Society is a clear example of a closed, high-risk counterpublic. It can be examined directly through the lens of disordered discourse described in my work.
demos.co.uk/research/ver...
demos.co.uk/research/ver...
November 22, 2025 at 11:53 AM
The Guardian’s investigation into the Free Birth Society is a clear example of a closed, high-risk counterpublic. It can be examined directly through the lens of disordered discourse described in my work.
demos.co.uk/research/ver...
demos.co.uk/research/ver...
Reposted by Zeb Larson
has anyone written a recent essay on the right wing/tech obsession with plato?
November 21, 2025 at 8:54 PM
has anyone written a recent essay on the right wing/tech obsession with plato?
Sometimes I forget how irritating it is that you have to have a social media presence if you want to be a creative of any kind. It’s not really something you can opt out of.
November 21, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Sometimes I forget how irritating it is that you have to have a social media presence if you want to be a creative of any kind. It’s not really something you can opt out of.
Staggering to see Dems fail to grasp (again and again!) that no matter how much they condemn socialism, they will be labeled socialists regardless. And doubly staggering to see the text of that resolution condemning Maduro and to see them vote for it when it’s transparently setting them up…
November 21, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Staggering to see Dems fail to grasp (again and again!) that no matter how much they condemn socialism, they will be labeled socialists regardless. And doubly staggering to see the text of that resolution condemning Maduro and to see them vote for it when it’s transparently setting them up…
Reposted by Zeb Larson
In Episode 2 of our new Stories from the States podcast, you’ll meet Ayman Soliman, a former Cincinnati Children’s Hospital chaplain in Ohio. He was detained by ICE for 73 days, and now shares his experience. ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/11/21/7...
73 days in ICE detention: an Ohio hospital chaplain speaks out • Ohio Capital Journal
In Episode 2 of our new Stories from the States podcast, you’ll meet Ayman Soliman, a former Cincinnati Children’s Hospital chaplain in Ohio. He was detained by ICE for 73 days, and now shares his…
ohiocapitaljournal.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:00 PM
In Episode 2 of our new Stories from the States podcast, you’ll meet Ayman Soliman, a former Cincinnati Children’s Hospital chaplain in Ohio. He was detained by ICE for 73 days, and now shares his experience. ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/11/21/7...
I saw somebody I really respect making this very case several months ago and felt some of it ebb away. It’s not an act of resistance to compete in a rigged game; at best, you’re a sucker.
Quite frankly, I think non-fascists who are still using Twitter and somehow still believe it’ll help them achieve non-fascist aims are 100% delusional. It’s pathetic.
It's a censorship engine designed to promote ideas that Elon Musk likes and suppress ideas that Elon Musk does not like. I really don't get why this evident fact - that Musk openly admits! - is so hard for so many people to understand
November 21, 2025 at 3:50 PM
I saw somebody I really respect making this very case several months ago and felt some of it ebb away. It’s not an act of resistance to compete in a rigged game; at best, you’re a sucker.
Reposted by Zeb Larson
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We're launching a health equity beat!
The 51st is planning to publish more reporting on the health issues that matter most to D.C. residents. To do that, we want to hear from you. What health issues are affecting people in your life? Have...
forms.gle
November 21, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Have ideas for coverage? Hit us up:
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forms.gle/93brTrJXvgWW...
Reposted by Zeb Larson
Life expectancy in DC can vary by as much as a decade depending on the ward you live in. I’m honored to be a fellow at @mhhjcenter.bsky.social this year, which is supporting us in launching a health equity beat, where we’ll dig in to the city’s health issues.
www.mhhj.org/networks-fel...
www.mhhj.org/networks-fel...
November 21, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Life expectancy in DC can vary by as much as a decade depending on the ward you live in. I’m honored to be a fellow at @mhhjcenter.bsky.social this year, which is supporting us in launching a health equity beat, where we’ll dig in to the city’s health issues.
www.mhhj.org/networks-fel...
www.mhhj.org/networks-fel...
Look I’m not a categorically anti-gambling person (when it comes to vices, I definitely skew towards “people making their own choices” and “let’s tax the hell out of it”) but something about seeing a Draft Kings bar in the Short North this morning makes me want to vomit.
November 21, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Look I’m not a categorically anti-gambling person (when it comes to vices, I definitely skew towards “people making their own choices” and “let’s tax the hell out of it”) but something about seeing a Draft Kings bar in the Short North this morning makes me want to vomit.
Reposted by Zeb Larson
I forget if I posted this here, but I wrote an op ed about the special interest lawyers Right to Democracy. I don't buy their decolonial rhetoric and I think they are a threat. www.samoanews.com/opinion/gues...
Guest Editorial: A wolf in sheep’s clothing
Since 1996, there have been a string of court cases that harm indigenous rights to land and self-determination. I want to share the story of cases in Hawaii, in Puerto Rico, Guam, and in the
www.samoanews.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:20 AM
I forget if I posted this here, but I wrote an op ed about the special interest lawyers Right to Democracy. I don't buy their decolonial rhetoric and I think they are a threat. www.samoanews.com/opinion/gues...
Everybody complains about getting e-mails, but the real enemy is Slack. Good things come to me by e-mail, nothing good ever comes from Slack.
November 20, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Everybody complains about getting e-mails, but the real enemy is Slack. Good things come to me by e-mail, nothing good ever comes from Slack.
There’s a very specific brand of millennial who resonated with this post. I see you, and I appreciate you.
Rewatching House and this show could have been so much better if it had stuck with House's leg pain disappearing in S3 and just seen where it went. It was the last gasp of an un-Flanderized House where he was more curmudgeon and less sociopath.
November 20, 2025 at 7:14 PM
There’s a very specific brand of millennial who resonated with this post. I see you, and I appreciate you.
Something so pathetic about seeing what my baby eats at daycare and thinking “Mmmmm…beef and barley, you say? Or pumpkin ricotta pasta?” Meanwhile, dad is eating the same ham sandwich or leftovers he has most days.
November 20, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Something so pathetic about seeing what my baby eats at daycare and thinking “Mmmmm…beef and barley, you say? Or pumpkin ricotta pasta?” Meanwhile, dad is eating the same ham sandwich or leftovers he has most days.
It's a weird pet peeve, but I hate how migraine has somehow become synonymous with headache. I suffer from both (luckily very infrequently with the former) and holy hell, they're unmistakeable. I also doubt if you're experiencing a true migraine that you're staring at a computer screen for hours.
November 20, 2025 at 4:16 PM
It's a weird pet peeve, but I hate how migraine has somehow become synonymous with headache. I suffer from both (luckily very infrequently with the former) and holy hell, they're unmistakeable. I also doubt if you're experiencing a true migraine that you're staring at a computer screen for hours.
Good article from a good friend on the U.S. role in sabotaging Angola's independence in 1975.
How the US Intervened to Sabotage Angola’s Independence
Fifty years ago today, Angola gained its independence after centuries of Portuguese domination. But US officials like Henry Kissinger were already working hard to orchestrate a devastating proxy war t...
jacobin.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Good article from a good friend on the U.S. role in sabotaging Angola's independence in 1975.