Brian Leech

Update on Lawsuit to Restore the NEH - AHA American Council of Learned Societies, American Historical Association, and Modern Language Association celebrate Judge Colleen McMahon’s decision for the Authors Guild, putting a stay on the cancella...

@historians.org, @acls1919.bsky.social, and @modernlanguage.bsky.social celebrate Judge McMahon’s decision for @authorsguild.bsky.social, putting a stay on the cancellations of awarded NEH grants. We remain steadfast in our efforts to stop the unlawful dismantling of the NEH. 🗃️

Just a typical morning in the Nevins household: reading a dissertation about the introduction of chickens into Scandinavia during the Viking Age and how all the things people wanted out of chickens (docility, loss of seasonal reproductive patterns, and early onset of egg-laying) were the result of

College-Affiliated Public Media Stand to Lose Big Under Cuts The Trump administration’s cuts to public radio and television may create news deserts and limit experiential learning opportunities for students.

Around half of NPR's member stations are affiliated with a college, sometimes even based on campus or run by communications staff members.

So what happens when budget-strapped college face national cuts to public broadcast media?

www.insidehighered.com/news/busines...

The Mask A history of masks protecting against bad air—in cities, factories, hospitals, and war trenches—exploring how our identities and beliefs shape the decisi...

One of my favorite #histmed #histstm scholars @thomasschlich.bsky.social has just joined Bluesky. Check out his and @brunostrasser.bsky.social’s latest work on the history of the mask:

yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...

Walking is really, really, really good for you.

Conclusion of a new meta-analysis that reviewed 57 studies on walking & health:
"Compared with 2,000 steps per day, 7,000 steps per day was associated with a 47% lower risk of all-cause mortality."

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

The real problem with all of these companies like the Gap selling fake vintage T-shirts is that nose no one is impressed when I wear a shirt that is actually 25 years old. That’s why I’m making sure that they have vintage stains.

Yes. It’s quite good.

This Day in Labor History: July 17, 1944. A munitions explosion at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, California killed 320 soldiers, mostly African-Americans loading munitions onto ships. This spurred them to demand improved conditions. The military charged them with mutiny!!!

The Beatles to Virginia Woolf: UK tree of the year shortlist is rooted in culture Woodland Trust’s 10 nominees from across the country highlight how trees inspire creative minds

Hard to pick a fave from this list of UK Tree of the Year finalists: "A cedar tree climbed by the Beatles, an oak that may have inspired Virginia Woolf and a lime representing peace in Northern Ireland are among those shortlisted for tree of the year 2025." www.theguardian.com/environment/... 🌍

Also, as someone who grew up driving next to semis on mountain passes, Duel freaked me out more than any other thriller or horror movie when I was young.

Hallow Road - Wikipedia

The recent Hallow Road (2025): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallow_...

Going to be co-editing a book series for Boydell&Brewer on "The Medieval Urban World." Open to proposals c. 800–1600, covering urban life, societies, and/or cultures in Europe, Mediterranean, and/or Islamic world. For more info, plz email CuencaE@uhv.edu. Happy to hear from first-time authors.

Historians - as you think about the new semester, consider this first-day exercise as a way to get conversation going about what historians *actually* do, and the context within which we do it. catherinedenial.org/blog/uncateg...

An image of text that says 'Announcing Release of Adams Family Correspondence, Volume 16 The Adams Papers has published Volume 16 of the Adams Family. Correspondence, providing annotated transcriptions of Adams family letters. Volume 16 follows the Adams family from November 1804 through July 1809 as John and Abigail Adams guide their growing family through challenges, big and small. The letters cover such topics as family life, the 1806 Miranda Expedition, and the deteriorating relations between the United States and Great Britain. The Adams Papers Adams Family Correspondence Learn more about these topics on the Beehive blog." Text accompanied by a book cover for the Adams Papers.

Duh nuh nuh nuh. (click, click) Duh nuh nuh nuh. (click, click). Duh nuh nuh nuh. Duh nuh nuh nuh. Duh nuh nuh nuh. (click, click).

This Day in Labor History: July 12, 1917. Mining capitalists and their bought and sold police in Bisbee, Arizona and politicians rounded up anyone they thought might be an IWW member (or if they looked Mexican) and deported them in one of the worst civil rights violations in American history!!!!!

character.ai got sued for its irresponsible chatbots targeted at kids and teens. The company promised to clean up its act.

Yesterday I convinced Anne Frank to trust in the goodness of human nature and leave her hiding place.

Here's how easy it was.

A 🧵.

#AI #history #education #academicsky

@rlifset.bsky.social @sarahthestan.bsky.social and I are excited to announce the CFP for the Energy History working group at the CHSTM. Priority deadline for working paper submissions is August 15th!
networks.h-net.org/group/announ...

@rlifset.bsky.social @sarahthestan.bsky.social and I are excited to announce the CFP for the Energy History working group at the CHSTM. Priority deadline for working paper submissions is August 15th!
networks.h-net.org/group/announ...

Once humanities professors start quoting ChatGPT generated notes about theory in grad classes, this thing that we do is completely over. Either we're modeling lateral thinking for future professors or the humanities should be shut down.

Audacy Shuts Down Podcast Studio Pineapple Street, Lays Off Staff; Division Had Produced Multiple Shows for HBO and Max Audacy is shuttering Pineapple Street Studios, which produced companion podcasts for TV shows like "Game of Thrones" and "The Last of Us."

This is very sad news. Pineapple Street was a real pioneer, a dominant force in what I guess in retrospect was the golden age of narrative podcasts. It was also, in my experience making Wind of Change, just a wonderful company full of decent, creatively brilliant people. variety.com/2025/digital...

"The Hagley Digital Archives is currently offline due to a sustained bot attack" begins a message from the archive, explaining that AI is using bots to train machine learning learning models.

Just went looking for something at the excellent Hagley Digital Archives, and was greeted by the message below.

They're being overrun by bots, as "AI systems increasingly target sites like ours to train machine learning models."

The web is being murdered. So aggravating.

digital.hagley.org

Associate Professor in Environmental History (281801) | University of Stavanger Job title: Associate Professor in Environmental History (281801), Employer: University of Stavanger, Deadline: Thursday, August 7, 2025

We are hiring! Fully tenured associate professorship in environmental history! We are looking for someone who can be a strong contributor to the history group, to a new #envhum related MA program (if all goes well), and to @greenhouseuis.net. #envhist

They scheduled my review for promotion to full professor on the afternoon of October 31st. What costume should I wear to the hearing?

Just went to the #NationalArchives website, and the announcement shared below has been removed.

It seems the question of whether historical research is a "legitimate business need" is moot, at least for now...

www.archives.gov/college-park

#Archives #NARA #ArchivesAreForEveryone #speccolls 🗃️📜

These records belong to the American people.

NEW: NSF will be kicked out of their building. Announcement will be made tomorrow by HUD Sec. and Governor of VA. HUD will take over the NSF building over the next two years.

NSF staffer: "There is no planning for NSF, no identified future location, appropriation for a new building or a move."

Hundreds of IU degree programs at risk of disappearing By Ethan Sandweiss Indiana University could lose hundreds of degree programs as part of compliance with an array of new laws affecting higher education that passed at the 11th hour of the legislati…

This is very, very bad.

A new state law will likely force the closure of hundreds of low-enrollment programs at Indiana University. The cutoff is 15 graduates/year for undergrad majors, 7 for Masters programs, and 3 for PhD programs, averaged over 3 years.

wfiunews.wordpress.com/2025/06/24/h...

Oh, goodie - now it's going to be even harder to do my job

What the!?!?