Michael Hall

The House of the Satrap King, Rhyne. 2025. The House of the Satrap: The Making of the Ancient Persian Empire. Oakland: University of California Press. Starting in the sixth century BCE, the conquests of the Persian kings Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius transformed the lives of humans on a continental scale, as their empire reached from the Iranian plateau to eastern Europe, Central Asia, and North Africa.

The House of the Satrap

King, Rhyne. 2025. The House of the Satrap: The Making of the Ancient Persian Empire. Oakland: University of California Press. Starting in the sixth century BCE, the conquests of the Persian kings Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius transformed the lives of humans on a continental…

MRNA, Used in Covid Shots, May Help Rid the Body of H.I.V.

The technology that powered Covid vaccines may also lead scientists to a cure for H.I.V.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/05/h...

History teaches us that alliances between oligarchs and fascists, while initially beneficial to each other, usually don't end well.

Breaking: Men officially deemed too emotional for positions of power

on the one hand it is all very funny, but on the other hand I feel compelled to remind everyone this is a really fucking stupid way to run a country and normal countries don't do this

I'm just glad one of these men has the nuclear codes and the other has all our personal data.

Public pressure works! Keep it going.

Nation Can't Believe It On Harvard's Side

A photo of Viola Ford Fletcher with her hands clasped

Today is the 111th birthday of Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre

Trump Is Driving International Students Away from U.S. Universities. That's a Big Problem. “I just don't feel safe going to the U.S. right now.”

“I just don't feel safe going to the U.S. right now.”

The Trump administration's immigration policies are pushing international students away from U.S. universities. That's a big problem.

Read more: www.teenvogue.com/story/trump-...

Your moment of calm at the Twin Lighthouses with the sounds of waves crashing against the rocks

@stormhour.bsky.social @photohour.bsky.social

Abrego Garcia's wife: "I will not stop fighting until I see my husband alive. Kilmar, if you can hear me, stay strong. God hasn't forgotten about you. Our children are asking when you will come home ... they miss their dad so much."

I fully endorse this thread on how to keep your stuff. The Cloud is *never* enough. It's your life's work!

Not worried? Our govt is crushing knowledge systems like a mob of monster cybertrucks smashing into the front door of the library.

Kate Ozment tells you how to make your stuff recoverable.

Opinion | Trump’s Gulag Archipelago (Gift Article) He is seeking to establish a truly chilling proposition: that no one can stop his administration from imprisoning anyone it wants, anywhere in the world.

"If the government can disappear anyone it wishes, dump him in a Salvadoran dungeon and prevent any court in this country from providing relief, we all should be very, very afraid."

🔔 Join us this Thursday, April 10 at 10 am EST for a virtual discussion ahead of the two year anniversary of the war in Sudan.

Register now: timep.org/2025/04/03/t...

Scroll down and meet the speakers!

Mississippi libraries ordered to delete academic research in response to state laws - Mississippi Today The two research collections state officials ordered for deletion included material from professional journals, conference papers, books, student dissertations, periodicals and newspaper articles.

This is the literal destruction of knowledge.

Mississippi libraries are being ordered to remove academic research on race and gender from library databases.
mississippitoday.org/2025/04/08/m...

A graphic that reads Free Rümeysa Öztürk with a photo of her.

This week, my Somerville constituent Rümeysa Öztürk was abducted in broad daylight by DHS officials and sent to Louisiana to be locked in a detention center. She has not been charged with any crime.

New open access book from @ucpress.bsky.social :

Collaborative Settler Colonialism: Japanese Migration to Brazil in the Age of Empires by Sidney Xu Lu

www.ucpress.edu/books/collab...

First Pulitzer ever awarded for lurking in a group chat

Here’s the correct link 🤦‍♂️: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

‘I Messed Up At Work Again,’ Crestfallen Michael Waltz Texts Wife, National Geographic Editorial Staff

‘I Messed Up At Work Again,’ Crestfallen Michael Waltz Texts Wife, National Geographic Editorial Staff

I am BEGGING people to frame this properly. The issue here is not one colossal blunder where a reporter got info. The issue is it’s clear these people are all routinely ignoring the most absolutely basic security protocols, and WE HAVE NO IDEA what breaches this has already enabled.

Great, questions for the Press Sec.

1. If it turns out "war plans" WERE discussed, what would be the appropriate punishment?
2. If it turns out classified material WAS sent, what would be the appropriate punishment?
3. Will the administration continue to use Signal to discuss top secret info?

“The sheer sloppiness is bad. The illegality is probable. The dangerousness is very high.” @cnn.com

Six Short Thoughts on the Most Insane Trump Story of All Time Trump's "Team of Amateurs" Screwed Up in the Most Hilarious (and Troublesome) Way

One thing that most people are missing in the group text scandal: The Trump officials don’t appear clear on what *exactly* Trump approved, which is a huge problem in using military force. Stephen Miller says “as I heard it … green light.” 😱😬 www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/six-short-...

I am reading & laughing at many of your group chat joke posts, but has anyone else gone ice-cold with terror about how our national security is now a global punchline & we have no one protecting us against the world's bad actors, who can apparently just drunk-sext Pete Hegseth whenevs?

Some questions that Mike Waltz and the others must answer:
1) How did he preserve the thread and others for PRA
2) What phones were everyone using
3) What kind of security do those phones have
4) WHERE were they using those phones
5) What else is on the phones
6) Why was Joe Kent included

China forces Uyghurs to show video proof they are not fasting during Ramadan

Beijing has criminalized Muslim practices under the guise of stamping out religious extremism.
www.rfa.org/english/uygh...

No reason.