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Julia Sizek

@jsizek.bsky.social

Environmental historian and legal geographer of California desert's landownership checkerboards, Native American land trusts, groundwater, dirt bikes, and vacation homes. Also projects on the Northwest Forest Plan and cervid Chronic Wasting Disease.

1,036 Followers  |  299 Following  |  120 Posts  |  Joined: 30.09.2023  |  1.7757

Latest posts by jsizek.bsky.social on Bluesky

It's almost like AI is more demand-side than supply-side, creating consumer demand instead of promising actual labor saving efficiencies.

14.10.2025 13:17 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Logo with outline of Africa and words the dark continent, Busch gardens, Tampa, fla.

Logo with outline of Africa and words the dark continent, Busch gardens, Tampa, fla.

In disturbing letterheads I didn't anticipate seeing at work today

19.09.2025 20:58 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Today! Free on Zoom for those of you who appreciate California history

18.09.2025 16:34 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Will traffic on Highway 50 ever end? Sacramento history suggests the answer is β€˜no’ Where are these freeway lanes headed? β€œIt feels like spitting in the wind a little bit. In five years, we’re gonna feel like we want another lane.”

I couldn't find much 1960s coverage of families displaced by the W-X freeway. So I looked at households listed on W or X in the 1950 census & called up the kids to see if they were still living there when construction began. I found two amazing people? Reporting is fun www.sacbee.com/news/local/t...

15.09.2025 16:37 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Mythmaking, Myth Breaking: California at 175 Join the California History Section for a live webinar on Mythmaking, Myth Breaking: California at 175 on Thursday, September 18, at 4PM! See how myths have shaped our ideas...

Moderating this fun discussion of California myths at the California state library this week! Join on Zoom to learn more about Calafia, pulp novels, and Ramona

15.09.2025 18:49 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

Re-establishing Wildcat Canyon as a through route to exurban Contra Costa County is a mistake. Fix it if you must, and leave it closed.

12.09.2025 14:47 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

Cadiz Inc up to new antics, zombie projects never die

10.09.2025 19:13 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Prop 13 continues to be my enemy

06.09.2025 16:38 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Maybe it's the same people who are trying to claim that JD's hometown of Middletown is also Appalachia (said as someone who lived the majority of my childhood in WV plus another 6 years in non-appalachia Ohio)

26.08.2025 04:21 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Sand! Also quite effective depending on locale

18.08.2025 03:39 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I literally had a conversation with colleagues yesterday who told me about their behavior to avoid mountain lion encounters and I reminded them that they're much more likely to die driving to work

13.08.2025 21:06 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I find that reverse outlines (even if video content!) can help students see things a little better

06.08.2025 00:51 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Or dam removal!

04.08.2025 19:51 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

And just think, it was such a win for 'jeffersonian democracy' to create a checkerboard

15.07.2025 12:37 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Catellus is a superweird and mostly not researched part of the train world, as someone who wrote a bit about them in the California desert (unfortunately not relevant here)

15.07.2025 03:45 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

AI not only requires tons of groundwater or surface water to operate it, but it also heats up that water to kill all the tiny microbes that make groundwater clean!

14.07.2025 18:24 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

There is one extremely active nimby who has made it her mission to make sure that this intersection isn't safer for cyclists and pedestrians, sadly

09.07.2025 23:08 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Please follow up with a detailed history of property tax repossession, been waiting for someone to write one for a decade kthanx

30.06.2025 21:09 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Lol I have tried only to have it summarize a court case once and it was the same problem except for it doesn't understand how laws work

29.06.2025 19:57 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

watching closely to see if there's a spike in citations for Neither Settler nor Native

25.06.2025 16:35 β€” πŸ‘ 72    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 3

Or if you spend too much time listening to satellite radio with old people... dragnet's theme song is forever in my brain

21.06.2025 04:20 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Land Sale of the Century, James Watt’s dream come may come true.

19.06.2025 03:50 β€” πŸ‘ 48    πŸ” 22    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
How β€˜Jaws’ Made a Template for the Modern Blockbuster Much more than a mere creature feature, β€œJaws” created a playbook that filmmakers have followed closely for 50 years.
20.06.2025 00:43 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Counterpoint: Jaws is just Duel, revamped, so actually the template of the movie is about the terror of the open road and mysterious road rage

20.06.2025 00:43 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Death valley has more Joshua trees than Joshua Tree. Protecting those trees and the areas around the NP will continue to protect the best habitat for the charismatic species moving forward

18.06.2025 20:18 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

The lobby for this is exclusively golden duplex owners in Berkeley who don't want to improve things for their tenants

17.06.2025 03:28 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The federal government had a little known program to sell off lands under the small tract act, and they had to end it because of too much interest and too much chaos. Today's checkerboard sale would be more of the same

17.06.2025 03:26 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Villages connected by freeways

10.06.2025 23:42 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Public transit helps you understand society in both the best and most car-brained ways

10.06.2025 17:50 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Meanwhile Raymond Williams shouts into the void: what if the country and the city should be conceptualized together?

09.06.2025 02:36 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

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