Alexandra Levy

Watch me on C-SPAN and learn about tariffs! 🗃️

Call for submissions on Nuclear History for @oah.org blog Process. This is for you @shafrhistorians.bsky.social & others.
www.oah.org/process/call...

AHA Reads 2025: Second Month Complete! Find out what AHA members and staff have been reading to fulfill the fourth annual AHA Summer Reading Challenge.

Where did July go? How is August tomorrow??

Anyway, we’re done with the first two months of #AHAReads. Check out the great books and articles that participants read in the last month to complete the summer reading challenge! 🗃️

So thrilled for the @nursingclio.bsky.social team! Can't wait to read it! 🗃️

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 IN: A federal judge has blocked the cancelation of $175 million in National Endowment for the Humanities grants, mass terminated by DOGE in April. She says the effort was transparent viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment.

Ask The Morning: What Are Your Questions About Higher Education?

Universities have become a political flashpoint. Send your questions about the coming school year.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/b...

On the road again (well…the track) headed to DC to talk about the Senate tomorrow.

Always interesting talking politics with government folk who know the inside!

History of the US Senate The American Historical Association (AHA) will host a Congressional Briefing offering historical perspectives on how the United States Senate has changed since its establishment. The briefing will tak...

Join us TOMORROW (7/24) for @historians.org Congressional Briefing on the history of the US Senate. With amazing panelists Joseph Crespino, @jbf1755.bsky.social, & @danielsholt.bsky.social & AHA executive director Sarah Weicksel as moderator. At 10 AM in Dirksen G-11. I hope to see you there! 🗃️

It is in person but will be recorded and aired by C-SPAN.

A Bibliography of Historians' Responses to COVID-19 | American Historical Association The AHA compiled a professionally vetted bibliography of historians’ responses to COVID-19 as a resource for the public, teachers, and scholars.

You may want to check out @historians.org’s Bibliography of Historians’s Responses to COVID-19, which offers a wealth of vetted resources including articles, podcasts, and videos on the history of pandemics.

Join us on Thursday! 🗃️

If you’d like to know what ELSE is happening for 2026, come check it out.

The Most Awful Responsibility – Alex Wellerstein

If you are interested in a very deep dive about what Truman knew and what he thought about the atomic bomb — both before and after its use — I have a book on this topic coming out later this year: alexwellerstein.com/writing/book...

None of the above is controversial among historians who study specifically the atomic bombing. It has been known for some 30 years. But it has been very slow to diffuse out of academic histories. The "decision" narrative still is the dominant one you will find, even though it is totally discredited.

The "decision" narrative was essentially invented AFTER the bombs were used as a means of rationalizing their use and trying to justify it. There was no agonizing over a calculus of saved lives PRIOR to their use. AFTER their use, there was criticism from both the left and the right.

Truman's role, as General Groves put it later, was "one of noninterference—basically, a decision not to upset the existing plans." He was informed to a degree about some of the decisions, but how well he was informed is questionable. He was, to be fair, very busy with many other things.

There was never any "decision" to use the atomic bomb — in the sense of a deliberative "should we or shouldn't we?" sort of thing. There were many "decisions" made along the way, but all trended towards its use. Truman was not part of almost any of those decisions.

An archival copy of Leo Szilard's "A Petition to the President of the United States," dated July 17, 1945, and stamped "SECRET" in red. It bears 12 signatures on the first page (the only page shown), including Leo Szilard, Ralph E. Lapp, Eugene P. Wigner, and John A. Simpson, Jr.

80 years ago today at the University of Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory—one day after the Trinity test—Chief Physicist Leo Szilard signed and circulated a petition to President Truman urging him to weigh all the “moral responsibilities” before deciding whether to use atomic bombs to attack Japan.

$200 million?!?!!

AHA Advocacy | American Historical Association The American Historical Association is unique among history organizations with the breadth and depth of our advocacy efforts.

My @historians.org colleagues and I work hard every day to advocate on behalf of the discipline: combatting bills that would restrict history education & higher education, suing to restore the NEH, & supporting international scholars & federal historians. Please consider joining or donating. 🗃️

These are all on my desk right now and I guess they suggest I love a bold color and not too many fonts.

I gotta say, as a Jew, it’s incredibly fucked up and sad that Elon Musk and Grok being Nazi sympathizers hasn’t caused a mass exodus (or coordinated boycott) from X.

I don’t like to shame people for what is clearly a failure of collective action, but honestly, what the fuck?

OH MY GOD

Loved working on this column with Cecilia about how her community garden work has influenced her scholarly thinking.

Grok explicitly says Elon tweaked it to allow it to “call out patterns in Ashkenazi surnames”

Proud to have contributed to this excellent piece written by Kritika Agarwal for @historians.org AHA Perspectives back in 2016. I remember our conversation so well. Revisiting it today in light of the escalated violence & dehumanization, there is so much more to say…

AHA Advocacy | American Historical Association The American Historical Association is unique among history organizations with the breadth and depth of our advocacy efforts.

The American Historical Association promotes the critical role of historical thinking in public life, defends academic freedom, develops professional standards, and supports scholarship and teaching. Learn about our recent advocacy actions on our website. 🗃️

The Supreme Court and Congress cede powers to Trump and the presidency The high court has given the president immunity and protected him from nationwide injunctions. Congress is giving ground on spending and tariffs. It adds up to a turbocharged executive.

Serious question for my historian and political scientist friends - Has there ever been a time when two branches so completely surrendered their power and obligations?

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

The money just given to ICE could fund the NEH for 850 years