Anne Sarah Rubin
@annesarah.bsky.social
Historian of the American Civil War and the South, writing about food and famine.
Maybe a mean girl
Dissent is Patriotic
Trans rights are human rights.
Maybe a mean girl
Dissent is Patriotic
Trans rights are human rights.
Pinned
Anne Sarah Rubin
@annesarah.bsky.social
· Aug 21
“Nations reel and stagger on their way; they make hideous mistakes; they commit frightful wrongs; they do great and beautiful things. And shall we not best guide humanity by telling the truth about all this, so far as the truth is ascertainable?”
W.E.B. Du Bois
W.E.B. Du Bois
Reposted by Anne Sarah Rubin
if i were running for office i would absolutely call my volunteers “the wide awakes,” i would hand out wide awake pins and stickers and hats for people to wear and campaign events would have wide awake banners
THEY USED TO CALL US WOKE
NOW THEY CAN CALL US WIDE AWAKES
NOW THEY CAN CALL US WIDE AWAKES
November 5, 2025 at 6:20 PM
if i were running for office i would absolutely call my volunteers “the wide awakes,” i would hand out wide awake pins and stickers and hats for people to wear and campaign events would have wide awake banners
Epic thread. 🥪⚖️
Big day at U.S. District Court in D.C. where Sean Dunn, the D.C. Sandwich Guy, is on trial for misdemeanor assault of a federal officer.
Border Patrol agent Gregory Lairmore is on the stand narrating surveillance video of the sammie toss.
'Now he’s struck me with the sandwich,' Lairmore says.
Border Patrol agent Gregory Lairmore is on the stand narrating surveillance video of the sammie toss.
'Now he’s struck me with the sandwich,' Lairmore says.
November 4, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Epic thread. 🥪⚖️
"All along, this effort has been absurd; there is no way to kill someone without some element of torture, either psychological, physical, or both. "
Horrifying. The world, and this country, is so cruel.
Horrifying. The world, and this country, is so cruel.
Tortured to Death in Alabama
The state killed Anthony Boyd last night, and the process was anything but humane.
www.theatlantic.com
October 25, 2025 at 4:42 AM
"All along, this effort has been absurd; there is no way to kill someone without some element of torture, either psychological, physical, or both. "
Horrifying. The world, and this country, is so cruel.
Horrifying. The world, and this country, is so cruel.
Reposted by Anne Sarah Rubin
Purdue to the rescue of IU student newspaper, whose institution was attempting censorship. Details in alt!
October 18, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Purdue to the rescue of IU student newspaper, whose institution was attempting censorship. Details in alt!
Reposted by Anne Sarah Rubin
Let me state this as clearly as I can:
It is not the job of a historian to make you feel good about your nation’s past.
We need to print this on t-shirts and bumper stickers.
It is not the job of a historian to make you feel good about your nation’s past.
We need to print this on t-shirts and bumper stickers.
a close up of a man 's face with his mouth open and a very angry look on his face .
ALT: a close up of a man 's face with his mouth open and a very angry look on his face .
media.tenor.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Let me state this as clearly as I can:
It is not the job of a historian to make you feel good about your nation’s past.
We need to print this on t-shirts and bumper stickers.
It is not the job of a historian to make you feel good about your nation’s past.
We need to print this on t-shirts and bumper stickers.
Reposted by Anne Sarah Rubin
Assassin's Creed pulls planned game about the Civil War, apparently because having a black protagonist fighting the KKK would offend too many Americans
www.polygon.com/assassins-cr...
www.polygon.com/assassins-cr...
The canceled Assassin's Creed Civil War game was a powder keg waiting to explode
Ubisoft was reportedly working on a game set after the Civil War era, but canceled it due to politics and Assassins Creed Shadows backlash.
www.polygon.com
October 10, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Assassin's Creed pulls planned game about the Civil War, apparently because having a black protagonist fighting the KKK would offend too many Americans
www.polygon.com/assassins-cr...
www.polygon.com/assassins-cr...
Thank you @thetattooedprof.bsky.social for this important piece!! Those who push back against uncritical AI boosterism are not Luddites— and sometimes the Emporer does not have any clothes.
My latest column for the Chronicle of Higher Ed is now live. It's an argument for including AI-critical voices in campus conversations and policymaking workgroups, and I'm proud to get this dissenting piece into the mainstream genAI/higher ed discourse. Please read and share if you're so inclined 🙂
Advice | Sometimes We Resist AI for Good Reasons
Why higher ed needs to listen to the contrarians in setting policies on using tools like ChatGPT in faculty work.
www.chronicle.com
September 24, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Thank you @thetattooedprof.bsky.social for this important piece!! Those who push back against uncritical AI boosterism are not Luddites— and sometimes the Emporer does not have any clothes.
Reposted by Anne Sarah Rubin
Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air after our government threatened a private company with retaliation, marking a dark moment for free speech in our nation.
More than 400 artists across our nation signed on to say: We refuse to be silenced by those in power.
More than 400 artists across our nation signed on to say: We refuse to be silenced by those in power.
September 22, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air after our government threatened a private company with retaliation, marking a dark moment for free speech in our nation.
More than 400 artists across our nation signed on to say: We refuse to be silenced by those in power.
More than 400 artists across our nation signed on to say: We refuse to be silenced by those in power.
Reposted by Anne Sarah Rubin
We're now offering free digital subscriptions to
@theatlantic.com to all U.S. public high schools! If that's you, you can sign up here: accounts.theatlantic.com/products/fre...
More info here: www.theatlantic.com/press-releas...
@theatlantic.com to all U.S. public high schools! If that's you, you can sign up here: accounts.theatlantic.com/products/fre...
More info here: www.theatlantic.com/press-releas...
The Atlantic Announces Free Digital Subscriptions for All U.S. Public High Schools
None
www.theatlantic.com
September 18, 2025 at 2:52 PM
We're now offering free digital subscriptions to
@theatlantic.com to all U.S. public high schools! If that's you, you can sign up here: accounts.theatlantic.com/products/fre...
More info here: www.theatlantic.com/press-releas...
@theatlantic.com to all U.S. public high schools! If that's you, you can sign up here: accounts.theatlantic.com/products/fre...
More info here: www.theatlantic.com/press-releas...
🗃️ Historians of the American Civil War and Reconstruction: There are still 2 weeks left to submit your 2025 books to the OAH Civil War and Reconstruction Book Award! www.oah.org/awards/book-...
OAH | Civil War and Reconstruction Book AwardOAH | Civil War and Reconstruction Book Award
www.oah.org
September 15, 2025 at 12:50 PM
🗃️ Historians of the American Civil War and Reconstruction: There are still 2 weeks left to submit your 2025 books to the OAH Civil War and Reconstruction Book Award! www.oah.org/awards/book-...
I might need to go to LA this fall. Fascinating article about remixing monuments.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/a...
Kara Walker Deconstructs a Statue, and a Myth
www.nytimes.com
September 8, 2025 at 11:02 AM
I might need to go to LA this fall. Fascinating article about remixing monuments.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/a...
“Nations reel and stagger on their way; they make hideous mistakes; they commit frightful wrongs; they do great and beautiful things. And shall we not best guide humanity by telling the truth about all this, so far as the truth is ascertainable?”
W.E.B. Du Bois
W.E.B. Du Bois
August 21, 2025 at 9:58 AM
“Nations reel and stagger on their way; they make hideous mistakes; they commit frightful wrongs; they do great and beautiful things. And shall we not best guide humanity by telling the truth about all this, so far as the truth is ascertainable?”
W.E.B. Du Bois
W.E.B. Du Bois
Crimes I Have Witnessed as a Resident of Washington, DC www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/cri...
Some of these should result in banishment.
Some of these should result in banishment.
Crimes I Have Witnessed as a Resident of Washington, DC
“President Donald Trump said on Monday he was deploying 800 National Guard troops to Washington and temporarily taking over the city’s police depar...
www.mcsweeneys.net
August 12, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Crimes I Have Witnessed as a Resident of Washington, DC www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/cri...
Some of these should result in banishment.
Some of these should result in banishment.
Reposted by Anne Sarah Rubin
DC statehood is now an imperative. No more dicking around. Next Dem majority, get it done immediately.
August 11, 2025 at 3:18 PM
DC statehood is now an imperative. No more dicking around. Next Dem majority, get it done immediately.
Speechless. But incandescent with rage. 🗃️ wapo.st/3HhfyxU
Smithsonian removes Trump from impeachment exhibit in American history museum
A temporary placard, on display since 2021, described the president's historic impeachments. Officials said the exhibit was restored to an earlier version following a review of legacy content.
wapo.st
August 1, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Speechless. But incandescent with rage. 🗃️ wapo.st/3HhfyxU
Reposted by Anne Sarah Rubin
IMPORTANT: “‘At many public universities, syllabi are considered intellectual property. As such, professors are not required to share their syllabi in response to public records requests. Check your university policy prior to complying advance.’"
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Conservative Org. Requests Materials for 70 Chapel Hill Courses
The Oversight Project, founded by the Heritage Foundation, is using an open records request to search for terms like “DEI” and “gender identity.” Faculty say it encroaches on academic freedom.
www.insidehighered.com
July 29, 2025 at 3:04 PM
IMPORTANT: “‘At many public universities, syllabi are considered intellectual property. As such, professors are not required to share their syllabi in response to public records requests. Check your university policy prior to complying advance.’"
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
RIP to the soundtrack of my childhood.
Tom Lehrer, Musical Satirist With a Dark Streak, Dies at 97
www.nytimes.com
July 27, 2025 at 8:48 PM
RIP to the soundtrack of my childhood.
"I am the punctuation equivalent of a cardigan. . . I am the punctuation mark of human frailty. I am the writer’s block, resolved mid-sentence."
I love the em dash
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the...
I love the em dash
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the...
The Em Dash Responds to the AI Allegations
“In recent months, a curious fixation has emerged in corners of academia: the em dash. More specifically, the apparent moral panic around how it is...
www.mcsweeneys.net
July 25, 2025 at 6:05 PM
"I am the punctuation equivalent of a cardigan. . . I am the punctuation mark of human frailty. I am the writer’s block, resolved mid-sentence."
I love the em dash
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the...
I love the em dash
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the...
Reposted by Anne Sarah Rubin
“We wanted to rid ourselves of the fashions of historiography,” Burns summarized at one event, “and make a film that simply shows what happened.”
That’s not how history works though. You’re making an argument about what happened & what mattered even if you don’t realize you’re doing it. 🗃️
That’s not how history works though. You’re making an argument about what happened & what mattered even if you don’t realize you’re doing it. 🗃️
“whatever you write, you are taking a stance on your subject and on the practice of history itself. the suggestion that other historians are not also interested in ‘show[ing] what happened’ is, at best, careless.” www.politico.com/news/magazin...
What Ken Burns Won’t Say About the American Revolution
On the road with America’s foremost history documentarian in a fractured country.
www.politico.com
July 19, 2025 at 3:11 PM
“We wanted to rid ourselves of the fashions of historiography,” Burns summarized at one event, “and make a film that simply shows what happened.”
That’s not how history works though. You’re making an argument about what happened & what mattered even if you don’t realize you’re doing it. 🗃️
That’s not how history works though. You’re making an argument about what happened & what mattered even if you don’t realize you’re doing it. 🗃️
The world is a hellscape, but it is not without small joys.
Have just been made aware of the Edmund Glizzgerald
Ohio's 'Edmund Glizzgerald' hot dog boat goes viral nationwide
The boat, officially named the Edmund Glizzgerald, was originally built in California in 1975 as a promotional item.
www.wkyc.com
July 17, 2025 at 5:55 PM
The world is a hellscape, but it is not without small joys.
Reposted by Anne Sarah Rubin
A decent number of Union memes still have force and impact today, by virtue of the facts that: (1) our doughy seditionist Vice President loves him some Confederates; and (2) he goes by the very same initials as Jeff Davis
July 11, 2025 at 1:11 PM
A decent number of Union memes still have force and impact today, by virtue of the facts that: (1) our doughy seditionist Vice President loves him some Confederates; and (2) he goes by the very same initials as Jeff Davis
Reposted by Anne Sarah Rubin
when oral exams go wrong
Trump: "The country had a great depression. And then after the depression, long after it started, they brought back tariffs to see if they could save it. But it took them really 25 years to get out of the great depression. A lot of people don't understand that."
July 8, 2025 at 6:01 PM
when oral exams go wrong
Right on schedule
The academic’s mid-summer crisis is a mid-life crisis in miniature:
You realize summer is half gone, & not only that: you see that the longest & least burdened days came early, & they are well past. You compare all you thought you’d do against the days remaining & grieve for what never will be
You realize summer is half gone, & not only that: you see that the longest & least burdened days came early, & they are well past. You compare all you thought you’d do against the days remaining & grieve for what never will be
July 7, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Right on schedule
"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that his justice may not sleep forever." This keeps rattling through my brain as a response to the tremendous cruelty and inhumanity of the current administration.
July 2, 2025 at 10:56 AM
"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that his justice may not sleep forever." This keeps rattling through my brain as a response to the tremendous cruelty and inhumanity of the current administration.