Brewminate (Matthew A. McIntosh)
@brewminate.bsky.social
📖 Public Historian / Adjunct History Professor
🏳️🌈 LGBTQ+ Proud
💙 "Woke" and Proud
🚫 Blocking MAGA and Hate
See https://www.brewminate.com (Brewminate)
🏳️🌈 LGBTQ+ Proud
💙 "Woke" and Proud
🚫 Blocking MAGA and Hate
See https://www.brewminate.com (Brewminate)
MYTHBUSTING HISTORY
Myth:
Judaism is the oldest religion in the world.
Truth:
Long before monotheism, religions flourished in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley. Sumerian religion predates Judaism by millennia. Religion evolved; it didn’t begin with one god.
#Brewminate
Myth:
Judaism is the oldest religion in the world.
Truth:
Long before monotheism, religions flourished in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley. Sumerian religion predates Judaism by millennia. Religion evolved; it didn’t begin with one god.
#Brewminate
January 2, 2026 at 8:14 PM
MYTHBUSTING HISTORY
Myth:
Judaism is the oldest religion in the world.
Truth:
Long before monotheism, religions flourished in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley. Sumerian religion predates Judaism by millennia. Religion evolved; it didn’t begin with one god.
#Brewminate
Myth:
Judaism is the oldest religion in the world.
Truth:
Long before monotheism, religions flourished in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley. Sumerian religion predates Judaism by millennia. Religion evolved; it didn’t begin with one god.
#Brewminate
TODAY IN HISTORY: January 2, 2004 - We're All Stardust
NASA’s Stardust probe flew past Comet Wild 2 and captured material billions of years old ☄️
When those samples returned in 2006, we quite literally touched cosmic history. ✨
#Brewminate #TodayInHistory #Space
NASA’s Stardust probe flew past Comet Wild 2 and captured material billions of years old ☄️
When those samples returned in 2006, we quite literally touched cosmic history. ✨
#Brewminate #TodayInHistory #Space
January 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
TODAY IN HISTORY: January 2, 2004 - We're All Stardust
NASA’s Stardust probe flew past Comet Wild 2 and captured material billions of years old ☄️
When those samples returned in 2006, we quite literally touched cosmic history. ✨
#Brewminate #TodayInHistory #Space
NASA’s Stardust probe flew past Comet Wild 2 and captured material billions of years old ☄️
When those samples returned in 2006, we quite literally touched cosmic history. ✨
#Brewminate #TodayInHistory #Space
The Wheel of Life visualizes suffering, desire, and liberation in Buddhism.
Paired with the Four Noble Truths, it shows how insight breaks the cycle of rebirth. 🛞🪷
#Brewminate #Buddhism
Paired with the Four Noble Truths, it shows how insight breaks the cycle of rebirth. 🛞🪷
#Brewminate #Buddhism
The Wheel of Life and the Four Noble Truths
Explore the Buddhist Wheel of Life and the Four Noble Truths, tracing how suffering, desire, and liberation are visually and philosophically mapped.
brewminate.com
January 2, 2026 at 4:29 PM
The Wheel of Life visualizes suffering, desire, and liberation in Buddhism.
Paired with the Four Noble Truths, it shows how insight breaks the cycle of rebirth. 🛞🪷
#Brewminate #Buddhism
Paired with the Four Noble Truths, it shows how insight breaks the cycle of rebirth. 🛞🪷
#Brewminate #Buddhism
In Indian history, cloth connected the body to the cosmos.
Sacred textiles carried ritual meaning, cosmological order, and spiritual identity, showing how material culture expressed profound metaphysical ideas. 🧵✨
#Brewminate #IndianHistory
Sacred textiles carried ritual meaning, cosmological order, and spiritual identity, showing how material culture expressed profound metaphysical ideas. 🧵✨
#Brewminate #IndianHistory
Sacred Textiles in Indian History | Cosmos and Meaning
Explore how sacred textiles in Indian history linked ritual, cosmology, craft, and spiritual order across centuries of cultural practice.
brewminate.com
January 2, 2026 at 4:25 PM
In Indian history, cloth connected the body to the cosmos.
Sacred textiles carried ritual meaning, cosmological order, and spiritual identity, showing how material culture expressed profound metaphysical ideas. 🧵✨
#Brewminate #IndianHistory
Sacred textiles carried ritual meaning, cosmological order, and spiritual identity, showing how material culture expressed profound metaphysical ideas. 🧵✨
#Brewminate #IndianHistory
A simple Hellenistic clay disc reveals how ancient Greeks imagined the passage from life to the underworld.
Death wasn’t abstract — it was ritualized, guided, and materially marked. ⚱️
#Brewminate #AncientGreece
Death wasn’t abstract — it was ritualized, guided, and materially marked. ⚱️
#Brewminate #AncientGreece
A Hellenistic Clay Disc and Transition to the Underworld in Ancient Greece Brewminate: A Bold Blend of News and Ideas
Read about A Hellenistic Clay Disc and Transition to the Underworld in Ancient Greece at Brewminate. Explore insight, analysis, and history through original,
brewminate.com
January 2, 2026 at 4:22 PM
A simple Hellenistic clay disc reveals how ancient Greeks imagined the passage from life to the underworld.
Death wasn’t abstract — it was ritualized, guided, and materially marked. ⚱️
#Brewminate #AncientGreece
Death wasn’t abstract — it was ritualized, guided, and materially marked. ⚱️
#Brewminate #AncientGreece
The mystery cults of Isis and Mithras weren’t marginal — they thrived at the heart of Roman society.
Initiation, secrecy, and spiritual identity mattered more than doctrine.
Religion was lived, not standardized. 🏺🔱
#Brewminate #AncientReligion
Initiation, secrecy, and spiritual identity mattered more than doctrine.
Religion was lived, not standardized. 🏺🔱
#Brewminate #AncientReligion
Isis and Mithras | Mystery Cults of the Roman World
Explore the mystery cults of Isis and Mithras, their rituals, symbols, and appeal in the religious landscape of the ancient Graeco-Roman world.
brewminate.com
January 2, 2026 at 4:18 PM
The mystery cults of Isis and Mithras weren’t marginal — they thrived at the heart of Roman society.
Initiation, secrecy, and spiritual identity mattered more than doctrine.
Religion was lived, not standardized. 🏺🔱
#Brewminate #AncientReligion
Initiation, secrecy, and spiritual identity mattered more than doctrine.
Religion was lived, not standardized. 🏺🔱
#Brewminate #AncientReligion
QUOTING HISTORY
"If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music." — Albert Einstein, 1929 Saturday Evening Post interview 🎶
Creativity crosses disciplines.
#Brewminate #QuotingHistory
"If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music." — Albert Einstein, 1929 Saturday Evening Post interview 🎶
Creativity crosses disciplines.
#Brewminate #QuotingHistory
January 1, 2026 at 7:46 PM
QUOTING HISTORY
"If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music." — Albert Einstein, 1929 Saturday Evening Post interview 🎶
Creativity crosses disciplines.
#Brewminate #QuotingHistory
"If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music." — Albert Einstein, 1929 Saturday Evening Post interview 🎶
Creativity crosses disciplines.
#Brewminate #QuotingHistory
TODAY IN HISTORY: January 1, 1983 – ARPANET Adopts TCP/IP
The modern Internet begins here 🌐
Not with a device, but with agreement.
TCP/IP turned isolated networks into a shared system—proof that cooperation scales better than control.
#Brewminate #TodayInHistory
The modern Internet begins here 🌐
Not with a device, but with agreement.
TCP/IP turned isolated networks into a shared system—proof that cooperation scales better than control.
#Brewminate #TodayInHistory
January 1, 2026 at 7:41 PM
TODAY IN HISTORY: January 1, 1983 – ARPANET Adopts TCP/IP
The modern Internet begins here 🌐
Not with a device, but with agreement.
TCP/IP turned isolated networks into a shared system—proof that cooperation scales better than control.
#Brewminate #TodayInHistory
The modern Internet begins here 🌐
Not with a device, but with agreement.
TCP/IP turned isolated networks into a shared system—proof that cooperation scales better than control.
#Brewminate #TodayInHistory
Music in ancient Greece wasn’t entertainment — it was ritual. 🥁
The tympanon connected rhythm, worship, and the sacred in communal religious life.
#Brewminate #AncientHistory #MusicHistory
The tympanon connected rhythm, worship, and the sacred in communal religious life.
#Brewminate #AncientHistory #MusicHistory
The Tympanon in Ancient Greece
Explore the tympanon’s role in ancient Greek ritual, myth, and performance, from ecstatic cult practice to broader musical culture.
brewminate.com
January 1, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Music in ancient Greece wasn’t entertainment — it was ritual. 🥁
The tympanon connected rhythm, worship, and the sacred in communal religious life.
#Brewminate #AncientHistory #MusicHistory
The tympanon connected rhythm, worship, and the sacred in communal religious life.
#Brewminate #AncientHistory #MusicHistory
John Cage asked a radical question: what if silence is music? 🎶
Zen, chance, and an ancient German church come together to transform listening itself.
#Brewminate #MusicHistory
Zen, chance, and an ancient German church come together to transform listening itself.
#Brewminate #MusicHistory
John Cage, Zen, and Experimental Organ Music
Examine how Zen philosophy, experimental sound, and a historic German church shaped John Cage’s radical approach to music and silence.
brewminate.com
January 1, 2026 at 4:06 PM
John Cage asked a radical question: what if silence is music? 🎶
Zen, chance, and an ancient German church come together to transform listening itself.
#Brewminate #MusicHistory
Zen, chance, and an ancient German church come together to transform listening itself.
#Brewminate #MusicHistory
The guitar wasn’t born in modern concert halls. 🎶
In Tudor London it moved between royal courts and taverns, crossing class boundaries and shaping everyday culture.
Music tells social history.
#Brewminate #MusicHistory
In Tudor London it moved between royal courts and taverns, crossing class boundaries and shaping everyday culture.
Music tells social history.
#Brewminate #MusicHistory
The Guitar in Tudor London
Explore how the guitar moved through Tudor London, bridging royal courts and common taverns in a changing musical and social landscape.
brewminate.com
January 1, 2026 at 4:03 PM
The guitar wasn’t born in modern concert halls. 🎶
In Tudor London it moved between royal courts and taverns, crossing class boundaries and shaping everyday culture.
Music tells social history.
#Brewminate #MusicHistory
In Tudor London it moved between royal courts and taverns, crossing class boundaries and shaping everyday culture.
Music tells social history.
#Brewminate #MusicHistory
The banjo’s story begins long before bluegrass — in African gourd instruments, enslavement, survival, and cultural memory. 🎶🌍
Music carries history whether we acknowledge it or not.
#Brewminate #MusicHistory
Music carries history whether we acknowledge it or not.
#Brewminate #MusicHistory
The Long History of the Banjo
Trace the banjo’s journey from West African gourd instruments to American music, revealing its deep cultural, racial, and historical roots.
brewminate.com
January 1, 2026 at 3:59 PM
The banjo’s story begins long before bluegrass — in African gourd instruments, enslavement, survival, and cultural memory. 🎶🌍
Music carries history whether we acknowledge it or not.
#Brewminate #MusicHistory
Music carries history whether we acknowledge it or not.
#Brewminate #MusicHistory
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
Maybe the New Year isn’t about grand resolutions or dramatic reinvention.
Maybe it’s about continuity with intention, about choosing what to carry forward and what to finally lay down.
Maybe it's about learning, not erasing.
#Brewminate #NYE
Maybe the New Year isn’t about grand resolutions or dramatic reinvention.
Maybe it’s about continuity with intention, about choosing what to carry forward and what to finally lay down.
Maybe it's about learning, not erasing.
#Brewminate #NYE
December 31, 2025 at 6:18 PM
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
Maybe the New Year isn’t about grand resolutions or dramatic reinvention.
Maybe it’s about continuity with intention, about choosing what to carry forward and what to finally lay down.
Maybe it's about learning, not erasing.
#Brewminate #NYE
Maybe the New Year isn’t about grand resolutions or dramatic reinvention.
Maybe it’s about continuity with intention, about choosing what to carry forward and what to finally lay down.
Maybe it's about learning, not erasing.
#Brewminate #NYE
TODAY IN HISTORY: December 31, 1907 - The First Drop
The first New Year’s Eve ball drop took place in Times Square.
A 700-pound iron and wood ball, illuminated by electric bulbs, descended a flagpole atop the Times Tower as crowds counted down the final seconds.
#Brewminate #NYE
The first New Year’s Eve ball drop took place in Times Square.
A 700-pound iron and wood ball, illuminated by electric bulbs, descended a flagpole atop the Times Tower as crowds counted down the final seconds.
#Brewminate #NYE
December 31, 2025 at 6:11 PM
TODAY IN HISTORY: December 31, 1907 - The First Drop
The first New Year’s Eve ball drop took place in Times Square.
A 700-pound iron and wood ball, illuminated by electric bulbs, descended a flagpole atop the Times Tower as crowds counted down the final seconds.
#Brewminate #NYE
The first New Year’s Eve ball drop took place in Times Square.
A 700-pound iron and wood ball, illuminated by electric bulbs, descended a flagpole atop the Times Tower as crowds counted down the final seconds.
#Brewminate #NYE
In ancient Mesopotamia, the family functioned as an economic unit — the oikos — linking property, labor, and social roles in ways critical to early urban life.
#Brewminate #AncientHistory #Mesopotamia
#Brewminate #AncientHistory #Mesopotamia
Oikos Model: Family Structure in Ancient Mesopotamia
An examination of the oikos model and how family, household, labor, and authority functioned in ancient Mesopotamian society.
brewminate.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:49 PM
In ancient Mesopotamia, the family functioned as an economic unit — the oikos — linking property, labor, and social roles in ways critical to early urban life.
#Brewminate #AncientHistory #Mesopotamia
#Brewminate #AncientHistory #Mesopotamia
Ancient Athenian weddings weren’t just contracts — they were ritual performances.
The lebes gamikos bridged religion, symbolism, and community life.
#Brewminate #AncientHistory #Greece
The lebes gamikos bridged religion, symbolism, and community life.
#Brewminate #AncientHistory #Greece
Lebes Gamikos: Marriage Symbolism in Ancient Athens
An exploration of the lebes gamikos vase and how Athenian art expressed marriage, ritual, gender roles, and civic identity.
brewminate.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Ancient Athenian weddings weren’t just contracts — they were ritual performances.
The lebes gamikos bridged religion, symbolism, and community life.
#Brewminate #AncientHistory #Greece
The lebes gamikos bridged religion, symbolism, and community life.
#Brewminate #AncientHistory #Greece
Roman marriage wasn’t just ceremony — it shaped women’s legal status, family alliances, and social roles in profound ways.
#Brewminate #AncientHistory #Rome
#Brewminate #AncientHistory #Rome
Marriage and Women’s Status in Ancient Rome
An analysis of marriage in ancient Rome and how law, custom, and family shaped women’s rights, roles, and social standing.
brewminate.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Roman marriage wasn’t just ceremony — it shaped women’s legal status, family alliances, and social roles in profound ways.
#Brewminate #AncientHistory #Rome
#Brewminate #AncientHistory #Rome
Medieval courtly love wasn’t about happy endings — it was about longing, hierarchy, and emotional discipline.
Romance as performance, not fulfillment. 💔📜
#Brewminate #MedievalHistory #CulturalHistory
Romance as performance, not fulfillment. 💔📜
#Brewminate #MedievalHistory #CulturalHistory
Amour Courtois and the Rules of Medieval Love
An examination of amour courtois and how medieval courtship shaped love, gender roles, power, and social expectations in Europe.
brewminate.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Medieval courtly love wasn’t about happy endings — it was about longing, hierarchy, and emotional discipline.
Romance as performance, not fulfillment. 💔📜
#Brewminate #MedievalHistory #CulturalHistory
Romance as performance, not fulfillment. 💔📜
#Brewminate #MedievalHistory #CulturalHistory
ECHOES OF HISTORY: THEN AND NOW
Then:
Rasputin was killed. The system survived him — briefly.
Now:
We still purge figures and ignore structures. Symptoms fall. Causes remain.
History repeats because we keep misreading it. 🔁
#Brewminate #EchoesOfHistory
Then:
Rasputin was killed. The system survived him — briefly.
Now:
We still purge figures and ignore structures. Symptoms fall. Causes remain.
History repeats because we keep misreading it. 🔁
#Brewminate #EchoesOfHistory
December 30, 2025 at 7:04 PM
ECHOES OF HISTORY: THEN AND NOW
Then:
Rasputin was killed. The system survived him — briefly.
Now:
We still purge figures and ignore structures. Symptoms fall. Causes remain.
History repeats because we keep misreading it. 🔁
#Brewminate #EchoesOfHistory
Then:
Rasputin was killed. The system survived him — briefly.
Now:
We still purge figures and ignore structures. Symptoms fall. Causes remain.
History repeats because we keep misreading it. 🔁
#Brewminate #EchoesOfHistory
TODAY IN HISTORY: December 30, 1916 – A Poster of Rasputin
They killed Rasputin to save the monarchy.
The monarchy fell anyway.
Removing a figurehead never repairs a broken system. ❄️🩸
#Brewminate #TodayInHistory
They killed Rasputin to save the monarchy.
The monarchy fell anyway.
Removing a figurehead never repairs a broken system. ❄️🩸
#Brewminate #TodayInHistory
December 30, 2025 at 7:00 PM
TODAY IN HISTORY: December 30, 1916 – A Poster of Rasputin
They killed Rasputin to save the monarchy.
The monarchy fell anyway.
Removing a figurehead never repairs a broken system. ❄️🩸
#Brewminate #TodayInHistory
They killed Rasputin to save the monarchy.
The monarchy fell anyway.
Removing a figurehead never repairs a broken system. ❄️🩸
#Brewminate #TodayInHistory
Kouroi and korai reflect how archaic Greece saw the human body — idealized, symbolic, and formative for later classical art.
Sculpture here is more than shape; it’s cultural meaning cast in stone.
#Brewminate #ArtHistory
Sculpture here is more than shape; it’s cultural meaning cast in stone.
#Brewminate #ArtHistory
Kouroi and Korai in Archaic Greek Sculpture
An introduction to kouroi and korai, examining form, function, and meaning in archaic Greek sculpture and early ideals of the human body.
brewminate.com
December 30, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Kouroi and korai reflect how archaic Greece saw the human body — idealized, symbolic, and formative for later classical art.
Sculpture here is more than shape; it’s cultural meaning cast in stone.
#Brewminate #ArtHistory
Sculpture here is more than shape; it’s cultural meaning cast in stone.
#Brewminate #ArtHistory
Kathakali dances aren’t just movements — they’re language.
Masks, color, gesture, and myth combine in a classical Indian performance tradition that makes body and story inseparable.
#Brewminate #History
Masks, color, gesture, and myth combine in a classical Indian performance tradition that makes body and story inseparable.
#Brewminate #History
Kathakali Dance and Masks in Classical India
Explore Kathakali dance and its masked aesthetics as ritual performance, storytelling, and embodied spirituality in classical Indian culture.
brewminate.com
December 30, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Kathakali dances aren’t just movements — they’re language.
Masks, color, gesture, and myth combine in a classical Indian performance tradition that makes body and story inseparable.
#Brewminate #History
Masks, color, gesture, and myth combine in a classical Indian performance tradition that makes body and story inseparable.
#Brewminate #History
Yōkai figures show how Japanese folk religion imagined bodies, boundaries, and the unseen.
These images are cultural maps of fear, wonder, and embodiment.
#Brewminate #History
These images are cultural maps of fear, wonder, and embodiment.
#Brewminate #History
Yokai Images and the Body in Japanese Folk Religion
An analysis of yōkai imagery and how Japanese folk religion modeled the body, identity, fear, and the boundaries between human and spirit.
brewminate.com
December 30, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Yōkai figures show how Japanese folk religion imagined bodies, boundaries, and the unseen.
These images are cultural maps of fear, wonder, and embodiment.
#Brewminate #History
These images are cultural maps of fear, wonder, and embodiment.
#Brewminate #History
José Campeche used portraiture to define power and identity in colonial Puerto Rico.
Faces, fabrics, and posture became history. 🎨
#Brewminate #ArtHistory
Faces, fabrics, and posture became history. 🎨
#Brewminate #ArtHistory
José Campeche, 18th-Century Portraitist of Puerto Rico
Explore José Campeche’s portraits and how his art shaped identity, status, and culture in 18th-century colonial Puerto Rico.
brewminate.com
December 30, 2025 at 4:53 PM
José Campeche used portraiture to define power and identity in colonial Puerto Rico.
Faces, fabrics, and posture became history. 🎨
#Brewminate #ArtHistory
Faces, fabrics, and posture became history. 🎨
#Brewminate #ArtHistory
DID YOU KNOW?
A Roman general could be worshipped for a day—but a slave whispered memento mori behind him.
Glory needed limits.
Power needed memory. ⚔️
#Brewminate #DidYouKnow
A Roman general could be worshipped for a day—but a slave whispered memento mori behind him.
Glory needed limits.
Power needed memory. ⚔️
#Brewminate #DidYouKnow
December 29, 2025 at 6:54 PM
DID YOU KNOW?
A Roman general could be worshipped for a day—but a slave whispered memento mori behind him.
Glory needed limits.
Power needed memory. ⚔️
#Brewminate #DidYouKnow
A Roman general could be worshipped for a day—but a slave whispered memento mori behind him.
Glory needed limits.
Power needed memory. ⚔️
#Brewminate #DidYouKnow