David Rotenstein
@davidrotenstein.bsky.social
Writer. Folklorist. Historian. https://blog.historian4hire.net/about/ | My pro-democracy sign is my byline. Also @steelcityvice.com.
Timely message seen 12 years ago in Atlanta.
November 11, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Timely message seen 12 years ago in Atlanta.
Dig into the history of some of Pittsburgh's infamous pre-Epstein "black books." 🗃️ My latest for @pghcitypaper.com www.pghcitypaper.com/news-2/histo...
Move over, Epstein: Pittsburgh has its own history of "black books"
Though some black books disappeared or were destroyed, Pittsburgh sex workers kept close tabs on famous clients.
www.pghcitypaper.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Dig into the history of some of Pittsburgh's infamous pre-Epstein "black books." 🗃️ My latest for @pghcitypaper.com www.pghcitypaper.com/news-2/histo...
Reposted by David Rotenstein
It's going to take a lot more than a little white paint to conceal one Northern Kentucky city's gambling history. My latest for @link-nky.bsky.social tells the story of how Covington preservation planners approved a mural that conceals a historically significant sign. 🗃️ linknky.com/culture/2025...
Covington hides some of its gambling history
Covington’s 514 Club, once a mob-run casino, loses its historic sign amid debates over preservation and city oversight.
linknky.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:31 AM
It's going to take a lot more than a little white paint to conceal one Northern Kentucky city's gambling history. My latest for @link-nky.bsky.social tells the story of how Covington preservation planners approved a mural that conceals a historically significant sign. 🗃️ linknky.com/culture/2025...
Reposted by David Rotenstein
agreeing to make a terrible deal while your main opponent is quite literally being boo'd on live tv by an entire stadium of people is the kind of political instinct you'd normally only find in a 3 week old dead goldfish
November 10, 2025 at 12:36 AM
agreeing to make a terrible deal while your main opponent is quite literally being boo'd on live tv by an entire stadium of people is the kind of political instinct you'd normally only find in a 3 week old dead goldfish
It's going to take a lot more than a little white paint to conceal one Northern Kentucky city's gambling history. My latest for @link-nky.bsky.social tells the story of how Covington preservation planners approved a mural that conceals a historically significant sign. 🗃️ linknky.com/culture/2025...
Covington hides some of its gambling history
Covington’s 514 Club, once a mob-run casino, loses its historic sign amid debates over preservation and city oversight.
linknky.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:31 AM
It's going to take a lot more than a little white paint to conceal one Northern Kentucky city's gambling history. My latest for @link-nky.bsky.social tells the story of how Covington preservation planners approved a mural that conceals a historically significant sign. 🗃️ linknky.com/culture/2025...
Reposted by David Rotenstein
Dems backed Trump into a corner where he’s advocating for starving Americans and hemorrhaging support. If they vote to let him off the hook in exchange for nothing it’s a cataclysmic failure. I know people are in pain but insulating Republicans from political consequences is not the answer.
November 9, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Dems backed Trump into a corner where he’s advocating for starving Americans and hemorrhaging support. If they vote to let him off the hook in exchange for nothing it’s a cataclysmic failure. I know people are in pain but insulating Republicans from political consequences is not the answer.
Reposted by David Rotenstein
Scholars - if you're publishing articles behind a paywall, why not make your work accessible to everyone by also publishing a preprint version?
November 9, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Scholars - if you're publishing articles behind a paywall, why not make your work accessible to everyone by also publishing a preprint version?
“Trump sleeping during an Oval Office …” v. “Trump appearing to close his eyes …” — it’s a no brainer: pick the more accurate, more concise option every time. It’s easy, legacy media. You should try it out.
November 9, 2025 at 7:34 PM
“Trump sleeping during an Oval Office …” v. “Trump appearing to close his eyes …” — it’s a no brainer: pick the more accurate, more concise option every time. It’s easy, legacy media. You should try it out.
Material culture post of the week: meet the horsey horseless!
As seen in Poor Things (2023)
November 9, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Material culture post of the week: meet the horsey horseless!
I’m reading Cory Doctorow’s terrific new book, “Enshittification.” It struck me that this toolkit I bought in 1994 to do minor computer repairs/upgrades is an artifact of the pre-Enshitocene era. I only use the screwdrivers now — for furniture assembly, etc. in my office.
November 9, 2025 at 6:49 PM
I’m reading Cory Doctorow’s terrific new book, “Enshittification.” It struck me that this toolkit I bought in 1994 to do minor computer repairs/upgrades is an artifact of the pre-Enshitocene era. I only use the screwdrivers now — for furniture assembly, etc. in my office.
Reposted by David Rotenstein
It's the Frank Burns administration.
(From the M*A*S*H movie, not the TV show. Duke Forrest: "Dammit, Henry, Frank Burns is a menace! Every time a patient croaks on him he says it's "God's will" or somebody else's fault.")
(From the M*A*S*H movie, not the TV show. Duke Forrest: "Dammit, Henry, Frank Burns is a menace! Every time a patient croaks on him he says it's "God's will" or somebody else's fault.")
Pressed by Stephanopoulos on the fact that electricity prices have in fact gone up, Bessent punts: "Electricity prices are a state problem ... look, there are things the federal government can control. Local electricity prices are not one of them."
November 9, 2025 at 2:53 PM
It's the Frank Burns administration.
(From the M*A*S*H movie, not the TV show. Duke Forrest: "Dammit, Henry, Frank Burns is a menace! Every time a patient croaks on him he says it's "God's will" or somebody else's fault.")
(From the M*A*S*H movie, not the TV show. Duke Forrest: "Dammit, Henry, Frank Burns is a menace! Every time a patient croaks on him he says it's "God's will" or somebody else's fault.")
Reposted by David Rotenstein
When are people going to start talking about the clear cognitive decline of the president?
With a “WOW!,” President Trump posts a claim about DOGE and “royalties linked to Obamacare” that originated on a satirical website. That site’s own About section reads: “Everything on this website is fiction… If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined.”
November 9, 2025 at 3:43 PM
When are people going to start talking about the clear cognitive decline of the president?
Someone please tell the @nytimes.com that these are Belgian block, not cobblestone, streets.🗃️ www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/n...
In a Skyscraper City, They Fix Cobblestone Streets by Hand
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Someone please tell the @nytimes.com that these are Belgian block, not cobblestone, streets.🗃️ www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/n...
This will interest folks in the US where avocational v. professional archaeology has a long & mostly adversarial relationship. I loved this: "Where the antiquaries of the Enlightenment were custodians of the past, many modern detectorists have become its prospectors." 🗃️
A guest blog, which adds more detail to the narrative of detecting in England & Wales.
Thank you to my anonymous colleague for writing this important piece & for allowing me to host it on the Big Book of Torcs! 😊
#Archaeology #Detecting #Torcs #gold #Treasure
bigbookoftorcs.com/2025/11/08/w...
Thank you to my anonymous colleague for writing this important piece & for allowing me to host it on the Big Book of Torcs! 😊
#Archaeology #Detecting #Torcs #gold #Treasure
bigbookoftorcs.com/2025/11/08/w...
“Who Pays for the Hobby?”: Metal Detecting in England and Wales
[A download/print PDF version can be found at the end of the paper] This is a first for The Big Book of Torcs. Today, I open up BBoT to a guest blog, written by a friend and archaeological colleagu…
bigbookoftorcs.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:16 PM
This will interest folks in the US where avocational v. professional archaeology has a long & mostly adversarial relationship. I loved this: "Where the antiquaries of the Enlightenment were custodians of the past, many modern detectorists have become its prospectors." 🗃️
Too bad Decatur's Reporterish only does journalism lite. The Oakhurst dog park story is a lot deeper than his little brain can absorb. Too bad for the people of #DecaturGa.
November 7, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Too bad Decatur's Reporterish only does journalism lite. The Oakhurst dog park story is a lot deeper than his little brain can absorb. Too bad for the people of #DecaturGa.
Last month I inadvertently interviewed a man who grew up in the Northern Ky. house we bought last summer. He dropped by today for another interview & he brought family photos from the 1950s. I dusted off my vernacular architecture fieldwork skills & dug right in. 🗃️ 1/2
November 7, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Last month I inadvertently interviewed a man who grew up in the Northern Ky. house we bought last summer. He dropped by today for another interview & he brought family photos from the 1950s. I dusted off my vernacular architecture fieldwork skills & dug right in. 🗃️ 1/2
Reposted by David Rotenstein
Wrong. Even a cat would show more compassion.
November 6, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Wrong. Even a cat would show more compassion.
There’s an affordable housing org here called Housing Opportunities of Northern Kentucky (acronym: HONK). My brain is so polluted that during an interview this afternoon, I kept flashing on the Peaches & Daddy saga. www.pghcitypaper.com/arts-enterta...
November 6, 2025 at 10:06 PM
There’s an affordable housing org here called Housing Opportunities of Northern Kentucky (acronym: HONK). My brain is so polluted that during an interview this afternoon, I kept flashing on the Peaches & Daddy saga. www.pghcitypaper.com/arts-enterta...
Reposted by David Rotenstein
It’s like they wake up every day and ask themselves “how can we make this place look even cheaper and tackier and less historic?”
November 5, 2025 at 3:10 PM
It’s like they wake up every day and ask themselves “how can we make this place look even cheaper and tackier and less historic?”
Reposted by David Rotenstein
Can't decide whether this is giving off golf club vibes, The Villages vibes or both.
November 5, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Can't decide whether this is giving off golf club vibes, The Villages vibes or both.
Same here in Northern Kentucky. It’s putting a real strain on immigrant-owned businesses b/c customers are staying away to avoid being concentrated in one place.
Documented or not, Latinos are terrified of ICE. They're changing up their daily habits and have stopped going grocery shopping, to school and to family events.
wapo.st/3WHpzZz
wapo.st/3WHpzZz
Documented or not, Latinos are changing habits during ICE crackdown
With the Supreme Court saying authorities can use race as a reason to stop people, Latinos and others say they are wary of looking for work, shopping and walking children to school.
wapo.st
November 5, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Same here in Northern Kentucky. It’s putting a real strain on immigrant-owned businesses b/c customers are staying away to avoid being concentrated in one place.
Reposted by David Rotenstein
Was crooked attorney Charles Lester (played by actor Wallace Shawn) who represented mobsters on two CBS dramas based on a real-life crooked attorney Charles Lester Jr. who represented mobsters in post-Prohibition Northern Kentucky? 🗃️
November 5, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Was crooked attorney Charles Lester (played by actor Wallace Shawn) who represented mobsters on two CBS dramas based on a real-life crooked attorney Charles Lester Jr. who represented mobsters in post-Prohibition Northern Kentucky? 🗃️
Reposted by David Rotenstein
Lololol
BREAKING: Democrat Aftab Pureval wins Cincinnati mayoral election over Cory Bowman, half-brother of Vice President JD Vance.
Follow AP for live updates.
Follow AP for live updates.
Live updates: US voters head to the polls in first general election since Trump's return to power
One year after Donald Trump retook the presidency, 2025 Election Day includes closely watched races for New York City mayor, New Jersey governor and California's Proposition 50.
bit.ly
November 5, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Lololol
True legal quandary: indict the sandwich or the thrower. Anecdotal evidence suggests it's easier to indict the sandwich (especially if it's ham).
Man who threw sandwich at federal agent says it was a protest. Prosecutors say it’s a crime.
Man who threw sandwich at federal agent says it was a protest
Hurling a sandwich at a federal agent was an act of protest for Washington, D.C., resident Sean Charles Dunn. A jury must decide if it was also a federal crime.
buff.ly
November 4, 2025 at 9:10 PM
True legal quandary: indict the sandwich or the thrower. Anecdotal evidence suggests it's easier to indict the sandwich (especially if it's ham).