Fraser Raeburn
@fraserraeburn.bsky.social
Historian interested in foreign fighters, transnational solidarities, emotion, anti-fascism and the Spanish Civil War. Currently based at @uvahumanities.bsky.social. Author 'Scots and the Spanish Civil War' (EUP, 2020). He/him.
I am absolutely torn between being very happy at this level of site traffic for our project, and a keen need to move on up out of this immediate neighbourhood.
Please make it your new resolution to visit AskHistorians once a week, because we've never been this invested in overtaking another community.
February 1, 2026 at 8:02 PM
I am absolutely torn between being very happy at this level of site traffic for our project, and a keen need to move on up out of this immediate neighbourhood.
Reposted by Fraser Raeburn
Academics vying for a spot in Epstein‘s world. There are so many. I feel the need to make a thread, so I don’t keep confusing them. 1/
January 31, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Academics vying for a spot in Epstein‘s world. There are so many. I feel the need to make a thread, so I don’t keep confusing them. 1/
They looked to historical fascisms and saw the uniforms and violence and rhetoric and assumed that was all they needed, because that's the stuff they found cool.
Like other fascists, they look to the past as a source of aesthetics, not realities.
Like other fascists, they look to the past as a source of aesthetics, not realities.
January 28, 2026 at 9:26 AM
They looked to historical fascisms and saw the uniforms and violence and rhetoric and assumed that was all they needed, because that's the stuff they found cool.
Like other fascists, they look to the past as a source of aesthetics, not realities.
Like other fascists, they look to the past as a source of aesthetics, not realities.
Instead, they're running into the reality that they haven't done the groundwork these regimes did to delegitimise and dehumanise their domestic and foreign enemies, to make collective dissent impossible - the work needed to make performative violence the final, crowning act rather than the first.
January 28, 2026 at 9:26 AM
Instead, they're running into the reality that they haven't done the groundwork these regimes did to delegitimise and dehumanise their domestic and foreign enemies, to make collective dissent impossible - the work needed to make performative violence the final, crowning act rather than the first.
What we're seeing is an assumption by American fascists that all they need to turn up and be muscular, to perform the cruelties that will force America to resemble their dreams and it will all just unfold naturally from there.
They assumed their enemies would be cowed, and bystanders admiring.
They assumed their enemies would be cowed, and bystanders admiring.
January 28, 2026 at 9:26 AM
What we're seeing is an assumption by American fascists that all they need to turn up and be muscular, to perform the cruelties that will force America to resemble their dreams and it will all just unfold naturally from there.
They assumed their enemies would be cowed, and bystanders admiring.
They assumed their enemies would be cowed, and bystanders admiring.
These regimes never felt strong enough to ignore public opinion, disregard mass protest and seek confrontations with enemies they couldn't isolate and overwhelm. They did a lot of work instead to rewrite the terms of civil society, to limit space for collective association not tied to the regime.
January 28, 2026 at 9:26 AM
These regimes never felt strong enough to ignore public opinion, disregard mass protest and seek confrontations with enemies they couldn't isolate and overwhelm. They did a lot of work instead to rewrite the terms of civil society, to limit space for collective association not tied to the regime.
That is, the Trump regime does not behave like Mussolini's or Hitler's not because of aversion (necessarily), but rather because they're emulating the propagandised, mythical version of how those states worked.
January 28, 2026 at 9:26 AM
That is, the Trump regime does not behave like Mussolini's or Hitler's not because of aversion (necessarily), but rather because they're emulating the propagandised, mythical version of how those states worked.
Something I've been ruminating on watching the news from Minnesota unfold is the extent to which fascism - being an ideology concerned with recreating and reliving an imagined, mythical past - now naturally includes reliving an imagined *fascist* past.
January 28, 2026 at 9:26 AM
Something I've been ruminating on watching the news from Minnesota unfold is the extent to which fascism - being an ideology concerned with recreating and reliving an imagined, mythical past - now naturally includes reliving an imagined *fascist* past.
Reposted by Fraser Raeburn
You should read everything @adamserwer.bsky.social writes, but this one really stands out. He's given a gift link below.
January 27, 2026 at 2:09 PM
You should read everything @adamserwer.bsky.social writes, but this one really stands out. He's given a gift link below.
I'm shocked, shocked to find a disconnect between administrators and classroom realities going on in this establishment.
January 27, 2026 at 8:59 PM
I'm shocked, shocked to find a disconnect between administrators and classroom realities going on in this establishment.
The very first tutorials I taught as a PhD student included the Friday, 5-6pm slot. By the last week, only one student was attending. We had a great chat, but I'm unconvinced that the cohort's pedagogical needs were being well served.
Do other UK universities timetable lectures and seminars until 6 pm? Given that professional services staff finish at 5 pm, I don’t understand why academics and students (who hate the time slot) are meant to continue until 6 pm. I also just find it exhausting.
January 27, 2026 at 8:42 PM
The very first tutorials I taught as a PhD student included the Friday, 5-6pm slot. By the last week, only one student was attending. We had a great chat, but I'm unconvinced that the cohort's pedagogical needs were being well served.
Reposted by Fraser Raeburn
Join the Raphael Samuel History Centre mailing list to get the latest information on our forthcoming events.
Go to our website and click 'contact us'
Our events are free and open to all.
www.bbk.ac.uk/research/cen...
Go to our website and click 'contact us'
Our events are free and open to all.
www.bbk.ac.uk/research/cen...
Raphael Samuel History Centre - Birkbeck, University of London
The Raphael Samuel History Centre is an outreach and research centre supported by a two-way partnership between Birkbeck and Queen Mary.
www.bbk.ac.uk
January 15, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Join the Raphael Samuel History Centre mailing list to get the latest information on our forthcoming events.
Go to our website and click 'contact us'
Our events are free and open to all.
www.bbk.ac.uk/research/cen...
Go to our website and click 'contact us'
Our events are free and open to all.
www.bbk.ac.uk/research/cen...
Also come off it, a 20% discount on a shattered heart that was overpriced to begin with is outrageous.
January 26, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Also come off it, a 20% discount on a shattered heart that was overpriced to begin with is outrageous.
This is a little on the nose tbh
January 26, 2026 at 4:11 PM
This is a little on the nose tbh
"Penguin, you said you'd walk with us all the way, but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints.
The penguin replied, during your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I Carried You."
The penguin replied, during your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I Carried You."
January 24, 2026 at 4:19 PM
"Penguin, you said you'd walk with us all the way, but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints.
The penguin replied, during your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I Carried You."
The penguin replied, during your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I Carried You."
I like to think that there's a secret timer component, and my insistence on doing these in one scribble in less than 10s is actually the winning move.
January 23, 2026 at 3:55 PM
I like to think that there's a secret timer component, and my insistence on doing these in one scribble in less than 10s is actually the winning move.
"I dunno, it feels like people might read this the wrong way"
"You're right, let's put a line next to it to disambiguate things"
"You're right, let's put a line next to it to disambiguate things"
January 23, 2026 at 3:44 PM
"I dunno, it feels like people might read this the wrong way"
"You're right, let's put a line next to it to disambiguate things"
"You're right, let's put a line next to it to disambiguate things"
Checking back into Australian politics news and
January 23, 2026 at 10:08 AM
Checking back into Australian politics news and
Look we're all dunking on the guy who lost all their 'work' to ChatGPT, but when have any of us managed to parlay an egregious and public failure to do their job into an article in a field's leading journal?
January 22, 2026 at 9:28 PM
Look we're all dunking on the guy who lost all their 'work' to ChatGPT, but when have any of us managed to parlay an egregious and public failure to do their job into an article in a field's leading journal?
In protestant countries, baths can only be semi-relaxing, and they sure as hell can't smell like anything.
January 21, 2026 at 8:30 PM
In protestant countries, baths can only be semi-relaxing, and they sure as hell can't smell like anything.
The sad thing is that even if future historians can pinpoint this Davos summit as the endpoint of neoliberalism, you just know that decades from now, the last people clinging blindly to its precepts will turn out to be university managers.
January 21, 2026 at 8:05 AM
The sad thing is that even if future historians can pinpoint this Davos summit as the endpoint of neoliberalism, you just know that decades from now, the last people clinging blindly to its precepts will turn out to be university managers.
Isn't that just french
January 20, 2026 at 3:24 PM
Isn't that just french
As my time in the Netherlands draws to a close, I can finally post my most controversial takes on Dutch life.
January 20, 2026 at 2:37 PM
As my time in the Netherlands draws to a close, I can finally post my most controversial takes on Dutch life.
Absolutely gutted that the latest spat of geopolitical buffoonery might torpedo the Chagos transfer, because 2026 being the year that the sun would be able to set on the British empire was one of its few selling points.
January 20, 2026 at 9:34 AM
Absolutely gutted that the latest spat of geopolitical buffoonery might torpedo the Chagos transfer, because 2026 being the year that the sun would be able to set on the British empire was one of its few selling points.
Reposted by Fraser Raeburn
The AskHistorians Best of 2025 Awards have been announced!
Whether it's the Beast's books, Bond's booze or Blackfoot butts, come celebrate and enjoy some outstanding public history work!
www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...
Whether it's the Beast's books, Bond's booze or Blackfoot butts, come celebrate and enjoy some outstanding public history work!
www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...
From the AskHistorians community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the AskHistorians community
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January 15, 2026 at 4:48 PM
The AskHistorians Best of 2025 Awards have been announced!
Whether it's the Beast's books, Bond's booze or Blackfoot butts, come celebrate and enjoy some outstanding public history work!
www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...
Whether it's the Beast's books, Bond's booze or Blackfoot butts, come celebrate and enjoy some outstanding public history work!
www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...