Ian Petrie
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icpetrie.bsky.social
Ian Petrie
@icpetrie.bsky.social
3.2K followers 1.4K following 21K posts

Historian, Canadian, Philadelphian. Higher ed, urban🚲, books, cats, hockey. At Penn's CETLI; teach South Asia & Hist Sci/Med/Tech.
Disappointing people since 1972.
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icpetrie.bsky.social
Ian Petrie @icpetrie.bsky.social · Nov 10
You tell the kids today that Philly's public pools used to be stocked with carp and they won't believe you
digital.library.temple.edu/digital/coll...
Reposted by Ian Petrie
jimsaksa.com
Carjackings and murders are down huge along with a few other crimes (but not all!) across the US. It’s a massive, underreported story. we should be aggressively trying to figure out why.
February 10, 2026 at 1:43 PM
icpetrie.bsky.social
Such a fave, song and video
English Beat - Save It For Later (Official Video) [HD]
YouTube video by RHINO
www.youtube.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:34 AM
icpetrie.bsky.social
Hell yeah
February 10, 2026 at 1:54 AM
icpetrie.bsky.social
I'd like an ice dancing routine set to "Sabotage"
February 10, 2026 at 1:50 AM
icpetrie.bsky.social
For more, see Bidwell's recent book:
The Declaration in Script and Print: A Visual History of America’s Founding Document By John Bidwell
Perhaps the single most important founding document of the United States of America, the Declaration of Independence became both a work of art and a mass-market commodity during the nineteenth century...
www.psupress.org
February 10, 2026 at 12:14 AM
icpetrie.bsky.social
Fun presentation by John Bidwell at Material Texts this evening on how the Declaration of Independence became part of American/Atlantic visual culture across the 19th century
1820s cotton handkerchief printed at Glasgow by Colin Gillespie. The declaration with portraits of Washington, Jefferson and Madison at the top and patriotic decorative elements surrounding the text. Pirated from an earlier American design. As Bidwell notes, this is perhaps the visually densest version imaginably, from Philadelphia's Joseph Leeds in 1873, a project intended to capitalize on the coming Centennial. More founders' portraits and patriotic scenes while also setting the Declaration amidst architecture and statuary.
February 10, 2026 at 12:14 AM
icpetrie.bsky.social
Seems like a good hire at the PMA
Philadelphia Museum of Art Names Katherine Anne Paul as the Newly Appointed Stella Kramrisch Curator of Indian and Himalayan Art
Philadelphia, February 9, 2026 – The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Katherine Anne Paul, the Stella Kramrisch Curator of Indian and Himalayan Art. In this r...
press.philamuseum.org
February 9, 2026 at 11:10 PM
icpetrie.bsky.social
"Bike Encased in Snow, With Dog Piss" (2026)
Bike is locked on a rack on Baltimore Ave, otherwise photo is as advertised!
February 9, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Reposted by Ian Petrie
icpetrie.bsky.social
🚨Late-breaking TT JOB 🚨

Assistant Professor, English, University of Guelph

Review of applications begins 3/31 (!)
universityaffairs.ca/search-jobs/...
We are seeking to fill a tenure-track position in 20th- and / or 21st- century literature and culture, and we are open to candidates with research expertise situated in or between any nationally defined area of study. Being able to teach in multiple national frames would be beneficial to our undergraduate curriculum. We would particularly welcome candidates with a capacity to teach in any of the following areas: speculative fiction, poetry, post/decolonial studies, film and related media, literature and the sciences, queer studies, Canadian studies, and/or emergent areas in literary studies.
February 9, 2026 at 1:48 PM
icpetrie.bsky.social
Extremely rude that I am not on that Bluesky map

I'm an *Elder*
February 9, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Reposted by Ian Petrie
norton.bsky.social
Philadelphia Rapid Transit, 1927.

Assertions to the effect that “people preferred to drive” are guesses in the guise of explanations. A minority of motorists degraded streetcar service for the majority.
February 9, 2026 at 1:33 PM
icpetrie.bsky.social
🚨Late-breaking TT JOB 🚨

Assistant Professor, English, University of Guelph

Review of applications begins 3/31 (!)
universityaffairs.ca/search-jobs/...
We are seeking to fill a tenure-track position in 20th- and / or 21st- century literature and culture, and we are open to candidates with research expertise situated in or between any nationally defined area of study. Being able to teach in multiple national frames would be beneficial to our undergraduate curriculum. We would particularly welcome candidates with a capacity to teach in any of the following areas: speculative fiction, poetry, post/decolonial studies, film and related media, literature and the sciences, queer studies, Canadian studies, and/or emergent areas in literary studies.
February 9, 2026 at 1:48 PM
Reposted by Ian Petrie
icpetrie.bsky.social
Laughable yet alarming photo

From Francis Spufford's CAHOKIA JAZZ

Royal Gorge Regional Museum & History Center
Ferris wheel with Klansmen occupying every seat
February 9, 2026 at 2:20 AM
icpetrie.bsky.social
I confess:

Last week The Boy and I used a chair and a cone to save the spot he dug us out of when we went to hockey practice
www.inquirer.com/life/philade...
Lucas Tran didn’t see the cinderblock in the spot he parked in on Tuesday night. It wasn’t until another driver pulled up and told him that he was in her spot that he became aware of it. She said she had dug out the spot herself, saved it with the cinderblock, and that Tran had to move. At first, he refused. But he backed down after she called him a liar and a “little b—.” He didn’t want things to escalate. The next day, she left a handwritten apology on his car. “Thank you for moving your car,” it read. “You are NOT a little b—.”
February 9, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Reposted by Ian Petrie
timnitgebru.bsky.social
The onion remains undefeated in delivering the most accurate news.

theonion.com/ai-chatbot-t...
AI Chatbot That Only Responds ‘Huh’ Valued At $200 Billion
PALO ALTO, CA—Hailing the new product as a “game changer” in the development of large language models, Silicon Valley insiders confirmed Tuesday that an AI chatbot that only responds “huh” had been va...
theonion.com
February 9, 2026 at 4:00 AM
icpetrie.bsky.social
Laughable yet alarming photo

From Francis Spufford's CAHOKIA JAZZ

Royal Gorge Regional Museum & History Center
Ferris wheel with Klansmen occupying every seat
February 9, 2026 at 2:20 AM
Reposted by Ian Petrie
emmettmacfarlane.com
OH MY GOD YOU GUYS HE SAID CANADA.
February 9, 2026 at 1:32 AM
icpetrie.bsky.social
The crypto ads they don't stop
February 9, 2026 at 1:01 AM
Reposted by Ian Petrie
velospence.bsky.social
sucks all these asshole actors really feel the need to shill all these bullshit products
February 9, 2026 at 12:56 AM
Reposted by Ian Petrie
kjerstiekeland.bsky.social
what was that, the 5th garbage AI commercial? the 6th one??

spending all that money on a Super Bowl ad has to be a last gasp death rattle, literally no one wants this shit and they can’t even give it away
February 9, 2026 at 12:54 AM
icpetrie.bsky.social
I cried during the butts ad
sbagen.bsky.social Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 1d
I just cried at an ad. I'm not going to buy any fucking potato chips. Jesus.
jk56va.bsky.social jk56va.bsky.social @jk56va.bsky.social · 1d
Buck up and get cynical. Don't do what a giant regressive multinational hopes for. Besides the spot was nothing that hasn't been done a thousand times. (Ex big ad creative director here so I'm a little soured on advertising)
February 9, 2026 at 12:51 AM
icpetrie.bsky.social
As a Canadian, I do appreciate good punting
February 9, 2026 at 12:50 AM
icpetrie.bsky.social
Wild to remember that the halftime musical act at Super Bowl I was Leopold Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra
February 9, 2026 at 12:49 AM
icpetrie.bsky.social
This is giving ammunition to the Canadians who maintain the Grey Cup is generally more fun than the Super Bowl
February 9, 2026 at 12:43 AM
icpetrie.bsky.social
Remember last year?

Now that was a Super Bowl!
February 9, 2026 at 12:33 AM