Janet Watson
@janetskwatson.bsky.social
History professor at UConn, mother, knitter, long COVID and cardiac arrest survivor. Author, Fighting Different Wars. Be kind, stand strong, and aim for democracy. Cats. Personal account.
Pinned
Janet Watson
@janetskwatson.bsky.social
· Oct 21
Once again: no one told me when I was in grad school that becoming a historian of 20th century Europe would mean I would need to convince people that Nazis were (and are) bad.
I really thought that was a given.
I really thought that was a given.
Reposted by Janet Watson
Definitely seems like they destroyed the country on purpose.
February 2, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Definitely seems like they destroyed the country on purpose.
Reposted by Janet Watson
The post-Me Too era has really taught me that the underlying issue with the persistence of sexual violence isn’t exactly women’s credibility, as the “believe women” slogan suggested, but rather with rape’s moral status. It’s not that people think it doesn’t happen. They think it doesn’t matter.
It's disturbing to see many of the the major figures in moral cognition all over the Epstein files
He was friendly with a huge number of the leading figures in the field, including giving millions to their labs, long after he pled guilty to sexually abusing young girls
www.justice.gov/epstein
He was friendly with a huge number of the leading figures in the field, including giving millions to their labs, long after he pled guilty to sexually abusing young girls
www.justice.gov/epstein
www.justice.gov
January 31, 2026 at 10:48 PM
The post-Me Too era has really taught me that the underlying issue with the persistence of sexual violence isn’t exactly women’s credibility, as the “believe women” slogan suggested, but rather with rape’s moral status. It’s not that people think it doesn’t happen. They think it doesn’t matter.
Reposted by Janet Watson
NEW: Following multiple SpaceX Starship explosions that caused commercial jets to scramble for safety, the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a broad warning that rocket launches could “significantly reduce safety” for airplanes.
FAA Warns Airlines About Safety Risks From Rocket Launches, Urges “Extreme Caution”
The agency’s official safety alert comes as SpaceX looks to ramp up Starship tests. A recent ProPublica investigation found that explosions during previous Starship launches disrupted air traffic and forced pilots to scramble for safety.
www.propublica.org
February 2, 2026 at 1:00 PM
NEW: Following multiple SpaceX Starship explosions that caused commercial jets to scramble for safety, the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a broad warning that rocket launches could “significantly reduce safety” for airplanes.
My kids called them land beavers. Lots of them around campus!
Marmota monax, the GROUNDHOG or WOODCHUCK, is native to North America.
Two Algonquin words for this creature:
- Móonack, hence the species epithet.
- Wuchak, which gave us 'woodchuck' (no link to wood or chucking) but young groundhogs are chucklings.
Both words mean, roughly, mean "the digger".
Two Algonquin words for this creature:
- Móonack, hence the species epithet.
- Wuchak, which gave us 'woodchuck' (no link to wood or chucking) but young groundhogs are chucklings.
Both words mean, roughly, mean "the digger".
February 2, 2026 at 1:21 PM
My kids called them land beavers. Lots of them around campus!
Reposted by Janet Watson
I think the Epstein affair is turning into the defining political scandal of our time. It is bringing into plain sight how informal networks of powerful, entitled, abusive and often sexually violent men operate outside any form of institutional scrutiny or restraint.
I really can’t keep up with this. It’s like every vague suspicion of oligarch, finance and tech power come together - with Russian influence.
Yes, you’re not imagining. Only Mandelson, Lebedev, Milner and Epstein and L’Affaire Russe
Yes, you’re not imagining. Only Mandelson, Lebedev, Milner and Epstein and L’Affaire Russe
February 2, 2026 at 12:53 PM
I think the Epstein affair is turning into the defining political scandal of our time. It is bringing into plain sight how informal networks of powerful, entitled, abusive and often sexually violent men operate outside any form of institutional scrutiny or restraint.
Reposted by Janet Watson
ok, so that's fascinating:
"hysterical" came into the english language in the 17th century, but wasn't commonly used until the 19th, peaking at the end of the century, then falling back
until then 21st, when it picks up again, culminating in 2016
"hysterical" came into the english language in the 17th century, but wasn't commonly used until the 19th, peaking at the end of the century, then falling back
until then 21st, when it picks up again, culminating in 2016
February 1, 2026 at 7:53 PM
ok, so that's fascinating:
"hysterical" came into the english language in the 17th century, but wasn't commonly used until the 19th, peaking at the end of the century, then falling back
until then 21st, when it picks up again, culminating in 2016
"hysterical" came into the english language in the 17th century, but wasn't commonly used until the 19th, peaking at the end of the century, then falling back
until then 21st, when it picks up again, culminating in 2016
Reposted by Janet Watson
“This isn’t just a policy change. It’s a betrayal of more than a century of hard-won victories by public health heroes who fought, often at great personal and professional sacrifice, to establish a principle that should be beyond debate: American lives have value.”
The EPA just erased a century of public health progress
Former Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Dean Michelle A. Williams on the EPA’s incorrect and morally wrong decision.
www.statnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:14 PM
“This isn’t just a policy change. It’s a betrayal of more than a century of hard-won victories by public health heroes who fought, often at great personal and professional sacrifice, to establish a principle that should be beyond debate: American lives have value.”
Reposted by Janet Watson
"Senior councillors at Kent county council have admitted their Elon Musk-inspired cost-cutting drive has not found any significant waste to cut, despite bombastic claims made by senior figures in Reform UK."
as.ft.com/r/462e90dd-3...
as.ft.com/r/462e90dd-3...
Reform UK admits Kent council’s Musk-inspired cost-cutting drive found little waste
[FREE TO READ] Southern county’s councillors say former Conservative administration ‘weren’t crazy, they were business people’
as.ft.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:22 PM
"Senior councillors at Kent county council have admitted their Elon Musk-inspired cost-cutting drive has not found any significant waste to cut, despite bombastic claims made by senior figures in Reform UK."
as.ft.com/r/462e90dd-3...
as.ft.com/r/462e90dd-3...
Reposted by Janet Watson
We study history not just to learn about the past but to learn how to think about past, present, and future.
History is a discipline.
Its skills have to be learned and practiced.
History is a discipline.
Its skills have to be learned and practiced.
"it doesn't matter who saw trump's authoritarianism coming, what matters is what we do now"
the *point* of thinking critically about the past is to inform our strategy going forward
the *point* of thinking critically about the past is to inform our strategy going forward
February 1, 2026 at 9:45 PM
We study history not just to learn about the past but to learn how to think about past, present, and future.
History is a discipline.
Its skills have to be learned and practiced.
History is a discipline.
Its skills have to be learned and practiced.
An interesting semester to be teaching 20th/21st century European history
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever: “We depended on the big stick of the United States — and now we see that the man with the big stick can also use it against us.
“We have never seen this before: that the United States…dares to threaten us with the big stick.
“This is a turning point.”
“We have never seen this before: that the United States…dares to threaten us with the big stick.
“This is a turning point.”
February 1, 2026 at 7:12 PM
An interesting semester to be teaching 20th/21st century European history
Geno Auriemma is the best halftime coach ever.
Period.
Period.
February 1, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Geno Auriemma is the best halftime coach ever.
Period.
Period.
There it is
February 1, 2026 at 4:47 PM
There it is
Reposted by Janet Watson
The pure cruelty of putting a five year old through all this for absolutely no benefit to anyone or anything
BREAKING... and Thank God...
5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, father board plane for Minneapolis after detention center release - ABC News abcnews.go.com/amp/US/5-yea...
5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, father board plane for Minneapolis after detention center release - ABC News abcnews.go.com/amp/US/5-yea...
5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, father board plane for Minneapolis after detention center release
A federal judge on Saturday ordered that the pair be released.
abcnews.go.com
February 1, 2026 at 3:46 PM
The pure cruelty of putting a five year old through all this for absolutely no benefit to anyone or anything
Reposted by Janet Watson
In much of Europe, they're focusing on Epstein's deep ties with Moscow and his Russian intelligence service handlers, the strange five-year gap in the life of Melania Knauss when she appears to have frequently been in Moscow, and Epstein's other foreign intelligence service ties.
February 1, 2026 at 3:45 PM
In much of Europe, they're focusing on Epstein's deep ties with Moscow and his Russian intelligence service handlers, the strange five-year gap in the life of Melania Knauss when she appears to have frequently been in Moscow, and Epstein's other foreign intelligence service ties.
Reposted by Janet Watson
straight up Gestapo shit
January 31, 2026 at 8:54 PM
straight up Gestapo shit
Reposted by Janet Watson
As we're sifting through the latest Epstein Files release with all the bombshells about Elon, the Trump administration and even the new CBS News Zoo Crew, please remember that they still haven't released half of what they were supposed to release.
January 31, 2026 at 4:09 PM
As we're sifting through the latest Epstein Files release with all the bombshells about Elon, the Trump administration and even the new CBS News Zoo Crew, please remember that they still haven't released half of what they were supposed to release.
Reposted by Janet Watson
I keep thinking again, in light of the latest Epstein files dump, about how MeToo “went too far.”
January 31, 2026 at 3:43 PM
I keep thinking again, in light of the latest Epstein files dump, about how MeToo “went too far.”
My Congressperson is a co-sponsor.
Is yours?
If not, why not?
Is yours?
If not, why not?
The list of co-sponsors for impeaching Kristi Noem has been updated for the first time in a few days Now up to 181, notably including:
@hoyer.house.gov @pelosi.house.gov and @repjamesclyburn.bsky.social
www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
@hoyer.house.gov @pelosi.house.gov and @repjamesclyburn.bsky.social
www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
www.congress.gov
January 31, 2026 at 3:37 PM
My Congressperson is a co-sponsor.
Is yours?
If not, why not?
Is yours?
If not, why not?
Reposted by Janet Watson
ICE and CBP agents seem to enjoy gratuitously breaking glass—from car windows to store fronts to homes. It’s an expression of unchecked power and dominance: “We’re in charge. We break and shatter what we want.”
And nights of broken glass have been a harbinger of worse to come.
And nights of broken glass have been a harbinger of worse to come.
January 31, 2026 at 1:51 PM
ICE and CBP agents seem to enjoy gratuitously breaking glass—from car windows to store fronts to homes. It’s an expression of unchecked power and dominance: “We’re in charge. We break and shatter what we want.”
And nights of broken glass have been a harbinger of worse to come.
And nights of broken glass have been a harbinger of worse to come.
Reposted by Janet Watson
“An administration official gave away the game to Punchbowl News, admitting that these “de-escalatory measures” are about placating Senate Democrats so they don’t seize this moment to demand restrictions on ICE as part of any government funding package.”
newrepublic.com/article/2057...
newrepublic.com/article/2057...
Donald Trump Is Frightened
Trump wants to appear eager to minimize out-of-control clashes between government militias and protesters. But he doesn’t want to stop the things causing those clashes in the first place.
newrepublic.com
January 28, 2026 at 2:03 PM
“An administration official gave away the game to Punchbowl News, admitting that these “de-escalatory measures” are about placating Senate Democrats so they don’t seize this moment to demand restrictions on ICE as part of any government funding package.”
newrepublic.com/article/2057...
newrepublic.com/article/2057...
Reposted by Janet Watson
It's a complete policy failure that 3 men es control basically all of social media, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Larry Ellison. They control what we see, what we can share, and ultimately how we perceive reality. This is too much power on too few hands. These companies must be broken up.
January 28, 2026 at 1:47 PM
It's a complete policy failure that 3 men es control basically all of social media, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Larry Ellison. They control what we see, what we can share, and ultimately how we perceive reality. This is too much power on too few hands. These companies must be broken up.
Reposted by Janet Watson
Holy moly this chart: Cumulative US measles cases
January 28, 2026 at 12:54 PM
Holy moly this chart: Cumulative US measles cases
Reposted by Janet Watson
If they ban whistles switch to cowbells. It'll be fun for all the Gen Xers.
Because we need more cowbell.
Because we need more cowbell.
January 28, 2026 at 12:58 AM
If they ban whistles switch to cowbells. It'll be fun for all the Gen Xers.
Because we need more cowbell.
Because we need more cowbell.
This is just what I needed right now:
January 28, 2026 at 1:17 AM
This is just what I needed right now: