Lauren Turek
@laurenfturek.bsky.social
Historian of U.S. foreign relations, human rights, & religion. Associate Professor of History & Director of Museum Studies at Trinity University. Musician and sci fi fan.
Pinned
It's officially out! @burnidge.bsky.social and I are so excited and thankful to all of the authors who wrote such fantastic chapters!
www.routledge.com/The-Routledg...
www.routledge.com/The-Routledg...
Reposted by Lauren Turek
‘We don’t even know all of what we have.’ Howard University fights to preserve Black newspapers. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/... Last year, during a move, workers found two whole boxes of Frederick Douglass’s’ The North Star’s first year of publication.
‘We don’t even know all of what we have.’ Howard fights to preserve Black newspapers.
Across the United States, scholars are working to preserve the history of the Black press before the brittle pages are lost forever. In a basement at Howard University, uncovered treasures have includ...
www.csmonitor.com
November 15, 2025 at 12:58 PM
‘We don’t even know all of what we have.’ Howard University fights to preserve Black newspapers. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/... Last year, during a move, workers found two whole boxes of Frederick Douglass’s’ The North Star’s first year of publication.
Historian David Herzberg, who directs the drugs, health and society program at SUNY Buffalo, on the history of drug use and trade in the United States and why the current approach to fighting fentanyl is and will continue to be a failure:
Opinion | I Am a Drug Historian. Trump Is Wrong About Fentanyl in Almost Every Way.
www.nytimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Historian David Herzberg, who directs the drugs, health and society program at SUNY Buffalo, on the history of drug use and trade in the United States and why the current approach to fighting fentanyl is and will continue to be a failure:
Under the Trump administration, many NEH programs have been ended, 2/3 of the staff along with the scholarly council fired, and most of the money that has been given out as noncompetitive awards given to handpicked recipients...
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Fired Scholars and Big Grants to Favored Projects: Inside Trump’s N.E.H.
www.nytimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Under the Trump administration, many NEH programs have been ended, 2/3 of the staff along with the scholarly council fired, and most of the money that has been given out as noncompetitive awards given to handpicked recipients...
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On September 11, 1990, two Pizza Huts opened in Moscow...and this is quite the tale about what transpired there between then and when they closed in 1998.
In 1990, One of the Great Forgotten Acts of American Subterfuge Unfolded. It Involved Pizza Hut.
A delicious caper of vodka bribes and world-altering salad bars.
slate.com
November 15, 2025 at 2:55 AM
On September 11, 1990, two Pizza Huts opened in Moscow...and this is quite the tale about what transpired there between then and when they closed in 1998.
Reposted by Lauren Turek
Mafia governance in action
"the only offer on the table was that I needed to resign by 5pm that day or the DOJ would basically rain hell on UVA... If I did not resign that day, I was told that the DOJ would extract/block hundreds of millions of dollars from UVA before they would even negotiate."
"the only offer on the table was that I needed to resign by 5pm that day or the DOJ would basically rain hell on UVA... If I did not resign that day, I was told that the DOJ would extract/block hundreds of millions of dollars from UVA before they would even negotiate."
November 14, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Mafia governance in action
"the only offer on the table was that I needed to resign by 5pm that day or the DOJ would basically rain hell on UVA... If I did not resign that day, I was told that the DOJ would extract/block hundreds of millions of dollars from UVA before they would even negotiate."
"the only offer on the table was that I needed to resign by 5pm that day or the DOJ would basically rain hell on UVA... If I did not resign that day, I was told that the DOJ would extract/block hundreds of millions of dollars from UVA before they would even negotiate."
Reposted by Lauren Turek
Removing a monument honoring Black US soldiers has nothing to do with DEI. It’s erasure of history and it’s straight-up racism.
November 13, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Removing a monument honoring Black US soldiers has nothing to do with DEI. It’s erasure of history and it’s straight-up racism.
Reposted by Lauren Turek
NEW: Jeffrey Epstein said in emails that he had been advising the Russian government on how to deal with Donald Trump, one of several cases in which he wielded his connections to try to influence the course of foreign affairs. w @nahaltoosi
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
November 12, 2025 at 8:43 PM
NEW: Jeffrey Epstein said in emails that he had been advising the Russian government on how to deal with Donald Trump, one of several cases in which he wielded his connections to try to influence the course of foreign affairs. w @nahaltoosi
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Reposted by Lauren Turek
My takeaway from every new Epstein revelation is that some powerful people victimized many powerless young women, many more knew, some actively enabled it--and we're still being told that MeToo and accountability for sexual violence have gone too far
November 12, 2025 at 5:05 PM
My takeaway from every new Epstein revelation is that some powerful people victimized many powerless young women, many more knew, some actively enabled it--and we're still being told that MeToo and accountability for sexual violence have gone too far
Reposted by Lauren Turek
AI billionaires are enshittifying our lives, jacking up our electricity bills, destroying our jobs, and inflating a bubble that may crash our economy. For @newrepublic.com, I ask if Democrats will take, or waste, this obvious opportunity? newrepublic.com/article/2028...
Americans Hate AI. Will the Democrats Join Them?
There’s widespread anger at the AI industry—and last week’s elections showed that it’s a winning issue.
newrepublic.com
November 12, 2025 at 5:04 PM
AI billionaires are enshittifying our lives, jacking up our electricity bills, destroying our jobs, and inflating a bubble that may crash our economy. For @newrepublic.com, I ask if Democrats will take, or waste, this obvious opportunity? newrepublic.com/article/2028...
Reposted by Lauren Turek
This is why this surrender isn't just about this narrow issue but is rather the whole constitutional ballgame:
Democrats are affirmatively signaling they do not want political power at the same time Trump is transitioning the political system into an autocratic one wherein they're denied it forever
Democrats are affirmatively signaling they do not want political power at the same time Trump is transitioning the political system into an autocratic one wherein they're denied it forever
Not that he didn’t already know, but now Trump knows for sure he can roll the Dems every time and there’s no need to negotiate for anything
November 10, 2025 at 3:10 AM
This is why this surrender isn't just about this narrow issue but is rather the whole constitutional ballgame:
Democrats are affirmatively signaling they do not want political power at the same time Trump is transitioning the political system into an autocratic one wherein they're denied it forever
Democrats are affirmatively signaling they do not want political power at the same time Trump is transitioning the political system into an autocratic one wherein they're denied it forever
Reposted by Lauren Turek
We are being led by absolute cowards
November 10, 2025 at 3:16 AM
We are being led by absolute cowards
Reposted by Lauren Turek
look I know being an engaged citizen IS the work of democracy but it is also the work of elected officials not to create situations where everyone has to be mobilized all the time to prevent them from allowing some kind of Dickensian horror on a Sunday night while you're in between loads of laundry
November 9, 2025 at 11:37 PM
look I know being an engaged citizen IS the work of democracy but it is also the work of elected officials not to create situations where everyone has to be mobilized all the time to prevent them from allowing some kind of Dickensian horror on a Sunday night while you're in between loads of laundry
As Trump Recasts History, a Civil Rights Museum Sticks to a Messy Past www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/a...
As Trump Recasts History, a Civil Rights Museum Sticks to a Messy Past
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:40 AM
As Trump Recasts History, a Civil Rights Museum Sticks to a Messy Past www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/a...
Reposted by Lauren Turek
Reminder that Republicans don't really believe in religious liberty. Religion is a tool for enhancing their political power, and any expression of faith to the contrary must be suppressed.
“Federal authorities told demonstrators Friday that there would be ‘no more prayer’ in front of or inside the Broadview ICE facility, in a move that mystified local leaders and raised legal questions.” blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/07/f...
Feds Tell Faith Leaders 'No More Prayer' Outside Broadview Facility
In a possible violation of the First Amendment, federal officials instructed demonstrators to stop holding religious gatherings outside the immigration processing facility in suburban Broadview after ...
blockclubchicago.org
November 8, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reminder that Republicans don't really believe in religious liberty. Religion is a tool for enhancing their political power, and any expression of faith to the contrary must be suppressed.
Reposted by Lauren Turek
Trump "has expressed such outrage at attacks on Christians in Nigeria that he has threatened military intervention there... but here’s the awkwardness: Trump’s aid cuts are killing far more Nigerian Christians than Islamic terrorists are." @nickkristof.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...
Opinion | Trump Aid Cuts Kill More Christians Than Jihadists Do
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Trump "has expressed such outrage at attacks on Christians in Nigeria that he has threatened military intervention there... but here’s the awkwardness: Trump’s aid cuts are killing far more Nigerian Christians than Islamic terrorists are." @nickkristof.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...
Reposted by Lauren Turek
Denver Post confirms what we’ve been hearing: nearly all federal HSI agents with expertise on cultural property crimes have been reassigned to immigration duties in recent months.
Major loss of law enforcement capabilities in the world’s largest art market.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
Major loss of law enforcement capabilities in the world’s largest art market.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
The U.S. was a leader in cultural heritage investigations. Now those agents are working immigration enforcement.
Homeland Security Investigations, the department’s investigative arm, once had as many as eight agents in its New York office investigating cultural property cases.
www.denverpost.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Denver Post confirms what we’ve been hearing: nearly all federal HSI agents with expertise on cultural property crimes have been reassigned to immigration duties in recent months.
Major loss of law enforcement capabilities in the world’s largest art market.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
Major loss of law enforcement capabilities in the world’s largest art market.
www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
Oof, more disastrous unforced errors: Putin tells officials to submit plans for possibly resuming nuclear tests after Trump's social media remarks
Putin tells officials to submit plans for possibly resuming nuclear tests after Trump's remarks
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered officials to submit proposals for a possible resumption of nuclear tests in response to President Donald Trump’s statements last month that appeared to sug...
apnews.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Oof, more disastrous unforced errors: Putin tells officials to submit plans for possibly resuming nuclear tests after Trump's social media remarks
Reposted by Lauren Turek
I’m just a small-town political scientist, & it’s still relatively early, but it appears that The Actual Democrats did not Need To Do any of the Things or Learn any of the Obvious Lessons that Ezra Douthglesias said they Must Do & Learn.
November 5, 2025 at 2:08 AM
I’m just a small-town political scientist, & it’s still relatively early, but it appears that The Actual Democrats did not Need To Do any of the Things or Learn any of the Obvious Lessons that Ezra Douthglesias said they Must Do & Learn.
Reposted by Lauren Turek
Is there ever going to be an interviewer who pushes back and tells him that immigrants seeking asylum is different than insane asylums?
O'DONNELL: Are we going to war against Venezuela?
TRUMP: I doubt it. They emptied their mental institutions and insane asylums into the United States of America
TRUMP: I doubt it. They emptied their mental institutions and insane asylums into the United States of America
November 3, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Is there ever going to be an interviewer who pushes back and tells him that immigrants seeking asylum is different than insane asylums?
With Kate Rogers’ forced resignation, there is no freedom at the Alamo www.expressnews.com/opinion/comm...
There is no freedom at the Alamo with Kate Rogers’ forced resignation
Throughout the modern era, the Alamo has long been an hypocrisy-filled zone.
www.expressnews.com
November 2, 2025 at 3:55 AM
With Kate Rogers’ forced resignation, there is no freedom at the Alamo www.expressnews.com/opinion/comm...
Happy Halloween from our Treatzilla to yours! Cece the Cat hopes that everyone has just as much success as she does in menacing the local populace into providing tasty treats! 🎃
October 31, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Happy Halloween from our Treatzilla to yours! Cece the Cat hopes that everyone has just as much success as she does in menacing the local populace into providing tasty treats! 🎃
Reposted by Lauren Turek
This is a tangible example of how regulatory agencies matter to people in practical ways. The CFPB had been investigating and blocking these abuses of the law, until Russ Vought and Trump stopped them from doing so.
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
October 30, 2025 at 4:27 PM
This is a tangible example of how regulatory agencies matter to people in practical ways. The CFPB had been investigating and blocking these abuses of the law, until Russ Vought and Trump stopped them from doing so.
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
Trenchant analysis of the current Democratic party, the challenges it faces, and the current political moment from @tressiemcphd.bsky.social
Opinion | A Nazi Tattoo Exposes Democrats’ Greatest Weakness
www.nytimes.com
October 29, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Trenchant analysis of the current Democratic party, the challenges it faces, and the current political moment from @tressiemcphd.bsky.social
Excellent piece from @jamellebouie.net on Congress & the imperial presidency—"by keeping the House on indefinite hiatus...Republicans have successfully circumvented the text of the Constitution to make our national legislature a nullity. They have, for all intents and purposes, dissolved Congress."
Opinion | The Empty Promises of Trump’s Imperial Presidency
www.nytimes.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Excellent piece from @jamellebouie.net on Congress & the imperial presidency—"by keeping the House on indefinite hiatus...Republicans have successfully circumvented the text of the Constitution to make our national legislature a nullity. They have, for all intents and purposes, dissolved Congress."
Reposted by Lauren Turek
As someone involved in a lot of serious historical programming for the US's 250th in 2026 this new find struck just the right chord 😆... NEW Dr. Seuss for 2026, recently discovered "Sing the 50 United States!"🗃️: apnews.com/article/dr-s...
A newly discovered Dr. Seuss manuscript will celebrate America’s 250th anniversary
A newly discovered Dr. Seuss manuscript featuring the Cat in the Hat will be published next year. The book, titled “Sing the 50 United States,” celebrates the United States and is set for release just...
apnews.com
October 29, 2025 at 12:10 AM
As someone involved in a lot of serious historical programming for the US's 250th in 2026 this new find struck just the right chord 😆... NEW Dr. Seuss for 2026, recently discovered "Sing the 50 United States!"🗃️: apnews.com/article/dr-s...