M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska
@mjrp.bsky.social
a historian currently writing a book about how visitors, newcomers, and outsiders came to dominate Washington, DC and another book about how we do history now.
https://linktr.ee/comingtowashington
https://linktr.ee/comingtowashington
Pinned
M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska
@mjrp.bsky.social
· Oct 28
At some point I’ll probably start performing my professional self over here but right now I’m too tired! Anyway, stay tuned if you want (eventually) to hear my hot takes on Washington DC, the history profession, and the News Of The Day!
I guess that time is now! hi, my name is M.J., and I'm writing a book about where you get your ideas about Washington, D.C. and what that means for our democracy! I am writing *another* book about how Americans are engaging the past (and probably what that means for our democracy)
why is there suddenly a copilot icon on my Word document and how do i get rid of it
November 12, 2025 at 2:31 PM
why is there suddenly a copilot icon on my Word document and how do i get rid of it
looking forward to bingewatching guiteaum wambsgans this weekend
Matthew Macfadyen’s riveting performance as Death by Lightning’s Charles Guiteau carries a fascinating meta layer in all the ways it recalls his turn as Tom Wambsgans in ‘Succession.’
No One Does Delusional American Strivers Like Matthew Macfadyen
Matthew Macfadyen’s riveting performance as Death by Lightning’s Charles Guiteau carries a fascinating meta layer in all the ways it recalls his turn as Tom Wambsgans in ‘Succession.’
www.vulture.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:31 PM
looking forward to bingewatching guiteaum wambsgans this weekend
the nyt could just choose not to platform this shit
November 6, 2025 at 1:45 PM
the nyt could just choose not to platform this shit
Reposted by M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska
The #1 lesson from yesterday’s blowout:
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
November 5, 2025 at 3:59 PM
The #1 lesson from yesterday’s blowout:
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
and a history major! 😊
I genuinely hope this gives film students some swagger. Mamdani’s videos are impeccable—just immeasurably better than Cuomo’s AI slop—and the videographer is a genuine film nerd. That shit works!
Selling Zohran | Defector
On a cool Sunday in November, a few days after Donald Trump’s re-election, Zohran Mamdani stood on a street corner in Jamaica, Queens, holding up a hastily drawn cardboard sign that read “DID YOU VOTE...
defector.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:10 PM
and a history major! 😊
Amazing watching the CNN consultant class trying to wrap their heads around Mamdani and just totally being unable to comprehend a politics that isn’t built for and around cynical operators
November 5, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Amazing watching the CNN consultant class trying to wrap their heads around Mamdani and just totally being unable to comprehend a politics that isn’t built for and around cynical operators
Reposted by M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska
would love to see our professional organizations platforming public historians and not popular ones
November 3, 2025 at 8:00 PM
would love to see our professional organizations platforming public historians and not popular ones
Reposted by M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska
When I got the chance to write this article, I wanted scholarship that put the preservation of the White House in context. I see three themes in the story:
1. Reification of expertise
2. Growth of executive power
3. Use of DC as a testing ground
(thread) 🗃️
1. Reification of expertise
2. Growth of executive power
3. Use of DC as a testing ground
(thread) 🗃️
White House Architecture Was an Honor System. Trump Noticed.
For 125 years, informal norms constrained what a president could do to one of the nation’s most famous landmarks.
www.theatlantic.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:08 PM
When I got the chance to write this article, I wanted scholarship that put the preservation of the White House in context. I see three themes in the story:
1. Reification of expertise
2. Growth of executive power
3. Use of DC as a testing ground
(thread) 🗃️
1. Reification of expertise
2. Growth of executive power
3. Use of DC as a testing ground
(thread) 🗃️
its like that one white house correspondents dinner never ended for him
TAPPER: Obama's comments came within a day of Trump hosting a Gatsby-themed Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago while SNAP benefits are set to run out. Your response?
BESSENT: I believe President Obama played a record amount of golf of any president, so I'm not sure why he's out there throwing stones
BESSENT: I believe President Obama played a record amount of golf of any president, so I'm not sure why he's out there throwing stones
November 2, 2025 at 2:30 PM
its like that one white house correspondents dinner never ended for him
this is wild but he also sounds like every other developer here
November 1, 2025 at 2:16 PM
this is wild but he also sounds like every other developer here
I get such a high when I catch one of these — honestly the highlight of my working day lol
October 29, 2025 at 4:04 PM
I get such a high when I catch one of these — honestly the highlight of my working day lol
sorry @washingtonpost.com but no Washingtonian considers this an "obscure board" and our (nominal) hometown paper shouldn't either.
October 28, 2025 at 1:34 PM
sorry @washingtonpost.com but no Washingtonian considers this an "obscure board" and our (nominal) hometown paper shouldn't either.
Ha ha ha ha sob
October 26, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Ha ha ha ha sob
I am in Danish!
politiken.dk/kultur/art10... umps-store-planer-for-USA%E2%80%99s-250-%C3%A5rs-jubil%C3%A6um?shareToken=TUXQGOAFKsKg
politiken.dk/kultur/art10... umps-store-planer-for-USA%E2%80%99s-250-%C3%A5rs-jubil%C3%A6um?shareToken=TUXQGOAFKsKg
October 23, 2025 at 2:20 PM
I am in Danish!
politiken.dk/kultur/art10... umps-store-planer-for-USA%E2%80%99s-250-%C3%A5rs-jubil%C3%A6um?shareToken=TUXQGOAFKsKg
politiken.dk/kultur/art10... umps-store-planer-for-USA%E2%80%99s-250-%C3%A5rs-jubil%C3%A6um?shareToken=TUXQGOAFKsKg
Exactly how I feel and it’s only Tuesday 🫠
October 7, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Exactly how I feel and it’s only Tuesday 🫠
this article is well worth reading but it's also missing the critical fact that D.C. has long been a testing ground for authoritarian measures: most notoriously: no knock, stop-and-frisk, and wiretapping under Nixon
How Washington Became a Testing Ground for ICE
A series of arrests captured on video reveal how immigration officers have worked with other law enforcement agencies to identify migrants during stops for minor infractions. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/u...
A series of arrests captured on video reveal how immigration officers have worked with other law enforcement agencies to identify migrants during stops for minor infractions. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/u...
How Washington Became a Testing Ground for ICE
www.nytimes.com
October 1, 2025 at 7:39 PM
this article is well worth reading but it's also missing the critical fact that D.C. has long been a testing ground for authoritarian measures: most notoriously: no knock, stop-and-frisk, and wiretapping under Nixon
looking forward to reading this vital and timely book
Took about 20 years. And I never thought a book about enslavers using deputization to give themselves policing power would be relevant to our times. But we are where we are.
My book, White Power: Policing American Slavery, is now available for preorder.
a.co/d/29c7EIP
My book, White Power: Policing American Slavery, is now available for preorder.
a.co/d/29c7EIP
September 29, 2025 at 9:13 PM
looking forward to reading this vital and timely book
on DC's newest "museum" and the importance of public funding in the @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/27/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/27/b...
September 27, 2025 at 1:49 PM
on DC's newest "museum" and the importance of public funding in the @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/27/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/27/b...
I had a family wedding yesterday and missed this talk, so I am super excited that Kate's also speaking at Mount Vernon next month! www.mountvernon.org/plan-your-vi...
September 21, 2025 at 5:44 PM
I had a family wedding yesterday and missed this talk, so I am super excited that Kate's also speaking at Mount Vernon next month! www.mountvernon.org/plan-your-vi...
this has been all but inevitable since colleges started pushing professional skills as degrees. I would love to know what percentage of of these folks have liberal arts backgrounds
The Newest Face of Long-Term Unemployment? The College Educated.
www.nytimes.com
September 18, 2025 at 12:32 PM
this has been all but inevitable since colleges started pushing professional skills as degrees. I would love to know what percentage of of these folks have liberal arts backgrounds
no, what they *imagine* is an ivy league seminar course, which is always just some dead poets society imagined 50s prep school shit. not coincidentally, this is also what they're *really* trying to make ivy league schools return to by pushing out anyone who doesn't look like baby ethan hawke!
There is a clutch of pundits who treat the world like it’s an Ivy League seminar course, mostly because that’s the environment in which they emerged. They think debate and white papers are the pinnacle of political action. They fume at anyone who approaches politics in any other way.
September 15, 2025 at 3:47 PM
no, what they *imagine* is an ivy league seminar course, which is always just some dead poets society imagined 50s prep school shit. not coincidentally, this is also what they're *really* trying to make ivy league schools return to by pushing out anyone who doesn't look like baby ethan hawke!
Reposted by M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska
given that you don’t actually need any historian credentials for this job, i feel like AHA could’ve skipped on posting this.
Apparently ICE is hiring a historian to help investigate human rights violations, can't imagine how that could go wrong. careers.historians.org/jobs/2164421...
Historian in Washington, DC for Human Rights Violator Law Division, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Exciting opportunity in Washington, DC for Human Rights Violator Law Division, U.S. Immigration a...
careers.historians.org
September 8, 2025 at 7:44 PM
given that you don’t actually need any historian credentials for this job, i feel like AHA could’ve skipped on posting this.
September 8, 2025 at 3:24 PM
some nice bicentennial history by @piperhudsburn.bsky.social and a plug for my book @uncpress.bsky.social!
www.cnn.com/2025/09/06/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/09/06/p...
September 8, 2025 at 3:21 PM
some nice bicentennial history by @piperhudsburn.bsky.social and a plug for my book @uncpress.bsky.social!
www.cnn.com/2025/09/06/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/09/06/p...