Nate Ledbetter
@nhledbetter.bsky.social
ABD, Princeton, East Asian Studies. Instructor, Asian History, Rider University. Perpetually writing my dissertation (warfare in 16th C. Kyushu, Japan). He/Him/あいつ/"That Nagashino Guy." At some point I'll start posting useful stuff here. Maybe.
Pinned
Since I've got double the followers from a week ago, guess it's time for an intro thread. A post per topic I habitually post about:
I'm a PhD candidate at Princeton, very slowly working on a dissertation on 16th C. warfare in southern Japan (centered around the Shimazu family). 1/
I'm a PhD candidate at Princeton, very slowly working on a dissertation on 16th C. warfare in southern Japan (centered around the Shimazu family). 1/
Well, yes. A fetus hasn't learned to be a lib yet.
You can’t have an abortion but you can kill your grown daughter if she disagrees with you
A MAGA freak in Texas murdered his own daughter in cold blood after they had an argument about Trump.
A grand jury in the Dallas area then *declined to indict him*, and he has not yet faced charges.
Seems like many Texans believe a man has the right to kill his own child for disobedience.
A grand jury in the Dallas area then *declined to indict him*, and he has not yet faced charges.
Seems like many Texans believe a man has the right to kill his own child for disobedience.
February 11, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Well, yes. A fetus hasn't learned to be a lib yet.
I've never understood this sterotype, primarily because all the best students in my math classes in HS were the same 5-6 girls.
the people who spread the “female brains are bad at math and spatial reasoning” lies should be tried at the Hague
Another fun wrinkle from that period (that might still exist): I was good at math and loved it and then my geometry teacher told me that I'd probably struggle because female brains were bad at spatial thinking. I kept loving math & being good at it but assumed that would end so I ended it first.
February 11, 2026 at 4:37 PM
I've never understood this sterotype, primarily because all the best students in my math classes in HS were the same 5-6 girls.
Well, Jordan has lots of experience wrestling with this sort of issue.
So far, this hearing has been Bondi yelling at and berating Democratic lawmakers for asking for justice for Epstein survivors.
Chairman Jordan is allowing it.
Chairman Jordan is allowing it.
February 11, 2026 at 4:13 PM
Well, Jordan has lots of experience wrestling with this sort of issue.
Yeah, quit on junior year Trig bc no matter how hard I studied, I couldn't get more than a low C. Just didn't get it. Got a D for the course, didn't take the 2nd half Analytical Geometry course (took phil). Retook in the summer to raise grade. Senior year took Stats with same instructor, did fine.
You may not believe that pervasive cultural sneering at the humanities and those deemed Bad at Math was ever *that* bad.
Well, all I can say is it really was that bad in my experience - and I also had great parents, lots of resources, and a naturally massive ego to keep me going. Many don’t.
Well, all I can say is it really was that bad in my experience - and I also had great parents, lots of resources, and a naturally massive ego to keep me going. Many don’t.
February 11, 2026 at 5:21 AM
Yeah, quit on junior year Trig bc no matter how hard I studied, I couldn't get more than a low C. Just didn't get it. Got a D for the course, didn't take the 2nd half Analytical Geometry course (took phil). Retook in the summer to raise grade. Senior year took Stats with same instructor, did fine.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
Anyway study history and you discover skills like “instantly contextualizing entire discrete narratives” and that has helped me more than calculus ever did…
February 11, 2026 at 4:59 AM
Anyway study history and you discover skills like “instantly contextualizing entire discrete narratives” and that has helped me more than calculus ever did…
They. Want. You. To. Get. Sick. And. Die.
For people who don't follow the FDA closely: this is insane. Like my jaw hit the floor when I saw this. The FDA is flat out refusing to even consider Moderna's application for a new flu vaccine? The federal health apparatus is fully compromised by anti-vax conspiracy. THIS IS NUTS! BAD
Moderna hit with FDA refusal-to-file letter for mRNA flu shot, issues sharp rebuke of agency's rationale
During the first year of the Trump administration, signs of an anti-mRNA slant within the FDA and HHS became more and more evident. | The FDA specifically took issue with the trial's control arm, whic...
www.fiercebiotech.com
February 11, 2026 at 4:58 AM
They. Want. You. To. Get. Sick. And. Die.
Potentially gonna get dogpiled here, but I'm watching the Ken Burns Rev War doc and its...aight?
Kinda mid, actually? I dunno. The whole stylistics of explanation over a random shot of a chessboard or an old painting seems...like it could just be a podcast.
Kinda mid, actually? I dunno. The whole stylistics of explanation over a random shot of a chessboard or an old painting seems...like it could just be a podcast.
February 11, 2026 at 4:27 AM
Potentially gonna get dogpiled here, but I'm watching the Ken Burns Rev War doc and its...aight?
Kinda mid, actually? I dunno. The whole stylistics of explanation over a random shot of a chessboard or an old painting seems...like it could just be a podcast.
Kinda mid, actually? I dunno. The whole stylistics of explanation over a random shot of a chessboard or an old painting seems...like it could just be a podcast.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
Three years of fieldwork and hundreds of kilometers clocked walking Tokyo, and we at last have a comprehensive catalog of Tokyo's "war-damaged trees" (戦災樹木), the 200+ trees that carry the scars of wartime firestorms in their morphology
February 11, 2026 at 2:43 AM
Three years of fieldwork and hundreds of kilometers clocked walking Tokyo, and we at last have a comprehensive catalog of Tokyo's "war-damaged trees" (戦災樹木), the 200+ trees that carry the scars of wartime firestorms in their morphology
Since they're all using AI to do their coding, aren't they the ones most replaceable by AI?
This is just a list of jobs software engineers in Silicon Valley think are easy or unimportant
Microsoft released a study showing the 40 jobs most at risk by AI:
February 11, 2026 at 1:52 AM
Since they're all using AI to do their coding, aren't they the ones most replaceable by AI?
Unrelated, of course, to our trip this summer to check out U. Toronto.
I bet this number is higher than 40%
According to a recent Gallup poll, a record number of American girls and women aged 15 to 44 want to leave the US permanently: 40%, to be exact.
February 11, 2026 at 12:09 AM
Unrelated, of course, to our trip this summer to check out U. Toronto.
In case any of y'all have been looking for Asia-focused premodernists to follow...
(not inclusive--feel free to add anyone I don't have)
(not inclusive--feel free to add anyone I don't have)
You need some Asia folks
@tokusei.bsky.social
@paularcurtis.bsky.social
@medievalchina.bsky.social
@mpitelka.bsky.social
@bryandaniellowe.bsky.social (religion, but historical religion in Japan)
@reyhansilingar.bsky.social
@calebscarter.bsky.social (religion)
@toranosukev.bsky.social
(1/x)
@tokusei.bsky.social
@paularcurtis.bsky.social
@medievalchina.bsky.social
@mpitelka.bsky.social
@bryandaniellowe.bsky.social (religion, but historical religion in Japan)
@reyhansilingar.bsky.social
@calebscarter.bsky.social (religion)
@toranosukev.bsky.social
(1/x)
February 11, 2026 at 12:07 AM
In case any of y'all have been looking for Asia-focused premodernists to follow...
(not inclusive--feel free to add anyone I don't have)
(not inclusive--feel free to add anyone I don't have)
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
And let me add: I never encountered an LMS until I started teaching after grad school. Coincidentally, I never anticipated how much of my job would be providing tech support to students for the various apps and tools that I'm now required to use
I often think about this in terms of email. When I did my undergrad in the 90s, none of my profs used email. It just wasn't how they communicated with students and colleagues.
Now, my working day is filled with emails but I don't think I'm a better historian than my undergrad profs because of it.
Now, my working day is filled with emails but I don't think I'm a better historian than my undergrad profs because of it.
Not surprising from a historical perspective, at all. "Labor saving" technology never actually reduces the amount of work that people are expected to do. It increases it. That's because A) work is fundamentally a social relationship and B) technological innovation creates new problems to be fixed
February 10, 2026 at 7:17 PM
And let me add: I never encountered an LMS until I started teaching after grad school. Coincidentally, I never anticipated how much of my job would be providing tech support to students for the various apps and tools that I'm now required to use
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
Europeans think all the random loot in Fallout is because of a nuclear war but America is just like that. Yesterday, I found a rocket launcher looking for my phone charger.
Fuck a morning coffee, this picture is enough to jolt me awake
February 10, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Europeans think all the random loot in Fallout is because of a nuclear war but America is just like that. Yesterday, I found a rocket launcher looking for my phone charger.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
As someone who has co-written two National Historic Landmarks, I know just how much work goes into getting these important sites designated (even more so for monuments). I keep thinking about the group of scholars who must have dedicated so much time to this, only to have it made meaningless.
“This is a deliberate act of erasure . . . The Pride Flag is history, resistance, and Pride born at Stonewall itself. Taking it down does not diminish our community. It exposes an administration afraid of visibility and truth."
gaycitynews.com/trump-rainbo...
🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️ 🍎
gaycitynews.com/trump-rainbo...
🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️ 🍎
Trump administration removes Rainbow Flag from Stonewall National Monument
The Trump administration removed a large Rainbow Flag from a flagpole at the Stonewall National Monument, the National Park Service confirmed to Gay City News
gaycitynews.com
February 10, 2026 at 6:38 PM
As someone who has co-written two National Historic Landmarks, I know just how much work goes into getting these important sites designated (even more so for monuments). I keep thinking about the group of scholars who must have dedicated so much time to this, only to have it made meaningless.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
If I’m US curling I go play action here
February 10, 2026 at 6:36 PM
If I’m US curling I go play action here
Funny, I thought we weren't allowed to "erase history" by removing monuments. Gosh, I wonder why they think this is different?
“This is a deliberate act of erasure . . . The Pride Flag is history, resistance, and Pride born at Stonewall itself. Taking it down does not diminish our community. It exposes an administration afraid of visibility and truth."
gaycitynews.com/trump-rainbo...
🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️ 🍎
gaycitynews.com/trump-rainbo...
🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️ 🍎
Trump administration removes Rainbow Flag from Stonewall National Monument
The Trump administration removed a large Rainbow Flag from a flagpole at the Stonewall National Monument, the National Park Service confirmed to Gay City News
gaycitynews.com
February 10, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Funny, I thought we weren't allowed to "erase history" by removing monuments. Gosh, I wonder why they think this is different?
@justinpykehistory.bsky.social Q: Any reading or info you'd suggest on aircraft carrier construction, specifcally Hōshō? Have a friend who's curious about early IJN aircraft carrier construction, like how they developed it, etc.
February 10, 2026 at 6:28 PM
@justinpykehistory.bsky.social Q: Any reading or info you'd suggest on aircraft carrier construction, specifcally Hōshō? Have a friend who's curious about early IJN aircraft carrier construction, like how they developed it, etc.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
Age verification? I physically mailed my college applications.
Age verification? My mom dressed me in Garanimals.
Age verification? [garbled dial-up sounds]
February 10, 2026 at 4:37 PM
Age verification? I physically mailed my college applications.
By "reined in" we mean "arrested and prosecuted," right?
Right?
Right?
Trump & Noem's masked ICE agents aren't going after the worst of the worst—they're randomly targeting innocent people, detaining children, trampling Americans' basic rights, and killing U.S. citizens.
This is not even remotely acceptable. ICE & CBP must be reined in.
This is not even remotely acceptable. ICE & CBP must be reined in.
Less than 14% of those arrested by ICE in Trump's 1st year back in office had violent criminal records, document shows
The official DHS statistics, which had not been previously reported, provide the most detailed look yet into who ICE has arrested during the Trump administration's crackdown.
www.cbsnews.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:32 PM
By "reined in" we mean "arrested and prosecuted," right?
Right?
Right?
Goddammit AI, robbing me of the greatest thing I could have seen all day.
February 10, 2026 at 4:31 PM
Goddammit AI, robbing me of the greatest thing I could have seen all day.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
Swallwell asking a very good question of Mr. Lyons- You are otherwise employable, why are you still working for ICE?
February 10, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Swallwell asking a very good question of Mr. Lyons- You are otherwise employable, why are you still working for ICE?
Reminder that for MAHA, this isn't a policy failure--it's the design. Spread disease, kill the "weak," and America gets leaner and "stronger."
As if that's how any of this works.
As if that's how any of this works.
February 10, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Reminder that for MAHA, this isn't a policy failure--it's the design. Spread disease, kill the "weak," and America gets leaner and "stronger."
As if that's how any of this works.
As if that's how any of this works.
"As an aside, Kid Rock was the abbreviated name of Epstein Island."
(borrowed from elsewhere, third hand so can't give full attribution)
(borrowed from elsewhere, third hand so can't give full attribution)
February 10, 2026 at 3:39 PM
"As an aside, Kid Rock was the abbreviated name of Epstein Island."
(borrowed from elsewhere, third hand so can't give full attribution)
(borrowed from elsewhere, third hand so can't give full attribution)
These are the people who want to kill the humanities.
One lesson of the Epstein emails is the total intellectual vacuousness of the international business elite
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Jeffrey Epstein circle’s ‘big ideas’ were vacuous guff
Emails show that despite hooking up the rich, the powerful and intellectuals, the philosophising was utterly banal
www.thetimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 3:36 PM
These are the people who want to kill the humanities.