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/
If I felt they were that smart, I’d agree. Not sure they are.
February 9, 2026 at 4:21 PM
If I felt they were that smart, I’d agree. Not sure they are.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
If the current moment has taught us anything, it is about the uselessness of libertarianism.
The image sums it up perfectly. The Gadsden flag was all out during the Obama era. How often do you see it now? Most of the principled libertarians were happy to trad their principles for Trumpism.
The image sums it up perfectly. The Gadsden flag was all out during the Obama era. How often do you see it now? Most of the principled libertarians were happy to trad their principles for Trumpism.
I feel like I'm losing my goddamnned mind.
This op-ed was written by Kathrine Mangu-Ward. Katherine is editor-in-chief of Reason magazine.
Reason fired @shikhadalmia.bsky.social for being too anti-Trump.
This op-ed was written by Kathrine Mangu-Ward. Katherine is editor-in-chief of Reason magazine.
Reason fired @shikhadalmia.bsky.social for being too anti-Trump.
Opinion | Libertarians Tried to Warn You About Trump
www.nytimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:25 PM
If the current moment has taught us anything, it is about the uselessness of libertarianism.
The image sums it up perfectly. The Gadsden flag was all out during the Obama era. How often do you see it now? Most of the principled libertarians were happy to trad their principles for Trumpism.
The image sums it up perfectly. The Gadsden flag was all out during the Obama era. How often do you see it now? Most of the principled libertarians were happy to trad their principles for Trumpism.
I know this was in the moment over-exuberance but we should probably reflect for a moment on the fact that many people saw a young Hispanic chld and thought "that's got to be This Other Hispanic Child."
Keep seeing the misinformation that this was Liam on here--has been reported that it was not
A Reddit user identifies the boy who took a Grammy from Bad Bunny in the halftime show as five-year-old model Lincoln Fox and says that he was meant to represent Bad Bunny as a child www.instagram.com/the_lincfox/... www.reddit.com/user/BabySea...
February 9, 2026 at 2:35 PM
I know this was in the moment over-exuberance but we should probably reflect for a moment on the fact that many people saw a young Hispanic chld and thought "that's got to be This Other Hispanic Child."
FYI, for those who may find this of interest.
February 9, 2026 at 2:30 PM
FYI, for those who may find this of interest.
I want BTS and Blackpink in a show that references the March 1st Movement and Nogun-ri.
This would be really smart.
Calling it right now: Next year it’s gonna be either BTS, BlackPink, or another K-Pop band
1) It’s in Los Angeles
2) Bad Bunny got the halftime show because the NFL wants a lotta dudes who normally watch soccer to watch football. Getting more people in Asia to watch is the obvious next step
1) It’s in Los Angeles
2) Bad Bunny got the halftime show because the NFL wants a lotta dudes who normally watch soccer to watch football. Getting more people in Asia to watch is the obvious next step
February 9, 2026 at 1:58 PM
I want BTS and Blackpink in a show that references the March 1st Movement and Nogun-ri.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
Rammstein: DU HAST MICH
16 year old me: yeah du hast mich
16 year old me: yeah du hast mich
“I’m mad I can’t understand Bad Bunny’s lyrics because they’re not in English”
my brother millions of metalheads around the world have been happily listening to incomprehensible Finnish shrieks and Japanese death grunts since we were teens, you’re just boring and racist
my brother millions of metalheads around the world have been happily listening to incomprehensible Finnish shrieks and Japanese death grunts since we were teens, you’re just boring and racist
February 9, 2026 at 7:18 AM
Rammstein: DU HAST MICH
16 year old me: yeah du hast mich
16 year old me: yeah du hast mich
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
As someone who is an advocate for Cajun and Creole music, it is unquestionably and undeniably American music, and the VAST majority of listeners do not speak or understand French, and yet it is entirely enjoyable to pretty much everyone.
You're just racist.
You're just racist.
February 9, 2026 at 11:49 AM
As someone who is an advocate for Cajun and Creole music, it is unquestionably and undeniably American music, and the VAST majority of listeners do not speak or understand French, and yet it is entirely enjoyable to pretty much everyone.
You're just racist.
You're just racist.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
Will bad Bunny attend an academic conference to co-present a talk / poster with the historian ?
February 9, 2026 at 12:37 PM
Will bad Bunny attend an academic conference to co-present a talk / poster with the historian ?
Aside from everything else, the MAGA outrage is about selfishness. They cannot conceive of things not catering to them. I enjoyed the show. I’m not going to book tickets for Bad Bunny’s next concert tour or anything, but it’s ok that there was something not catered to me. They can’t handle that.
February 9, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Aside from everything else, the MAGA outrage is about selfishness. They cannot conceive of things not catering to them. I enjoyed the show. I’m not going to book tickets for Bad Bunny’s next concert tour or anything, but it’s ok that there was something not catered to me. They can’t handle that.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
This would be really smart.
Calling it right now: Next year it’s gonna be either BTS, BlackPink, or another K-Pop band
1) It’s in Los Angeles
2) Bad Bunny got the halftime show because the NFL wants a lotta dudes who normally watch soccer to watch football. Getting more people in Asia to watch is the obvious next step
1) It’s in Los Angeles
2) Bad Bunny got the halftime show because the NFL wants a lotta dudes who normally watch soccer to watch football. Getting more people in Asia to watch is the obvious next step
February 9, 2026 at 12:55 PM
This would be really smart.
Yes. But also racist.
Like a full 30% of the current US was Mexican territory until the mid-nineteenth century, that culture and heritage and language didn’t up and vanish after the Alamo or whatever, acting like Spanish isn’t a huge part of the American tapestry is super short-sighted and ahistorical
February 9, 2026 at 5:12 AM
Yes. But also racist.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
Every Super Bowl ad was just “HEY REMEMBER THIS SHIT? HUH? YOU REMEMBER THE POP CULTURE YOU CONSUMED THAT ONE TIME IN YOUR LIFE WHEN NOT ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING FUCKING SUCKED. REMEMBER THAT?? brought to you by a company causing your electric bill to increase 287%”
February 9, 2026 at 4:26 AM
Every Super Bowl ad was just “HEY REMEMBER THIS SHIT? HUH? YOU REMEMBER THE POP CULTURE YOU CONSUMED THAT ONE TIME IN YOUR LIFE WHEN NOT ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING FUCKING SUCKED. REMEMBER THAT?? brought to you by a company causing your electric bill to increase 287%”
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
One demonstrator said they attended the phallic protest, at which people pelted federal agents' vehicles with sex toys, "because "ICE likes to bend over for Daddy Trump."
'Operation Dildo Blitz' Anti-ICE Protest in Minneapolis Ends With 50+ Arrests
Protesters in Minneapolis threw sex toys at federal agents to protest ICE crackdown on immigrants. Arrests were made as demonstrators shouted insults. What drives people to such extreme actions in the fight for immigrant rights? #Immigration #Protest #ICECrackdown
www.commondreams.org
February 9, 2026 at 3:33 AM
One demonstrator said they attended the phallic protest, at which people pelted federal agents' vehicles with sex toys, "because "ICE likes to bend over for Daddy Trump."
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
"Suspected"
He. Built. A. Plantation. On. The. Field.
He. Built. A. Plantation. On. The. Field.
February 9, 2026 at 3:38 AM
"Suspected"
He. Built. A. Plantation. On. The. Field.
He. Built. A. Plantation. On. The. Field.
Incorrect. They'd never go see Carmen in the first place.
February 9, 2026 at 4:10 AM
Incorrect. They'd never go see Carmen in the first place.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
We all, collectively, pulled up a chair and did as deep a reading of these performances as I’ve seen in upper level humanities classes, and we not only talked about them with precision and clarity, we did so across distributed networks.
February 9, 2026 at 3:36 AM
We all, collectively, pulled up a chair and did as deep a reading of these performances as I’ve seen in upper level humanities classes, and we not only talked about them with precision and clarity, we did so across distributed networks.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
Next time somebody tries to get me to justify the existence of the humanities, I’ll just point out how for the past two Super Bowls we’ve all jumped online and engaged in collective semiotics and hermeneutics of the half-time show as text.
February 9, 2026 at 3:36 AM
Next time somebody tries to get me to justify the existence of the humanities, I’ll just point out how for the past two Super Bowls we’ve all jumped online and engaged in collective semiotics and hermeneutics of the half-time show as text.
Reposted by Nate Ledbetter
god bless benito for triggering the “are they talking about me in a language i can’t understand” fear activation response in all the country’s worst people
February 9, 2026 at 3:54 AM
god bless benito for triggering the “are they talking about me in a language i can’t understand” fear activation response in all the country’s worst people
Still going thread breaking down the entire Bad Bunny halftime show. Great for us new to all this.
First shot: sugarcane
The backbone of Puerto Rico's agricultural economy since colonial times
Still used to make rum of course!
The backbone of Puerto Rico's agricultural economy since colonial times
Still used to make rum of course!
February 9, 2026 at 3:51 AM
Still going thread breaking down the entire Bad Bunny halftime show. Great for us new to all this.
This is so sexy.
👏 A Ukrainian Air Force F-16 shoots down a Shahed-type drone over Ukraine.
February 9, 2026 at 3:42 AM
This is so sexy.
It's soooo good.
February 9, 2026 at 3:25 AM
It's soooo good.
I mine the heck out of that site for class.
February 9, 2026 at 3:22 AM
I mine the heck out of that site for class.
except that organization is a right wing op.
February 9, 2026 at 3:20 AM
except that organization is a right wing op.