Randall Stephens
@randalljstephens.bsky.social
American historian, religion, environment, pop culture, the South. Author: The Devil's Music (Harvard, 2018). Prof of Am & Brit Studies, Univ of Oslo. Fulbright alumnus.
A Vaughn Shoemaker cartoon from 71 years ago that could’ve been drawn yesterday.
November 11, 2025 at 9:27 AM
A Vaughn Shoemaker cartoon from 71 years ago that could’ve been drawn yesterday.
A journalist interviewed me for a short piece about a new student service that's meant "to help students avoid plagiarism and AI-generated content in submissions." I am... skeptical. Sounds to me like a way to launder student submissions. www.khrono.no/tilbyr-stude...
Tilbyr studenter å sjekke tekster for plagiat og KI-spor. — Høres ut som svindel
Tjenesten plagiatkontroll.no skal hjelpe studenter med å unngå plagiat og KI-generert innhold i innleveringer. Professor er skeptisk.
www.khrono.no
November 10, 2025 at 6:53 PM
A journalist interviewed me for a short piece about a new student service that's meant "to help students avoid plagiarism and AI-generated content in submissions." I am... skeptical. Sounds to me like a way to launder student submissions. www.khrono.no/tilbyr-stude...
Bill Mauldin, 1964. In Aug 1964, the GOP national chairman Dean Burch said the Republican Party's position was that if the KKK wasn't in the business of overthrowing the govt, "we're not in the business of discouraging votes."
November 10, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Bill Mauldin, 1964. In Aug 1964, the GOP national chairman Dean Burch said the Republican Party's position was that if the KKK wasn't in the business of overthrowing the govt, "we're not in the business of discouraging votes."
The 20 states that the Trump administration is threatening with financial penalties for funding SNAP benefits.
November 10, 2025 at 12:50 PM
The 20 states that the Trump administration is threatening with financial penalties for funding SNAP benefits.
"Now then, all together." Dorman Smith, May 1954.
November 10, 2025 at 12:36 PM
"Now then, all together." Dorman Smith, May 1954.
Flight cancellations on Sunday, NYT
November 10, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Flight cancellations on Sunday, NYT
"I am the law." John Fischetti on McCarthyism, May 1954.
November 10, 2025 at 10:27 AM
"I am the law." John Fischetti on McCarthyism, May 1954.
Dan Dowling on Americans getting a good look at McCarthy, 1954.
November 10, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Dan Dowling on Americans getting a good look at McCarthy, 1954.
Top 20, Santa Barbara News-Press, 3/11/1967
November 10, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Top 20, Santa Barbara News-Press, 3/11/1967
White House spokesperson: “The President was not sleeping; in fact, he spoke throughout and took many questions from the press during this announcement…” The Zzzzzs and sawing log above his head indicated that he was wide awake!
November 8, 2025 at 9:36 PM
White House spokesperson: “The President was not sleeping; in fact, he spoke throughout and took many questions from the press during this announcement…” The Zzzzzs and sawing log above his head indicated that he was wide awake!
“Univ of Leicester says it is reviewing 163 staff jobs & will consult on closing a no. of courses for future students. The review covers academic & professional services areas, including chemistry, film studies, geography, geology & the environment, history, modern languages & college operations.”
University of Leicester to consult on redundancies
University bosses are also planning to stop a number of courses.
www.bbc.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:55 AM
“Univ of Leicester says it is reviewing 163 staff jobs & will consult on closing a no. of courses for future students. The review covers academic & professional services areas, including chemistry, film studies, geography, geology & the environment, history, modern languages & college operations.”
I made a little edit to Trump's unbelievable %PeRceNtagEs%
November 7, 2025 at 7:17 PM
I made a little edit to Trump's unbelievable %PeRceNtagEs%
Ferman Martin on the polio vaccine, May 1954.
November 7, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Ferman Martin on the polio vaccine, May 1954.
The great Dr. Oz has spoken!
November 7, 2025 at 4:49 PM
The great Dr. Oz has spoken!
Ferman Martin’s take on the reaction to the h-bomb, playing on the name of Eisenhower’s “New Look” national security policy, Houston Chronicle, 4/2/1954.
November 7, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Ferman Martin’s take on the reaction to the h-bomb, playing on the name of Eisenhower’s “New Look” national security policy, Houston Chronicle, 4/2/1954.
It’s always time for Duffman.
November 6, 2025 at 10:00 PM
It’s always time for Duffman.
Quin Hall's cartoon of Republicans "tinkerin'" with the "tariff question," October 1929.
November 6, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Quin Hall's cartoon of Republicans "tinkerin'" with the "tariff question," October 1929.
Chillicothe, Missouri is the home of sliced bread and they have a mural to prove it.
November 6, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Chillicothe, Missouri is the home of sliced bread and they have a mural to prove it.
Edward Steed’s latest in the New Yorker
November 6, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Edward Steed’s latest in the New Yorker
Thomas Stockett on Birmingham's Commissioner of Public Safety Bull Connor, April 1962.
November 6, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Thomas Stockett on Birmingham's Commissioner of Public Safety Bull Connor, April 1962.
Thomas Stockett on the GOP and civil rights, Baltimore Afro-American, 2/10/1962.
November 6, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Thomas Stockett on the GOP and civil rights, Baltimore Afro-American, 2/10/1962.
Lawrence, Kansas Daily Tribune, 8/21/1882: "In various parts of the South...reunions of ex Confederates [are taking place]. Statues of confederate leaders are also being put up in various places in the South. All these things keep alive the old, reckless, violent spirit of succession and treason."
November 6, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Lawrence, Kansas Daily Tribune, 8/21/1882: "In various parts of the South...reunions of ex Confederates [are taking place]. Statues of confederate leaders are also being put up in various places in the South. All these things keep alive the old, reckless, violent spirit of succession and treason."
Kennebec, Maine Journal, Nov 17, 1875: "A statue of Stonewall Jackson was the other day unveiled in Richmond, and all the rebel elements, prejudices, unnational sentiments of the South were evoked." That was followed in the North by a "servile eulogy of Treason's favorite chief."
November 6, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Kennebec, Maine Journal, Nov 17, 1875: "A statue of Stonewall Jackson was the other day unveiled in Richmond, and all the rebel elements, prejudices, unnational sentiments of the South were evoked." That was followed in the North by a "servile eulogy of Treason's favorite chief."
Frederick Douglass, Brooklyn Academy, late January 1866: "Jefferson Davis was a great criminal—a cold-blooded traitor....Though a traitor...He will never be punished; there is not persistent hatred of treason enough in this country to punish Jefferson Davis." Davis served only 2 years in prison.
November 6, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Frederick Douglass, Brooklyn Academy, late January 1866: "Jefferson Davis was a great criminal—a cold-blooded traitor....Though a traitor...He will never be punished; there is not persistent hatred of treason enough in this country to punish Jefferson Davis." Davis served only 2 years in prison.