Robert Paulett
@robertpaulett.bsky.social
Historian of early America and bits of Britain. Apostate southerner. Yells about maps, St. Louis, and higher ed.
Pinned
Quick intro for new followers: I teach broadly in the histories of early modern North America and the world. I study the visual and material underpinnings of imperial political systems in 18th-century Britain/North America. In general, the weirder the argument, the happier I am.
It also means the things establishment types see as “too radical” (judicial reform, purges of the bureaucracy, criminal convictions, etc) are necessary to restore trust in this previous order. They’re the conservative, establishment position, in other words.
It’s genuinely wild that the United States spent decades building an elaborate rules-based international order which de facto cemented its permanent status as the dominant global hegemon, sustained by ideology rather than might, and now is just blowing it all up for literally no reason
January 6, 2026 at 4:34 AM
It also means the things establishment types see as “too radical” (judicial reform, purges of the bureaucracy, criminal convictions, etc) are necessary to restore trust in this previous order. They’re the conservative, establishment position, in other words.
Wow, nine years to the day since I called it.
January 6, 2026 at 4:19 AM
Wow, nine years to the day since I called it.
Say what you will about Dunder Mifflin, those employees had a break room and an HR department and I would kill to have either right now.
January 5, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Say what you will about Dunder Mifflin, those employees had a break room and an HR department and I would kill to have either right now.
“Colonization is one of the greatest things and the reason you think it isn’t is because you took time to learn something about it!”
Flawless reasoning here.
Flawless reasoning here.
On X, a senior U.S. Justice Department official is promoting a post that praises colonization as “one of the greatest things that ever happened to the backwards parts of the world.”👇
January 5, 2026 at 1:37 AM
“Colonization is one of the greatest things and the reason you think it isn’t is because you took time to learn something about it!”
Flawless reasoning here.
Flawless reasoning here.
The only way to be fair and objective is to never do the homework that might influence you and instead let people convince* you in the moment.
*impress you with their wealth and confidence
*impress you with their wealth and confidence
So many in media are ill-equipped to interview officials about what’s happening because they begin with the presumption of legitimacy and don’t know enough about history or U.S. foreign policy to foment intelligent pushback and hold officials accountable.
January 5, 2026 at 12:35 AM
The only way to be fair and objective is to never do the homework that might influence you and instead let people convince* you in the moment.
*impress you with their wealth and confidence
*impress you with their wealth and confidence
Not my field obviously but it does seem weird that America’s turn to fascism has so many institutional press releases about how we’re all turning to fascism now.
Incredible. CBS Evening News announces five new “simple values” — instead of their “38-page handbook” — as they roll out Tony Dokoupil is lead anchor.
One of those values is simply: “We love America and make no apologies for saying so.”
One of those values is simply: “We love America and make no apologies for saying so.”
January 3, 2026 at 12:01 AM
Not my field obviously but it does seem weird that America’s turn to fascism has so many institutional press releases about how we’re all turning to fascism now.
Great thread. I do always have to stop and marvel at how useful cursives were as a technology WHEN YOUR MODE OF WRITING WAS A FEATHER YOU PLUCKED FROM AN ACTUAL BIRD AND DIPPED IN INK.
Also, this feeds into the bizarre (conservative retvrn-coded) idea that the past’s inhabitants were mystical perfect beings.
They were misspelling things all the time! Some of them invented words and abbreviations and personal shorthand and all the messy human stuff we do now!
They were misspelling things all the time! Some of them invented words and abbreviations and personal shorthand and all the messy human stuff we do now!
January 2, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Great thread. I do always have to stop and marvel at how useful cursives were as a technology WHEN YOUR MODE OF WRITING WAS A FEATHER YOU PLUCKED FROM AN ACTUAL BIRD AND DIPPED IN INK.
The challenge with this strategy of course is many of his voters will have to start thinking of themselves as the kind of cringy dorks who say things like “I sure do like the job the mayor is doing.”
part of the genius of his major campaign ideas is that they can be deployed fairly quickly as tangible deliverables. they can help him build trust with voters as someone who does what he says he will do. and trust goes a long way!
I think people are underestimating how much Mamdani, even more so than your average elected leftist, see it as his top priority to not be seen as a failed mayor. He is not going to be another Brandon Johnson, I’d wager
January 1, 2026 at 9:49 PM
The challenge with this strategy of course is many of his voters will have to start thinking of themselves as the kind of cringy dorks who say things like “I sure do like the job the mayor is doing.”
The flip side to these dumb attacks though is the quiet blacklist they create. Editors keeping Mamdani and Duwaji off the cute little “Cooking with the Mayor”-type puff pieces because they’re “too controversial” generating a vague aloofness that can derail a reelection campaign.
January 1, 2026 at 6:31 PM
The flip side to these dumb attacks though is the quiet blacklist they create. Editors keeping Mamdani and Duwaji off the cute little “Cooking with the Mayor”-type puff pieces because they’re “too controversial” generating a vague aloofness that can derail a reelection campaign.
Starting an early modern utopian village, just to commonweal something.
Playing the glocken, just to spiel something
Talking to @greenleejw.bsky.social just to eel something.
December 31, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Starting an early modern utopian village, just to commonweal something.
Can’t wait to read this one. George’s story is amazing. Glad it’s getting its due.
My new book drops in about a month, and @barnesandnoble.com has a 25% off promo on pre-orders for the next three days! Use code PREORDER25
(You have to be a B&N member, but membership is free.)
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#bskystorians #AmRev #slavery
@stmartinspress.bsky.social
(You have to be a B&N member, but membership is free.)
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-escape...
#bskystorians #AmRev #slavery
@stmartinspress.bsky.social
December 31, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Can’t wait to read this one. George’s story is amazing. Glad it’s getting its due.
One benefit of working at a regional public is that, while you do absolutely get this sort of colleague who turns every hurt feeling into a Grand Narrative of Social Decline, there at least aren’t national mags lining up to publish their nonsense.
The reason this Harvard history professor decided he was done with one of the best and most privileged jobs in the world was, in his own words, because he was forced to lecture in a mask during peak Covid.
I’m not making this up.
I’m not making this up.
December 31, 2025 at 1:35 AM
One benefit of working at a regional public is that, while you do absolutely get this sort of colleague who turns every hurt feeling into a Grand Narrative of Social Decline, there at least aren’t national mags lining up to publish their nonsense.
Sums up about 70% of Bluesky interactions.
December 28, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Sums up about 70% of Bluesky interactions.
I have been enjoying this whole conversation all day, not least because it reminded me to go listen to Tre Burt for the first time in awhile, an artist Prine very much and very affirmatively wanted all of you to listen to.
I haven’t wanted to say it but YOLO.
Jesse Wells is not John Prine. He isn’t even close.
Jesse Wells is not John Prine. He isn’t even close.
December 27, 2025 at 9:55 PM
I have been enjoying this whole conversation all day, not least because it reminded me to go listen to Tre Burt for the first time in awhile, an artist Prine very much and very affirmatively wanted all of you to listen to.
✅ Acquire legacy name w huge real estate holdings
✅ Pump up debt to reduce worker leverage and enhance board control
✅ Do a bunch of dumb stuff because you don’t understand your product or its social role
🔲 Skim profits and sell for scrap?
When they say “run Unis like a business” they mean Sears.
✅ Pump up debt to reduce worker leverage and enhance board control
✅ Do a bunch of dumb stuff because you don’t understand your product or its social role
🔲 Skim profits and sell for scrap?
When they say “run Unis like a business” they mean Sears.
Why Sears’s Last Great Hope Was a Promise That Never Materialized
www.nytimes.com
December 27, 2025 at 4:22 PM
✅ Acquire legacy name w huge real estate holdings
✅ Pump up debt to reduce worker leverage and enhance board control
✅ Do a bunch of dumb stuff because you don’t understand your product or its social role
🔲 Skim profits and sell for scrap?
When they say “run Unis like a business” they mean Sears.
✅ Pump up debt to reduce worker leverage and enhance board control
✅ Do a bunch of dumb stuff because you don’t understand your product or its social role
🔲 Skim profits and sell for scrap?
When they say “run Unis like a business” they mean Sears.
Make a Bond movie academic
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Commitment
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Commitment
Make a Bond movie academic
Dr. It’s Complicated
Dr. It’s Complicated
Make a Bond movie academic
No Time To Write
No Time To Write
December 27, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Make a Bond movie academic
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Commitment
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Commitment
I mean, case in point, they’re getting mad at the basic idea of happiness here.
December 25, 2025 at 7:09 PM
I mean, case in point, they’re getting mad at the basic idea of happiness here.
It’s also why appeasement and triangulation never work. The desire to be angry is their motivation. It will always find a new thing.
In retrospect the Bush-era War On Christmas stuff seems more ominous than it did at the time. It was just cable news guys crying about dumb/fake shit, then and now; I mean the campaign to turn Christmas, which most everyone likes and feels warmly about, into just another thing to get mad about.
December 25, 2025 at 6:21 PM
It’s also why appeasement and triangulation never work. The desire to be angry is their motivation. It will always find a new thing.
🎶Frying steak in bacon fat/
🎶Doo dah/Doo dah
🎶’Cause Julia she rolls like that/
🎶All the doo dah day
🎶Doo dah/Doo dah
🎶’Cause Julia she rolls like that/
🎶All the doo dah day
December 24, 2025 at 9:37 PM
🎶Frying steak in bacon fat/
🎶Doo dah/Doo dah
🎶’Cause Julia she rolls like that/
🎶All the doo dah day
🎶Doo dah/Doo dah
🎶’Cause Julia she rolls like that/
🎶All the doo dah day
This is just the crystalline essence of all the “thank the troops for your freedom” messages of the last four decades. All human endeavor is downwind of a violent contest for survival. It’s also why “create bomb-makers and medics” is all higher education is allowed to be anymore.
December 24, 2025 at 2:04 PM
This is just the crystalline essence of all the “thank the troops for your freedom” messages of the last four decades. All human endeavor is downwind of a violent contest for survival. It’s also why “create bomb-makers and medics” is all higher education is allowed to be anymore.
This post is not about higher ed but it is also about higher ed.
Bari Weiss is the logical endpoint of corporate media. This is what happens when people who hate journalism are in charge of it. The only way journalism works is when it’s independent from the power it’s supposed to hold to account, which means ownership can’t have anything to do with those in power
December 24, 2025 at 5:32 AM
This post is not about higher ed but it is also about higher ed.
Probably that time the Windsor archive was closed for renovation and @brookenewman.bsky.social and I got shunted into the royal family’s personal library to work next to old chunks of the Victory, various coronation books, and George III’s favorite malfunctioning clock.
I think we need a mega thread of everyone's craziest archive stories.
December 22, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Probably that time the Windsor archive was closed for renovation and @brookenewman.bsky.social and I got shunted into the royal family’s personal library to work next to old chunks of the Victory, various coronation books, and George III’s favorite malfunctioning clock.
It is a key lesson of the past twenty years: one of fascism’s greatest allies (besides the rich) is people’s unwillingness to believe it’s actually happening until it’s too late.
I mean I think the people who underestimated the fascists are the stupids in this equation. The fascists had a 60 year plan, they documented the last year of it very publicly, and they are successfully implementing all of it.
December 22, 2025 at 8:39 PM
It is a key lesson of the past twenty years: one of fascism’s greatest allies (besides the rich) is people’s unwillingness to believe it’s actually happening until it’s too late.
One of the more infuriating things about AI discourse is that it’s unseemly to defend your profession because, well, of course you’re biased. You’re the ones we’re threatening starve.
December 21, 2025 at 11:40 PM
One of the more infuriating things about AI discourse is that it’s unseemly to defend your profession because, well, of course you’re biased. You’re the ones we’re threatening starve.
“Cite your sources” is what helps keep us from veering into fan fiction.
"cite your sources" is how you keep yourself accountable to others. "cite your sources" is what enables people to run down the origins of myths and bullshit passing themselves off as "common knowledge." "cite your sources" KEEP US ALL HONEST
December 21, 2025 at 7:38 PM
“Cite your sources” is what helps keep us from veering into fan fiction.