Robert Suits
@robertsuits.bsky.social
Asst Prof/Lecturer in environmental history at University College London. Researching climate, energy, capitalism, and labo(u)r; author of The Hobo: A History of America's First Climate Migrants (Princeton University Press, 2026). Also novelist, musician.
Reposted by Robert Suits
The UK government is proposing radical and punitive changes to settlement rules. This is settlement, not citizenship. The consultation is open until 12 February; please respond to it and oppose these evil proposals. Amnesty have a good guide: www.amnesty.org.uk/resources/gu...
Guidance for responding to 'A Fairer Pathway to Settlement' consultation
We are Amnesty International UK. We are ordinary people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights.
www.amnesty.org.uk
January 22, 2026 at 10:22 AM
The UK government is proposing radical and punitive changes to settlement rules. This is settlement, not citizenship. The consultation is open until 12 February; please respond to it and oppose these evil proposals. Amnesty have a good guide: www.amnesty.org.uk/resources/gu...
Reposted by Robert Suits
Watch as a massive crack forms in the ice on Lake Erie.
An impressive view captured by GOES-19 earlier on Sunday.
An impressive view captured by GOES-19 earlier on Sunday.
February 9, 2026 at 7:07 AM
Watch as a massive crack forms in the ice on Lake Erie.
An impressive view captured by GOES-19 earlier on Sunday.
An impressive view captured by GOES-19 earlier on Sunday.
Reposted by Robert Suits
In addition to an introductory essay by my co-editors and myself, the Raw Capital: More-Than-Human Business History table of contents looks like this!
February 8, 2026 at 4:49 PM
In addition to an introductory essay by my co-editors and myself, the Raw Capital: More-Than-Human Business History table of contents looks like this!
Reposted by Robert Suits
You now have until the 15th of February to send in your applications for our upcoming workshop on historical approaches to the non-human, ran in collaboration with @northernenvhistory.bsky.social.
Some fantastic applications in already, we look forward to reading yours!
🌿 🕷️ 🐀 🦠
Some fantastic applications in already, we look forward to reading yours!
🌿 🕷️ 🐀 🦠
The CFP deadline for our upcoming workshop on 'unwanted non-human life', broadly conceived, here at York has been extended a couple of weeks. Do send in an application if it appeals to you, we've already got a great pair of keynotes lined up!
February 4, 2026 at 2:43 PM
You now have until the 15th of February to send in your applications for our upcoming workshop on historical approaches to the non-human, ran in collaboration with @northernenvhistory.bsky.social.
Some fantastic applications in already, we look forward to reading yours!
🌿 🕷️ 🐀 🦠
Some fantastic applications in already, we look forward to reading yours!
🌿 🕷️ 🐀 🦠
@emilywebz.bsky.social got me a delightful birthday present this year
February 3, 2026 at 8:51 AM
@emilywebz.bsky.social got me a delightful birthday present this year
Reposted by Robert Suits
A few of us got together for a forum on degrowth in
@envirohistory.bsky.social. Here is my bit: "It's the Economy Stupid." And check out the entries from
@fredrikjonsson.bsky.social, @matthiasschmelzer.bsky.social, and
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
@envirohistory.bsky.social. Here is my bit: "It's the Economy Stupid." And check out the entries from
@fredrikjonsson.bsky.social, @matthiasschmelzer.bsky.social, and
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
It’s the Economy, Stupid | Environmental History: Vol 31, No 1
www.journals.uchicago.edu
January 30, 2026 at 4:14 PM
A few of us got together for a forum on degrowth in
@envirohistory.bsky.social. Here is my bit: "It's the Economy Stupid." And check out the entries from
@fredrikjonsson.bsky.social, @matthiasschmelzer.bsky.social, and
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
@envirohistory.bsky.social. Here is my bit: "It's the Economy Stupid." And check out the entries from
@fredrikjonsson.bsky.social, @matthiasschmelzer.bsky.social, and
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Reposted by Robert Suits
Fuck yeah! Historians are close behind
“The English classroom is increasingly a kind of special place where it’s still possible to converse without the screen.” —Nancy Yousef
yaledailynews.com/articles/eng...
yaledailynews.com/articles/eng...
January 29, 2026 at 1:34 PM
Fuck yeah! Historians are close behind
Reposted by Robert Suits
". . . this essay examines the 'fetus protection policy' implemented at American Cyanamid’s Willow Island plant in West Virginia in 1978. The policy required women between the ages of sixteen and fifty to undergo sterilizations in order to keep their jobs."
Adding this to several of my syllabi
Adding this to several of my syllabi
Damned Women: Fetal Protection as Employer Offensive at American Cyanamid | Labor | Duke University Press
read.dukeupress.edu
January 29, 2026 at 1:51 PM
". . . this essay examines the 'fetus protection policy' implemented at American Cyanamid’s Willow Island plant in West Virginia in 1978. The policy required women between the ages of sixteen and fifty to undergo sterilizations in order to keep their jobs."
Adding this to several of my syllabi
Adding this to several of my syllabi
Explaining primitive accumulation in class today: We live in society where only goal is line go up. But why line start going up?
January 27, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Explaining primitive accumulation in class today: We live in society where only goal is line go up. But why line start going up?
Genie: Listen closely. You only get three wishes, you can't bring back the dead, or make anyone --
Me: I wish that all books had a synopsis on the back of the dust jacket, not blurbs!
Me: I wish that all books had a synopsis on the back of the dust jacket, not blurbs!
January 26, 2026 at 5:48 PM
Genie: Listen closely. You only get three wishes, you can't bring back the dead, or make anyone --
Me: I wish that all books had a synopsis on the back of the dust jacket, not blurbs!
Me: I wish that all books had a synopsis on the back of the dust jacket, not blurbs!
Also applicable to sending me LLM text (email, assignments...).
When someone doesn’t respond to me within 17 seconds even though I ignored their email for three months
January 18, 2026 at 3:28 PM
Also applicable to sending me LLM text (email, assignments...).
Reposted by Robert Suits
When your D&D group is made up of a bunch of historians and history buffs, you naturally do age of sail homages @robertsuits.bsky.social
January 17, 2026 at 11:56 PM
When your D&D group is made up of a bunch of historians and history buffs, you naturally do age of sail homages @robertsuits.bsky.social
right now: The Thames
hometown: The Portage
in between: The Connecticut, the Platte, the Charles, the Calumet and the Chicago, the Bow, and the Wear
hometown: The Portage
in between: The Connecticut, the Platte, the Charles, the Calumet and the Chicago, the Bow, and the Wear
My favorite Twitter prompt was "RT this with your home river," so reskeet this with your home river.
Mine is the Patuxent.
Mine is the Patuxent.
January 12, 2026 at 10:36 PM
right now: The Thames
hometown: The Portage
in between: The Connecticut, the Platte, the Charles, the Calumet and the Chicago, the Bow, and the Wear
hometown: The Portage
in between: The Connecticut, the Platte, the Charles, the Calumet and the Chicago, the Bow, and the Wear
So, the world is dark -- let's talk about something that starts out quite silly. Why does my book's index have an entry for "Dick (Wobbly)"?
January 9, 2026 at 6:41 PM
So, the world is dark -- let's talk about something that starts out quite silly. Why does my book's index have an entry for "Dick (Wobbly)"?
Reposted by Robert Suits
Does anyone have any Manchester University Press book proposals that they could let me have a look at? #18c #19c #skystorians #AcademicSky
January 9, 2026 at 11:44 AM
Does anyone have any Manchester University Press book proposals that they could let me have a look at? #18c #19c #skystorians #AcademicSky
Reposted by Robert Suits
Is there anyone based in the US who teaches US environmental history and who would like to co-teach as part this Fulbright call for interest? with thanks to @hilaryemmett.bsky.social for the reminder!
fulbright.org.uk/our-programm...
fulbright.org.uk/our-programm...
Global Challenges Teaching Award | Fulbright
fulbright.org.uk
January 7, 2026 at 12:13 PM
Is there anyone based in the US who teaches US environmental history and who would like to co-teach as part this Fulbright call for interest? with thanks to @hilaryemmett.bsky.social for the reminder!
fulbright.org.uk/our-programm...
fulbright.org.uk/our-programm...
Does anyone here lecture on the Great Acceleration? What is the framing you use? Trying to avoid what seems to be the standard way to talk about it -- 1) here's a series of hockey stick graphs that bode ill, 2) ok bye!
December 30, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Does anyone here lecture on the Great Acceleration? What is the framing you use? Trying to avoid what seems to be the standard way to talk about it -- 1) here's a series of hockey stick graphs that bode ill, 2) ok bye!
Reposted by Robert Suits
"We envision a resistance that is...a repudiation of the efficiencies that automated algorithmic education falsely promises: a resistance comprising the collective force of small acts of friction."
"How to Resist AI in Education" by me & @cnygren.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
"How to Resist AI in Education" by me & @cnygren.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
Four Frictions: or, How to Resist AI in Education - Public Books
We are calling for resistance to the AI industry’s ongoing capture of higher education.
www.publicbooks.org
December 16, 2025 at 5:27 PM
"We envision a resistance that is...a repudiation of the efficiencies that automated algorithmic education falsely promises: a resistance comprising the collective force of small acts of friction."
"How to Resist AI in Education" by me & @cnygren.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
"How to Resist AI in Education" by me & @cnygren.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
Reposted by Robert Suits
I wrote a piece on LLMs, citation metrics, and the institution of science. It's been up for a couple of days, but it is officially "out" now.
Context Widows
or, of GPUs, LPUs, and Goal Displacement
artificialbureaucracy.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 4:19 PM
I wrote a piece on LLMs, citation metrics, and the institution of science. It's been up for a couple of days, but it is officially "out" now.
Reposted by Robert Suits
London is the safest city I’ve ever lived in. Every other American I know that lives here feels the same way simply by virtue of the lack of gun violence.
Any pundit or public figure (often taking gulf $) trying to paint this city as crime-ridden is plainly wrong and probably lying to you.
Any pundit or public figure (often taking gulf $) trying to paint this city as crime-ridden is plainly wrong and probably lying to you.
The number of murders in the capital in the first nine months (1st January to 30th September) of 2025 is the lowest since monthly records began and represents a fall of almost 60 per cent compared to 2003.
www.london.gov.uk/london-recor...
www.london.gov.uk/london-recor...
London records fewest homicides this year since monthly records began
The number of homicides in London in the first nine months of 2025 was lower than any year since monthly homicide records began in 2003, according to new analysis from the Mayor’s Office for Policing ...
www.london.gov.uk
December 13, 2025 at 9:32 AM
London is the safest city I’ve ever lived in. Every other American I know that lives here feels the same way simply by virtue of the lack of gun violence.
Any pundit or public figure (often taking gulf $) trying to paint this city as crime-ridden is plainly wrong and probably lying to you.
Any pundit or public figure (often taking gulf $) trying to paint this city as crime-ridden is plainly wrong and probably lying to you.
Reposted by Robert Suits
Nature would do well to publish more content like this thoughtful piece from @kevinbaker.bsky.social and fewer Buzzfeed listicles gussied up as career advice "Five productivity hacks for using AI in your scientific workflow"
Context Widows
or, of GPUs, LPUs, and Goal Displacement
artificialbureaucracy.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Nature would do well to publish more content like this thoughtful piece from @kevinbaker.bsky.social and fewer Buzzfeed listicles gussied up as career advice "Five productivity hacks for using AI in your scientific workflow"
Reposted by Robert Suits
I really loved this two years ago, but last year I didn't get enough messages to make it happen. Don't be shy! Tell me about the best history book you read this year for the year-end episode.
I need your help! I want to put together a year-end episode, and I want to know what you read this year. Go here: www.speakpipe.com/DraftingtheP... and record a short message telling me who you are and the best history book you read this year. Doesn't have to be published this year!
Send a voice message to
DraftingthePast
A podcast devoted to the craft of writing history.
www.speakpipe.com
December 15, 2025 at 1:56 AM
I really loved this two years ago, but last year I didn't get enough messages to make it happen. Don't be shy! Tell me about the best history book you read this year for the year-end episode.
Reposted by Robert Suits
Bit of a long shot, but are there any medievalists in Cambridge at the moment who might be able to take pictures of a MS in the UL? Massive gratitude and thanks on offer ...
December 14, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Bit of a long shot, but are there any medievalists in Cambridge at the moment who might be able to take pictures of a MS in the UL? Massive gratitude and thanks on offer ...
Reposted by Robert Suits
This Day in Labor History: December 12, 1957. The AFL-CIO evicted four unions from the federation for corruption, most notably the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Let's talk about the issue of corruption in midcentury unions!
December 12, 2025 at 2:01 PM
This Day in Labor History: December 12, 1957. The AFL-CIO evicted four unions from the federation for corruption, most notably the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Let's talk about the issue of corruption in midcentury unions!
Reposted by Robert Suits
How do you find new podcasts to listen to?
December 11, 2025 at 10:20 PM
How do you find new podcasts to listen to?