Ted McCormick
@tedmccormick.bsky.social
Historian of scientific, economic and colonial projects in early modern Britain, Ireland, and the Atlantic; books http://bit.ly/3HYwNiA & http://bit.ly/3rKdAvt; http://memoriousblog.com; views mine; he/him. Montrealer in Philly, except when I’m in Montreal
Pinned
Even when I tell you I’m not thinking of the Roman Empire, even then, I’m still not thinking of it
posting this but for cat breeds
December 26, 2025 at 4:42 PM
posting this but for cat breeds
try to get your head around the idea that it takes an effort to make American media look silly
that it's in the Atlantic is a little on the nose
that it's in the Atlantic is a little on the nose
From the Atlantic attempt to justify Bari Weiss' decision. What's Canadian for "perfidious Albion?"
December 24, 2025 at 1:01 AM
try to get your head around the idea that it takes an effort to make American media look silly
that it's in the Atlantic is a little on the nose
that it's in the Atlantic is a little on the nose
might fuck around and do some Canadian treachery
December 24, 2025 at 12:45 AM
might fuck around and do some Canadian treachery
"it's a tool"
New from me: The storied fiddler Ashley MacIsaac wanted to play a show at a Nova Scotia First Nation. It got cancelled because Google's AI search summary incorrectly called him a sex offender. Now he's worried for his safety www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/arti...
Fiddler Ashley MacIsaac has show cancelled over Google AI-generated misinformation
Cape Breton musician was set to perform in Nova Scotia before a search summary incorrectly described him as a sex offender
www.theglobeandmail.com
December 23, 2025 at 7:30 PM
"it's a tool"
our current politics is institutionalizing not only hate but also blunt stupidity
Worth noting that the student admits that she just threw the thing together in 30 minutes without reading the paper she was supposed to be responding to.
December 23, 2025 at 6:58 PM
our current politics is institutionalizing not only hate but also blunt stupidity
Seems bad!
December 23, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Seems bad!
it all started with people on Twitter calling things “unserious”
December 23, 2025 at 6:39 PM
it all started with people on Twitter calling things “unserious”
Scratch a Campus Free Speecher, find a state censor
"CBS News Anchor Awkwardly Addresses ’60 Minutes’ Controversy During ‘CBS Evening News’" CBS anchors now have all the freedom of news anchors on Iranian state TV www.mediaite.com/media/tv/wat...
Jericka Duncan Addresses 60 Minutes Controversy on CBS News
On Monday's CBS Evening News, anchor Jericka Duncan addressed the elephant in the room — delivering a 90-second report on the 60 Minutes controversy.
www.mediaite.com
December 23, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Scratch a Campus Free Speecher, find a state censor
anyone who can write 10 will be Thanos
In 5 years anyone who can read 20 pages in one sitting will be Magneto
December 22, 2025 at 2:08 PM
anyone who can write 10 will be Thanos
you can save even more time by not taking a job you don’t even want to do
I've had one go-round.
"Using AI means I don't read papers that aren't relevant."
"Then you aren't learning the field you're in."
"But I'm saving time."
"Saving time isn't helping you learn the discipline."
"But I'm saving time."
"That's not mastering a discipline though."
"But SAVING TIME."
"Using AI means I don't read papers that aren't relevant."
"Then you aren't learning the field you're in."
"But I'm saving time."
"Saving time isn't helping you learn the discipline."
"But I'm saving time."
"That's not mastering a discipline though."
"But SAVING TIME."
What Im appreciating are the AI pushers revealing how they in fact do not understand how reading or research works, especially in fields that are not tech, or CS.
But they also appear to have a great deal of contempt for those fields, and many of us in those fields.
Thats aside from their charm.
But they also appear to have a great deal of contempt for those fields, and many of us in those fields.
Thats aside from their charm.
December 21, 2025 at 10:06 PM
you can save even more time by not taking a job you don’t even want to do
regarding the academic job market: how much do you want to bet we can have the same argument for 30 years
December 21, 2025 at 9:53 PM
regarding the academic job market: how much do you want to bet we can have the same argument for 30 years
Last of the year’s W. S. Merwin, enjoy
December 21, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Last of the year’s W. S. Merwin, enjoy
turning a big dial etc
Where do you set the dial so it doesn’t encourage self-harm or promote stalking.
ChatGPT will now let you pick how nice it is
OpenAI is making it easier to edit emails with ChatGPT, too.
www.theverge.com
December 19, 2025 at 11:27 PM
turning a big dial etc
Reposted by Ted McCormick
Dr. Jessica Otis and Katherine Kania published "The Monarchs' Bills of Mortality," analyzing 17th-century London death records to reveal connections between epidemic outbreaks, socioeconomic trends, and environmental factors. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03058034.2025.2572138
The Monarchs’ Bills of Mortality: A Geographical Analysis of Death in Seventeenth-Century London
The London bills of mortality are most well known as printed broadsides produced for public consumption in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which informed early modern Londoners of mortali...
www.tandfonline.com
December 16, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Dr. Jessica Otis and Katherine Kania published "The Monarchs' Bills of Mortality," analyzing 17th-century London death records to reveal connections between epidemic outbreaks, socioeconomic trends, and environmental factors. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03058034.2025.2572138
This what makes Pinker-style celebrations of Progress — which give credit for change to abstractions like “reason” while eliding (and, in the present tense, deriding) social movements and collective action — so insidious and, ultimately, reactionary
Attacks on feminism are similar to attacks on vaccines. We begin to take for granted a world where women have rights and most children live to see adulthood, and then, over time, we begin to forget, neglect, and (now) reject the movements and innovations that brought us here.
Until the mid-1970’s, a man could not be convicted of rape in New York State based solely on the testimony of the woman he raped. A second witness was required because the female rape victim was deemed unreliable.
Feminism has not failed women.
Feminism has not failed women.
December 19, 2025 at 5:45 PM
This what makes Pinker-style celebrations of Progress — which give credit for change to abstractions like “reason” while eliding (and, in the present tense, deriding) social movements and collective action — so insidious and, ultimately, reactionary
Sentence of death recorded: job candidacy edition
Ah yes, Naomi Wolf, known far and wide for her accurate interpretation of texts and for not letting her priors shape her analyses.
December 19, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Sentence of death recorded: job candidacy edition
Even when I tell you I’m not thinking of the Roman Empire, even then, I’m still not thinking of it
December 19, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Even when I tell you I’m not thinking of the Roman Empire, even then, I’m still not thinking of it
talk about closing the barn door
calling for the ban all travel from Europe because of a single murderous Voyager who crossed the Atlantic from Portugal is poetry
meanwhile, the Twitterati are calling for a ban on all travel from Europe
December 19, 2025 at 3:06 PM
talk about closing the barn door
"knowing all sorts of details" is a sufficient qualification for a history buff
being oblivious to the latest research is not a qualification for anything
being oblivious to the latest research is not a qualification for anything
This is 100% incorrect as the explanation for why someone obsessed with Roman *military* history is not being hired.
December 19, 2025 at 2:53 PM
"knowing all sorts of details" is a sufficient qualification for a history buff
being oblivious to the latest research is not a qualification for anything
being oblivious to the latest research is not a qualification for anything
more like mountwrath amirite
18 Dec 1661: d. Charles Coote Earl of #Mountrath #otd (CKeddie/eebo) Not known for his cuddly demeanour...
December 18, 2025 at 11:04 PM
more like mountwrath amirite
humanities programs recognize obvious threats as obvious threats challenge
PSA: your graduate program, even if in the humanities, needs an AI policy. Now.
December 18, 2025 at 8:05 PM
humanities programs recognize obvious threats as obvious threats challenge
the glorious civilizational death march from inspiration to content gains a step with every update
December 18, 2025 at 3:30 PM
the glorious civilizational death march from inspiration to content gains a step with every update
I’m hardly the first to mention it but the fact that cops have been cosplaying as soldiers since the ’90s — ever more elaborately and expensively, and without significant critique from either party — normalized elements of a fascist landscape long before Trump’s political career began
Get his ass
December 18, 2025 at 1:15 PM
I’m hardly the first to mention it but the fact that cops have been cosplaying as soldiers since the ’90s — ever more elaborately and expensively, and without significant critique from either party — normalized elements of a fascist landscape long before Trump’s political career began
Reposted by Ted McCormick
I'm not encouraging anyone to subsidize this shit.
December 18, 2025 at 12:06 PM
I'm not encouraging anyone to subsidize this shit.