Ben Johnson
@benjaminhjohns1.bsky.social
I study history in order to understand and help others understand the crazy world in which we live. Environment, climate, borders, violence and memory are key. Also @refusing2forget.bsky.social. My opinions are mine, sadly almost never my employer's.
I have arrived as a Texas historian. My book yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300... fails to finger LBJ as the mastermind of the JFK assassination.
October 31, 2025 at 3:00 AM
I have arrived as a Texas historian. My book yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300... fails to finger LBJ as the mastermind of the JFK assassination.
the remains of a massive ICE raid on the south side of Chicago. Dried blood, children's clothing, baby bottle, and zip-ties. chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
October 3, 2025 at 1:24 AM
the remains of a massive ICE raid on the south side of Chicago. Dried blood, children's clothing, baby bottle, and zip-ties. chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Davy Crockett his very self has contributed to Tom Alter's go-fund me. You can too! www.gofundme.com/f/support-fr...
September 24, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Davy Crockett his very self has contributed to Tom Alter's go-fund me. You can too! www.gofundme.com/f/support-fr...
"“There are, of course, individual actions and activities occurring at universities that a particular individual may not like. It is most important, however, that a tolerant attitude be taken toward those actions . . ." /2
September 23, 2025 at 1:33 AM
"“There are, of course, individual actions and activities occurring at universities that a particular individual may not like. It is most important, however, that a tolerant attitude be taken toward those actions . . ." /2
Glad to see this statement. We all need to stand up for academic freedom and free speech while we still can.
September 22, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Glad to see this statement. We all need to stand up for academic freedom and free speech while we still can.
the stated justification -- that the content was not described in the course description posted online as per state law -- seems to open the door to any instructor being fired when a president feels pressure. /3
September 11, 2025 at 9:44 PM
the stated justification -- that the content was not described in the course description posted online as per state law -- seems to open the door to any instructor being fired when a president feels pressure. /3
don't you think it's alarmist to consider Trump Caesarist? Ha, ha just kidding. He just posted this this morning.
September 6, 2025 at 5:07 PM
don't you think it's alarmist to consider Trump Caesarist? Ha, ha just kidding. He just posted this this morning.
Say what you want about U.S. history — I’m about to teach a book that places Indian removal and anti-blackness at its heart from birth, persuasively — but the dudes who wrote the constitution knew all about people like this and built their new nation to preclude their ascension to power.
September 6, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Say what you want about U.S. history — I’m about to teach a book that places Indian removal and anti-blackness at its heart from birth, persuasively — but the dudes who wrote the constitution knew all about people like this and built their new nation to preclude their ascension to power.
don't you think that's alarmist? ha ha just kidding. From this morning on "truth" social.
September 6, 2025 at 4:59 PM
don't you think that's alarmist? ha ha just kidding. From this morning on "truth" social.
Chicago will not bend the knee to wannabe dictators.
September 5, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Chicago will not bend the knee to wannabe dictators.
gripping narration of the treatment of AIDS patients at Parkland, Dallas County's public hospital and the last chance for many (you get sick you lose your insurance and risk dying even sooner, as David well knew). /2
July 22, 2025 at 12:22 AM
gripping narration of the treatment of AIDS patients at Parkland, Dallas County's public hospital and the last chance for many (you get sick you lose your insurance and risk dying even sooner, as David well knew). /2
particularly, having read the book, I think he might plead guilty to this charge. The game is more of a springboard, at least in my reading.
July 21, 2025 at 9:26 PM
particularly, having read the book, I think he might plead guilty to this charge. The game is more of a springboard, at least in my reading.
ironically, I just looked at my last correspondence with Olsson (we have shared interests in transnational history). I praised him for being critical of a book that needed critiquing; here is part of his review of www.ucpress.edu/books/arise/...
July 21, 2025 at 6:16 PM
ironically, I just looked at my last correspondence with Olsson (we have shared interests in transnational history). I praised him for being critical of a book that needed critiquing; here is part of his review of www.ucpress.edu/books/arise/...
Seen at Interabang Books in Dallas near SMU
July 19, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Seen at Interabang Books in Dallas near SMU
devastating editorial by Omer Bartov (Israeli born, IDF veteran, leading scholar of the Holocaust). Reflects on not only the mass murder in Gaza but what this means for international law, historical memory, Holocaust studies, and Holocaust museums.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/o...
July 15, 2025 at 2:54 PM
devastating editorial by Omer Bartov (Israeli born, IDF veteran, leading scholar of the Holocaust). Reflects on not only the mass murder in Gaza but what this means for international law, historical memory, Holocaust studies, and Holocaust museums.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/o...
Future issues will include articles on other subjects, more reviews of books covering a wider range of topics, and reviews of public history projects like podcasts, museum exhibits, and digital projects (help spread the word about a public history editor!)./5 static1.squarespace.com/static/660da...
June 24, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Future issues will include articles on other subjects, more reviews of books covering a wider range of topics, and reviews of public history projects like podcasts, museum exhibits, and digital projects (help spread the word about a public history editor!)./5 static1.squarespace.com/static/660da...
Books reviewed in this issue deal with classic topics in Texas history like the Runaway Scrape and segregation, but also Mexican-American memories of the US-Mexico War, a study of drugs and the carceral state, and punk music in El Paso. /4 static1.squarespace.com/static/660da...
June 24, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Books reviewed in this issue deal with classic topics in Texas history like the Runaway Scrape and segregation, but also Mexican-American memories of the US-Mexico War, a study of drugs and the carceral state, and punk music in El Paso. /4 static1.squarespace.com/static/660da...
especially loved this, wish that I had written it myself. /2
June 19, 2025 at 4:25 PM
especially loved this, wish that I had written it myself. /2
But Texas has played a key role in the larger course of African American history. 1/3 of its population was enslaved when it joined the Confederacy in 1861. The Lone Star State was a seedbed of Black Populism, a hearth of boogie-woogie and the Blues, the base of many NAACP chapters . . . /6
June 19, 2025 at 1:32 PM
But Texas has played a key role in the larger course of African American history. 1/3 of its population was enslaved when it joined the Confederacy in 1861. The Lone Star State was a seedbed of Black Populism, a hearth of boogie-woogie and the Blues, the base of many NAACP chapters . . . /6
Why don't more people think of Texas in this way? One reason is that like the adjective "southern," "Texan" is often taken to denote white people, both by Texas exceptionalists and their critics. It's been that way for a long time, as this cartoon from the 1840s suggests. /5
June 19, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Why don't more people think of Texas in this way? One reason is that like the adjective "southern," "Texan" is often taken to denote white people, both by Texas exceptionalists and their critics. It's been that way for a long time, as this cartoon from the 1840s suggests. /5
Like all traditions, Juneteenth evolved gradually, from small gatherings focused on reading the Emancipation Proclamation, to city-wide parties. /3
June 19, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Like all traditions, Juneteenth evolved gradually, from small gatherings focused on reading the Emancipation Proclamation, to city-wide parties. /3
A brief thread on Texas history and Juneteenth. Years ago, I head historian Ed Ayers observe that emancipation was the single most important event in U.S. history, yet one we don't mark with a holiday. /1
June 19, 2025 at 11:35 AM
A brief thread on Texas history and Juneteenth. Years ago, I head historian Ed Ayers observe that emancipation was the single most important event in U.S. history, yet one we don't mark with a holiday. /1