Brenden W. Rensink 📚🏃♂️⛰
@brendenwrensink.bsky.social
-Historian, American West, Borderlands, Environment, Indigenous Peoples
-Professor @ BYU & Assoc. Director @byureddcenter.bsky.social
-Podcast Host/Producer @WritingWestward.bsky.social
-Editor IntermountainHistories.org
-Books/Projects linktr.ee/BWRensink
-Professor @ BYU & Assoc. Director @byureddcenter.bsky.social
-Podcast Host/Producer @WritingWestward.bsky.social
-Editor IntermountainHistories.org
-Books/Projects linktr.ee/BWRensink
Only the slightest pink was visible to the naked eye but the phone cameras caught some nice colors above Timpanogos, Provo Canyon, and Cascade Mountain. Seeing legit northern lights is one of my bucket list experiences.
November 12, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Only the slightest pink was visible to the naked eye but the phone cameras caught some nice colors above Timpanogos, Provo Canyon, and Cascade Mountain. Seeing legit northern lights is one of my bucket list experiences.
PAWS?!?!
October 28, 2025 at 9:37 PM
PAWS?!?!
So…an academic conference (at least, for those of us with face/name memory issues). 😭🙋♂️
October 27, 2025 at 10:43 PM
So…an academic conference (at least, for those of us with face/name memory issues). 😭🙋♂️
Is Duolingo ok? These seem like…odd sentences.
October 19, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Is Duolingo ok? These seem like…odd sentences.
Western History Association in ABQ was so great. Saw old friends (sad I didn’t see many others who I heard were there), talked with prospective authors for my UNM series, had a nice roundtable with other centers people, ate good food, & tried to stand up for democracy at the #NoKings march. #WHA2025
October 19, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Western History Association in ABQ was so great. Saw old friends (sad I didn’t see many others who I heard were there), talked with prospective authors for my UNM series, had a nice roundtable with other centers people, ate good food, & tried to stand up for democracy at the #NoKings march. #WHA2025
Hit the UNM special collections this morning and now ready to get my WHA on! This will be my 20th in a row. That is hard to believe. Say hi in the halls! #WHA2025
October 15, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Hit the UNM special collections this morning and now ready to get my WHA on! This will be my 20th in a row. That is hard to believe. Say hi in the halls! #WHA2025
I spent the day at some archives in Sante Fe today. You know how your fingers and hands start to get a specific dry feeling to them after spending hours leading through old collections? Yeah, love that feeling.
October 14, 2025 at 9:54 PM
I spent the day at some archives in Sante Fe today. You know how your fingers and hands start to get a specific dry feeling to them after spending hours leading through old collections? Yeah, love that feeling.
At NMSU Special Collections in Las Cruces today. Feels good to be digging through dusty boxes and folders again.
October 13, 2025 at 6:39 PM
At NMSU Special Collections in Las Cruces today. Feels good to be digging through dusty boxes and folders again.
Patty Limerick gave me the heads up on this letter to the editor she just sent in regarding the anti-Mormon chants at the BYU-CU game. Indeed, what a world this would be if everyone had better historical thinking skills and historical perspective.
www.dailycamera.com/2025/10/07/i...
www.dailycamera.com/2025/10/07/i...
October 7, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Patty Limerick gave me the heads up on this letter to the editor she just sent in regarding the anti-Mormon chants at the BYU-CU game. Indeed, what a world this would be if everyone had better historical thinking skills and historical perspective.
www.dailycamera.com/2025/10/07/i...
www.dailycamera.com/2025/10/07/i...
What a team! Congrats to CSU & all involved. Our scholarly community will all benefit from your hard work. And a million thanks to Anne F. Hyde and everyone at Oklahoma who did such good work with the Western Historical Quarterly over the past decade! #AmWest 🗃️ #WHA2025 (Screenshot from WHA FB Page)
September 16, 2025 at 3:45 PM
What a team! Congrats to CSU & all involved. Our scholarly community will all benefit from your hard work. And a million thanks to Anne F. Hyde and everyone at Oklahoma who did such good work with the Western Historical Quarterly over the past decade! #AmWest 🗃️ #WHA2025 (Screenshot from WHA FB Page)
Making mischief in the Great Salt Lake with the Utah Historical Society this morning. I’ve done many a hammock #MountainOffice, #DesertOffice, and one #LakeOffice (on a boat in Utah Lake), but I’ve never done a #LakeOffice literally sitting in a lake. 🤣
September 5, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Making mischief in the Great Salt Lake with the Utah Historical Society this morning. I’ve done many a hammock #MountainOffice, #DesertOffice, and one #LakeOffice (on a boat in Utah Lake), but I’ve never done a #LakeOffice literally sitting in a lake. 🤣
Finally summited Mt. Timpanogos via the seldom-visited southern ridgeline. 17 miles (5 of which was no-trail shwhack and rough ridgeline scrambling) with over 7,000 ft vert. Gorgeous. Now I can look up from my yard & say, “I’ve done that entire ridgeline” (I did the northern section previously). 😍
August 30, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Finally summited Mt. Timpanogos via the seldom-visited southern ridgeline. 17 miles (5 of which was no-trail shwhack and rough ridgeline scrambling) with over 7,000 ft vert. Gorgeous. Now I can look up from my yard & say, “I’ve done that entire ridgeline” (I did the northern section previously). 😍
Unexpected surprise seeing my hometown featured in the Journal of the West. Look out Bellingham, you’ve made it to the big time now!
August 21, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Unexpected surprise seeing my hometown featured in the Journal of the West. Look out Bellingham, you’ve made it to the big time now!
If the Pres. can declare things he doesn’t like “fake news,” then I can too, right? I desperately want another couple weeks of July, so I’m declaring the calendar is fake. It’s not August 1st because I don’t want that to be true.
August 1, 2025 at 8:17 PM
If the Pres. can declare things he doesn’t like “fake news,” then I can too, right? I desperately want another couple weeks of July, so I’m declaring the calendar is fake. It’s not August 1st because I don’t want that to be true.
AI makes stuff up, LLMs train and produce text based on an internet increasingly dominated by such dubious AI-generated texts, and the cycle repeats. Each iteration floods public discourse with more and more unfounded claims and data. Doesn't seem like a good thing for human knowledge and progress.
July 30, 2025 at 4:28 PM
AI makes stuff up, LLMs train and produce text based on an internet increasingly dominated by such dubious AI-generated texts, and the cycle repeats. Each iteration floods public discourse with more and more unfounded claims and data. Doesn't seem like a good thing for human knowledge and progress.
Heads up! The new series I'm editing for @unmpress.bsky.social has been renamed to "The West in Context" (less generic than the original). Flyer attached. Please message me if you want to pitch a manuscript or otherwise talk shop!
July 11, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Heads up! The new series I'm editing for @unmpress.bsky.social has been renamed to "The West in Context" (less generic than the original). Flyer attached. Please message me if you want to pitch a manuscript or otherwise talk shop!
My patriotism celebrates America’s founding ideals & an inspired system through which we can improve & progress towards them. Their current erosion depresses me. On 4 July 2018 we jokingly expressed #NoKings sentiments in London. Sad to repeat that cry at home now too. 🇺🇸 We must do better & we can.
July 4, 2025 at 2:28 PM
My patriotism celebrates America’s founding ideals & an inspired system through which we can improve & progress towards them. Their current erosion depresses me. On 4 July 2018 we jokingly expressed #NoKings sentiments in London. Sad to repeat that cry at home now too. 🇺🇸 We must do better & we can.
Happy Canada Day! It wasn’t until I was walking to my campus office this AM that I realized I had inadvertently worn this BYU Canadian Studies Program shirt. Apparently, deep down, my Canadian-border raised PacNW soul knew even though I was oblivious. 🤣 Gonna listen to 🇨🇦 music all day to celebrate.
July 1, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Happy Canada Day! It wasn’t until I was walking to my campus office this AM that I realized I had inadvertently worn this BYU Canadian Studies Program shirt. Apparently, deep down, my Canadian-border raised PacNW soul knew even though I was oblivious. 🤣 Gonna listen to 🇨🇦 music all day to celebrate.
They posted this today. I’m still concerned because “legitimate business need” was a very particular phrase to use & hinted that some review board would decide which research requests were “legitimate” and which weren’t. That has nothing to do with security, as they are now insisting.
June 25, 2025 at 4:12 PM
They posted this today. I’m still concerned because “legitimate business need” was a very particular phrase to use & hinted that some review board would decide which research requests were “legitimate” and which weren’t. That has nothing to do with security, as they are now insisting.
The National Archives should be open to ALL. This is a disturbing development. The public’s ability to access historical government records is essential to our democracy.
June 25, 2025 at 2:42 AM
The National Archives should be open to ALL. This is a disturbing development. The public’s ability to access historical government records is essential to our democracy.
Did the 8-mile Battle-Grove Creek Canyons loop for my first run in 2 months (been resting/rehabbing an injured hip). Hip felt ok, but lungs not so much due to bad fitness and smoky wildfire air. The trails are green and gorgeous though! 😍
June 21, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Did the 8-mile Battle-Grove Creek Canyons loop for my first run in 2 months (been resting/rehabbing an injured hip). Hip felt ok, but lungs not so much due to bad fitness and smoky wildfire air. The trails are green and gorgeous though! 😍
Never been much of a gamer, but I did love the two most recent BOTW and TOTK Legend of Zelda games, and today I put all of my Link horses-bonding skills to use with this feisty steed at Colter Bay.
June 18, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Never been much of a gamer, but I did love the two most recent BOTW and TOTK Legend of Zelda games, and today I put all of my Link horses-bonding skills to use with this feisty steed at Colter Bay.
10 years ago I did my 1st ultra-marathon, the Bryce 50k. Gorgeous course appx 7,400-9,100 ft. above sea level. I was pretty new to running & hadn't trained consistently. It showed. I vowed to seriously train for subsequent 50ks...but always just go for it w/ haphazard preparation/fitness. 🤦🤣
June 6, 2025 at 4:08 PM
10 years ago I did my 1st ultra-marathon, the Bryce 50k. Gorgeous course appx 7,400-9,100 ft. above sea level. I was pretty new to running & hadn't trained consistently. It showed. I vowed to seriously train for subsequent 50ks...but always just go for it w/ haphazard preparation/fitness. 🤦🤣
If you have a budding teenage history nut in your family, send them to our BYU History Department’s Young Historian Camp in late-July.
younghistorian.ce2.byu.edu
younghistorian.ce2.byu.edu
June 5, 2025 at 2:24 PM
If you have a budding teenage history nut in your family, send them to our BYU History Department’s Young Historian Camp in late-July.
younghistorian.ce2.byu.edu
younghistorian.ce2.byu.edu
I get that Sebadoh, Folk Implosion, or Dinosaur Jr. might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but this seems like an unnecessary personal attack on Lou Barlow’s character. 🤣 #TheOldMan
May 28, 2025 at 10:10 PM
I get that Sebadoh, Folk Implosion, or Dinosaur Jr. might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but this seems like an unnecessary personal attack on Lou Barlow’s character. 🤣 #TheOldMan