Cullen Chandler
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chandlerprof.bsky.social
Cullen Chandler
@chandlerprof.bsky.social
Medievalist, historian, trying to talk about things like normal people talk about normal things.
Pinned
So, to the many of you who have decided to file me recently, this is my newest moderately big thing:

www.routledge.com/Introduction...
Introduction to the Carolingian Age
Introduction to the Carolingian Age provides an accessible history of western Europe in the eighth and ninth centuries, when arguably a truly European civilization emerged out of the transformed, form...
www.routledge.com
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
The shutdown was an excuse, not a reason, to go after SNAP.

SNAP recipients have to re-apply either every 6 months or year. Onerous process, with almost no fraud.

There are no shutdown-related requirement for SNAP renewal. But it would predictably result in low-income families going hungry.
November 14, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
This is big: elected Republicans in a deep-red state saying NO to Trump even after his personal plea.

The balance is shifting - and we have to keep up the pressure everywhere.
Indiana likely will not push forward with redistricting despite pressure from White House
It’s a massive blow to the White House’s efforts to shore up a Republican House majority next year.
www.politico.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
November 5, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
Australia has so much electricity from solar power that it is going to start offering free electricity to everyone for at least three hours during the day as the wholesale price of power goes negative

electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity
Australia's extensive solar power penetration makes so much energy that the government wants to offer free electricity at peak hours.
electrek.co
November 6, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
This is how you incinerate a field of science. 🔭🧪
NASA is sinking its flagship science center during the government shutdown — and may be breaking the law in the process, critics say
"There is just a general acknowledgement that a lot of what is happening is illegal…"
www.space.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
Reposting to correct an error: trump admin is quietly gutting 13 buildings and about 100 laboratories at Goddard campus that has been instrumental to Hubble and James Webb telescope missions. Staff say they’ve be locked and told to move equipment. Anything left behind will be thrown away.
NASA may be quietly gutting an iconic campus with what it calls strategic closures, workers fear
(CNN) — Alarm is growing among federal workers at NASA’s iconic Goddard Space Flight Center’s main campus in Greenbelt, Maryland — the nerve center for groundbreaking missions like the Hubble
www.wkow.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
Did you know that the GOP Congress has worked less than 20 days since July?

Yet we’re still paying their full salary.
November 5, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
As air traffic controllers face a second missed paycheck next week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sounds the alarm that the system is nearing its breaking point.
Travelers Could Face ‘Mass Chaos’ If Shutdown Lasts Another Week, Transportation Secretary Says
As air traffic controllers face a second missed paycheck next week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sounds the alarm that the system is nearing its breaking point.
www.forbes.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
Then when the bubble bursts, the US taxpayers will already be on the hook. “Too big to fail” redux. Meanwhile these folks will continue to collect on their massive compensation packages.
BREAKING: OpenAI is requesting US government support to help guarantee financing for the massive investments in AI chips and data centers it needs for expansion, per Bloomberg.
November 6, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
I’m increasingly irritated with academics who’ve never studied the Middle Ages yet make claims about the period & tell me their “knowledge” is accurate because, well, they just think it is. They can’t support anything they say with evidence/research and claim “some academics think”. Infuriating! 😡
a man says thank you i 'm learning
ALT: a man says thank you i 'm learning
media.tenor.com
October 29, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
Uninstall Grammarly NOW. They've partnered with an AI company and actively scrape your writing to train its models.
November 5, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
I’m doing research for a project and found out about the “don’t buy where you can’t work” movement during the depression, where Black people boycotted and picketed places that wouldn’t hire us. Shout out to everyone who’s not going back to Target!
"Don't Buy Where You Can't Work" | National Museum of African American History & Culture.
<p>“Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work” campaigns of the 1930s used effective direct-action tactics, such as boycotts and picketing. </p>
www.searchablemuseum.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
In FACT, at least one high-ranking Portland police commander testified that they were getting calls for help from FPS agents that "just weren't true."

One call said agents were barricaded in the ICE building, but Portland police could see them leaving the building on a live stream.
November 3, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
Douthat writes that 2024, when Harris lost by 1.5% of the popular vote, was "an ideological referendum and progressivism lost." I wonder why he didn't view the 2020 election, when Trump lost by 4.5% of the popular vote, as a far more significant loss for conservatism.
bsky.app/profile/larr...
Comparing the relation between the presidential election results in 2020 and 2024 with the post-election commentary is a fascinating exercise.

2020
Biden 81,283,501 popular votes, 51.3%
Trump 74,223,975 popular votes 46.8%

2024
Trump 77,302,580 49.8%
Harris 75,017,613. 48.3%
November 1, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
The Dems have won the popular vote in presidential elections six times since 1992 by roughly 5.5%(1992), 8.5%,(1996) .5%(2000), 7.3%(2008), 4%(2012), 2%(2016),and 4.5%(2020).
In that period the GOP presidential candidate has won the popular vote twice: 2.5%(2004) and 1.5%(2024).
Douthat writes that 2024, when Harris lost by 1.5% of the popular vote, was "an ideological referendum and progressivism lost." I wonder why he didn't view the 2020 election, when Trump lost by 4.5% of the popular vote, as a far more significant loss for conservatism.
bsky.app/profile/larr...
Comparing the relation between the presidential election results in 2020 and 2024 with the post-election commentary is a fascinating exercise.

2020
Biden 81,283,501 popular votes, 51.3%
Trump 74,223,975 popular votes 46.8%

2024
Trump 77,302,580 49.8%
Harris 75,017,613. 48.3%
November 3, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
One time. The GOP has won more than 50% of the popular vote <one time> since 1992. And yet, every day, you are bombarded with Takes™️ from Ezra Douthglesias about how deeply unpopular The Democrats and their policy platform are, without any reflection on how the same standard applies to the GOP.
The Dems have won the popular vote in presidential elections six times since 1992 by roughly 5.5%(1992), 8.5%,(1996) .5%(2000), 7.3%(2008), 4%(2012), 2%(2016),and 4.5%(2020).
In that period the GOP presidential candidate has won the popular vote twice: 2.5%(2004) and 1.5%(2024).
Douthat writes that 2024, when Harris lost by 1.5% of the popular vote, was "an ideological referendum and progressivism lost." I wonder why he didn't view the 2020 election, when Trump lost by 4.5% of the popular vote, as a far more significant loss for conservatism.
bsky.app/profile/larr...
November 3, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
New awareness campaign
November 3, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
"You can't defeat bad ideas by adopting them. You can't grow a coalition by selling out its members. And you can't persuade people who disagree with you that you can be trusted to fight for them when you won't even fight for those you say are with you." www.the-reframe.com/eventually-y...
Eventually You're Going to Have to Stand for Something
On accepting the fascist offer and being better than Ezra.
www.the-reframe.com
October 27, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
Also, note that the person making all these decisions is not Secretary Noem; it's Corey Lewandowski, who is still a "special government employee" (and by many reports sleeping with Noem and running the agency while she does mostly TV), as well as Gregory Bovino himself.
October 28, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
This video from Portland is a metaphor for what is going on in America. ICE trying so hard to get Americans to cross a line and if they don't, dragging them across the line and violently attacking.
October 26, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
Once again, the main day of Tea Party protests had about 300,000 nationwide, but saw endless coverage.

The No Kings protests had about 7,000,000 nationwide, and many media outlets reacted with a yawn.

No Kings was nearly 25x as big as the Tea Party but the Tea Party got 25x the attention.
Ask yourself this: How would the New York Times have covered the protests if it had been seven million MAGA supporters flooding the streets? We don’t even have to guess: We know how they and other mainstream outlets covered the Tea Party protests during Obama’s first term.
October 26, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
Leavitt emphasized the president has unquestionable authority to alter the premises however he desires, repeatedly leaning on a legal precedent she failed to name. trib.al/a5edvxJ

Trump's team is flagrantly ignoring the fact that any significant project requires congressional approval.
October 26, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
NYT pushed its “Dems must go moderate” take again yesterday. In a new piece out today, @adambonica.bsky.social shows even more clearly why the data don’t support it. It also shows what a skilled empiricist and teacher Adam is.

Very proud of my pal’s public work.

open.substack.com/pub/data4dem...
The New York Times’ “Moderation Advantage” Is a Statistical Illusion
After accounting for money and incumbency the supposed electoral bonus for moderate candidates vanishes entirely.
open.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Reposted by Cullen Chandler
@democrats.org Are you paying attention?
Look. It would be great if there was one simple trick for winning elections. But 'just be more moderate' isn't it.

In fact, you can use the NYT's exact method to 'prove' a 'Progressive Advantage' of +1.4 pts.

This piece shows what's really going on: funded candidates do better than unfunded ones.
The New York Times’ “Moderation Advantage” Is a Statistical Illusion
After accounting for money and incumbency the supposed electoral bonus for moderate candidates vanishes entirely.
open.substack.com
October 25, 2025 at 2:29 PM