Christopher W. Jones
@cwjones.bsky.social
Historian of the ancient world. Working on imperialism, elite competition, Global Assyria. North Carolinian.
FYI everyone there's a way to turn off all the AI in Academia dot edu.
Go to Account Settings > AI Settings and hit the off switch.
Tada! No podcasts, no AI slop comics, etc.
Go to Account Settings > AI Settings and hit the off switch.
Tada! No podcasts, no AI slop comics, etc.
November 7, 2025 at 8:24 PM
FYI everyone there's a way to turn off all the AI in Academia dot edu.
Go to Account Settings > AI Settings and hit the off switch.
Tada! No podcasts, no AI slop comics, etc.
Go to Account Settings > AI Settings and hit the off switch.
Tada! No podcasts, no AI slop comics, etc.
Is anyone else getting tons of clearly AI-written emails asking to read your work?
All appear to be impersonating real scholars while placing them in departments they don't teach in or nonexistent departments at real schools.
All appear to be impersonating real scholars while placing them in departments they don't teach in or nonexistent departments at real schools.
October 24, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Is anyone else getting tons of clearly AI-written emails asking to read your work?
All appear to be impersonating real scholars while placing them in departments they don't teach in or nonexistent departments at real schools.
All appear to be impersonating real scholars while placing them in departments they don't teach in or nonexistent departments at real schools.
Interesting historical data here: Pretty much the only time that desired and actual fertility matched in the US since 1935 was during the baby boom from 1945-1965.
Before and after, women in the aggregate consistently report wanting 0.4 to 1 more child than they end up having.
Before and after, women in the aggregate consistently report wanting 0.4 to 1 more child than they end up having.
October 23, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Interesting historical data here: Pretty much the only time that desired and actual fertility matched in the US since 1935 was during the baby boom from 1945-1965.
Before and after, women in the aggregate consistently report wanting 0.4 to 1 more child than they end up having.
Before and after, women in the aggregate consistently report wanting 0.4 to 1 more child than they end up having.
In case anyone was wondering how these tools are being used, now AI companies are directly advertising AI detectors to students as a tool for making sure their AI-written paper doesn't get flagged by AI detectors.
September 22, 2025 at 2:38 AM
In case anyone was wondering how these tools are being used, now AI companies are directly advertising AI detectors to students as a tool for making sure their AI-written paper doesn't get flagged by AI detectors.
Once again, Kanan Makiya's "The Monument: Art and Vulgarity in Saddam Hussein's Iraq" remains a key text for understanding the aesthetics of the Trump era.
September 19, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Once again, Kanan Makiya's "The Monument: Art and Vulgarity in Saddam Hussein's Iraq" remains a key text for understanding the aesthetics of the Trump era.
Even Neo-Babylonian Uruk had that one person feeding stray cats.
September 17, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Even Neo-Babylonian Uruk had that one person feeding stray cats.
Seeing a lot of discourse again about the decline of the academic discipline of religious studies.
I suspect an underdiscussed cause of this decline is to be found in this chart:
I suspect an underdiscussed cause of this decline is to be found in this chart:
September 10, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Seeing a lot of discourse again about the decline of the academic discipline of religious studies.
I suspect an underdiscussed cause of this decline is to be found in this chart:
I suspect an underdiscussed cause of this decline is to be found in this chart:
We're reading Hobsbawm's classic "The Machine Breakers" in my historiography seminar today and this seems like an especially timely reminder in the age of AI:
September 2, 2025 at 4:06 PM
We're reading Hobsbawm's classic "The Machine Breakers" in my historiography seminar today and this seems like an especially timely reminder in the age of AI:
In Today's Adventures in Print-on-Demand, my copy of Eckstein's Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War, and the Rise of Rome turned out to be a biography of Walter Benjamin on the inside?
???
???
August 26, 2025 at 9:33 PM
In Today's Adventures in Print-on-Demand, my copy of Eckstein's Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War, and the Rise of Rome turned out to be a biography of Walter Benjamin on the inside?
???
???
My students' textbooks look like they were printed on a $50 early 00s inkjet printer.
(2019 print run on the left, recent print-on-demand run on the right)
(2019 print run on the left, recent print-on-demand run on the right)
August 22, 2025 at 8:18 PM
My students' textbooks look like they were printed on a $50 early 00s inkjet printer.
(2019 print run on the left, recent print-on-demand run on the right)
(2019 print run on the left, recent print-on-demand run on the right)
In case anyone finds it a useful example, here's my AI policy this semester:
August 20, 2025 at 12:59 AM
In case anyone finds it a useful example, here's my AI policy this semester:
Going hard with the aesthetics for the sophomore historiography seminar this year:
August 14, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Going hard with the aesthetics for the sophomore historiography seminar this year:
Incidentally I just surveyed our alumni - seems very similar to the national outcomes, with one more institution-specific outlier:
August 9, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Incidentally I just surveyed our alumni - seems very similar to the national outcomes, with one more institution-specific outlier:
Classical reception: a statue of the goddess Hebe in the town square of McMinnville, Tennessee.
August 1, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Classical reception: a statue of the goddess Hebe in the town square of McMinnville, Tennessee.
It barely fits inside, to the point where it's hard to see the whole thing:
July 18, 2025 at 1:26 PM
It barely fits inside, to the point where it's hard to see the whole thing:
Possibly unpopular opinion:
If they're going to move a Space Shuttle to Houston, it should be the Enterprise because its current home on the stern of the USS Intrepid is an eyesore.
If they're going to move a Space Shuttle to Houston, it should be the Enterprise because its current home on the stern of the USS Intrepid is an eyesore.
July 18, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Possibly unpopular opinion:
If they're going to move a Space Shuttle to Houston, it should be the Enterprise because its current home on the stern of the USS Intrepid is an eyesore.
If they're going to move a Space Shuttle to Houston, it should be the Enterprise because its current home on the stern of the USS Intrepid is an eyesore.
In 2019, Tulsa's previous president announced a plan to drastically cut humanities programs at Tulsa. The plan failed, because students didn't want it.
So of course, admins have decided to do the same thing again.
So of course, admins have decided to do the same thing again.
July 17, 2025 at 3:57 PM
In 2019, Tulsa's previous president announced a plan to drastically cut humanities programs at Tulsa. The plan failed, because students didn't want it.
So of course, admins have decided to do the same thing again.
So of course, admins have decided to do the same thing again.
Looks like this wasn't a one-off: x.com/sharghzadeh/...
July 16, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Looks like this wasn't a one-off: x.com/sharghzadeh/...
"What if I didn't have to read books and articles anymore? Who really has the time to read sources, anyways?", asks a writer of popular historical nonfiction.
To paraphrase the woman who petitioned Hadrian: stop writing history books, then.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/m...
To paraphrase the woman who petitioned Hadrian: stop writing history books, then.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/m...
June 16, 2025 at 2:22 PM
"What if I didn't have to read books and articles anymore? Who really has the time to read sources, anyways?", asks a writer of popular historical nonfiction.
To paraphrase the woman who petitioned Hadrian: stop writing history books, then.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/m...
To paraphrase the woman who petitioned Hadrian: stop writing history books, then.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/m...
Good for Stacy Schiff!
June 16, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Good for Stacy Schiff!
Turns out, the whole thing was an extremely classified test to see if US missile silos could withstand an electromagnetic pulse.
The project involved a device on a 60ft pole, which drew power until it glowed red hot and then discharged an EMP blast.
The project involved a device on a 60ft pole, which drew power until it glowed red hot and then discharged an EMP blast.
June 12, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Turns out, the whole thing was an extremely classified test to see if US missile silos could withstand an electromagnetic pulse.
The project involved a device on a 60ft pole, which drew power until it glowed red hot and then discharged an EMP blast.
The project involved a device on a 60ft pole, which drew power until it glowed red hot and then discharged an EMP blast.
Entire books were written about this sort of thing by semi-serious aviation journalists who interviewed some of these guys.
June 12, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Entire books were written about this sort of thing by semi-serious aviation journalists who interviewed some of these guys.
For decades, senior managers of classified programs would haze newbies by showing them fake pictures of secret antigravity flying saucers and then tell them they can never tell anyone.
It got so bad the SECDEF had to intervene to put a stop to this in 2023.
It got so bad the SECDEF had to intervene to put a stop to this in 2023.
June 12, 2025 at 2:45 AM
For decades, senior managers of classified programs would haze newbies by showing them fake pictures of secret antigravity flying saucers and then tell them they can never tell anyone.
It got so bad the SECDEF had to intervene to put a stop to this in 2023.
It got so bad the SECDEF had to intervene to put a stop to this in 2023.
Air Force officers distributed fake photos of flying saucers to bars in rural Nevada in hopes of distracting locals from the existence of the F-117 stealth fighter project.
This was the beginning of the "the US government is hiding aliens at Area 51" narrative.
This was the beginning of the "the US government is hiding aliens at Area 51" narrative.
June 12, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Air Force officers distributed fake photos of flying saucers to bars in rural Nevada in hopes of distracting locals from the existence of the F-117 stealth fighter project.
This was the beginning of the "the US government is hiding aliens at Area 51" narrative.
This was the beginning of the "the US government is hiding aliens at Area 51" narrative.
Every time I see this poem it just reminds me of this post from the other place:
June 4, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Every time I see this poem it just reminds me of this post from the other place: