David O'Brien
@david-obrien.bsky.social
"We are a primitive people," confessed a third emigrant, "wandering widely in a strange land."
History grad student - @SalemState MA
History grad student - @SalemState MA
Reposted by David O'Brien
What I really want is for Ken Burns to remake a new Civil War documentary, incorporating changes in the academic consensus, his own evolution as a filmmaker, and criticisms of the original he seems to have taken to heart at least partially.
I bet no foundations would fund it, though.
I bet no foundations would fund it, though.
November 22, 2025 at 5:50 PM
What I really want is for Ken Burns to remake a new Civil War documentary, incorporating changes in the academic consensus, his own evolution as a filmmaker, and criticisms of the original he seems to have taken to heart at least partially.
I bet no foundations would fund it, though.
I bet no foundations would fund it, though.
Reposted by David O'Brien
Elon Musk pretending to have read the Iliad (and learned important lessons from it!) when chatting with Marc Andreessen reminds me of how Nick Klegg said tech elites all “claim to read the same books.” www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
November 11, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Elon Musk pretending to have read the Iliad (and learned important lessons from it!) when chatting with Marc Andreessen reminds me of how Nick Klegg said tech elites all “claim to read the same books.” www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Reposted by David O'Brien
I've had an uptick in orders for this print recently, for reasons which are not particularly mysterious to me
November 11, 2025 at 1:53 AM
I've had an uptick in orders for this print recently, for reasons which are not particularly mysterious to me
Reposted by David O'Brien
Reposted by David O'Brien
..you're either writing or you're thinking about writing..all the time.
~ #itswhatwedo
~ #itswhatwedo
November 9, 2025 at 8:40 AM
..you're either writing or you're thinking about writing..all the time.
~ #itswhatwedo
~ #itswhatwedo
Reposted by David O'Brien
Ivory does not Bleed, Victor,
Flesh does!
Perhaps my favorite part of Frankenstein was this medical teaching moment! Thanks for playing with one of these extraordinary eighteenth-century interactive anatomy dolls @realgdt.bsky.social! (The anachronistic Struwwelpeter reading was a close second.)
Flesh does!
Perhaps my favorite part of Frankenstein was this medical teaching moment! Thanks for playing with one of these extraordinary eighteenth-century interactive anatomy dolls @realgdt.bsky.social! (The anachronistic Struwwelpeter reading was a close second.)
November 8, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Ivory does not Bleed, Victor,
Flesh does!
Perhaps my favorite part of Frankenstein was this medical teaching moment! Thanks for playing with one of these extraordinary eighteenth-century interactive anatomy dolls @realgdt.bsky.social! (The anachronistic Struwwelpeter reading was a close second.)
Flesh does!
Perhaps my favorite part of Frankenstein was this medical teaching moment! Thanks for playing with one of these extraordinary eighteenth-century interactive anatomy dolls @realgdt.bsky.social! (The anachronistic Struwwelpeter reading was a close second.)
Reposted by David O'Brien
what i imagine when a publisher opens to submissions
October 28, 2025 at 4:46 AM
what i imagine when a publisher opens to submissions
Reposted by David O'Brien
me arriving at mamdani's new york
November 5, 2025 at 6:45 AM
me arriving at mamdani's new york
Reposted by David O'Brien
"Turn the Volume Up" 😉
a woman is holding a boombox over her head and says " it 's called boombox grandma "
ALT: a woman is holding a boombox over her head and says " it 's called boombox grandma "
media.tenor.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:48 PM
"Turn the Volume Up" 😉
Reposted by David O'Brien
if it's "academic" i'm organizing a coup
November 5, 2025 at 11:03 AM
if it's "academic" i'm organizing a coup
Reposted by David O'Brien
occupational doctor after mandatory annual checkup: i'm sorry, it looks like you'll have to continue working
November 5, 2025 at 12:48 PM
occupational doctor after mandatory annual checkup: i'm sorry, it looks like you'll have to continue working
Reposted by David O'Brien
You told me you got a raspberry pie and I show up and it's little fucking computer?
November 1, 2025 at 7:28 PM
You told me you got a raspberry pie and I show up and it's little fucking computer?
Reposted by David O'Brien
I'm so tired of major newspapers casting academics who make *maybe* slightly more than average while working their asses off as out-of-touch elites just because they talk about the fucked up shit this country has done
October 29, 2025 at 10:30 AM
I'm so tired of major newspapers casting academics who make *maybe* slightly more than average while working their asses off as out-of-touch elites just because they talk about the fucked up shit this country has done
Reposted by David O'Brien
“Science is never settled” sounds reasonable—but it’s often a rhetorical trick to undermine consensus on issues like vaccines or climate change.
Science evolves, but some things are overwhelmingly supported by evidence.
My latest for Live Science
www.livescience.com/...
1/10
Science evolves, but some things are overwhelmingly supported by evidence.
My latest for Live Science
www.livescience.com/...
1/10
There is such a thing as 'settled science' — anyone who says otherwise is trying to manipulate you
How bad-faith arguments sow doubt by weaponizing scientific humility.
www.livescience.com
October 28, 2025 at 8:36 AM
“Science is never settled” sounds reasonable—but it’s often a rhetorical trick to undermine consensus on issues like vaccines or climate change.
Science evolves, but some things are overwhelmingly supported by evidence.
My latest for Live Science
www.livescience.com/...
1/10
Science evolves, but some things are overwhelmingly supported by evidence.
My latest for Live Science
www.livescience.com/...
1/10
Reposted by David O'Brien
This is actually a really good article that lays out a lot of important history behind this fight. However, there is one point the Globe neglects to mention that I find *hilarious.* (Cont'd)
Is Massachusetts to blame for the fights over Obamacare? Today's Starting Point explains.
All these years later, we’re still fighting about Obamacare. Is it Massachusetts’ fault? - The Boston Globe
Mitt Romney’s model, Ted Kennedy’s death, and the health care compromises that help explain the partisan standoff over funding the federal government.
trib.al
October 27, 2025 at 2:09 PM
This is actually a really good article that lays out a lot of important history behind this fight. However, there is one point the Globe neglects to mention that I find *hilarious.* (Cont'd)
Reposted by David O'Brien
‘If the West Wing is the mind of the nation, then the East Wing is the heart.”
-- Betty Ford
-- Betty Ford
October 24, 2025 at 12:53 PM
‘If the West Wing is the mind of the nation, then the East Wing is the heart.”
-- Betty Ford
-- Betty Ford
Reposted by David O'Brien
the point of the ballroom obvs has nothing to do with aesthetics. it's to create an architectural structure to honor the patronage networks that currently dominate US politics. previous WH venues hosted maybe a couple of hundred people; this hosts nearly 1,000 rich donors.
October 25, 2025 at 12:19 AM
the point of the ballroom obvs has nothing to do with aesthetics. it's to create an architectural structure to honor the patronage networks that currently dominate US politics. previous WH venues hosted maybe a couple of hundred people; this hosts nearly 1,000 rich donors.
Reposted by David O'Brien
"A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well they strengthen their souls.”
Ursula K. Le Guin, born OTD in 1929
Ursula K. Le Guin, born OTD in 1929
October 21, 2025 at 11:29 AM
"A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well they strengthen their souls.”
Ursula K. Le Guin, born OTD in 1929
Ursula K. Le Guin, born OTD in 1929
Reposted by David O'Brien
Celebrating the publication of Charlotte Brontë's novel, Jane Eyre (1847).
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
“Do you think I am an automaton? — a machine without feelings?"
#English #Literature #film
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
“Do you think I am an automaton? — a machine without feelings?"
#English #Literature #film
October 16, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Celebrating the publication of Charlotte Brontë's novel, Jane Eyre (1847).
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
“Do you think I am an automaton? — a machine without feelings?"
#English #Literature #film
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
“Do you think I am an automaton? — a machine without feelings?"
#English #Literature #film
Reposted by David O'Brien
Internet killed the video star.
October 14, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Internet killed the video star.
Reposted by David O'Brien
Hey also you should read about one of the coolest things to ever happen hyperallergic.com/345116/on-te...
October 13, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Hey also you should read about one of the coolest things to ever happen hyperallergic.com/345116/on-te...
Reposted by David O'Brien
Courtesy of colleagues at Penn
October 12, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Courtesy of colleagues at Penn
Reposted by David O'Brien
'But to praise despair is to condemn delight, to embrace violence is to lose hold of everything else.'
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
#BookWormSaturday
(is celebrating short stories)
🎨 Jennifer Moses
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
#BookWormSaturday
(is celebrating short stories)
🎨 Jennifer Moses
October 11, 2025 at 10:01 AM
'But to praise despair is to condemn delight, to embrace violence is to lose hold of everything else.'
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
#BookWormSaturday
(is celebrating short stories)
🎨 Jennifer Moses
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
#BookWormSaturday
(is celebrating short stories)
🎨 Jennifer Moses
Reposted by David O'Brien
If the Bog Irish family I married into is any indication, they are READY
I get the sense that Chicago might be a center of Cathoic resistance to ICE. Both because Pope Leo has signaled his support for protests, but also because there are a shitload of Bog Irish and Italian Catholics who can be called on to protest.
October 12, 2025 at 1:35 AM
If the Bog Irish family I married into is any indication, they are READY
Reposted by David O'Brien
Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South
Stephanie McCurry
Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War
Charles B. Dew
The Wars of Reconstruction: The Brief, Violent History of America's Most Progressive EraDouglas R Egerton
Stephanie McCurry
Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War
Charles B. Dew
The Wars of Reconstruction: The Brief, Violent History of America's Most Progressive EraDouglas R Egerton
March 27, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South
Stephanie McCurry
Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War
Charles B. Dew
The Wars of Reconstruction: The Brief, Violent History of America's Most Progressive EraDouglas R Egerton
Stephanie McCurry
Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War
Charles B. Dew
The Wars of Reconstruction: The Brief, Violent History of America's Most Progressive EraDouglas R Egerton