Howard Eissenstat
@heissenstat.bsky.social
Laurentian Associate Professor of History, St. Lawrence University.
Non-resident scholar, Stockholm University, Institute for Turkish Studies (SUITS)
Focused on Turkey and the Middle East.
Unlikely to argue on-line. Blocks dumb, annoying, or noisy.
Non-resident scholar, Stockholm University, Institute for Turkish Studies (SUITS)
Focused on Turkey and the Middle East.
Unlikely to argue on-line. Blocks dumb, annoying, or noisy.
Quality time:
Spent this afternoon baking my mom's classic sour cream twist cookies for Thanksgiving with my daughter, who regaled me with all the exciting drama that is the first year of high school.
Here's the recipe, from Bubbe's type-written file, probably written down around 1970 or so.
Spent this afternoon baking my mom's classic sour cream twist cookies for Thanksgiving with my daughter, who regaled me with all the exciting drama that is the first year of high school.
Here's the recipe, from Bubbe's type-written file, probably written down around 1970 or so.
November 24, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Quality time:
Spent this afternoon baking my mom's classic sour cream twist cookies for Thanksgiving with my daughter, who regaled me with all the exciting drama that is the first year of high school.
Here's the recipe, from Bubbe's type-written file, probably written down around 1970 or so.
Spent this afternoon baking my mom's classic sour cream twist cookies for Thanksgiving with my daughter, who regaled me with all the exciting drama that is the first year of high school.
Here's the recipe, from Bubbe's type-written file, probably written down around 1970 or so.
Why I don't trust philo-Semitic conservatives, in one subtitle
November 24, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Why I don't trust philo-Semitic conservatives, in one subtitle
First snowy run of the season.
Whisky approved.
Whisky approved.
November 16, 2025 at 5:36 PM
First snowy run of the season.
Whisky approved.
Whisky approved.
Now in the Washington Post, Trump's corrupt of course, but that's fine, really
November 16, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Now in the Washington Post, Trump's corrupt of course, but that's fine, really
A salute to the dude with the well trained labrador who put him at a close heal as I passed with my border collie today.
My personal experience? I don't care whether your dog is on lead or off lead, so long as he is under control.
And no, I don't want our dogs to "say hello."
My personal experience? I don't care whether your dog is on lead or off lead, so long as he is under control.
And no, I don't want our dogs to "say hello."
November 15, 2025 at 5:27 PM
A salute to the dude with the well trained labrador who put him at a close heal as I passed with my border collie today.
My personal experience? I don't care whether your dog is on lead or off lead, so long as he is under control.
And no, I don't want our dogs to "say hello."
My personal experience? I don't care whether your dog is on lead or off lead, so long as he is under control.
And no, I don't want our dogs to "say hello."
Faculty found in breach of the new policies will be sent to cooperative farms in the provinces for six months to five years of reeducation.
November 14, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Faculty found in breach of the new policies will be sent to cooperative farms in the provinces for six months to five years of reeducation.
Maybe I'm being simple-minded, but I assume that Trump's rationale for regime change in Venezuela is straight-forward, and absolutely in keeping with his neo-mercantalist world-view
November 13, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Maybe I'm being simple-minded, but I assume that Trump's rationale for regime change in Venezuela is straight-forward, and absolutely in keeping with his neo-mercantalist world-view
The cool stuff you find online (or why visiting digital archives is bad for your productivity)
November 12, 2025 at 8:10 PM
The cool stuff you find online (or why visiting digital archives is bad for your productivity)
Really no state-affiliated press on Turkish bluesky yet
November 8, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Really no state-affiliated press on Turkish bluesky yet
Lots of new follows this past few days. Welcome!
By way of introduction, I am a historian working on modern Turkey and, more generally, the Middle East.
I will also sometimes post on running, work dogs, and running with work dogs.
And the occasional snarky commments on US politics
By way of introduction, I am a historian working on modern Turkey and, more generally, the Middle East.
I will also sometimes post on running, work dogs, and running with work dogs.
And the occasional snarky commments on US politics
November 7, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Lots of new follows this past few days. Welcome!
By way of introduction, I am a historian working on modern Turkey and, more generally, the Middle East.
I will also sometimes post on running, work dogs, and running with work dogs.
And the occasional snarky commments on US politics
By way of introduction, I am a historian working on modern Turkey and, more generally, the Middle East.
I will also sometimes post on running, work dogs, and running with work dogs.
And the occasional snarky commments on US politics
Add me to the voices expressing disgust at the ADL. With all the real threats to American Jews - and there are many - this is nothing short of insulting. That they do this while excusing, waving away, and providing cover for actual fucking white nationalists makes it doubly so.
November 5, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Add me to the voices expressing disgust at the ADL. With all the real threats to American Jews - and there are many - this is nothing short of insulting. That they do this while excusing, waving away, and providing cover for actual fucking white nationalists makes it doubly so.
If there is one graph that I think tells more about US support for Israel than any other, it is this one.
November 3, 2025 at 4:06 PM
If there is one graph that I think tells more about US support for Israel than any other, it is this one.
November 3, 2025 at 2:07 PM
November 1, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Jesus, give it a rest, NYT.
October 31, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Jesus, give it a rest, NYT.
Scenes from my second year of graduate school as I tried to simultaneously learn Ottoman Turkish, Persian, Russian, and Uzbek.
October 27, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Scenes from my second year of graduate school as I tried to simultaneously learn Ottoman Turkish, Persian, Russian, and Uzbek.
I gotta tell you I am digging woke George Will.
October 24, 2025 at 11:05 PM
I gotta tell you I am digging woke George Will.
(I'm re-reading this book right now and getting angry all over again)
October 23, 2025 at 2:37 PM
(I'm re-reading this book right now and getting angry all over again)
Every American should read Daniel Golden's The Price of Admission.
Seriously
Seriously
October 22, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Every American should read Daniel Golden's The Price of Admission.
Seriously
Seriously
I mean, I feel obligated to support places like Harvard right now.
But every time I hear about their endowment, I think about all of the colleges and universities that are hovering near bankruptcy.
And I think about this book
But every time I hear about their endowment, I think about all of the colleges and universities that are hovering near bankruptcy.
And I think about this book
October 22, 2025 at 1:49 PM
I mean, I feel obligated to support places like Harvard right now.
But every time I hear about their endowment, I think about all of the colleges and universities that are hovering near bankruptcy.
And I think about this book
But every time I hear about their endowment, I think about all of the colleges and universities that are hovering near bankruptcy.
And I think about this book
Hard not to love coming to campus on a day like this.
October 21, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Hard not to love coming to campus on a day like this.
The Cranberries are *not* a one-hit wonder!
Right Said Fred is a one-hit wonder!
Gerardo is a one-hit wonder!
Right Said Fred is a one-hit wonder!
Gerardo is a one-hit wonder!
October 20, 2025 at 7:22 PM
The Cranberries are *not* a one-hit wonder!
Right Said Fred is a one-hit wonder!
Gerardo is a one-hit wonder!
Right Said Fred is a one-hit wonder!
Gerardo is a one-hit wonder!
In class, I contrast it with this one, of Gamal abdel Nasser. The associated story is that the poor guy camped out under the stage all night and then popped out to ask Nasser for a job.
October 20, 2025 at 2:45 PM
In class, I contrast it with this one, of Gamal abdel Nasser. The associated story is that the poor guy camped out under the stage all night and then popped out to ask Nasser for a job.
My favorite photo of Muhammad Reza Shah.
"A picture tells a thousand words"
"A picture tells a thousand words"
October 20, 2025 at 2:36 PM
My favorite photo of Muhammad Reza Shah.
"A picture tells a thousand words"
"A picture tells a thousand words"
Yeah, when I say I'm from New York, I often have to clarify.
October 19, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Yeah, when I say I'm from New York, I often have to clarify.