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M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska

@mjrp.bsky.social

1.3K followers 460 following 320 posts

a historian currently writing a book about how visitors, newcomers, and outsiders came to dominate Washington, DC and another book about how we do history now. https://linktr.ee/comingtowashington

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M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · Oct 28

I guess that time is now! hi, my name is M.J., and I'm writing a book about where you get your ideas about Washington, D.C. and what that means for our democracy! I am writing *another* book about how Americans are engaging the past (and probably what that means for our democracy)

M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · Sep 22

At some point I’ll probably start performing my professional self over here but right now I’m too tired! Anyway, stay tuned if you want (eventually) to hear my hot takes on Washington DC, the history profession, and the News Of The Day!

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M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · 5d

Exactly how I feel and it’s only Tuesday 🫠

M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · 11d

in other words, this is not just an issue with the current administration, it's a structural inequality baked into the city's --and thus, the nation's--governance

M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · 11d

this article is well worth reading but it's also missing the critical fact that D.C. has long been a testing ground for authoritarian measures: most notoriously: no knock, stop-and-frisk, and wiretapping under Nixon

Eric Lipton NYT @ericlipton.nytimes.com · 11d

How Washington Became a Testing Ground for ICE

A series of arrests captured on video reveal how immigration officers have worked with other law enforcement agencies to identify migrants during stops for minor infractions. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/u...

How Washington Became a Testing Ground for ICE

www.nytimes.com

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M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · 13d

looking forward to reading this vital and timely book

Gautham Rao @gauthamrao.bsky.social · 13d

Took about 20 years. And I never thought a book about enslavers using deputization to give themselves policing power would be relevant to our times. But we are where we are.

My book, White Power: Policing American Slavery, is now available for preorder.

a.co/d/29c7EIP

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M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · 15d

on DC's newest "museum" and the importance of public funding in the @nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/27/b...

M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · 17d

came here to post this lol

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M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · 21d

I had a family wedding yesterday and missed this talk, so I am super excited that Kate's also speaking at Mount Vernon next month! www.mountvernon.org/plan-your-vi...

M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · 24d

the biggest mistake that higher education has made is in its ongoing and largely unsuccessful partnership with corporate america was agreeing to take on and essentially subsidize what used to be on-the-job training for entry level positions via internships and professional undergraduate degrees

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M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · 24d

this has been all but inevitable since colleges started pushing professional skills as degrees. I would love to know what percentage of of these folks have liberal arts backgrounds

The Newest Face of Long-Term Unemployment? The College Educated.

www.nytimes.com

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M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · 27d

"tell me more about....abundance"

M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · 27d

no, what they *imagine* is an ivy league seminar course, which is always just some dead poets society imagined 50s prep school shit. not coincidentally, this is also what they're *really* trying to make ivy league schools return to by pushing out anyone who doesn't look like baby ethan hawke!

Philip Bump @pbump.com · 29d

There is a clutch of pundits who treat the world like it’s an Ivy League seminar course, mostly because that’s the environment in which they emerged. They think debate and white papers are the pinnacle of political action. They fume at anyone who approaches politics in any other way.

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Reposted by M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska

Shaily Patel @vox-magica.bsky.social · Sep 8

given that you don’t actually need any historian credentials for this job, i feel like AHA could’ve skipped on posting this.

John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · Sep 8

Apparently ICE is hiring a historian to help investigate human rights violations, can't imagine how that could go wrong. careers.historians.org/jobs/2164421...

Historian in Washington, DC for Human Rights Violator Law Division, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Exciting opportunity in Washington, DC for Human Rights Violator Law Division, U.S. Immigration a...

careers.historians.org

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M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · Sep 8

Estoy traducida al español! for @france24.com by #NataliaCabrera
www.france24.com/es/ee-uu-y-c...

M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · Sep 8

some nice bicentennial history by @piperhudsburn.bsky.social and a plug for my book @uncpress.bsky.social!

www.cnn.com/2025/09/06/p...

M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · Sep 6

one book, five articles. pay me.

Ryan Estrada @ryanestrada.com · Sep 6

Just a reminder to check for your name in this list of books that OpenAI trained from. If your name is there, they probably owe you several thousand dollars.

OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.

Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI

Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.

www.theatlantic.com

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M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · Sep 4

this happens when most of your humanistic knowledge comes from listening to an AI read the john locke wiki entry at 1.75 speed while you're on the treadmill

Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshksi.bsky.social · Sep 4

There's a certain tech bro/venture capitalist mentality that thinks that everything vaguely humanistic in the university should be reduced to little more than a late night dorm room debating contest.

Sam Eyler-Driscoll 🍉🌻🍁 @sameyler.bsky.social · Sep 4

This is embarrassing. I hope everyone involved in this is embarrassed.
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/03/n...

M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · Sep 3

bonus! I'm currently writing the follow-up to History Comes Alive, and it's about this!

M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · Sep 3

....and if you want to think about why they chose this particular format (history...coming alive, one might say), I have another book for you

uncpress.org/978146963386...

History Comes Alive

During the 1976 Bicentennial celebration, millions of Americans engaged with the past in brand-new ways. They became absorbed by historical miniseries like R...

uncpress.org

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Reposted by M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska

Jeff Manuel @jeffmanuel.bsky.social · Sep 3

Related, some enterprising editor needs to commission @mjrp.bsky.social to write about this weirdness.

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M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · Sep 3

if you're puzzled by the existence of this exhibit may I suggest Tammy Gordon's excellent and *increasingly* relevant Private History in Public?

NPR @npr.org · Sep 3

Historians say it's good to highlight America's founders, but the project takes too narrow a view of history. n.pr/4m0dsAN

'Founders Museum' from White House and PragerU blurs history, AI-generated fiction

Historians say it's good to highlight America's founders, but the project takes too narrow a view of history.

n.pr

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M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · Sep 2

is real visual evidence (or thinking critically about its absence) not good enough anymore? are we just going to make history fan faction now? maybe I'm old or I don't have enough imagination but I literally cannot think of a context in which this would actually help historical understanding!

M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · Sep 2

yeah, let's talk about this!

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M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · Sep 1

I'm writing about how NARA engages audiences for a separate project and got curious so I ran the ecommerce site through the wayback machine--the hoodies were there as early as 2023. that said, I tend to agree that the current display (hood up, shades on) seems a little insurrection-y

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M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · Aug 31

sorry but is this thing getting stupider

M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska @mjrp.bsky.social · Aug 31

by "historians" the @nytimes.com means one historian plus a political scientist, an expert on international security, and a business school dean.

Historians See Autocratic Playbook in Trump’s Attacks on Science