Benjamin L. Carp 🎏
@bencarp.bsky.social
Historian of Early America, Brooklyn College & Graduate Center, CUNY. Leading AHA wit. Latest AmRev book: "The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution" 🔥 Dad, Mets fan, fantasy reader
Pinned
Benjamin L. Carp 🎏
@bencarp.bsky.social
· Jul 21
Here I am, as the Scorpions once foretold.
And to think I once scorned all the people who moved to Florida during the pandemic… 🥶
February 4, 2026 at 5:39 PM
And to think I once scorned all the people who moved to Florida during the pandemic… 🥶
I need to break my habit of logging onto Zoom meetings early.
February 4, 2026 at 1:57 PM
I need to break my habit of logging onto Zoom meetings early.
I really enjoy reading a glowing letter of recommendation written by someone I know. It makes me like the letter-writer even more. One of academia's fleeting little pleasures. (I don't know, maybe it's evidence of corruption, but obviously LORs are just one part of a person's file!)
February 4, 2026 at 1:56 AM
I really enjoy reading a glowing letter of recommendation written by someone I know. It makes me like the letter-writer even more. One of academia's fleeting little pleasures. (I don't know, maybe it's evidence of corruption, but obviously LORs are just one part of a person's file!)
Why is every Bluesky post after an Isaac Chotiner interview the same? Can't we vary it a little?
If Isaac Chotiner ever called *me*, I'd have pizza for breakfast and take up clog dancing. Your move, Chotiner.
If Isaac Chotiner ever called *me*, I'd have pizza for breakfast and take up clog dancing. Your move, Chotiner.
February 2, 2026 at 11:05 PM
Why is every Bluesky post after an Isaac Chotiner interview the same? Can't we vary it a little?
If Isaac Chotiner ever called *me*, I'd have pizza for breakfast and take up clog dancing. Your move, Chotiner.
If Isaac Chotiner ever called *me*, I'd have pizza for breakfast and take up clog dancing. Your move, Chotiner.
Forget the groundhog, I don’t need to be reminded that it’s endless winter
February 2, 2026 at 12:33 PM
Forget the groundhog, I don’t need to be reminded that it’s endless winter
No king but the King of Suede youtu.be/Gl1vulzQDwU
King of Suede
YouTube video by "Weird Al" Yankovic - Topic
youtu.be
February 1, 2026 at 1:57 AM
No king but the King of Suede youtu.be/Gl1vulzQDwU
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
1. Biology of Birds
2. Religion in Modern America
3. The Mexican Revolution
4. History of Quebec/French Canada
5. Multi-Variable Calculus
1. Biology of Birds
2. Religion in Modern America
3. The Mexican Revolution
4. History of Quebec/French Canada
5. Multi-Variable Calculus
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
1. Marine Biology (we got to go out on a boat!)
2. The History of the Holocaust
3. Logic and Critical Thinking
4. Eastern Religions
5. The French Revolution
1. Marine Biology (we got to go out on a boat!)
2. The History of the Holocaust
3. Logic and Critical Thinking
4. Eastern Religions
5. The French Revolution
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
1. Origins of Nazism
2. Dante’s Divine Comedy
3. Behavioral Ecology & Conservation Biology
4. Principles of Evolution
5. Thinking and Speaking About Thinking and Speaking
1. Origins of Nazism
2. Dante’s Divine Comedy
3. Behavioral Ecology & Conservation Biology
4. Principles of Evolution
5. Thinking and Speaking About Thinking and Speaking
February 1, 2026 at 1:56 AM
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
1. Biology of Birds
2. Religion in Modern America
3. The Mexican Revolution
4. History of Quebec/French Canada
5. Multi-Variable Calculus
1. Biology of Birds
2. Religion in Modern America
3. The Mexican Revolution
4. History of Quebec/French Canada
5. Multi-Variable Calculus
The collective rage of New Yorkers (after several days with heavy snow on the ground) when they can’t pass slow people on the sidewalk…
January 30, 2026 at 4:37 AM
The collective rage of New Yorkers (after several days with heavy snow on the ground) when they can’t pass slow people on the sidewalk…
That’s two unrelated stories I’ve read about key fobs in the last 24 hours
People in Minnesota are now using their key fobs to trigger their car alarms from the safety of their homes when they see ICE walking around.
January 18, 2026 at 4:34 PM
That’s two unrelated stories I’ve read about key fobs in the last 24 hours
Colleague: "Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed response."
Me: "That’s what people always say when they think I’ve gone crazy."
Me: "That’s what people always say when they think I’ve gone crazy."
January 16, 2026 at 10:22 PM
Colleague: "Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed response."
Me: "That’s what people always say when they think I’ve gone crazy."
Me: "That’s what people always say when they think I’ve gone crazy."
The Wikipedia entry on the evolution of Lucky Charms marshmallows is surprisingly long
The only thing I know about horseshoes is that they were heavily marketed as a newly introduced purple marshmallow in Lucky Charms when I was a kid
January 14, 2026 at 3:23 PM
The Wikipedia entry on the evolution of Lucky Charms marshmallows is surprisingly long
Try inserting the last name of ANY American president in place of the current one's, and see if you can wrap your mind around that scenario.
President Trump made an obscene gesture with his middle finger and mouthed “f--- you” twice to a person who can be heard yelling “pedophile protector” at him during a tour of a Ford factory in Michigan — a reaction the White House said was “appropriate.”
Trump makes obscene gesture, mouths expletive at Detroit factory heckler
A cellphone video captured Trump twice mouthing “f--- you” and raising his middle finger toward someone shouting at him inside the Ford factory.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 14, 2026 at 1:32 AM
Try inserting the last name of ANY American president in place of the current one's, and see if you can wrap your mind around that scenario.
My mind reels a bit when I think about what'd happen in NYC if they started ramping things up here to the same degree. The nurses are already out in the streets!
This is the first time in my life I truly don't believe my friends in DC or NYC understand the sentiment among the average person in the midwest. Trials are the moderate position among these people. I have never seen regular people so angry.
January 14, 2026 at 1:22 AM
My mind reels a bit when I think about what'd happen in NYC if they started ramping things up here to the same degree. The nurses are already out in the streets!
Well, high church northern Anglican Loyalists were convinced that the Presbyterians started the American Revolution, so...
Via @bmietana.bsky.social (and a little assist from me): Renee Good was a martyr for her faith, like MLK, say Presbyterians —> religionnews.com/2026/01/13/r...
Renee Good was a martyr for her faith, like MLK, say Presbyterians
(RNS)— The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness, part of the Presbyterian Church (USA), says Good is part of ‘a sacred lineage of faithful witnesses who have risked and lost their lives in defense of...
religionnews.com
January 13, 2026 at 10:51 PM
Well, high church northern Anglican Loyalists were convinced that the Presbyterians started the American Revolution, so...
I arranged two months ago to do a podcast recording today; I got a zoom link and everything, but then that's the last I've heard from him. I emailed the guy this morning to confirm that we're on and I still haven't heard. The appointed time is in 20 minutes. I guess we'll see!
January 13, 2026 at 10:42 PM
I arranged two months ago to do a podcast recording today; I got a zoom link and everything, but then that's the last I've heard from him. I emailed the guy this morning to confirm that we're on and I still haven't heard. The appointed time is in 20 minutes. I guess we'll see!
Catching up with high school classmates on FB was more fun when it was exciting career paths, new babies, and jokes; now it's sandwich generation misery, sudden deaths, and fights about Israel-Palestine.
January 10, 2026 at 10:55 PM
Catching up with high school classmates on FB was more fun when it was exciting career paths, new babies, and jokes; now it's sandwich generation misery, sudden deaths, and fights about Israel-Palestine.
Still grateful to Phil Morgan, who was editor of the WMQ when I published my first academic article.
Amidst the darkness in this country & the world right now, I’m taking solace in seeing dear friends & celebrating my wonderful mentor Phil Morgan as he receives a Lifetime Achievement Award from the AHA at this year’s annual meeting @historians.org
www.historians.org/perspectives...
www.historians.org/perspectives...
Awards, Prizes, and Honors Conferred at the 139th Annual Meeting – AHA
Join us in Chicago to honor the 2025 AHA prizewinners.
www.historians.org
January 10, 2026 at 10:53 PM
Still grateful to Phil Morgan, who was editor of the WMQ when I published my first academic article.
Never mind, just my friend @unlawfulentries.bsky.social getting a shoutout in today's @jamellebouie.net newsletter: messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/dynamic/rend...
America doesn’t need ICE
messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com
January 10, 2026 at 4:20 PM
Never mind, just my friend @unlawfulentries.bsky.social getting a shoutout in today's @jamellebouie.net newsletter: messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/dynamic/rend...
Have you ever slammed your finger in a book? Of course reading is a vise.
To get more young people to read, it’s best to treat the activity not as a public duty but as a vice, Adam Kirsch argues.
Reading Is a Vice
Being a reader means cultivating a relationship with the world that, by most standards, can seem pointless and counterproductive.
bit.ly
January 10, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Have you ever slammed your finger in a book? Of course reading is a vise.
The thing about me that most fascinates small children is my antipathy toward bananas and Cheerios.
January 9, 2026 at 7:03 PM
The thing about me that most fascinates small children is my antipathy toward bananas and Cheerios.
“Read history! You’ll learn from history.”
The guy who ain’t got time to bleed has got time to read. What’s your excuse?
The guy who ain’t got time to bleed has got time to read. What’s your excuse?
Ex-Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura: “We’re a 3rd world country now. I know. I’ve been to ‘em. I spent 17 months in SE Asia while the draft dodger was playing golf… that’s what happens in a dictatorship. In comes the military. That’s what’s happening here.” 🇺🇸
January 9, 2026 at 2:36 AM
“Read history! You’ll learn from history.”
The guy who ain’t got time to bleed has got time to read. What’s your excuse?
The guy who ain’t got time to bleed has got time to read. What’s your excuse?
Just had an hour-and-sixteen-minute phone call with my health insurance company over a payment discrepancy from last spring. If I calculated this as an hourly rate (it is not my first phone call) it has probably ceased to become worth it, but still: today felt like progress.
January 7, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Just had an hour-and-sixteen-minute phone call with my health insurance company over a payment discrepancy from last spring. If I calculated this as an hourly rate (it is not my first phone call) it has probably ceased to become worth it, but still: today felt like progress.
Here's what's happening to the country we grew up in, part CCLXII: www.publicnotice.co/p/corporatio...
Corporation for Public Broadcasting's patriotic goodbye
Better nothing than a MAGA mouthpiece.
www.publicnotice.co
January 7, 2026 at 5:24 PM
Here's what's happening to the country we grew up in, part CCLXII: www.publicnotice.co/p/corporatio...