Brewminate (Matthew A. McIntosh)
@brewminate.bsky.social
📖 Public Historian / Adjunct History Professor
🏳️🌈 LGBTQ+ Proud
💙 "Woke" and Proud
🚫 Blocking MAGA and Hate
See https://www.brewminate.com (Brewminate)
🏳️🌈 LGBTQ+ Proud
💙 "Woke" and Proud
🚫 Blocking MAGA and Hate
See https://www.brewminate.com (Brewminate)
Echoes of History: Then and Now
Then: Lincoln and Douglas debated the nation’s future. 🔥
Now:
We fight online about everything, but identity wins more than truth. Sometimes the smartest move is walking away.
#History #DebateCulture #Brewminate
Then: Lincoln and Douglas debated the nation’s future. 🔥
Now:
We fight online about everything, but identity wins more than truth. Sometimes the smartest move is walking away.
#History #DebateCulture #Brewminate
November 25, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Echoes of History: Then and Now
Then: Lincoln and Douglas debated the nation’s future. 🔥
Now:
We fight online about everything, but identity wins more than truth. Sometimes the smartest move is walking away.
#History #DebateCulture #Brewminate
Then: Lincoln and Douglas debated the nation’s future. 🔥
Now:
We fight online about everything, but identity wins more than truth. Sometimes the smartest move is walking away.
#History #DebateCulture #Brewminate
TODAY IN HISTORY: November 25 - Feast Day for Saint Catherine of Alexandria
A scholar-saint who won arguments, not battles. 📜🔥
Her legend shows how identity and intellect shape belief more than force.
#History #Medieval #Brewminate
A scholar-saint who won arguments, not battles. 📜🔥
Her legend shows how identity and intellect shape belief more than force.
#History #Medieval #Brewminate
November 25, 2025 at 6:50 PM
TODAY IN HISTORY: November 25 - Feast Day for Saint Catherine of Alexandria
A scholar-saint who won arguments, not battles. 📜🔥
Her legend shows how identity and intellect shape belief more than force.
#History #Medieval #Brewminate
A scholar-saint who won arguments, not battles. 📜🔥
Her legend shows how identity and intellect shape belief more than force.
#History #Medieval #Brewminate
Simeon of Beth Arsham was a debate heavyweight working far beyond Rome. 🎤🔥
In the Persian Empire, he proved big ideas didn’t need imperial borders.
#Debate #LateAntiquity #PersianEmpire #Brewminate
In the Persian Empire, he proved big ideas didn’t need imperial borders.
#Debate #LateAntiquity #PersianEmpire #Brewminate
Simeon of Beth Arsham and the Persian Debater
How a sixth century Miaphysite monk became a feared polemicist whose debates, letters, and diplomacy shaped Christian identity across Persia and Rome.
brewminate.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Simeon of Beth Arsham was a debate heavyweight working far beyond Rome. 🎤🔥
In the Persian Empire, he proved big ideas didn’t need imperial borders.
#Debate #LateAntiquity #PersianEmpire #Brewminate
In the Persian Empire, he proved big ideas didn’t need imperial borders.
#Debate #LateAntiquity #PersianEmpire #Brewminate
Debate rarely changes minds. 🧠⚔️
Identity and trust do.
Real persuasion is quiet, human, and slow — not loud and combative.
#Persuasion #Communication #Brewminate
Identity and trust do.
Real persuasion is quiet, human, and slow — not loud and combative.
#Persuasion #Communication #Brewminate
Why Debate Rarely Changes Minds
Research shows debate rarely shifts beliefs. Psychology and neuroscience reveal that quiet reflection and steady facts drive real persuasion.
brewminate.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Debate rarely changes minds. 🧠⚔️
Identity and trust do.
Real persuasion is quiet, human, and slow — not loud and combative.
#Persuasion #Communication #Brewminate
Identity and trust do.
Real persuasion is quiet, human, and slow — not loud and combative.
#Persuasion #Communication #Brewminate
Silence wasn’t optional in medieval monasteries — it was a rule of life. 🤫
Gesture replaced speech, and discipline shaped identity.
A whole world built on quiet.
#MedievalHistory #MonasticLife #Brewminate
Gesture replaced speech, and discipline shaped identity.
A whole world built on quiet.
#MedievalHistory #MonasticLife #Brewminate
Silence in Medieval Monastic Life
How medieval monks used regulated silence, gesture, and disciplined speech to shape communal life, spiritual focus, and the rhythms of monastic devotion.
brewminate.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Silence wasn’t optional in medieval monasteries — it was a rule of life. 🤫
Gesture replaced speech, and discipline shaped identity.
A whole world built on quiet.
#MedievalHistory #MonasticLife #Brewminate
Gesture replaced speech, and discipline shaped identity.
A whole world built on quiet.
#MedievalHistory #MonasticLife #Brewminate
You don’t owe the internet a response. 🧠
Posting isn’t a contract — it’s expression.
Protect your time. Protect your peace.
#Boundaries #DigitalLife #Brewminate
Posting isn’t a contract — it’s expression.
Protect your time. Protect your peace.
#Boundaries #DigitalLife #Brewminate
You Don’t Owe Anyone Engagement
You have the right to set boundaries and decline debates or explanations. Visibility does not create an obligation to respond.
brewminate.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:29 PM
You don’t owe the internet a response. 🧠
Posting isn’t a contract — it’s expression.
Protect your time. Protect your peace.
#Boundaries #DigitalLife #Brewminate
Posting isn’t a contract — it’s expression.
Protect your time. Protect your peace.
#Boundaries #DigitalLife #Brewminate
Did You Know?
Eugenicists once used schoolkid tests to rank whole communities as “inferior.” 🤯📊 T
oday’s purity myths echo those same fears about who belongs — not real science.
#History #Science #Brewminate
Eugenicists once used schoolkid tests to rank whole communities as “inferior.” 🤯📊 T
oday’s purity myths echo those same fears about who belongs — not real science.
#History #Science #Brewminate
November 24, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Did You Know?
Eugenicists once used schoolkid tests to rank whole communities as “inferior.” 🤯📊 T
oday’s purity myths echo those same fears about who belongs — not real science.
#History #Science #Brewminate
Eugenicists once used schoolkid tests to rank whole communities as “inferior.” 🤯📊 T
oday’s purity myths echo those same fears about who belongs — not real science.
#History #Science #Brewminate
TODAY IN HISTORY: November 24, 1859 – Darwin Publishes “On the Origin of Species”
Darwin explained evolution, not hierarchy.
People twisted his work into eugenics, rankings, and “purity.”
Those distortions still echo today. 🤯🌱
#History #Science #Brewminate
Darwin explained evolution, not hierarchy.
People twisted his work into eugenics, rankings, and “purity.”
Those distortions still echo today. 🤯🌱
#History #Science #Brewminate
November 24, 2025 at 6:02 PM
TODAY IN HISTORY: November 24, 1859 – Darwin Publishes “On the Origin of Species”
Darwin explained evolution, not hierarchy.
People twisted his work into eugenics, rankings, and “purity.”
Those distortions still echo today. 🤯🌱
#History #Science #Brewminate
Darwin explained evolution, not hierarchy.
People twisted his work into eugenics, rankings, and “purity.”
Those distortions still echo today. 🤯🌱
#History #Science #Brewminate
The concept of “pure blood” stretches back to ancient ritual medicine and medieval power structures. 🩸📚
Its legacy still shapes modern myths.
#History #Mythology #Brewminate
Its legacy still shapes modern myths.
#History #Mythology #Brewminate
The Ancient and Medieval Roots of Pure Blood
How ancient and medieval traditions shaped the idea of pure blood, from ritual and medicine to the rise of hereditary and proto-racial ideologies.
brewminate.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:08 PM
The concept of “pure blood” stretches back to ancient ritual medicine and medieval power structures. 🩸📚
Its legacy still shapes modern myths.
#History #Mythology #Brewminate
Its legacy still shapes modern myths.
#History #Mythology #Brewminate
“Pure blood” rhetoric blends white supremacy with anti-vax pseudoscience. 🤦♂️🧬
The biology doesn’t back them — science completely dismantles their claims.
#Science #PublicHealth #Brewminate
The biology doesn’t back them — science completely dismantles their claims.
#Science #PublicHealth #Brewminate
The Pure Blood Myth and the Politics of Purity
Extremists and anti-vaccine groups promote false ideas of purity, but modern genetics shows no population has ever had pure ancestry.
brewminate.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:04 PM
“Pure blood” rhetoric blends white supremacy with anti-vax pseudoscience. 🤦♂️🧬
The biology doesn’t back them — science completely dismantles their claims.
#Science #PublicHealth #Brewminate
The biology doesn’t back them — science completely dismantles their claims.
#Science #PublicHealth #Brewminate
How societies define “intelligence” has changed for 2,000+ years — and each shift reveals more about power than truth. 🤔
✨
#History #Intelligence #Brewminate
✨
#History #Intelligence #Brewminate
The History of Intelligence Testing
From ancient China and Greece to modern psychometrics, this essay traces how humans have defined and measured intelligence across millennia.
brewminate.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:59 PM
How societies define “intelligence” has changed for 2,000+ years — and each shift reveals more about power than truth. 🤔
✨
#History #Intelligence #Brewminate
✨
#History #Intelligence #Brewminate
IQ scores were never meant to rank human value — yet here we are, treating numbers like destiny. 🧠⚠️
Let’s talk about how these metrics get twisted into power.
#History #HumanWorth #Brewminate
Let’s talk about how these metrics get twisted into power.
#History #HumanWorth #Brewminate
IQ and the Politics of Human Worth
IQ measures limited cognitive skills but not full intelligence. Extremists misuse it to promote false hierarchies that science does not support.
brewminate.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:55 PM
IQ scores were never meant to rank human value — yet here we are, treating numbers like destiny. 🧠⚠️
Let’s talk about how these metrics get twisted into power.
#History #HumanWorth #Brewminate
Let’s talk about how these metrics get twisted into power.
#History #HumanWorth #Brewminate
Pruitt’s photos expose segregation’s daily brutality — the habits, the violence, the silences.
Hard to look at, necessary to remember. 📸🔥
#History #Photography #CivilRights #Brewminate
Hard to look at, necessary to remember. 📸🔥
#History #Photography #CivilRights #Brewminate
O. N. Pruitt’s Mid-Century Segregation Photography
Exploring O. N. Pruitt’s stark mid-20th century photographs documenting everyday segregation, racial violence, and Southern life.
brewminate.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Pruitt’s photos expose segregation’s daily brutality — the habits, the violence, the silences.
Hard to look at, necessary to remember. 📸🔥
#History #Photography #CivilRights #Brewminate
Hard to look at, necessary to remember. 📸🔥
#History #Photography #CivilRights #Brewminate
From 18th-century experiments to the digital age, photography has changed how we remember everything. 📸🔥
#History #Photography #Brewminate
#History #Photography #Brewminate
A History of Photography since the Eighteenth Century
A sweeping look at photography’s evolution from early optical experiments to modern digital imaging and its impact on art, science, and culture.
brewminate.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:57 PM
From 18th-century experiments to the digital age, photography has changed how we remember everything. 📸🔥
#History #Photography #Brewminate
#History #Photography #Brewminate
TODAY IN HISTORY: November 23, 1936 - Life Magazine Publishes Its First Photojournalism Issue
Life changed everything — photos became the story.
A reminder that history is shaped by who controls the lens. 📸
#History #Photography #OnThisDay #Brewminate
Life changed everything — photos became the story.
A reminder that history is shaped by who controls the lens. 📸
#History #Photography #OnThisDay #Brewminate
November 23, 2025 at 3:53 PM
TODAY IN HISTORY: November 23, 1936 - Life Magazine Publishes Its First Photojournalism Issue
Life changed everything — photos became the story.
A reminder that history is shaped by who controls the lens. 📸
#History #Photography #OnThisDay #Brewminate
Life changed everything — photos became the story.
A reminder that history is shaped by who controls the lens. 📸
#History #Photography #OnThisDay #Brewminate
Blackbeard didn’t just die — he went down in a brutal fight with British forces in 1718. ⚔️🔥
#History #Piracy #Blackbeard #Brewminate
#History #Piracy #Blackbeard #Brewminate
How Blackbeard Was Caught and Killed in 1718
The final days of Edward Teach, the pirate known as Blackbeard, reveal betrayal, brutality, and the violent end of an infamous era at sea.
brewminate.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Blackbeard didn’t just die — he went down in a brutal fight with British forces in 1718. ⚔️🔥
#History #Piracy #Blackbeard #Brewminate
#History #Piracy #Blackbeard #Brewminate
Queen Elizabeth’s Sea Dogs were basically government-backed pirates reshaping New World power through bold raids and plunder. ⚔️🔥
#History #Piracy #Brewminate
#History #Piracy #Brewminate
Queen Elizabeth’s Sea Dogs in the New World
Explore the exploits of Queen Elizabeth’s Sea Dogs, the privateers who raided Spanish treasure fleets and reshaped imperial power in the New World.
brewminate.com
November 22, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Queen Elizabeth’s Sea Dogs were basically government-backed pirates reshaping New World power through bold raids and plunder. ⚔️🔥
#History #Piracy #Brewminate
#History #Piracy #Brewminate
TODAY IN HISTORY: November 22, 1718 – The Fall of Blackbeard
Blackbeard died in a vicious fight off Ocracoke Island, taking five shots and over twenty sword cuts before falling. ⚔️🔥
A turning point in the crackdown on piracy.
#History #Piracy #Blackbeard #Brewminate
Blackbeard died in a vicious fight off Ocracoke Island, taking five shots and over twenty sword cuts before falling. ⚔️🔥
A turning point in the crackdown on piracy.
#History #Piracy #Blackbeard #Brewminate
November 22, 2025 at 3:53 PM
TODAY IN HISTORY: November 22, 1718 – The Fall of Blackbeard
Blackbeard died in a vicious fight off Ocracoke Island, taking five shots and over twenty sword cuts before falling. ⚔️🔥
A turning point in the crackdown on piracy.
#History #Piracy #Blackbeard #Brewminate
Blackbeard died in a vicious fight off Ocracoke Island, taking five shots and over twenty sword cuts before falling. ⚔️🔥
A turning point in the crackdown on piracy.
#History #Piracy #Blackbeard #Brewminate
The Bible wasn’t written to be taken literally.
Context, genre, and history matter — and literalism erases all of that. 📜
Like most holy texts, all of equal value, it was a product of its time(s).
#History #Religion #Brewminate
Context, genre, and history matter — and literalism erases all of that. 📜
Like most holy texts, all of equal value, it was a product of its time(s).
#History #Religion #Brewminate
Why the Bible Cannot and Should Not Be Taken Literally
Explore why literal readings of the Bible fail historically, linguistically, and theologically, and why understanding its context reveals a deeper and more meaningful tradition.
brewminate.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:45 PM
The Bible wasn’t written to be taken literally.
Context, genre, and history matter — and literalism erases all of that. 📜
Like most holy texts, all of equal value, it was a product of its time(s).
#History #Religion #Brewminate
Context, genre, and history matter — and literalism erases all of that. 📜
Like most holy texts, all of equal value, it was a product of its time(s).
#History #Religion #Brewminate
Noah’s Ark isn’t literal history.
Archaeology and ancient texts show a myth shaped by older flood stories, not a real global event. 🌊
#Mythbusting #History #Brewminate
Archaeology and ancient texts show a myth shaped by older flood stories, not a real global event. 🌊
#Mythbusting #History #Brewminate
Noah’s Ark: Debunking the Myth of Literal History
Explore why Noah’s Ark cannot be treated as literal history, drawing on archaeology, ancient Near Eastern texts, and scientific evidence to uncover the real origins of the story.
brewminate.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Noah’s Ark isn’t literal history.
Archaeology and ancient texts show a myth shaped by older flood stories, not a real global event. 🌊
#Mythbusting #History #Brewminate
Archaeology and ancient texts show a myth shaped by older flood stories, not a real global event. 🌊
#Mythbusting #History #Brewminate
Mythbusting History
Myth:
Medieval Europe was one big, united Christian world.
Truth:
It was a messy patchwork of rival rulers, competing bishops, and wildly different practices — “Christendom” was more political branding than reality.
#History #MiddleAges #Brewminate
Myth:
Medieval Europe was one big, united Christian world.
Truth:
It was a messy patchwork of rival rulers, competing bishops, and wildly different practices — “Christendom” was more political branding than reality.
#History #MiddleAges #Brewminate
November 21, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Mythbusting History
Myth:
Medieval Europe was one big, united Christian world.
Truth:
It was a messy patchwork of rival rulers, competing bishops, and wildly different practices — “Christendom” was more political branding than reality.
#History #MiddleAges #Brewminate
Myth:
Medieval Europe was one big, united Christian world.
Truth:
It was a messy patchwork of rival rulers, competing bishops, and wildly different practices — “Christendom” was more political branding than reality.
#History #MiddleAges #Brewminate
TODAY IN HISTORY: November 21, 1964 – Vatican II releases “Lumen Gentium” & “Unitatis Redintegratio”
A push toward humility, justice, and unity — a stark contrast to today’s Christian nationalism. ✨
#History #Christianity #Brewminate
A push toward humility, justice, and unity — a stark contrast to today’s Christian nationalism. ✨
#History #Christianity #Brewminate
November 21, 2025 at 5:31 PM
TODAY IN HISTORY: November 21, 1964 – Vatican II releases “Lumen Gentium” & “Unitatis Redintegratio”
A push toward humility, justice, and unity — a stark contrast to today’s Christian nationalism. ✨
#History #Christianity #Brewminate
A push toward humility, justice, and unity — a stark contrast to today’s Christian nationalism. ✨
#History #Christianity #Brewminate
Charlemagne + the papacy = the birth of “Christendom,” where empire and Christianity fused into political power. ✨
#MedievalHistory #Charlemagne #Brewminate
#MedievalHistory #Charlemagne #Brewminate
Charlemagne and the Birth of Christendom
Explore how Charlemagne and the papacy forged early medieval Christendom through imperial authority, church reform, and the violent Christianization of Europe.
brewminate.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Charlemagne + the papacy = the birth of “Christendom,” where empire and Christianity fused into political power. ✨
#MedievalHistory #Charlemagne #Brewminate
#MedievalHistory #Charlemagne #Brewminate
Christianity’s decline + rising pluralism = a backlash from Christian nationalists who fear losing cultural control.
The panic says more than the numbers. ✨
#ChristianNationalism #Pluralism #Brewminate
The panic says more than the numbers. ✨
#ChristianNationalism #Pluralism #Brewminate
Christianity Declines as Nationalism Rises
Christianity’s U.S. majority is shrinking as nonreligious identities grow. Christian nationalists respond with aggressive political efforts like Project 2025.
brewminate.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Christianity’s decline + rising pluralism = a backlash from Christian nationalists who fear losing cultural control.
The panic says more than the numbers. ✨
#ChristianNationalism #Pluralism #Brewminate
The panic says more than the numbers. ✨
#ChristianNationalism #Pluralism #Brewminate
Progressive Christianity stretches across centuries — always pushing faith toward justice, equality, and moral clarity. ✨
#ProgressiveChristianity #FaithAndJustice #Brewminate
#ProgressiveChristianity #FaithAndJustice #Brewminate
History of Progressive Christianity
Explore the history of progressive Christianity, from abolition and the Social Gospel to liberation, feminist, queer, and ecological theologies.
brewminate.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Progressive Christianity stretches across centuries — always pushing faith toward justice, equality, and moral clarity. ✨
#ProgressiveChristianity #FaithAndJustice #Brewminate
#ProgressiveChristianity #FaithAndJustice #Brewminate