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Gus

@gustavelester.bsky.social

570 followers 1.2K following 13 posts

Historian of environments, geosciences, and imperial political economies. Working on the long history of "critical minerals” & the US. Postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for Anthropocene History at KTH in Stockholm. www.linkedin.com/in/gustavelester

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Gus @gustavelester.bsky.social · Nov 12

Happy to share that my article, "Land, Fur, and Copper: The Union of Settler Colonialism and Industrial Capitalism in the Great Lakes Region, 1815-1842," was selected as this year's Ronald Rainger Early Career Award in History of the Earth and Environmental Sciences by the History of Science Society

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David Silkenat @davidsilkenat.bsky.social · 3d

Very happy to be included in the new issue of @gliamericanhistory.bsky.social History Now, with @mkn.bsky.social, @catherinemcneur.bsky.social, Keith Pluymers, Lauret Savoy, and Sara Dant www.gilderlehrman.org/history-now/...

The Natural Resources of the United States in the Shaping of History | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

The Natural Resources of the United States in the Shaping of History | | SPECIAL FEATURE A pair of recent Book Breaks episodes featuring contributors to History Now 76: “Saving Yellowstone: Exploratio...

www.gilderlehrman.org

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Media+Environment @mediaenviron.bsky.social · 4d

**CALL FOR PAPERS** It’s been a hot minute! We are seeking proposals for another new stream on “Critical Minerals and Media Technologies,” edited by @siobhanangus.bsky.social and @gustavelester.bsky.social. The deadline for submissions is November 15, 2025. mediaenviron.org/post/3478-ca...

Call For Papers: Critical Minerals and Media Technologies | Published by Media+Environment

We invite contributions for a forthcoming stream of the UC Press open access journal Media+Environment entitled “Critical Minerals and Media Technologies,” edited by Siobhan Angus and Gustave Lester.

mediaenviron.org

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Gus @gustavelester.bsky.social · 4d

Very excited to see the launch of the digital history project "Petrodelphia: America's First Petrochemical Corridor," showcasing Philadelphia’s relationship to petrochemical industries. I co-authored the entry "Pennsylvania Coal and Philadelphia,” for anyone interested: petrodelphia.org

Home, Petrodelphia: America's First Petrochemical Corridor

This website provides you—and others who care about the past and future of Philadelphia—a rich collection of sources about the South Philadelphia refinery complex and other petrochemical sites along t...

petrodelphia.org

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Petter Hellström @nphellstrom.bsky.social · 11d

The Swedish UPPSALA DECLARATION now has 2,557 signatories. The EUROPEAN DECLARATION is catching up with 2,458 from EU/EEA/UK/CH. All signatories refuse to collaborate with Israeli institutions complicit in illegal occupation, apartheid, genocide, and other violations of international law.

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Arn Keeling @arnkeeling.bsky.social · Jul 22

Want a preview of our book, The Price of Gold, with @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social ? Check out our article in @theconversation.com today:

theconversation.com/yellowknifes...

Yellowknife’s Giant Mine: Canada downplayed arsenic exposure as an Indigenous community was poisoned

Colonialism, corporate greed and lax regulation led to widespread pollution, particularly affecting Yellowknives Dene communities.

theconversation.com

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Thea Riofrancos @triofrancos.bsky.social · Sep 3

I’m in @financialtimes.com on Trump’s recent move to make the Pentagon the top shareholder in the US only rare earths mine. This is the “worst of all worlds” resource nationalism: a toxic mix of environmental harm, militarism, Big Tech, financial de-risking, and asset appreciation. Link below ⬇️

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Gus @gustavelester.bsky.social · Jul 4

youtube.com/watch?v=xX-A...

James Earl Jones Reads Frederick Douglass Speech "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?"

YouTube video by Democracy Now!

youtube.com

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Gus @gustavelester.bsky.social · Jun 20

I haven't seem these mentioned yet, so: Kris Lane's Potosí (2019); Brian Leech's The City That Ate Itself (2018)

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Petter Hellström @nphellstrom.bsky.social · Jun 9

#uppsaladeclaration now has more than 2,000 signatories. We refuse to collaborate with Israeli institutions complicit in illegal occupation, apartheid, genocide, and other violations of international law. Faculty and staff in Swedish higher education and research can sign at uppsaladeclaration.se

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Nina Lakhani @ninalakhani.bsky.social · May 30

By me: Climate cost of Israel’s war on Gaza will exceed the annual greenhouse gas emissions of >100 countries - exacerbating planetary catastrophe on top of the horrific death toll and suffering of Palestinians

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

Carbon footprint of Israel’s war on Gaza exceeds that of many entire countries

Exclusive: The climate cost is more than than the combined 2023 emissions of Costa Rica and Estonia, study finds

www.theguardian.com

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Adam M. Sowards @adamsowards.net · May 27

The Secretary of the Interior has ordered the National Park Service and other agencies under his jurisdiction to produce "official" versions of American history. It is, in effect, a propaganda order--and is shameful.
www.doi.gov/document-lib...

SO 3431 - Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History | U.S. Department of the Interior

SO 3431

www.doi.gov

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Petter Hellström @nphellstrom.bsky.social · May 20

#uppsaladeclaration now has more than 1,300 signatories. We refuse to collaborate with Israeli state institutions complicit in human rights violations including illegal occupation, apartheid, and genocide. Faculty and staff in Swedish higher education and research can sign at uppsaladeclaration.se

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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · May 14

NSF grant terminations are disproportionately affecting underrepresented scientists. 58% of canceled grants have women PIs, despite making up only 34% of awards. 17% of canceled grants have Black PIs (versus 4% of the pool). Hispanic and disabled PIs are twice as likely to have NSF grants canceled.

Trump officials take steps toward a radically different NSF

Efforts to shrink staff, budget, and focus have alarmed members of Congress

www.science.org

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NiCHE Canada @nichecanada.bsky.social · Apr 28

Read the below article, watch this panel, Environment and War: Historical Perspectives and Modern Challenges - niche-canada.org/2025/03/19/r...

#envhist #environment #war #militarism

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Gus @gustavelester.bsky.social · Apr 21

Fossil fuel companies ‘poisoned the well’ of public debate with climate disinformation. theconversation.com/fossil-fuel-...

Fossil fuel companies ‘poisoned the well’ of public debate with climate disinformation. Here’s how Australia can break free

The US has obstructed climate action for decades – largely due to damaging actions by the powerful fossil fuel industry. But Australia has a chance now to lead.

theconversation.com

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American Historical Association @historians.org · Mar 24

The AHA recognizes that our colleagues in the federal government are facing unprecedented workforce reductions & has compiled resources in support, & are offering one year of free membership in the AHA to former employees of the federal govt. who have been terminated or resigned since January 20. 🗃️

Resources for Federal Historians - AHA

The American Historical Association supports historians employed by the federal government. We appreciate the important work they do every day to preserve, chronicle, and interpret American history. T...

www.historians.org

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Naomi Oreskes @naomioreskes.bsky.social · Mar 4

happy to announce the paperback edition of #TheBigMyth is out today!
www.bloomsbury.com/us/big-myth-...
Only $21.59 from publisher, or at your local independent book store or via the great bookshop.org
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

The Big Myth

“An immense scholarly feat.”-New Yorker * “[A] scorching indictment of free market fundamentalism . . . and how we can change, before it's too late.”-EsquireWit…

www.bloomsbury.com

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Northern Environmental History Network @northernenvhistory.bsky.social · Feb 3

Looking forward to this exciting talk next week from Karl Nycklemoe on 'Legal Avulsions: River Rights on the Upper Mississippi in the 1830s'. Join us 11/02 at 1400 GMT.

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1227572023...

Legal Avulsions: River Rights on the Upper Mississippi in the 1830s

NEHN February: Karl Nycklemoe will speak on Legal Avulsions: River Rights on the Upper Mississippi in the 1830s

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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Bathsheba Demuth @brdemuth.bsky.social · Dec 27

I have been loving people’s posts of their writing from this year, so here is a thread of things I published in 2024. Starting with this piece on pasts seen and unseen along the Yukon River in @grantamag.bsky.social

granta.com/where-the-la...

Where the Language Changes | Bathsheba Demuth | Granta

‘I am on the hunt for the Russian Empire, or what traces might still exist of its colonial enterprise.’ Bathsheba Demuth travels the Yukon river, following the history of the fur trade and the Nulato ...

granta.com

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Adam Wickberg @adamwickberg.bsky.social · Dec 9

We have posted two tenured positions as assistant professor in #Anthropocene history at our centre, please help share widely:
www.kth.se/lediga-jobb/...

www.kth.se/lediga-jobb/...
One is in #envhist and one is in history of science.

KTH | Assistant professor in Environmental History with a specialization in Anthropocene History

KTH jobs is where you search for jobs at www.kth.se.

www.kth.se

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Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · Nov 24

Thanks to everyone who read and commented on or contacted me about this piece on George Washington and the overriding tyranny of slavery. I appreciate folks who wanted to talk further either to agree or disagree! I heard 2 issues, both of which I discuss in the piece. 1/ time.com/7173647/geor...

Even George Washington Was a Tyrant

We don't need to find heroes in our past presidents. We need to try to understand that tyranny has always been part of American freedom.

time.com

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Maggie Blackhawk @maggieblackhawk.bsky.social · Nov 13

It has been the greatest honor of my career to write a Foreword for the Harv Law Rev. I am grateful to be able to tell this story and tell it from the heart in such a prominent forum. As always, I dream of a day when words can change minds and hearts—and worlds: harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/u...

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Jay Turner @jayturner.bsky.social · Nov 13

Richard Nixon created the EPA by executive order in 1970. Now Donald Trump wants to dismantle it. What happened?

That is the story Drew Isenberg and I tell in our 2018 book, The Republican Reversal: Conservatives and the Environment from Nixon to Trump.

www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...

Cover of book The Republican Reversal. Asphalt gives way to ocean.

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