Rick Herrera
@herreramilhist.bsky.social
Senior Historian, George Washington Leadership Institute | Ret. Prof., US Army War College | Military historian | 18c & 19c America | Author | Californian in PA | My views mine alone | https://www.amazon.com/author/raherrera
Reposted by Rick Herrera
New issue of my newsletter: "The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition" — One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved, and it's a good use of AI newsletter.dancohen.org/archive/the-...
The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition
One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved
newsletter.dancohen.org
November 25, 2025 at 4:35 PM
New issue of my newsletter: "The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition" — One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved, and it's a good use of AI newsletter.dancohen.org/archive/the-...
Super excited that a new edited volume, Bend But Do Not Break, is coming out, edited by Jaron Wharton, @klkuzminski.bsky.social @jkdemp.bsky.social @mzmargulies.bsky.social Keith Carter, and @carriealee.bsky.social
And it’s apparently doing well on the amazons
And it’s apparently doing well on the amazons
November 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Rick Herrera
I remember asking @katecarp.bsky.social if @draftingthepast.bsky.social was a confessional space...I think it is, and I was giddy to get to talk with Kate about the joy of writing history -- and my tremendous good fortune to get to do it. draftingthepast.com/podcast-epis...
Episode 76: Karin Wulf Keeps Her Brain Humming Along - Drafting the Past
In this episode, Kate is joined by Karin Wulf, the director and librarian of the John Carter Brown Library, to discuss her new book, Lineage, and her research and writing process.
draftingthepast.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:20 AM
I remember asking @katecarp.bsky.social if @draftingthepast.bsky.social was a confessional space...I think it is, and I was giddy to get to talk with Kate about the joy of writing history -- and my tremendous good fortune to get to do it. draftingthepast.com/podcast-epis...
Karl Jacoby taking one for the team. Little known fact. I had an on campus interview at Hillsdale 25 or more years ago. Best ever interview. I snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, which, in retrospect, was victory. I needed a job. Glad it wasn’t that one.
As a historian, I have been torturing myself by watching some of the series that the White House in cooperation with Hillsdale College produced about American Independence (tellingly, they avoid the word "revolution").
There are so many errors that it is hard to know where to begin. But I'll try
There are so many errors that it is hard to know where to begin. But I'll try
November 25, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Karl Jacoby taking one for the team. Little known fact. I had an on campus interview at Hillsdale 25 or more years ago. Best ever interview. I snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, which, in retrospect, was victory. I needed a job. Glad it wasn’t that one.
Culture. Fascinating thread by @brasidas.bsky.social
These schmucks are approaching what I like to call a "reverse Afghanistan" sexuality here:
November 24, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Culture. Fascinating thread by @brasidas.bsky.social
Count me in.
Ken Burns Revolution documentary drinking game where you take a shot every time you recognize the author of a primary source before the narrator tells you.
November 24, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Count me in.
Great read.
@smh-historians.bsky.social
@smh-historians.bsky.social
Why did convoys work?
With apologies for the Buzzfeed-style subtitle...
#navalhistory
evanmwilson.substack.com/p/why-did-co...
With apologies for the Buzzfeed-style subtitle...
#navalhistory
evanmwilson.substack.com/p/why-did-co...
Why did convoys work?
The answer might surprise you (sorry)
evanmwilson.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Great read.
@smh-historians.bsky.social
@smh-historians.bsky.social
Reposted by Rick Herrera
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
"The humanities really are a resource — a confidence for living in our times.” Dean Sara Guyer on the modern utility of humanities degrees
This interview originally appeared on the Division of Arts
bit.ly
November 23, 2025 at 3:38 PM
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
Reposted by Rick Herrera
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Important piece by @markhertling.bsky.social
“What Americans Should Understand About the Military Disobeying Illegal Orders”
open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
“What Americans Should Understand About the Military Disobeying Illegal Orders”
open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
What Americans Should Understand About the Military Disobeying Illegal Orders
And why it matters there are two military oaths.
open.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Important piece by @markhertling.bsky.social
“What Americans Should Understand About the Military Disobeying Illegal Orders”
open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
“What Americans Should Understand About the Military Disobeying Illegal Orders”
open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
Reposted by Rick Herrera
This has gotten very little coverage in the US, but on Monday US military contractors or troops or some other paramilitary group placed signs on a beach in Mexico, claiming it as US territory. (The contested location is close to the SpaceX base outside Brownsville)
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11...
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11...
‘Restricted’: Did US troops try to cordon off a Mexican beach?
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum seeks the International Boundary and Water Commission intervention.
www.aljazeera.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:59 PM
This has gotten very little coverage in the US, but on Monday US military contractors or troops or some other paramilitary group placed signs on a beach in Mexico, claiming it as US territory. (The contested location is close to the SpaceX base outside Brownsville)
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11...
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11...
November 19, 2025 at 10:18 PM
"War studies becomes a shadow play... that echoes official narratives, calibrates policy assumptions and mistakes methodological rigour for intellectual audacity..., offering not challenge but compliance. Strategy becomes branding. Critique becomes consultancy."
This is a hell of an article about war studies that pulls no punches. CC: @teaandtactics.bsky.social @sodrock.bsky.social
www.militarystrategymagazine.com/article/stra...
www.militarystrategymagazine.com/article/stra...
Strategy and the Last Manager: The Case for Dissenting War Studies - Military Strategy Magazine
Applying James Burnham’s theory of the ‘managerial revolution’ to the evolution of war studies, this article argues that the field has been captured and reshaped by a managerial class more concerned w...
www.militarystrategymagazine.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:38 PM
"War studies becomes a shadow play... that echoes official narratives, calibrates policy assumptions and mistakes methodological rigour for intellectual audacity..., offering not challenge but compliance. Strategy becomes branding. Critique becomes consultancy."
Reposted by Rick Herrera
A little brainteaser I wrote:
Writing 'not unlike' is not unlike writing 'like', unlike writing 'unlike', which, unlike writing 'not unlike', is not like writing 'like'.
#WritingCommunity #BookSky #WriteSky #WordPlay
Writing 'not unlike' is not unlike writing 'like', unlike writing 'unlike', which, unlike writing 'not unlike', is not like writing 'like'.
#WritingCommunity #BookSky #WriteSky #WordPlay
November 18, 2025 at 9:05 PM
A little brainteaser I wrote:
Writing 'not unlike' is not unlike writing 'like', unlike writing 'unlike', which, unlike writing 'not unlike', is not like writing 'like'.
#WritingCommunity #BookSky #WriteSky #WordPlay
Writing 'not unlike' is not unlike writing 'like', unlike writing 'unlike', which, unlike writing 'not unlike', is not like writing 'like'.
#WritingCommunity #BookSky #WriteSky #WordPlay
Reposted by Rick Herrera
Hey authors! Check to see if Anthropic stole your book to train their slop generator on. You’re entitled to $1500 per stolen Work.
Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Submit a Claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Hey authors! Check to see if Anthropic stole your book to train their slop generator on. You’re entitled to $1500 per stolen Work.
Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Reposted by Rick Herrera
I spent October traveling to schools throughout the South talking to students about American history. What I found were young people who understand we can tell a story that includes both the positive and the negative. As one 8th grader in Memphis said, “Doesn’t seem that hard, just say both things.”
Tell Students the Truth About American History
We owe it to Americans of all ages to be honest about the country’s past, including its contradictions.
www.theatlantic.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I spent October traveling to schools throughout the South talking to students about American history. What I found were young people who understand we can tell a story that includes both the positive and the negative. As one 8th grader in Memphis said, “Doesn’t seem that hard, just say both things.”
I’ve had the chance to preview portions of “The American Revolution.” I’m much less concerned than I had been and I look forward to the full series. It’s art, humanities, and public history.
As a historian of the 18th c and an American, I've always known 2026 would be a critical moment. This doc is worth watching, and thinking through. Begins and ends w Indigenous contexts, conveys the horrors of a civil war wrought w racism + the ideals of liberty and equality we keep reaching for. 1/
_The American Revolution_ offers a look at how complex and violent — and also inspiring— the American founding was. Getting huge coverage, it may give folks time to digest that complexity as 2026 commences. Premieres tonight + PBS has preview clips of all episodes. www.pbs.org/show/the-ame...
November 16, 2025 at 10:38 PM
I’ve had the chance to preview portions of “The American Revolution.” I’m much less concerned than I had been and I look forward to the full series. It’s art, humanities, and public history.
As one of “many more” (I can’t help myself, hell I won’t!), I wholeheartedly endorse this.
In time for the holidays, now pre-orderable, the long awaited Oxford Handbook of American Military History, edited by Sam Watson. 32 chapters by top scholars in the field, including @bethbailey.bsky.social , @notabattlechick.bsky.social , @karadixonvuic.bsky.social, yours truly, and many more.
global.oup.com
November 16, 2025 at 10:33 PM
As one of “many more” (I can’t help myself, hell I won’t!), I wholeheartedly endorse this.
This speaks well for service members’ ethics and how seriously they take their oaths. As for DOD, that’s something entirely different. www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Military personnel seek legal advice on whether Trump-ordered missions are lawful
Military service personnel have been seeking outside legal advice about some of the missions the Trump administration has assigned them. The strikes against alleged drug traffickers and deployments to...
www.pbs.org
November 16, 2025 at 12:54 PM
This speaks well for service members’ ethics and how seriously they take their oaths. As for DOD, that’s something entirely different. www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Reposted by Rick Herrera
Some Sunday reading: eight questions about writers, books, and reading with the brilliant @cathfletcher.bsky.social. mathewlyons.substack.com/p/the-writer...
The writer’s bookshelf: Catherine Fletcher
Eight questions about writers, books, and reading…
mathewlyons.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Some Sunday reading: eight questions about writers, books, and reading with the brilliant @cathfletcher.bsky.social. mathewlyons.substack.com/p/the-writer...
Reposted by Rick Herrera
"A truly historic accomplishment," says NPR ( @npr.org ) President & CEO Katherine Maher: “1 trillion web pages. That’s 1 trillion artifacts & snapshots of our interconnected world.”
More ⤵️
blog.archive.org/2025/11/14/v...
#Wayback1T
More ⤵️
blog.archive.org/2025/11/14/v...
#Wayback1T
November 14, 2025 at 6:04 PM
"A truly historic accomplishment," says NPR ( @npr.org ) President & CEO Katherine Maher: “1 trillion web pages. That’s 1 trillion artifacts & snapshots of our interconnected world.”
More ⤵️
blog.archive.org/2025/11/14/v...
#Wayback1T
More ⤵️
blog.archive.org/2025/11/14/v...
#Wayback1T
Indeed. A double harrumph!
November 14, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Indeed. A double harrumph!
The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon, Virginia welcomes applications from military historians researching broadly in Early American history.
For more information, see www.mountvernon.org/library/fell....
@smh-historians.bsky.social
@historians.org
@royalhistsoc.org
For more information, see www.mountvernon.org/library/fell....
@smh-historians.bsky.social
@historians.org
@royalhistsoc.org
Research Fellowships
Submit an application for a research fellowship at the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon.
www.mountvernon.org
November 14, 2025 at 5:01 PM
The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon, Virginia welcomes applications from military historians researching broadly in Early American history.
For more information, see www.mountvernon.org/library/fell....
@smh-historians.bsky.social
@historians.org
@royalhistsoc.org
For more information, see www.mountvernon.org/library/fell....
@smh-historians.bsky.social
@historians.org
@royalhistsoc.org
“Patriotism…, is not about hiding the stains of the past…. It means loving your country enough to tell its whole story. Once upon a time, that mission might have seemed middlebrow and dull. Today, for better or worse, it is positively revolutionary.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/a...
What ‘The American Revolution’ Says About Our Cultural Battles
www.nytimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:09 PM
“Patriotism…, is not about hiding the stains of the past…. It means loving your country enough to tell its whole story. Once upon a time, that mission might have seemed middlebrow and dull. Today, for better or worse, it is positively revolutionary.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/a...
Reposted by Rick Herrera
NEW: The first two years of Massachusetts' millionaire tax has raised $3 billion more than expected.
And rather than driving the rich away, IPS researchers found that the number of millionaires has *increased.*
Tax the rich. Greg Ryan in @bloomberg.com:
And rather than driving the rich away, IPS researchers found that the number of millionaires has *increased.*
Tax the rich. Greg Ryan in @bloomberg.com:
Millionaire Tax That Inspired Mamdani Fuels $5.7 Billion Haul in Massachusetts
A millionaire levy in Massachusetts that New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani holds up as a model for taxing the rich has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing...
www.bloomberg.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:01 PM
NEW: The first two years of Massachusetts' millionaire tax has raised $3 billion more than expected.
And rather than driving the rich away, IPS researchers found that the number of millionaires has *increased.*
Tax the rich. Greg Ryan in @bloomberg.com:
And rather than driving the rich away, IPS researchers found that the number of millionaires has *increased.*
Tax the rich. Greg Ryan in @bloomberg.com: