Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
@lindsayjbell.bsky.social
Historian • Professor at De Anza College •
SABR Member • Baseball Aficionado •
Research explores the intersection of sports, militarism, & gender • Opinions my own • He/Him
SABR Member • Baseball Aficionado •
Research explores the intersection of sports, militarism, & gender • Opinions my own • He/Him
Pinned
Welcome fellow baseball nerds! I appreciate all who gave me a follow recently. My research mainly explores the interwar years – more specifically how WWI influenced baseball’s hero ethos. In honor of Veterans Day, enjoy this picture of Asst. Sec. of Navy FDR flag raising at Griffith Stadium.
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
We're half a decade into studies finding that improving airflow in classrooms will reduce disease transmission enormously, and that bleaching surfaces etc. does very little. And yet nothing changes. Waves of flu and colds wash over schools, and the schools pretend it's an act of God.
The relative contribution of close-proximity contacts, shared classroom exposure and indoor air quality to respiratory virus transmission in schools - Nature Communications
The relative importance of close-proximity interactions, shared space and air quality to the transmission of respiratory viruses is not well understood. Here, the authors investigate this question by ...
www.nature.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:23 AM
We're half a decade into studies finding that improving airflow in classrooms will reduce disease transmission enormously, and that bleaching surfaces etc. does very little. And yet nothing changes. Waves of flu and colds wash over schools, and the schools pretend it's an act of God.
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
The replies to this and @jackiantonovich.bsky.social's original post remind us that the most dangerous thing is insisting that something exists in a meaningful way outside of human understanding of it. No matter how "hard" the discipline.
discussed this in seminar yesterday, albeit with reference to “race science” generally. If you understand science as a historical phenomenon then the question is what was science then, not whether it would count as science now, and the implication is that what science is now is not forever, either
1. Historically, eugenics was not a pseudoscience. It was *science* Almost every scientist, social scientist, academic, etc. believed in the validity of eugenics. You would have to search far & wide to find a scientist that didn't believe in some form of it. They taught it in college!
December 7, 2025 at 10:03 PM
The replies to this and @jackiantonovich.bsky.social's original post remind us that the most dangerous thing is insisting that something exists in a meaningful way outside of human understanding of it. No matter how "hard" the discipline.
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
In the era of slavery, free black people had to carry their "free papers" with them so they could prove to the authorities that they were free, or else they would be thrown in jail and sold.
BASH: If ICE says it doesn't arrest US citizens, why do we keep seeing incidents of them aggressively pursuing citizens?
HOMAN: I can't tell you how many times an illegal alien claims to be a US citizen. It happens all the time.
HOMAN: I can't tell you how many times an illegal alien claims to be a US citizen. It happens all the time.
December 7, 2025 at 2:32 PM
In the era of slavery, free black people had to carry their "free papers" with them so they could prove to the authorities that they were free, or else they would be thrown in jail and sold.
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
This pretty much sums up what Iowa State did to Purdue today. Go Cyclones! #BlueCy
a cartoon of a boy and a girl standing in a field of pumpkins
Alt: Sally from the Peanuts shaking and screaming at Linus.
media.tenor.com
December 6, 2025 at 7:20 PM
This pretty much sums up what Iowa State did to Purdue today. Go Cyclones! #BlueCy
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
I can tell you this. The Supreme Court will not "ultimately decide" this question. We, the people will ultimately decide it, just as the Court did not ultimately decide on the question of slavery in the Dred Scott case.
The Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether to uphold the longstanding principle that grants citizenship to the children of non-citizens born in the U.S., following a legal challenge by the Trump administration. n.pr/48E1oko
Supreme Court agrees to hear arguments in birthright citizenship challenge
The Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether to uphold the longstanding principle that grants citizenship to the children of non-citizens born in the U.S., following a legal challenge by the Trump administration.
n.pr
December 6, 2025 at 4:18 PM
I can tell you this. The Supreme Court will not "ultimately decide" this question. We, the people will ultimately decide it, just as the Court did not ultimately decide on the question of slavery in the Dred Scott case.
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
It's the 160th anniversary of the United States' refounding, the ratification of the 13th Amendment.
December 6, 2025 at 12:38 PM
It's the 160th anniversary of the United States' refounding, the ratification of the 13th Amendment.
Finally, some good news today!
Holy shit, it’s official. We’re getting the 1977 version of #StarWars, remastered, in theaters! www.starwars.com/news/star-wa...
December 5, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Finally, some good news today!
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
We already resolved this in 1868. The Court's taking up of this case is a disgrace of the highest order. Republicans want it both ways. Invoking originalism when it suits, tossing out otherwise settled law when it doesn't. The mind boggles. There is no logic to it other than racism and nativism.
BREAKING: The Supreme Court will decide whether President Trump's birthright citizenship order violates the Constitution.
The Supreme Court will decide whether Trump's birthright citizenship order violates the Constitution
The Supreme Court has agreed to take up the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s order on birthright citizenship.
bit.ly
December 5, 2025 at 8:44 PM
We already resolved this in 1868. The Court's taking up of this case is a disgrace of the highest order. Republicans want it both ways. Invoking originalism when it suits, tossing out otherwise settled law when it doesn't. The mind boggles. There is no logic to it other than racism and nativism.
“If the person is a U. S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after the brief encounter.”
– Justice Brett Kavanaugh
– Justice Brett Kavanaugh
Agents in Key Largo, Florida ripped this woman wearing medical scrubs out of her car as she screamed she is a US citizen. Agents cuffed her and put her in one of their cars.
She was eventually let go, per David Goodhue of the Miami Herald, who also took this footage:
She was eventually let go, per David Goodhue of the Miami Herald, who also took this footage:
December 5, 2025 at 4:46 PM
“If the person is a U. S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after the brief encounter.”
– Justice Brett Kavanaugh
– Justice Brett Kavanaugh
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
The USPS posting a NINE BILLION DOLLAR LOSS!!! sounds terrible. Certainly worse than if you said "USPS costs thirty dollars per person per year" even though that means the same thing and more accurately describes a government service
December 5, 2025 at 1:31 PM
The USPS posting a NINE BILLION DOLLAR LOSS!!! sounds terrible. Certainly worse than if you said "USPS costs thirty dollars per person per year" even though that means the same thing and more accurately describes a government service
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
My employer, Dartmouth College, today boasts it's 1st Ivy "to launch AI at an institutional scale." It is doing this by partnering--"more than a collaboration"--with Anthropic, a company that stole the books of many faculty, me included, which many of us are suing.
December 4, 2025 at 9:38 PM
My employer, Dartmouth College, today boasts it's 1st Ivy "to launch AI at an institutional scale." It is doing this by partnering--"more than a collaboration"--with Anthropic, a company that stole the books of many faculty, me included, which many of us are suing.
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
For some reason this reminds me of the story of how the team who worked on the CGI-animated Muppet Babies reboot accidentally rendered Animal without his fur and the end result was so hilarious and disturbing they adopted it as an unofficial mascot they named “Blurph”
December 4, 2025 at 11:04 PM
For some reason this reminds me of the story of how the team who worked on the CGI-animated Muppet Babies reboot accidentally rendered Animal without his fur and the end result was so hilarious and disturbing they adopted it as an unofficial mascot they named “Blurph”
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
Once again: this is not something that "threatens" academic freedom, though it will doubtless be reported that way. This is only possible where academic freedom has already ended.
TX Tech has a flow chat for guidance on what can be taught in the university system. Two things:
1. Very little content seems to be permitted. This is partisan control of the curriculum.
2. I would not enjoy teaching under these conditions, but I really would not want to be a Chair or Dean.
1. Very little content seems to be permitted. This is partisan control of the curriculum.
2. I would not enjoy teaching under these conditions, but I really would not want to be a Chair or Dean.
December 2, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Once again: this is not something that "threatens" academic freedom, though it will doubtless be reported that way. This is only possible where academic freedom has already ended.
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
RCFP is currently representing me in my lawsuit against the DC Metropolitan Police to release body cam footage from their raid on the US Institute of Peace earlier this year.
Please support them so they can further their vital work of maintaining journalists' First Amendment rights!
Please support them so they can further their vital work of maintaining journalists' First Amendment rights!
When the government refuses to release public records, we take action. When reporters are arrested for doing their job, we speak up.
This #GivingTuesday, support press freedom and the First Amendment with a donation to @rcfp.org: donate.rcfp.org/giving-tuesd...
This #GivingTuesday, support press freedom and the First Amendment with a donation to @rcfp.org: donate.rcfp.org/giving-tuesd...
December 2, 2025 at 10:03 PM
RCFP is currently representing me in my lawsuit against the DC Metropolitan Police to release body cam footage from their raid on the US Institute of Peace earlier this year.
Please support them so they can further their vital work of maintaining journalists' First Amendment rights!
Please support them so they can further their vital work of maintaining journalists' First Amendment rights!
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
Eric Foner, "What the Fugitive Slave Act Teaches Us About How States Can Resist Oppressive Federal Power," The Nation -- February 27, 2017
www.thenation.com/article/arch...
www.thenation.com/article/arch...
What the Fugitive Slave Act Teaches Us About How States Can Resist Oppressive Federal Power
The actions of attorneys general in California and other states have their antecedents in the fight against that draconian law.
www.thenation.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Eric Foner, "What the Fugitive Slave Act Teaches Us About How States Can Resist Oppressive Federal Power," The Nation -- February 27, 2017
www.thenation.com/article/arch...
www.thenation.com/article/arch...
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
"I keep thinking that evil would like nothing better than to have us feel awful about who we are."
November 29, 2025 at 7:32 PM
"I keep thinking that evil would like nothing better than to have us feel awful about who we are."
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
Finally getting some theological clarity on the ethics of reclining in one’s plane seat
November 29, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Finally getting some theological clarity on the ethics of reclining in one’s plane seat
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
"Anthropic paid" are the two key words here
Headline: "AI can replace 11.7% of workforce"
Actual study: Anthropic paid MIT to use a "labor simulation tool" that said 11.7% of TASKS could be done by AI
Actual study: Anthropic paid MIT to use a "labor simulation tool" that said 11.7% of TASKS could be done by AI
MIT study finds AI can already replace 11.7% of U.S. workforce
Artificial intelligence can already replace 11.7% of the U.S. labor market, across finance, health care and professional services, according to MIT's study.
www.cnbc.com
November 29, 2025 at 10:15 PM
"Anthropic paid" are the two key words here
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
MLB network still uses live captioning even with prerecorded content and that is how we got this moment
November 29, 2025 at 5:03 PM
MLB network still uses live captioning even with prerecorded content and that is how we got this moment
Reposted by Lindsay John Bell, Ph.D.
The fact that TPUSA posted the entirely reasonable comments from the instructor here as coming from the “TRANS PROFESSOR” gives away the game.
They’re not defending students, they’re targeting faculty — as always
They’re not defending students, they’re targeting faculty — as always
idk not to mention how very nuanced and normal the actual response here was
November 29, 2025 at 5:10 PM
The fact that TPUSA posted the entirely reasonable comments from the instructor here as coming from the “TRANS PROFESSOR” gives away the game.
They’re not defending students, they’re targeting faculty — as always
They’re not defending students, they’re targeting faculty — as always
A deeply thoughtful thread on our current horizon in eduction.
This bleak (but unfortunately compelling) thread makes me think that the individual human mind/psyche is just ill-suited to being plugged into machines that allow everyone everywhere to be simultaneously talking about everything that has ever happened or could have happened at any time in any place.
This is not a "students today" post--it's more "this is a new form of dysfunction" that doesn't look exactly like it's been in previous decades. It's more than just "first-year chaos." It's an across-the-board inability to process instructions, engage with longer texts, and *connect* with others.
November 29, 2025 at 3:59 PM
A deeply thoughtful thread on our current horizon in eduction.
ALL. OF. THIS.
“A college degree is not just about a job afterward — you have to be able to think, solve problems and apply those solutions, regardless of the field. How do we teach that without institutional support? How do we teach that when a student doesn’t want to and AI enables it?”
“A college degree is not just about a job afterward — you have to be able to think, solve problems and apply those solutions, regardless of the field. How do we teach that without institutional support? How do we teach that when a student doesn’t want to and AI enables it?”
I Set A Trap To Catch My Students Cheating With AI. The Results Were Shocking.
"Students are not just undermining their ability to learn, but to someday lead."
www.huffpost.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:44 PM
ALL. OF. THIS.
“A college degree is not just about a job afterward — you have to be able to think, solve problems and apply those solutions, regardless of the field. How do we teach that without institutional support? How do we teach that when a student doesn’t want to and AI enables it?”
“A college degree is not just about a job afterward — you have to be able to think, solve problems and apply those solutions, regardless of the field. How do we teach that without institutional support? How do we teach that when a student doesn’t want to and AI enables it?”
