Chris Riedel
@medievalhistory.bsky.social
Teaching medieval & ancient history at a SLAC in Michigan. Researches nostalgia. Lots of nerdy things. A greyhound named Malibu. Still misses old Twitter. he/him 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Stars (Wars nor Trek), LOTR, or Marvel, Disney Animated or Pixar.
(A number of Xmas movies like Die Hard would have worked, but I went for the movie I demanded so often as a child I was only permitted to watch it with babysitters)
(A number of Xmas movies like Die Hard would have worked, but I went for the movie I demanded so often as a child I was only permitted to watch it with babysitters)
December 7, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Stars (Wars nor Trek), LOTR, or Marvel, Disney Animated or Pixar.
(A number of Xmas movies like Die Hard would have worked, but I went for the movie I demanded so often as a child I was only permitted to watch it with babysitters)
(A number of Xmas movies like Die Hard would have worked, but I went for the movie I demanded so often as a child I was only permitted to watch it with babysitters)
Finally joined the Tolkien Society, mostly because my town has its own Smial. Reached out and will be meeting with them in January for a discussion of part of Beren and Luthien. I'm quite happy about this.
December 7, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Finally joined the Tolkien Society, mostly because my town has its own Smial. Reached out and will be meeting with them in January for a discussion of part of Beren and Luthien. I'm quite happy about this.
As an atheist reading Dante I struggled to appreciate his description of Limbo. I understood it intellectually: to a theist, being cut off from God is in itself a form of torment. In many ways it underpins his entire theology of the Comedy. But I did not understand it emotionally.
December 6, 2025 at 1:01 PM
As an atheist reading Dante I struggled to appreciate his description of Limbo. I understood it intellectually: to a theist, being cut off from God is in itself a form of torment. In many ways it underpins his entire theology of the Comedy. But I did not understand it emotionally.
Reposted by Chris Riedel
Framing GenAI as a battle between teachers and students is a red herring. Students and educators are on the same side. The real opposition are the data extraction firms and brokerages and their allies among the managerial class.
December 4, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Framing GenAI as a battle between teachers and students is a red herring. Students and educators are on the same side. The real opposition are the data extraction firms and brokerages and their allies among the managerial class.
Anyone else bothered that Stranger Things made a big anachronism by referencing sorcerers as a character class in D&D 20 years before their introduction in 3rd ed?
Yes I know Al-Qadim introduced a sorcerer class in 2nd ed, but 1) that was the 90s & 2) the show references them as spontaneous casters
Yes I know Al-Qadim introduced a sorcerer class in 2nd ed, but 1) that was the 90s & 2) the show references them as spontaneous casters
December 5, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Anyone else bothered that Stranger Things made a big anachronism by referencing sorcerers as a character class in D&D 20 years before their introduction in 3rd ed?
Yes I know Al-Qadim introduced a sorcerer class in 2nd ed, but 1) that was the 90s & 2) the show references them as spontaneous casters
Yes I know Al-Qadim introduced a sorcerer class in 2nd ed, but 1) that was the 90s & 2) the show references them as spontaneous casters
Reposted by Chris Riedel
Students reading by “candlelight” in my Book History and Materiality course.
December 1, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Students reading by “candlelight” in my Book History and Materiality course.
Reposted by Chris Riedel
December 1, 2025 at 12:47 PM
I've decided to just lean in with being a sword guy. To be fair, they're really useful as teaching props, students love these.
November 28, 2025 at 10:18 PM
I've decided to just lean in with being a sword guy. To be fair, they're really useful as teaching props, students love these.
Reposted by Chris Riedel
A fun afternoon yesterday with the @rialibrary.bsky.social Stowe Missal! MS D ii 3 dates to the late 8th/early 9th centuries, and contains excerpts from the Gospel of St John and a Latin Missal. The last folio features Irish charms to protect against loss of eyesight and urinal diseases! 📜🎉
November 26, 2025 at 2:36 PM
A fun afternoon yesterday with the @rialibrary.bsky.social Stowe Missal! MS D ii 3 dates to the late 8th/early 9th centuries, and contains excerpts from the Gospel of St John and a Latin Missal. The last folio features Irish charms to protect against loss of eyesight and urinal diseases! 📜🎉
So no one knows this, but if my sign off is ever "sincerely" I am at the least deeply exasperated, and quite possibly actively enraged.
November 21, 2025 at 11:00 PM
So no one knows this, but if my sign off is ever "sincerely" I am at the least deeply exasperated, and quite possibly actively enraged.
And to Cuivienen there is no returning
November 21, 2025 at 5:51 PM
And to Cuivienen there is no returning
“...Time, irresistible, ever moving, carries off & bears away all things...History is a great bulwark against this stream of Time...it holds in a tight grasp whatever it can seize floating on the surface & will not allow it to slip away into the depths of Oblivion.”
- Anna Komnena, The Alexiad
- Anna Komnena, The Alexiad
November 13, 2025 at 10:46 AM
“...Time, irresistible, ever moving, carries off & bears away all things...History is a great bulwark against this stream of Time...it holds in a tight grasp whatever it can seize floating on the surface & will not allow it to slip away into the depths of Oblivion.”
- Anna Komnena, The Alexiad
- Anna Komnena, The Alexiad
Hear me out: the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, but just five hours of Shire music with the occasional elven hymn thrown in.
November 9, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Hear me out: the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, but just five hours of Shire music with the occasional elven hymn thrown in.
Reposted by Chris Riedel
The greatest con the Right ever pulled off is convincing America that mainstream media leans left.
November 9, 2025 at 1:47 PM
The greatest con the Right ever pulled off is convincing America that mainstream media leans left.
Reposted by Chris Riedel
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 9:23 AM
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
Reposted by Chris Riedel
A high-resolution digital map allows people to plan their routes along the ancient roads of the Roman Empire
go.nature.com/4nHZmoM
go.nature.com/4nHZmoM
‘Google Maps’ for Roman roads reveals vast extent of ancient network
Nature - A high-resolution digital map nearly doubles the known length of the ancient road network.
go.nature.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:08 AM
A high-resolution digital map allows people to plan their routes along the ancient roads of the Roman Empire
go.nature.com/4nHZmoM
go.nature.com/4nHZmoM
Reposted by Chris Riedel
and her and my joint article which introduces the concept of the prodrome of the pandemic www.cambridge.org/core/journal... 3/4
Plague history, Mongol history, and the processes of focalisation leading up to the Black Death: a response to Brack et al. | Medical History | Cambridge Core
Plague history, Mongol history, and the processes of focalisation leading up to the Black Death: a response to Brack et al. - Volume 68 Issue 4
www.cambridge.org
November 7, 2025 at 8:32 AM
and her and my joint article which introduces the concept of the prodrome of the pandemic www.cambridge.org/core/journal... 3/4
Ugh. Daylight savings ending combined with other stressors seems to be giving me insomnia. An unfortunate week to have to make my 105 mile round trip commute all five days.
November 6, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Ugh. Daylight savings ending combined with other stressors seems to be giving me insomnia. An unfortunate week to have to make my 105 mile round trip commute all five days.
Wow. Watching R1s finally realize that academia is dying because it's starting to impact them is... well, it turns out, just as annoying as when they were oblivious. It's still all about them. They still have no idea what higher ed looks like beyond their quads.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Ph.D. Cuts Are the Beginning of the End for Academia | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson
Trump’s attacks have irrevocably altered the playing field for academia, and it may never recover.
www.thecrimson.com
November 1, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Wow. Watching R1s finally realize that academia is dying because it's starting to impact them is... well, it turns out, just as annoying as when they were oblivious. It's still all about them. They still have no idea what higher ed looks like beyond their quads.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Reposted by Chris Riedel
🚨 COMING TOMORROW🚨 🎙️ Dive into the untold history of Eastern Europe with @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social ! Explore the significance of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth and the rich tapestry of cultures that exist beyond the 20th century narrative.
October 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM
🚨 COMING TOMORROW🚨 🎙️ Dive into the untold history of Eastern Europe with @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social ! Explore the significance of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth and the rich tapestry of cultures that exist beyond the 20th century narrative.
I'm rewatching Picard after a complete rewatch of TNG (post season 1), DS9, & VOY, and at first I was surprised, it seemed much better than I remembered, but about seven episodes into season one the writing takes a real downturn in quality.
October 26, 2025 at 2:34 AM
I'm rewatching Picard after a complete rewatch of TNG (post season 1), DS9, & VOY, and at first I was surprised, it seemed much better than I remembered, but about seven episodes into season one the writing takes a real downturn in quality.
Signum amoris in operibus
October 25, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Signum amoris in operibus
My (delightful) partner, assessing our visit to Segovia: "It's only a real castle if it's in Castile, otherwise it's just sparkling battlements."
October 24, 2025 at 11:38 PM
My (delightful) partner, assessing our visit to Segovia: "It's only a real castle if it's in Castile, otherwise it's just sparkling battlements."
If the purpose of your economy is not to benefit all the people who participate in it, then your economy needs work.
October 24, 2025 at 1:52 AM
If the purpose of your economy is not to benefit all the people who participate in it, then your economy needs work.
Reposted by Chris Riedel
Today, the White House Press Secretary told the country that this ridiculous damn ballroom is “the president’s main priority”…not reopening the government, not lowering the cost of groceries, not lowering the cost of housing, not lowering the cost of healthcare….building a ballroom
October 23, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Today, the White House Press Secretary told the country that this ridiculous damn ballroom is “the president’s main priority”…not reopening the government, not lowering the cost of groceries, not lowering the cost of housing, not lowering the cost of healthcare….building a ballroom