Jay Rubenstein
@medievaljay.bsky.social
Medieval historian interested in other stuff
Pinned
Jay Rubenstein
@medievaljay.bsky.social
· Sep 14
So who am I and what am I doing? I am a historian of medieval Europe and am writing a book on the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1187). It is under contract with Basic Books. The goal is to write a narrative history the incorporates cultural, religious, apocalyptic, and romantic (!) material
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
Just listened to @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social talking about topics of his new book, and it was so interesting. Now I have to get hands on the book (and find some time to read it, which is much more difficult.) www.historyextra.com/membership/1... #medievalsky
11th-century Europe: not just the Norman Conquest
Charles West explains how the 11th century saw a raft of major changes and a plethora of significant events that extend beyond the Norman Conquest
www.historyextra.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:36 AM
Just listened to @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social talking about topics of his new book, and it was so interesting. Now I have to get hands on the book (and find some time to read it, which is much more difficult.) www.historyextra.com/membership/1... #medievalsky
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
I can't get over this. In response to a kid committing suicide after talking to ChatGPT, OpenAI's response is literally "he prompted it wrong."
There's something profoundly broken in these people's hearts.
There's something profoundly broken in these people's hearts.
Sure sure you might say that my client's knife "caused" the victim to stop being able to pump blood to their brain, but Hume's 𝘌𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 really makes it clear that we should all have some reasonable doubt about the concept of "causation"
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
November 26, 2025 at 6:16 AM
I can't get over this. In response to a kid committing suicide after talking to ChatGPT, OpenAI's response is literally "he prompted it wrong."
There's something profoundly broken in these people's hearts.
There's something profoundly broken in these people's hearts.
About 2/3 of the way through my book manuscript on Crusader Jerusalem, I am reading everything I have written, some of it for the first time. The meaning of this sentence is elusive: "Or maybe Harran just gave up, no shit involved."
November 25, 2025 at 10:28 AM
About 2/3 of the way through my book manuscript on Crusader Jerusalem, I am reading everything I have written, some of it for the first time. The meaning of this sentence is elusive: "Or maybe Harran just gave up, no shit involved."
A favorite
Emperor Heraclius returning the true Cross to Jerusalem
Cambridge University Library, MS Mm.5.31; Expositio in Apocalypsim, Alexander Minorita; 1249-1250 CE; Germany, Cologne or Lower Saxony; f.81v @camdiglib.bsky.social
Cambridge University Library, MS Mm.5.31; Expositio in Apocalypsim, Alexander Minorita; 1249-1250 CE; Germany, Cologne or Lower Saxony; f.81v @camdiglib.bsky.social
November 24, 2025 at 10:40 PM
A favorite
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
Winchester Cathedral.
The disturbingly realistic cadaver effigy of Richard Fox, (d1528). a prominent politician and diplomat, under Henry VII. He was Bishop of Winchester from 1501 to 1528 .
#momentomorimonday #tudor
The disturbingly realistic cadaver effigy of Richard Fox, (d1528). a prominent politician and diplomat, under Henry VII. He was Bishop of Winchester from 1501 to 1528 .
#momentomorimonday #tudor
November 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Winchester Cathedral.
The disturbingly realistic cadaver effigy of Richard Fox, (d1528). a prominent politician and diplomat, under Henry VII. He was Bishop of Winchester from 1501 to 1528 .
#momentomorimonday #tudor
The disturbingly realistic cadaver effigy of Richard Fox, (d1528). a prominent politician and diplomat, under Henry VII. He was Bishop of Winchester from 1501 to 1528 .
#momentomorimonday #tudor
Post a movie where you are from.
No movies filmed in Cushing, Oklahoma, as far as I know, so I’ll settle for Stillwater, 30 miles down the road.
No movies filmed in Cushing, Oklahoma, as far as I know, so I’ll settle for Stillwater, 30 miles down the road.
November 23, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Post a movie where you are from.
No movies filmed in Cushing, Oklahoma, as far as I know, so I’ll settle for Stillwater, 30 miles down the road.
No movies filmed in Cushing, Oklahoma, as far as I know, so I’ll settle for Stillwater, 30 miles down the road.
November 23, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
Hey Miami! Come see me speak TODAY at the #MiamiBookFair2025. I'll be talking about why tech billionaire promises of superintelligent AI and space colonization are pure fantasies, why claims of AI apocalypse are also wrong, and what we can do to fight back against Big Tech's power. Today at 3PM!
THE INSTABILITY & INHERENT DANGER OF AI – NONFICTION - Miami Book Fair
In The Intelligence Explosion: When AI Beats Humans at Everything, James Barrat shares tools to navigate the complex and often chaotic landscape of modern AI during an unprecedented era of technologic...
www.miamibookfair.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Hey Miami! Come see me speak TODAY at the #MiamiBookFair2025. I'll be talking about why tech billionaire promises of superintelligent AI and space colonization are pure fantasies, why claims of AI apocalypse are also wrong, and what we can do to fight back against Big Tech's power. Today at 3PM!
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
Oh my god that is the worst possible answer
November 21, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Oh my god that is the worst possible answer
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
Great essay. It goes beyond the headline (students cheat!) to offer some really thoughtful observations about where we might be heading as a culture.
To “my students and to anyone who might listen, I say: Don’t surrender to AI your ability to read, write and think when others once risked their lives and died for the freedom to do so.”
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
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 21, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Great essay. It goes beyond the headline (students cheat!) to offer some really thoughtful observations about where we might be heading as a culture.
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
Still mourning the loss of Todd Snider. Great songwriter, amazing mind. "They say sixty-five percent of all statistics
Are made up right there on the spot
Eighty-two-point-four percent of people believe 'em
Whether they're accurate statistics or not"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUK6...
Are made up right there on the spot
Eighty-two-point-four percent of people believe 'em
Whether they're accurate statistics or not"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUK6...
Todd Snider - Statistician's Blues
YouTube video by ewecylinder
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Still mourning the loss of Todd Snider. Great songwriter, amazing mind. "They say sixty-five percent of all statistics
Are made up right there on the spot
Eighty-two-point-four percent of people believe 'em
Whether they're accurate statistics or not"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUK6...
Are made up right there on the spot
Eighty-two-point-four percent of people believe 'em
Whether they're accurate statistics or not"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUK6...
Still mourning the loss of Todd Snider. Great songwriter, amazing mind. "They say sixty-five percent of all statistics
Are made up right there on the spot
Eighty-two-point-four percent of people believe 'em
Whether they're accurate statistics or not"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUK6...
Are made up right there on the spot
Eighty-two-point-four percent of people believe 'em
Whether they're accurate statistics or not"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUK6...
Todd Snider - Statistician's Blues
YouTube video by ewecylinder
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Still mourning the loss of Todd Snider. Great songwriter, amazing mind. "They say sixty-five percent of all statistics
Are made up right there on the spot
Eighty-two-point-four percent of people believe 'em
Whether they're accurate statistics or not"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUK6...
Are made up right there on the spot
Eighty-two-point-four percent of people believe 'em
Whether they're accurate statistics or not"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUK6...
Great essay. It goes beyond the headline (students cheat!) to offer some really thoughtful observations about where we might be heading as a culture.
To “my students and to anyone who might listen, I say: Don’t surrender to AI your ability to read, write and think when others once risked their lives and died for the freedom to do so.”
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
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 21, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Great essay. It goes beyond the headline (students cheat!) to offer some really thoughtful observations about where we might be heading as a culture.
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
St Edmund's legend tells that after his martyrdom his body was decapitated, and his crowned head was protected by a wolf for three days. This scene appears on a number of 15C East Anglian bench ends, as here at Stonham Aspal, Suffolk. 1/3
Stonham Aspal: www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/stonhamaspal...
Stonham Aspal: www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/stonhamaspal...
November 20, 2025 at 7:14 AM
St Edmund's legend tells that after his martyrdom his body was decapitated, and his crowned head was protected by a wolf for three days. This scene appears on a number of 15C East Anglian bench ends, as here at Stonham Aspal, Suffolk. 1/3
Stonham Aspal: www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/stonhamaspal...
Stonham Aspal: www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/stonhamaspal...
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
Today's the feast of St Edmund, King and Martyr, patron saint of East Anglia. A partial boss in St Edmund's church, Norwich, reads Velut Rosa, Vel Lilium, 'like a rose or a lily'. A sword and an arrow pierce three crowns.
www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/norwichedmun...
www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/norwichedmun...
November 20, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Today's the feast of St Edmund, King and Martyr, patron saint of East Anglia. A partial boss in St Edmund's church, Norwich, reads Velut Rosa, Vel Lilium, 'like a rose or a lily'. A sword and an arrow pierce three crowns.
www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/norwichedmun...
www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/norwichedmun...
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
The scale of the damage at the British Library is difficult to fathom from the outside. Working in the wreckage of the hack has made me even less sanguine about the digital age into which we have leapt feet first.
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:26 PM
The scale of the damage at the British Library is difficult to fathom from the outside. Working in the wreckage of the hack has made me even less sanguine about the digital age into which we have leapt feet first.
The scale of the damage at the British Library is difficult to fathom from the outside. Working in the wreckage of the hack has made me even less sanguine about the digital age into which we have leapt feet first.
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:26 PM
The scale of the damage at the British Library is difficult to fathom from the outside. Working in the wreckage of the hack has made me even less sanguine about the digital age into which we have leapt feet first.
What perfect album came out the year you turned 16? (Just try to beat this one! Sheer perfection, college music was invented, and the whole world changed.)
November 17, 2025 at 6:38 PM
What perfect album came out the year you turned 16? (Just try to beat this one! Sheer perfection, college music was invented, and the whole world changed.)
Play a train song,
pour me one more round,
make 'em leave my boots on when they lay me into the ground.
I am a runaway locomotive,
outta my one track mind.
RIP Todd Snider.
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
pour me one more round,
make 'em leave my boots on when they lay me into the ground.
I am a runaway locomotive,
outta my one track mind.
RIP Todd Snider.
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Todd Snider, Rambling Troubadour Who Helped Shape Alt-Country and Americana, Dead at 59
Todd Snider, the rambling troubadour who helped shape the Americana music movement, has died at 59.
www.rollingstone.com
November 15, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Play a train song,
pour me one more round,
make 'em leave my boots on when they lay me into the ground.
I am a runaway locomotive,
outta my one track mind.
RIP Todd Snider.
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
pour me one more round,
make 'em leave my boots on when they lay me into the ground.
I am a runaway locomotive,
outta my one track mind.
RIP Todd Snider.
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
This joke is dense
Just for laughs...
November 12, 2025 at 10:50 PM
This joke is dense
This place. edition.cnn.com/travel/turke...
Mount Nemrut: Where colossal stone gods guard a 2,000-year-old mystery | CNN
High above southeastern Turkey, a forgotten king’s dream of immortality has left behind huge stone figures, ancient myths, and a mysterious tomb carved into a windswept mountaintop.
edition.cnn.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:00 PM
This place. edition.cnn.com/travel/turke...
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
Why was I not made of stone, like thee?
From the Pont Neuf in Paris, a gargoyle wagging his tongue and looking a bit out of sorts
November 8, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Why was I not made of stone, like thee?
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
ha ha! Las Vegas?!
WHERE AM I??
Go ahead and have a guess, if you think you’re clever enough.
Go ahead and have a guess, if you think you’re clever enough.
November 8, 2025 at 3:47 PM
ha ha! Las Vegas?!
A foggy morning in the nation’s capital.
November 9, 2025 at 7:37 AM
A foggy morning in the nation’s capital.