Jon Dell Isola
@medievaljon.bsky.social
PhD Medieval History. I work on early medieval politics and society. I think about the meaning and purpose of history a lot. I have a blog called Among the Ruins: among-the-ruins.ghost.io
Someone mentioned to me that Louis the Child used the same royal seal as Louis the German, so I tracked it down: turns out that it not only is the same seal, but was seemingly using an antique gem of Emperor Hadrian. We know it's the same because it was repaired, with a visible crack. #medievalsky
February 2, 2026 at 5:12 PM
Someone mentioned to me that Louis the Child used the same royal seal as Louis the German, so I tracked it down: turns out that it not only is the same seal, but was seemingly using an antique gem of Emperor Hadrian. We know it's the same because it was repaired, with a visible crack. #medievalsky
"home cooking is borderline vanity project" might turn me into the joker
Treatler-Stalinism is a real ideology and an actual, tenured crackpot historian (who used to be a quite good historian) is a true believer in it.
We live in some goddamn interesting times.
We live in some goddamn interesting times.
February 2, 2026 at 5:06 PM
"home cooking is borderline vanity project" might turn me into the joker
Needs to be emphasized: this has an original soundtrack performed by Wang Chung. It rips
this is not a drill: To Live and Die in LA, one of the greatest crime films ever made, is on Criterion this month www.criterionchannel.com/stunts/seaso...
To Live and Die in L.A. - Stunts! - The Criterion Channel
Directed by William Friedkin • 1985 • United States
Starring William Petersen, Willem Dafoe, John Pankow
William Friedkin’s kinetic neonoir takes the ’80s action thriller to new heights of hyperstyli...
www.criterionchannel.com
February 2, 2026 at 1:28 AM
Needs to be emphasized: this has an original soundtrack performed by Wang Chung. It rips
Reposted by Jon Dell Isola
Thirty-five million dollars were spent marketing this! It is like someone eating spoonfuls of gold-encrusted garbage and beckoning you to watch. Look at how much gold I’ve put on it! More gold than anyone! Doesn’t it look delicious?
'Melania' Is a Horror Movie
The first lady is trapped, and she doesn’t seem to know it.
www.theatlantic.com
January 31, 2026 at 3:17 AM
Thirty-five million dollars were spent marketing this! It is like someone eating spoonfuls of gold-encrusted garbage and beckoning you to watch. Look at how much gold I’ve put on it! More gold than anyone! Doesn’t it look delicious?
A part of this, I think, is also trusting that they CAN learn and do these things. Ive seen too many professors infantilize students, which is counterproductive. Treating students like adults with yet-to-be-mastered skills makes them more invested
My hot take about the “students cannot read whole novels / watch whole films / etc.” is that they can learn to do it. None of us are born with attention spans suited for long media. It is a learned skill and can be developed with practice.
February 1, 2026 at 3:18 PM
A part of this, I think, is also trusting that they CAN learn and do these things. Ive seen too many professors infantilize students, which is counterproductive. Treating students like adults with yet-to-be-mastered skills makes them more invested
Reposted by Jon Dell Isola
Because I saw this last night and cant let it go: if you are critiquing people for how long it took them to get a PhD, grow up. Getting a PhD is hard enough without also trying to please some arbitrary speed guideline. It took me a long time in part because of covid, partially because I had to work
January 31, 2026 at 2:35 PM
Because I saw this last night and cant let it go: if you are critiquing people for how long it took them to get a PhD, grow up. Getting a PhD is hard enough without also trying to please some arbitrary speed guideline. It took me a long time in part because of covid, partially because I had to work
Nothing sours my mood faster than having to take a $15, 4 minute long, Uber drive because the next bus wasn't arriving for 45 minutes in 20 degree weather
January 31, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Nothing sours my mood faster than having to take a $15, 4 minute long, Uber drive because the next bus wasn't arriving for 45 minutes in 20 degree weather
Because I saw this last night and cant let it go: if you are critiquing people for how long it took them to get a PhD, grow up. Getting a PhD is hard enough without also trying to please some arbitrary speed guideline. It took me a long time in part because of covid, partially because I had to work
January 31, 2026 at 2:35 PM
Because I saw this last night and cant let it go: if you are critiquing people for how long it took them to get a PhD, grow up. Getting a PhD is hard enough without also trying to please some arbitrary speed guideline. It took me a long time in part because of covid, partially because I had to work
Reposted by Jon Dell Isola
This is my sub field so I know it best, and the things I’m saying are true about other fields as well. But … these decisions are not about student demand or interest.
January 31, 2026 at 2:28 PM
This is my sub field so I know it best, and the things I’m saying are true about other fields as well. But … these decisions are not about student demand or interest.
Its never been a demand problem, always a political issue. David knows this, but its something I feel compelled to emphasize every chance I get
I think we could have gotten 150. Certainly 120. Every time we added seats they filled in a day.
January 31, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Its never been a demand problem, always a political issue. David knows this, but its something I feel compelled to emphasize every chance I get
Final call for the @bsrome.bsky.social and Early Medieval Europe early career fellowship, for a month's stay in Rome plus some travel costs to get there. Deadline tomorrow.
bsr.ac.uk/awards-resid...
bsr.ac.uk/awards-resid...
January 30, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Check out this job posted *three* days ago, with review of applications starting Feb. 9th. If you caught this on day 1, you would have about two weeks to do this AND get three people to write you a letter. I can't help but feel it is designed to weed people out preemptively. Also, no salary listed
January 30, 2026 at 5:17 PM
Check out this job posted *three* days ago, with review of applications starting Feb. 9th. If you caught this on day 1, you would have about two weeks to do this AND get three people to write you a letter. I can't help but feel it is designed to weed people out preemptively. Also, no salary listed
Quite literally my one rule was that I would not take out any loans for my PhD. It was a miracle I did so, and was very lucky and privileged at different times.
never pay for your phd. unless there are specific, field-related reasons why your program isn’t funded, no program is worth paying for. and remember that not all schools will fund you all the way through. check average completion times vs. years of funding.
OP's #1 advice is also critical. DO NOT PAY FOR A PhD, esp in the humanities (but really in any field).
January 30, 2026 at 4:04 PM
Quite literally my one rule was that I would not take out any loans for my PhD. It was a miracle I did so, and was very lucky and privileged at different times.
This feels weirdly exclusionary, we shouldn't exclude people because they don't have huge networks or people placing them into favored positions. Also this is a big insult to anyone here (cough cough) who sees a job and didn't know about it for whatever reason.
January 30, 2026 at 3:42 PM
This feels weirdly exclusionary, we shouldn't exclude people because they don't have huge networks or people placing them into favored positions. Also this is a big insult to anyone here (cough cough) who sees a job and didn't know about it for whatever reason.
Here is the very latest from Caroline Goodson, hot off the presses! It is an amazing and incredibly important study. Already put it in my syllabus! academic.oup.com/past/advance...
Papyrus Economies and the Experience of Early Medieval Papal Documents*
Abstract. The medium of papyrus, a ubiquitous, state-sponsored product in the Roman world, was turned by the empire’s loss of Egypt in the 630s–640s into a
academic.oup.com
January 30, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by Jon Dell Isola
I will simply never recover from reading this sentence:
"Since Georgia implemented work requirements in 2020, they have spent twice as much on Deloitte consultants and administrative costs as on healthcare for people."
"Since Georgia implemented work requirements in 2020, they have spent twice as much on Deloitte consultants and administrative costs as on healthcare for people."
Today, Luke Farrell (@lukef.bsky.social) explains how complex eligibility requirements have turned America’s safety net into a lucrative revenue stream for monopolistic private contractors.
The Means-Testing Industrial Complex
As Republicans tightened work requirements and eligibility rules for Medicaid and SNAP last year, Equifax’s CEO openly celebrated the profits to be made from administering this deprivation.
lpeproject.org
January 28, 2026 at 4:33 PM
I will simply never recover from reading this sentence:
"Since Georgia implemented work requirements in 2020, they have spent twice as much on Deloitte consultants and administrative costs as on healthcare for people."
"Since Georgia implemented work requirements in 2020, they have spent twice as much on Deloitte consultants and administrative costs as on healthcare for people."
Also spotted, I hear it has a happy ending @lollardfish.bsky.social
January 29, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Also spotted, I hear it has a happy ending @lollardfish.bsky.social
Spotted in the wild @adapalmer.bsky.social. Staff pick too!
January 29, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Spotted in the wild @adapalmer.bsky.social. Staff pick too!
Arnulf erasure here
January 29, 2026 at 1:37 PM
Arnulf erasure here
Reposted by Jon Dell Isola
BREAKING: someone is sitting down at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo for the 72oz steak lunch challenge.
How do you even spend the rest of your day after this?
How do you even spend the rest of your day after this?
January 28, 2026 at 7:51 PM
BREAKING: someone is sitting down at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo for the 72oz steak lunch challenge.
How do you even spend the rest of your day after this?
How do you even spend the rest of your day after this?
ok this is good
January 28, 2026 at 8:12 PM
ok this is good
I'm gonna say something maybe controversial: the hyperfocus on "first ballot" Hall of Famers is a bigger problem, where anything less than perfection is seen as failure. Its corrosive to everything and we see it all the time in evaluations of grad students/scholars
January 28, 2026 at 1:03 AM
I'm gonna say something maybe controversial: the hyperfocus on "first ballot" Hall of Famers is a bigger problem, where anything less than perfection is seen as failure. Its corrosive to everything and we see it all the time in evaluations of grad students/scholars
Reposted by Jon Dell Isola
The Chargers should not only do Hard Knocks, I need Mike McDaniel and John Harbaugh to do a season of True Detective
January 28, 2026 at 12:29 AM
The Chargers should not only do Hard Knocks, I need Mike McDaniel and John Harbaugh to do a season of True Detective
This manuscript is so cool to look through if you've never seen it. #medievalsky
The tutor's nightmare of stylus wielding students
Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 264; Prudentius, Carmina; c. 900 CE; p.121 (e-codices.ch/en/list/one/...)
Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 264; Prudentius, Carmina; c. 900 CE; p.121 (e-codices.ch/en/list/one/...)
January 27, 2026 at 9:20 PM
This manuscript is so cool to look through if you've never seen it. #medievalsky
"OK I'll just take the bus down to the grocery store"
"This line is temporarily suspended" 🙃
"This line is temporarily suspended" 🙃
Genuinely don't know how I'm getting out of my apartment in the next few days, car so frozen in that my ice scraper literally broke! Looks like my street isn't even plowed. A nice fun return to DC for me
January 26, 2026 at 11:15 PM
"OK I'll just take the bus down to the grocery store"
"This line is temporarily suspended" 🙃
"This line is temporarily suspended" 🙃