Andrew Wehrman
@profwehrman.bsky.social
History professor at CMU and author of "The Contagion of Liberty: The Politics of Smallpox in the American Revolution" Vaccination is patriotic.
New book project(!) tentatively titled: Afterlife and Liberty: New York City’s Doctors’ Riot of 1788
New book project(!) tentatively titled: Afterlife and Liberty: New York City’s Doctors’ Riot of 1788
Im excited to visit Auburn University next week to give a lecture on the public health legacy of the American Revolution as part of both their Humanities and Healthcare speaker series and their RevolutionaryLegacies speaker series for the 250th. cla.auburn.edu/news/article...
Auburn speaker series continues dialogue about importance of humanities in health care
The Medical and Health Humanities Speaker Series brings together faculty, staff, students and community members to introduce the importance of the humanities in health care.
cla.auburn.edu
January 30, 2026 at 11:41 AM
Im excited to visit Auburn University next week to give a lecture on the public health legacy of the American Revolution as part of both their Humanities and Healthcare speaker series and their RevolutionaryLegacies speaker series for the 250th. cla.auburn.edu/news/article...
Leave it to MAGA and MAHA to bring us back to the measles outbreaks of the Roaring 20s.
January 29, 2026 at 2:07 AM
Leave it to MAGA and MAHA to bring us back to the measles outbreaks of the Roaring 20s.
Reposted by Andrew Wehrman
Infectious diseases do not magically disappear just because you stop tracking and reporting. This is dangerous.
When diseases spread in silence, outbreaks go undetected for much longer and containment is more difficult.
All of this means more avoidable deaths.
www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...
When diseases spread in silence, outbreaks go undetected for much longer and containment is more difficult.
All of this means more avoidable deaths.
www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...
CDC Stopped Updating Key Vaccine, Infectious Disease Databases in 2025
The inaction 'demonstrates a profound disregard for human life,' says IDSA leader
www.medpagetoday.com
January 28, 2026 at 1:29 AM
Infectious diseases do not magically disappear just because you stop tracking and reporting. This is dangerous.
When diseases spread in silence, outbreaks go undetected for much longer and containment is more difficult.
All of this means more avoidable deaths.
www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...
When diseases spread in silence, outbreaks go undetected for much longer and containment is more difficult.
All of this means more avoidable deaths.
www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...
Reposted by Andrew Wehrman
Excellent article, combining real reporting and information with the intellectual training to give shape and meaning to events. Exactly what such writing should do, and exactly what both-sidesism and vapid op-eds don't do.
Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
January 27, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Excellent article, combining real reporting and information with the intellectual training to give shape and meaning to events. Exactly what such writing should do, and exactly what both-sidesism and vapid op-eds don't do.
Two years after the Boston Massacre a lantern in a balcony near the site illuminated a painting of the shooting with the words “The fatal effect of a standing army posted in a free city.”
January 26, 2026 at 2:18 AM
Two years after the Boston Massacre a lantern in a balcony near the site illuminated a painting of the shooting with the words “The fatal effect of a standing army posted in a free city.”
Bostonians commemorated the Boston Massacre annually for a dozen years from 1771-1783 or until independence from the government responsible was achieved.
Hugo Lowell told MSNOW that the Trump administration expects that the murder of Alex Pretti will "blow over and go away." They believe that Americans will forget about it in a week or so.
January 25, 2026 at 11:39 PM
Bostonians commemorated the Boston Massacre annually for a dozen years from 1771-1783 or until independence from the government responsible was achieved.
Reposted by Andrew Wehrman
As Jonathan Foster used to say in his Journalism 101 class: “If someone tells you it's raining and another tells you it's dry, it's not your job to quote them both. It's your job to look out the fucking window and find out which is true.”
To journalists everywhere: You cannot both-sides this.
To journalists everywhere: You cannot both-sides this.
January 25, 2026 at 12:11 AM
As Jonathan Foster used to say in his Journalism 101 class: “If someone tells you it's raining and another tells you it's dry, it's not your job to quote them both. It's your job to look out the fucking window and find out which is true.”
To journalists everywhere: You cannot both-sides this.
To journalists everywhere: You cannot both-sides this.
Anti-vaxxers and anti-public health folks also love the Gadsden flag, but Christopher Gadsden, creator of flag, was a commissioner in Charleston in charge of keeping weekly records of smallpox cases, hiring guards to quarantine them, and levying heavy fines on any who wantonly spread the disease.
One thing I’m thinking about today is the hollowness of all the “Don’t Tread on Me” extremists, who turn out to be just far-right extremists. Dems should retake the Gadsden flag.
Is there a good blue maker of Gadsden flags that doesn’t support far-right causes?
Is there a good blue maker of Gadsden flags that doesn’t support far-right causes?
January 24, 2026 at 10:33 PM
Anti-vaxxers and anti-public health folks also love the Gadsden flag, but Christopher Gadsden, creator of flag, was a commissioner in Charleston in charge of keeping weekly records of smallpox cases, hiring guards to quarantine them, and levying heavy fines on any who wantonly spread the disease.
Our government is not exactly out there trying to "establish justice and insure domestic tranquility," is it? You know, the first two duties mentioned in The Constitution after “We the people”
Attorney General Pam Bondi: "Our country was founded on law enforcement"
Bondi: "It's extremely organized. The signs they have are all matching, they're well written. And look at what's happening today. How did these people go out & get gas masks? These protesters. Would you know how to walk out on the street and buy a gas mask? Think about that. We're not gonna have it"
January 24, 2026 at 8:23 PM
Our government is not exactly out there trying to "establish justice and insure domestic tranquility," is it? You know, the first two duties mentioned in The Constitution after “We the people”
Reposted by Andrew Wehrman
The 250th will be similar to the centennial celebration for the American Civil War (1961-65): systematic whitewashing of slavery and colonialism amid multiple national civil rights movements. The more things change...
Signs about the history of slavery in the U.S. and the 9 people George Washington enslaved are being removed right now at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia, across from Independence Hall, months after the Trump administration threatend to do so.
How far we have not come in 250 years.
How far we have not come in 250 years.
January 23, 2026 at 1:43 PM
The 250th will be similar to the centennial celebration for the American Civil War (1961-65): systematic whitewashing of slavery and colonialism amid multiple national civil rights movements. The more things change...
Reposted by Andrew Wehrman
@johngmarks.com is the perfect person to talk about this issue. He is the Vice President of Research and Engagement at the American Association for State and Local History and the author of a forthcoming book about how Americans have remembered and forgotten George Washington and slavery. Join us.
Tomorrow at noon I will be speaking live with @johngmarks.com about the decision to remove a slavery exhibit at Independence Park in Philadelphia. Hope you can join us. #NationalParks open.substack.com/live-stream/...
LIVE SOON: National Park Service Ordered to Remove Slavery Exhibit In Philadelphia
Starting Jan 23 at 12:00 PM EST
open.substack.com
January 23, 2026 at 1:22 PM
@johngmarks.com is the perfect person to talk about this issue. He is the Vice President of Research and Engagement at the American Association for State and Local History and the author of a forthcoming book about how Americans have remembered and forgotten George Washington and slavery. Join us.
Reposted by Andrew Wehrman
It’s not so much that Trump & co don’t think slavery was important, they want to remove this history precisely *because* of how important it was. They don’t want people to learn about slavery because then people would understand how it continues to shape the landscape of inequality in America today.
Signs about the history of slavery in the U.S. and the 9 people George Washington enslaved are being removed right now at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia, across from Independence Hall, months after the Trump administration threatend to do so.
How far we have not come in 250 years.
How far we have not come in 250 years.
January 22, 2026 at 10:19 PM
It’s not so much that Trump & co don’t think slavery was important, they want to remove this history precisely *because* of how important it was. They don’t want people to learn about slavery because then people would understand how it continues to shape the landscape of inequality in America today.
Just remembered that in high school I was actually voted “Most likely to win a Nobel Peace Prize,” so get in line, Trump.
"Donald Trump now genuinely lives in a different reality, one in which neither grammar nor history nor the normal rules of human interaction now affect him. Also, he really is maniacally, unhealthily obsessive about the Nobel Prize."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com
January 19, 2026 at 3:38 PM
Just remembered that in high school I was actually voted “Most likely to win a Nobel Peace Prize,” so get in line, Trump.
Where are all those “we’re not a democracy we’re a constitutional republic” guys now that we’ve got a democratically elected but mad and lawless president?
January 19, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Where are all those “we’re not a democracy we’re a constitutional republic” guys now that we’ve got a democratically elected but mad and lawless president?
Melanie was the copy editor for my book.
Got pepper sprayed this morning. Was blowing my whistle *several* feet from ICE agents, and one yelled I was obstructing and came at me. I turned away and he reached around to get the pepper spray under my glasses and shot directly into my left eye.
I'm okay. Just truly incandescently enraged.
I'm okay. Just truly incandescently enraged.
January 17, 2026 at 3:06 PM
Melanie was the copy editor for my book.
Reposted by Andrew Wehrman
Pollsters need to find real ways to measure intensity of public opinion. "Yeah, I disapprove very much and I also disapprove very much when my NFL team loses" is not the same as "this policy is actually ruining my life" or "my children won't sleep because they are afraid of being kidnapped."
January 15, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Pollsters need to find real ways to measure intensity of public opinion. "Yeah, I disapprove very much and I also disapprove very much when my NFL team loses" is not the same as "this policy is actually ruining my life" or "my children won't sleep because they are afraid of being kidnapped."
Reposted by Andrew Wehrman
Posts from Minneapolis residents read like they'll be read in voiceover in a Ken Burns-like doc one day
January 15, 2026 at 4:34 PM
Posts from Minneapolis residents read like they'll be read in voiceover in a Ken Burns-like doc one day
Reposted by Andrew Wehrman
I am so humbled and thrilled to say that my first book, Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and America’s First Opioid Crisis, is a finalist for the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize! 🗃️ @uncpress.bsky.social www.gilderlehrman.org/book-prizes/...
Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize | |
www.gilderlehrman.org
January 14, 2026 at 11:58 PM
I am so humbled and thrilled to say that my first book, Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and America’s First Opioid Crisis, is a finalist for the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize! 🗃️ @uncpress.bsky.social www.gilderlehrman.org/book-prizes/...
Write a book about conquering viruses and eventually the viruses strike back. I’m fine, but recovery from Ramsay Hunt Syndrome (when shingles attacks the facial nerve) is slow. Finally Justin Bieber and I have something in common. www.unc.edu/discover/und...
Understanding Justin Bieber’s facial paralysis | UNC-Chapel Hill
Matthew Miller, director of the UNC Facial Nerve Center, explains Bieber’s diagnosis — and how his own facial paralysis shaped his medical career.
www.unc.edu
January 14, 2026 at 10:06 PM
Write a book about conquering viruses and eventually the viruses strike back. I’m fine, but recovery from Ramsay Hunt Syndrome (when shingles attacks the facial nerve) is slow. Finally Justin Bieber and I have something in common. www.unc.edu/discover/und...
I couldn’t be there this year, but it’s always fun to see your book on display at the AHA. The paperback edition of The Contagion of Liberty drops Feb. 3rd!
January 11, 2026 at 1:34 AM
I couldn’t be there this year, but it’s always fun to see your book on display at the AHA. The paperback edition of The Contagion of Liberty drops Feb. 3rd!
Reposted by Andrew Wehrman
On this day, the hallowed birthday of COMMON SENSE, by Thomas Paine, I present to you some lesser known quotations (and some blockbusters) -- to help us understand what he hated about kings, and what he loved about the people.
“It is not in numbers, but in unity, that our great strength lies.”
“It is not in numbers, but in unity, that our great strength lies.”
January 9, 2026 at 5:52 PM
On this day, the hallowed birthday of COMMON SENSE, by Thomas Paine, I present to you some lesser known quotations (and some blockbusters) -- to help us understand what he hated about kings, and what he loved about the people.
“It is not in numbers, but in unity, that our great strength lies.”
“It is not in numbers, but in unity, that our great strength lies.”
Reposted by Andrew Wehrman
7year old this morning: Mama can I look up where brain rot came from?
Me: Oh, sure—I think it’s an internet thing but look it up…
7: It says here it’s from some author, Henry David Thoreau?!
Me: ?!?!?!
Dying laughing—but the OED also cites Walden for the first usage of the word…
Me: Oh, sure—I think it’s an internet thing but look it up…
7: It says here it’s from some author, Henry David Thoreau?!
Me: ?!?!?!
Dying laughing—but the OED also cites Walden for the first usage of the word…
January 9, 2026 at 1:05 PM
7year old this morning: Mama can I look up where brain rot came from?
Me: Oh, sure—I think it’s an internet thing but look it up…
7: It says here it’s from some author, Henry David Thoreau?!
Me: ?!?!?!
Dying laughing—but the OED also cites Walden for the first usage of the word…
Me: Oh, sure—I think it’s an internet thing but look it up…
7: It says here it’s from some author, Henry David Thoreau?!
Me: ?!?!?!
Dying laughing—but the OED also cites Walden for the first usage of the word…
It’s as if the Framers of the Constitution should have written in an “emoluments clause” to prevent this sort of brazen extortion and bribery.
President Trump indicated that he will meet with María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s opposition leader, in Washington. Earlier this week, Machado offered to give Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded last year.
Trump Indicates He Will Meet Venezuela’s Machado After Offer to Give Him Her Nobel Peace Prize
President Trump indicated he would meet the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. Last year, she won the Nobel Peace Prize, an award he covets.
nyti.ms
January 9, 2026 at 1:03 PM
It’s as if the Framers of the Constitution should have written in an “emoluments clause” to prevent this sort of brazen extortion and bribery.
Reposted by Andrew Wehrman
This is all over the Twin Cities. Parents taking shifts at high schools, daycares, etc. Teachers patrolling the parking lots after school. Networks spreading information when a current or former student gets grabbed while at work at Target and shoved into a van despite yelling "I'm a citizen."
My anger at having to stand outside my kid’s school for two hours to ensure none of their classmates, parents, or teachers get kidnapped by my own government is only slightly tempered by the amazing outpouring of support from other parents and especially neighbors who stand against this bullshit.
January 9, 2026 at 12:50 AM
This is all over the Twin Cities. Parents taking shifts at high schools, daycares, etc. Teachers patrolling the parking lots after school. Networks spreading information when a current or former student gets grabbed while at work at Target and shoved into a van despite yelling "I'm a citizen."
Amazing piece on the history of vaccines, especially the recent history of amazing new developments at a time in the U.S. when vaccines are facing their broadest attack in centuries.
NEW article by me!
We can now visualize pathogens down to atoms; design vaccines in weeks; manufacture them in microbial factories; engineer them more precise than ever before.
We're living through a golden age of vaccine development, but only if we continue to invest in them.
We can now visualize pathogens down to atoms; design vaccines in weeks; manufacture them in microbial factories; engineer them more precise than ever before.
We're living through a golden age of vaccine development, but only if we continue to invest in them.
The golden age of vaccine development - Works in Progress Magazine
The first vaccine was a lucky accident. Now we can design new vaccines in weeks, atom by atom.
worksinprogress.co
January 8, 2026 at 12:09 AM
Amazing piece on the history of vaccines, especially the recent history of amazing new developments at a time in the U.S. when vaccines are facing their broadest attack in centuries.