Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Trump’s White Nationalist Vision for the Future of History

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Aug 22

“[P]art of being a historian during Trump 2.0 is to witness a renewal of debunked mythologies and outdated ideas made fresh by a state apparatus deeply invested in protecting the historical reputation of whiteness.”
https://newrepublic.com/article/198384/trump-white-nationalist-vision-future-history

The administration is using the tools of the state to influence—even poison—how America’s racial history will be taught in our public forums and schools.

“Indoctrination”? We Call It “Education.”

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Aug 21

What an amazing conversation between @silashouse and @crystalwilki about the writing of creative nonfiction. Once again, I’m reminded how much these folks rock. Y’all find it wherever you go for podcasts and listen.

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Aug 18

“Leaving the next generation ignorant of this historical knowledge, of the institutions, cultural practices, and processes that have either created or nourished division, will only perpetuate and deepen division.”

https://newrepublic.com/article/198366/indoctrination-call-education

It’s not “divisive” to teach about division. It’s divisive to bury it.

Trump’s Reckless Assault on Remembrance

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Aug 17

“As we enjoy ceremonies in 2026, we might also recall that celebration without commemoration is vanity, that flattering memory without truthful history is self-delusion.”

https://newrepublic.com/article/198387/trump-reckless-assault-remembrance

The attempts by his administration to control the ways Americans engage with our nation’s history threaten to weaken patriotism, not strengthen it.

What if History Died by Sanctioned Ignorance?

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Aug 16

A taste of Blight’s usual incisive prose: “official triumphal narratives rooted in a brand of pickled patriotism designed to force the past to serve the present.”

Pickled patriotism.

newrepublic.com/article/1983...

We must mobilize now to defend our profession, not only with research and teaching but in the realm of politics and public persuasion.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/u...

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Aug 5

Progressively getting situated in a new space. This gift from some students seemed appropriate to bring over on Wendell’s ninety-first birthday.

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Aug 2

Class and Identity in Hilton Head: The Gullah v. Wealthy Landowners

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Jul 26

Though a few years removed, I’ve been haunted (in a good way) by memories of Easy Bistro’s “Ode to Peanuts.” Today, Broadbent hams helped me relive that experience.

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Jul 20

Here we are: bringing up the rear #SHEAR2025

What Happens After A.I. Destroys College Writing? — The New Yorker

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Jul 1

I love (read: laugh/hate/some such verb) seeing folks (both in & out of classroom spaces) passing off AI-generated ideas as their own believing no one can tell. I don’t begrudge them (this piece shares some of the reasons why) but I “love” it nonetheless.

apple.news/AJiQDJ5H9QVO...

The demise of the English paper will end a long intellectual tradition, but it’s also an opportunity to reëxamine the purpose of higher education.

apple.news

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Jun 22

A good morning to return (once again) to •The Long-Legged House•

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Jun 19

A case against regular cleanings?

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/s...

Mysterious Ancient Humans Now Have a Face

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Jun 13

Trump’s Un-American Parade

What looks like an excess of strength may really be a deficit of liberty.

www.theatlantic.com

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Jun 4

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/04/a...

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Ella Fitzgerald

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

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Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · May 28

The New Dark Age

The Trump administration has launched an attack on knowledge itself.

www.theatlantic.com

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · May 18

Good friends make for good days

Reposted by Richard A Bailey

Norah Schneider @nschneider03.bsky.social · May 15

I just did so much damage. Didn’t need to see this.

Andre E. Johnson @aejohnsonphd.bsky.social · May 14

Beginning TODAY (May 14, 2025), @upmississippi.bsky.social
will offer a 55% website discount on all books, including mine. Click here to order:
www.upress.state.ms.us/Contribu.../...

1 2 4

Reposted by Richard A Bailey

Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · May 12

Some sad confirmation from @bcgl.bsky.social while I was at UW last week—the National Digital Newspaper Program—which builds Chronicling America—has been shut down

Historical newspapers are probably the archival material most used by the general public—for genealogy, local history—it’s such a loss

About this Collection | Chronicling America | Digital Collections | Library of Congress

Search America's Historic Newspaper Pages through 1963 Please Note: The Library of Congress has transitioned the longstanding Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers website to this new digi...

www.loc.gov

45 700 1.1K

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · May 7

Pre-archives time spent writing on a manuscript purportedly arguing about race & early American evangelicalism while uncertain how these pages made it thru a survey course let alone to the desk of a major university press.

Friends, given what I had to write, I did not do what the cup encouraged.

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Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Apr 26

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/opinion/larry-david-hitler-dinner.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Ck8.ddzT.B602iqCCOMOA&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Apr 11

Sigh.

Not surprising. But frustrating. And, well, disgusting.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/a...

Canceled Humanities Grants to Help Pay for Trump’s ‘Garden of Heroes’ (Gift Article)

The National Endowment for the Humanities, which supports museums and historical sites, will redirect funds to the president’s planned patriotic sculpture garden.

NOAA Staffing Cuts Threaten Years of Salmon Harvests

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Richard A Bailey @richardabailey.bsky.social · Apr 9

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration isn’t only about predicting your weather. For many Americans, it’s also about what sits on their plates.

Or perhaps sat.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/c...

In Washington, where salmon is a multibillion dollar industry, government staff terminations and budget freezes may put salmon production at risk.