Shaun Richman
@shaunrichman.org
Labor guy in higher ed. Author, "Tell The Bosses We're Coming" (Monthly Review, 2020) & "We Always Had a Union" (U. of Illinois, 2025). Contributing writer: In These Times, Jacobin, American Prospect.
Pinned
Shaun Richman
@shaunrichman.org
· Apr 22
We Always Had a Union
www.press.uillinois.edu
My new book, "We Always Had a Union: The New York Hotel Workers’ Union, 1912-1953," is OUT NOW.
It's a sweeping history of one sustained early 20th century union effort, through craft unionism, the IWW, the Communist Party, gangster corruption, industry-wide bargaining, Cold War backlash & more.
It's a sweeping history of one sustained early 20th century union effort, through craft unionism, the IWW, the Communist Party, gangster corruption, industry-wide bargaining, Cold War backlash & more.
Reposted by Shaun Richman
wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage
January 15, 2026 at 1:47 PM
wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage
Reposted by Shaun Richman
That's why you indict every single one of them on a RICO charge to begin the investigation into their gangster conduct. Take their guns, prevent them from traveling. The "just following orders" types can turn state's witness.
It’s worth considering that an overnight dismantling of ICE in 2029 would release into the wild a whole herd of specialists in violence with scant other marketable skills.
January 15, 2026 at 11:05 AM
That's why you indict every single one of them on a RICO charge to begin the investigation into their gangster conduct. Take their guns, prevent them from traveling. The "just following orders" types can turn state's witness.
That's why you indict every single one of them on a RICO charge to begin the investigation into their gangster conduct. Take their guns, prevent them from traveling. The "just following orders" types can turn state's witness.
It’s worth considering that an overnight dismantling of ICE in 2029 would release into the wild a whole herd of specialists in violence with scant other marketable skills.
January 15, 2026 at 11:05 AM
That's why you indict every single one of them on a RICO charge to begin the investigation into their gangster conduct. Take their guns, prevent them from traveling. The "just following orders" types can turn state's witness.
If plagiarism is *WHAT*?
January 14, 2026 at 1:40 PM
If plagiarism is *WHAT*?
File under: primaries work!
Goldman: Until DHS reins in this rogue and authoritarian ICE secret police force, there should be no more funding provided to DHS.
January 13, 2026 at 10:00 PM
File under: primaries work!
Reposted by Shaun Richman
That’s between Rahm, his wife and the gimp suit.
Rahm Emanuel is coming — whether Democrats like it or not.
Rahm Emanuel targets GOP and Dems as he tests 2028 campaign for president
The former Chicago mayor wants to lead a post-Trump "renewal wing" of the Democratic Party.
www.axios.com
January 12, 2026 at 12:03 AM
That’s between Rahm, his wife and the gimp suit.
Reposted by Shaun Richman
really wish the “opposition” party had not spent years upon years trying to outdo the GOP in lavishing money arms and deference on state security forces
January 7, 2026 at 8:49 PM
really wish the “opposition” party had not spent years upon years trying to outdo the GOP in lavishing money arms and deference on state security forces
Oh, you can post one: it's entirely reasonable to indict every single ICE employee under a broad RICO charge in January 2029.
Abolishing ICE is the modest, quiet, peaceful option and you can’t post the others in this country
January 7, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Oh, you can post one: it's entirely reasonable to indict every single ICE employee under a broad RICO charge in January 2029.
Reposted by Shaun Richman
We are a Left with ballots cast but few shop floors won, with more cultural importance than class power
For Zohran's election to start a lasting transformation we have to acknowledge an uncomfortable truth: despite our impressive electoral reach, our movement’s roots are still shallow
For Zohran's election to start a lasting transformation we have to acknowledge an uncomfortable truth: despite our impressive electoral reach, our movement’s roots are still shallow
January 5, 2026 at 9:44 PM
We are a Left with ballots cast but few shop floors won, with more cultural importance than class power
For Zohran's election to start a lasting transformation we have to acknowledge an uncomfortable truth: despite our impressive electoral reach, our movement’s roots are still shallow
For Zohran's election to start a lasting transformation we have to acknowledge an uncomfortable truth: despite our impressive electoral reach, our movement’s roots are still shallow
I guess that’s official.
January 5, 2026 at 6:53 PM
I guess that’s official.
Reposted by Shaun Richman
You ever think about how the Roman Senate kept meeting centuries into the reigns of emperors. Hanging out, shooting the shit, giving speeches, and play-acting that their positions of privilege remained positions of power.
January 3, 2026 at 6:36 PM
You ever think about how the Roman Senate kept meeting centuries into the reigns of emperors. Hanging out, shooting the shit, giving speeches, and play-acting that their positions of privilege remained positions of power.
Reposted by Shaun Richman
Among the many reasons you don’t kidnap a foreign head of state at gunpoint even if you have the capability, is that it sparks consequences you can neither control nor anticipate.
January 3, 2026 at 10:27 AM
Among the many reasons you don’t kidnap a foreign head of state at gunpoint even if you have the capability, is that it sparks consequences you can neither control nor anticipate.
Reposted by Shaun Richman
I will not use it at the beach
I will not use it when I teach
I do not want it in a church
I do not want it for research
I see no reason to concede
I will not use it when I read
Although its hype should have no end
Upon it I will not depend
I will not use it when I teach
I do not want it in a church
I do not want it for research
I see no reason to concede
I will not use it when I read
Although its hype should have no end
Upon it I will not depend
I do not like your AI slop
I do not like it, make it stop
I do not want an AI house
I do not want an AI mouse
No AI box. No AI fox—
That AI slop can go kick rocks
I would not AI here or there
I would not AI anywhere
No AI car, no AI czar
Your AI slop is killing trees
I do not like it, let me be!
I do not like it, make it stop
I do not want an AI house
I do not want an AI mouse
No AI box. No AI fox—
That AI slop can go kick rocks
I would not AI here or there
I would not AI anywhere
No AI car, no AI czar
Your AI slop is killing trees
I do not like it, let me be!
December 30, 2025 at 5:10 AM
I will not use it at the beach
I will not use it when I teach
I do not want it in a church
I do not want it for research
I see no reason to concede
I will not use it when I read
Although its hype should have no end
Upon it I will not depend
I will not use it when I teach
I do not want it in a church
I do not want it for research
I see no reason to concede
I will not use it when I read
Although its hype should have no end
Upon it I will not depend
books
Goodreads 2025 Year in Books
Check out My 2025 Year in Books on Goodreads!
www.goodreads.com
December 29, 2025 at 8:40 PM
books
Imagine writing an article about 'urban exploration" and not mentioning Ninjalicious once.
www.huckmag.com/article/unde...
www.huckmag.com/article/unde...
Inside the shadowy, booming underground world of Urbex
Touching bricks — Spurred by social media success and a desire to live in the physical world, a new generation of teenagers and young people are sneaking…
www.huckmag.com
December 29, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Imagine writing an article about 'urban exploration" and not mentioning Ninjalicious once.
www.huckmag.com/article/unde...
www.huckmag.com/article/unde...
Prefer to think about it as America's quarter-millennium crisis.
get ready to say “semiquincentennial” a lot more than you previously did
December 29, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Prefer to think about it as America's quarter-millennium crisis.
Reposted by Shaun Richman
Follow Shaun if you want a Brett Banditelli 2018 tier cynic of organized labor with a Brett Banditelli-never-tier knowledge of organized labor
I've been at 2.9K followers for a while. Apparently, I'm 11 new follows away from flipping the odometer.
Also, are there any new cool people I should follow. History of U.S. Labor, American Communism. Union organizer. Staten Islander. Birding. fish tanks, fish tanks and cooking. Not in that order.
Also, are there any new cool people I should follow. History of U.S. Labor, American Communism. Union organizer. Staten Islander. Birding. fish tanks, fish tanks and cooking. Not in that order.
December 26, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Follow Shaun if you want a Brett Banditelli 2018 tier cynic of organized labor with a Brett Banditelli-never-tier knowledge of organized labor
I've been at 2.9K followers for a while. Apparently, I'm 11 new follows away from flipping the odometer.
Also, are there any new cool people I should follow. History of U.S. Labor, American Communism. Union organizer. Staten Islander. Birding. fish tanks, fish tanks and cooking. Not in that order.
Also, are there any new cool people I should follow. History of U.S. Labor, American Communism. Union organizer. Staten Islander. Birding. fish tanks, fish tanks and cooking. Not in that order.
December 26, 2025 at 10:01 PM
I've been at 2.9K followers for a while. Apparently, I'm 11 new follows away from flipping the odometer.
Also, are there any new cool people I should follow. History of U.S. Labor, American Communism. Union organizer. Staten Islander. Birding. fish tanks, fish tanks and cooking. Not in that order.
Also, are there any new cool people I should follow. History of U.S. Labor, American Communism. Union organizer. Staten Islander. Birding. fish tanks, fish tanks and cooking. Not in that order.
Reposted by Shaun Richman
No one says to legit business owners, "hey I see there's an underground market selling toxic knock-offs of your product: how will you incorporate the toxic product AND protect your customers against its harms?" But apparently it's fine to make this suggestion to educators with respect to AI.
December 24, 2025 at 7:56 PM
No one says to legit business owners, "hey I see there's an underground market selling toxic knock-offs of your product: how will you incorporate the toxic product AND protect your customers against its harms?" But apparently it's fine to make this suggestion to educators with respect to AI.
The uncreative arguments in favor of AI really speak volumes about how AI boosters are desperate for some short cut to being better thinkers and communicators.
December 26, 2025 at 2:44 PM
The uncreative arguments in favor of AI really speak volumes about how AI boosters are desperate for some short cut to being better thinkers and communicators.
I did not CTRL+F my research. You can't CTRL+F a 100 year old physical newspaper that has one extant copy. At some point history requires historians doing a close reading of the surviving documents.
For so many projects there are massive amounts of sources that no single person can check one by one. In that regard, AI is a big improvement compared to "Ctrl+F", of other forms of distant reading because you can do semantic search and actually discover many rabbit holes you would otherwise miss.
December 21, 2025 at 9:11 PM
I did not CTRL+F my research. You can't CTRL+F a 100 year old physical newspaper that has one extant copy. At some point history requires historians doing a close reading of the surviving documents.
Love this. We should all do a thread about serendipitous discoveries in the archives. Me? I found a murder mystery in my hotel workers history.
Absolutely right.
AI might be able to summarize (poorly) what we currently know, but a major goal of historical research is to find the hidden surprises out there.
Let me illustrate …
AI might be able to summarize (poorly) what we currently know, but a major goal of historical research is to find the hidden surprises out there.
Let me illustrate …
Not a historian but like to research. The AI might summarize what I'm looking for, but it doesn't find what I'm *not* looking for. The book on the shelf next to the one I wanted. The insight in chapter 6 based on the quote I needed from chapter 4.
December 21, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Love this. We should all do a thread about serendipitous discoveries in the archives. Me? I found a murder mystery in my hotel workers history.
Queens College made Journalism a minor (ONLY!) as a way of forcing alums to become an expert in literally anything else as well.
getting a reporter to demonstrate any second skill is enough. generally guys who only have one trick can simply be ignored as a matter of course. MattY is never going to publish a photo essay, or drop an interactive article. he’s not even going to write a second article, really
December 20, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Queens College made Journalism a minor (ONLY!) as a way of forcing alums to become an expert in literally anything else as well.
Reposted by Shaun Richman
The Trump administration’s release of the Epstein grand jury documents are entirely redacted.
It’s 119 pages of just black rectangles.
It’s 119 pages of just black rectangles.
December 19, 2025 at 10:38 PM
The Trump administration’s release of the Epstein grand jury documents are entirely redacted.
It’s 119 pages of just black rectangles.
It’s 119 pages of just black rectangles.