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Fredrik Albritton Jonsson

@fredrikjonsson.bsky.social

2.8K followers 2.3K following 150 posts

Historian at the University of Chicago. Co-editor of The Journal of Modern History. New book: Scarcity with Carl Wennerlind (Harvard 2023). Next: Britain's fossil transition 1760-1870 and, with Moritz von Brescius, The Long Acceleration 1500-1950.

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Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · Aug 13

With @mbrescius.bsky.social I am very happy to announce the launch of a major new project in #Anthropocene history. The Long Acceleration brings together more than 20 scholars to consider the planetary emergency. Many thanks to Moritz and the Institute for European Global Studies for hosting us.

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Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 6h

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · 1d

Hi Michael. Yes, absolutely. That said, Wrigley's Continuity, Chance and Change is probably a little easier to digest for UGs but if you want to talk about energy the later book is much better since it has the benefit of Paul Warde's path-breaking empirical work.

Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · 1d

☺️ Thanks Robert!

Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · 1d

Hi Jeff,
I have a book on the making of Britain's fossil fuel economy in the works, which should be out next year if all goes well. In the meantime, I warmly recommend Emma Griffin's introduction to the Industrial Revolution and Maxine Berg and Pat Hudson's book on slavery and industry.

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Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · 12d

I'm on your wife's side, but it goes without saying the trade-off between bikes and pedestrians is a pretty nice problem to have. In Chicago, bicycling is a dangerous business in many places.

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Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · 12d

I am struck by how narrow the pedestrian lanes are in many places and how quick the traffic lights are compared with Stockholm or Chicago. Bicycles really seem to be the norm, even compared to walking.

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Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · 15d

Congratulations Thea. Very glad to read and teach your book

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Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · 18d

Thanks Matthew. Glad to hear our little book was of some use. Moritz and I have not forgotten about your kind invitation.

Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · 19d

Excellent! Hope you enjoy it. Especially curious to hear what you make of the chapter about the Collingwood children's magazine Nothing Much.

Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · 21d

This is really excellent work. Looking forward to the book!

Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · 21d

Excellent article from @jamborg.bsky.social about "genetic" mercantilism. Highly recommended

Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales @annales.ehess.fr · 21d

'Mercantilisme animal. Contrebande de #races animales, diplomatie du mouton et #géopolitique du capital génétique dans la France du xviiie siècle'

par @jamborg.bsky.social (Uppsala)

👉 dx.doi.org/10.1017/ahss...

#skystorians #race #climate #merinos 🐑

Gravure des moutons mérinos devant la bergerie nationale de Rambouillet (Archives nationales)

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Reposted by Fredrik Albritton Jonsson

Heather Craddock @hcraddock.bsky.social · Aug 13

The Call for Papers for 'Talking Records: Pollution in the Archive', a symposium at The National Archives in London, 4 December 2025, is now open!

Submission deadline: Friday 19 Sept

See the CFP and details about bursaries for speakers here: orlo.uk/Z8StS

#envhum #envhist

Image of Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company workshops with smoke escaping from tower. Reference: CO 1069/280 from The National Archives, UK.

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Reposted by Fredrik Albritton Jonsson

Shannon Osaka @shannonosaka.bsky.social · Sep 4

For the last several months, I've been digging through endless scientific literature on what happens when pregnant mothers are exposed to plastic chemicals in their food, water, and everyday household products.

The result is this story.

I hope you'll take the time to read.
wapo.st/4g3ZoFc

The health risks from plastics almost nobody knows about

Researchers have linked phthalates, chemicals found in plastics, to premature birth, infertility and ADHD.

wapo.st

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Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · Aug 31

Thanks Paul

Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · Aug 30

let's see if others corroborate. There is a high probability of new oil discoveries in the polar regions... the main question is how big they are.

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Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · Aug 30

Nearly double Saudi reserves... God help us.
indiandefencereview.com/russia-uncov...

Russia Uncovers 511 Billion Barrels of Oil Beneath Antarctica: A Find That Could End the Continent’s Era of Peaceful Use

The 511 billion barrels reported is nearly double Saudi Arabia’s proven reserves and more than ten times the North Sea’s output over the last 50 years.

indiandefencereview.com

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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · Aug 29

I don't think we fully grasped yet how important solar will be as an energy source.

Great graph @carbonbrief.org based on @iea.org data.

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Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · Aug 28

Please take a moment to join the class action!

Alex de Campi @alexdecampi.bsky.social · Aug 27

There are tons of graphic novels, academic papers, film and TV scripts, & prose novels/nonfiction on the LibGen list Anthropic used.

As settlement approaches, make it easy for the class action lawyers to contact you! Here’s how

Part 1: is your work in Libgen?

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI

Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.

www.theatlantic.com

Reposted by Fredrik Albritton Jonsson

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Aug 27

New data paper out: Ammonia doesn't often make the headlines – but it’s one of the major drivers of biodiversity loss and air pollution in Europe, harming ecosystems and our health. > 90% of it in Europe comes from one source: agricultural fertiliser and manure 🧵

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A series of maps of emissions across Europe for different livestock

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Reposted by Fredrik Albritton Jonsson

Karl Schamotta @karl-schamotta.bsky.social · Aug 26

Apropos of nothing, a reminder that German stock markets kept climbing in an almost uninterrupted fashion in the run-up to WW2. Investors are really, really bad at pricing serious institutional and political risks.

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Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · Aug 15

Do not trust AI or ChatGPT-5 to do the most basic things like labeling a picture of the hydrologic cycle. Here's what it gave me.
(Evaporation arrow pointing into the ground. Both surface water and the "ocean" labels underground. Transpiration arrow coming from the #water surface, not plants...]

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Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · Aug 13

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Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · Aug 13

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Fredrik Albritton Jonsson @fredrikjonsson.bsky.social · Aug 10

For anyone in the environmental humanities thinking about biodiversity and habitability, be sure to read this excellent new article by @julianordblad.bsky.social.

Chicago Journals @chicagojournals.bsky.social · Aug 7

Read "The Nature of Planetary Habitability: A Conceptual History of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services" from Environmental History and learn more about the history of biodiversity as a concept. Find it here: ow.ly/TpT750Wy4HR @envirohistory.bsky.social

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · Aug 8

“In the heart of Illinois, while researching wildlife disease, I made a discovery that stunned me: More than half of the raccoons I sampled were infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas’ disease… It’s here, in the United States, spreading silently in wildlife.”

A ‘tropical’ disease is spreading in American wildlife

This neglected tropical disease is no longer confined to the tropics. It’s here, in the United States, spreading silently in wildlife.

www.statnews.com

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