Steve Campbell
@stevecampbell.bsky.social
19th century U.S. historian, author of The Bank War and the Partisan Press (Univ Press of Kansas 2019). tinyurl.com/35v4jnf2
NorCal native. Contingent faculty. Independent thinker. Loves maps. Typically comments on climate change, economics, and politics.
NorCal native. Contingent faculty. Independent thinker. Loves maps. Typically comments on climate change, economics, and politics.
This Supreme Court is out of control and has been for years. After the Bush v. Gore fiasco in 2000, the Court once again tipped the scales in favor of the Republican candidate in 2024 with at least two disastrous decisions.
November 22, 2025 at 1:35 AM
This Supreme Court is out of control and has been for years. After the Bush v. Gore fiasco in 2000, the Court once again tipped the scales in favor of the Republican candidate in 2024 with at least two disastrous decisions.
I mean, she's right. We're not that enlightened. A huge percentage of our population is downright backwards and stuck in the past; unable to move beyond its silly resentments. We shouldn't pretend otherwise.
November 15, 2025 at 12:13 AM
I mean, she's right. We're not that enlightened. A huge percentage of our population is downright backwards and stuck in the past; unable to move beyond its silly resentments. We shouldn't pretend otherwise.
Horrible. And completely at odds with what some of the most respected leaders in our field have stated. Whoever put this together did a good job.
November 11, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Horrible. And completely at odds with what some of the most respected leaders in our field have stated. Whoever put this together did a good job.
It irks me that I seem to catch more and more typos nowadays in major outlets that should know better. Look, we all have typos, but your desire to be early should not outweigh basic copyediting to avoid embarrassment. How about one more round of proofreading before you post?
November 8, 2025 at 11:58 AM
It irks me that I seem to catch more and more typos nowadays in major outlets that should know better. Look, we all have typos, but your desire to be early should not outweigh basic copyediting to avoid embarrassment. How about one more round of proofreading before you post?
My thoughts:
1. An average increase of 0.5 degrees warming every 10-15 years? For all the times that deniers or minimizers accuse us of being "alarmists," this data is alarming indeed. Something is really wrong if average temperatures are increasing that quickly. The planet is large.
1. An average increase of 0.5 degrees warming every 10-15 years? For all the times that deniers or minimizers accuse us of being "alarmists," this data is alarming indeed. Something is really wrong if average temperatures are increasing that quickly. The planet is large.
September 28, 2025 at 10:34 PM
My thoughts:
1. An average increase of 0.5 degrees warming every 10-15 years? For all the times that deniers or minimizers accuse us of being "alarmists," this data is alarming indeed. Something is really wrong if average temperatures are increasing that quickly. The planet is large.
1. An average increase of 0.5 degrees warming every 10-15 years? For all the times that deniers or minimizers accuse us of being "alarmists," this data is alarming indeed. Something is really wrong if average temperatures are increasing that quickly. The planet is large.
Since I know and like plenty of Boomers, just as I know and like plenty of Christians, and since I like maintaining positive relations, I worry sometimes that if I'm too honest in what I really think, I might offend them. Then I think, no, the Kim Davises of the world actually do exist.
September 27, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Since I know and like plenty of Boomers, just as I know and like plenty of Christians, and since I like maintaining positive relations, I worry sometimes that if I'm too honest in what I really think, I might offend them. Then I think, no, the Kim Davises of the world actually do exist.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
It takes 27 paragraphs before you get to this damning info about Republican parents and vaccines. WaPo has gone WAY downhill. This is consistent with other polling I've seen on rating Trump ahead of Lincoln and Reagan, and that the 2020 election was stolen.
It takes 27 paragraphs before you get to this damning info about Republican parents and vaccines. WaPo has gone WAY downhill. This is consistent with other polling I've seen on rating Trump ahead of Lincoln and Reagan, and that the 2020 election was stolen.
September 15, 2025 at 8:11 PM
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
It takes 27 paragraphs before you get to this damning info about Republican parents and vaccines. WaPo has gone WAY downhill. This is consistent with other polling I've seen on rating Trump ahead of Lincoln and Reagan, and that the 2020 election was stolen.
It takes 27 paragraphs before you get to this damning info about Republican parents and vaccines. WaPo has gone WAY downhill. This is consistent with other polling I've seen on rating Trump ahead of Lincoln and Reagan, and that the 2020 election was stolen.
I'm really troubled by this firing.
September 15, 2025 at 2:05 AM
I'm really troubled by this firing.
We were told they voted for him because of the economy.
Whatever. That argument has never held much merit. Extensive research going back to 2016 indicates race, immigration, gender, and authoritarianism were far more important.
Whatever. That argument has never held much merit. Extensive research going back to 2016 indicates race, immigration, gender, and authoritarianism were far more important.
September 5, 2025 at 6:18 PM
We were told they voted for him because of the economy.
Whatever. That argument has never held much merit. Extensive research going back to 2016 indicates race, immigration, gender, and authoritarianism were far more important.
Whatever. That argument has never held much merit. Extensive research going back to 2016 indicates race, immigration, gender, and authoritarianism were far more important.
We should teach this and spread it.
August 20, 2025 at 7:13 PM
We should teach this and spread it.
I visited the same spot roughly 1 year apart, August 2024 and August 2025. These are photographs of Inspiration Point, near the town of Wrightwood. You can see the effects of the fires.
August 14, 2025 at 8:41 PM
I visited the same spot roughly 1 year apart, August 2024 and August 2025. These are photographs of Inspiration Point, near the town of Wrightwood. You can see the effects of the fires.
One of the joys of transcribing primary sources is learning about how certain fears and anxieties are perennial. In this letter from 1836, a mother in South Carolina writes to one of her sons in Baltimore about the educational potential of her other son.
August 9, 2025 at 8:32 PM
One of the joys of transcribing primary sources is learning about how certain fears and anxieties are perennial. In this letter from 1836, a mother in South Carolina writes to one of her sons in Baltimore about the educational potential of her other son.
Was watching @hcrichardson.bsky.social and @jbf1755.bsky.social for a few minutes and their comments got me to thinking about the responsibilities of citizenship, comparisons to other countries, and the typical response of the Trumpian right.
August 1, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Was watching @hcrichardson.bsky.social and @jbf1755.bsky.social for a few minutes and their comments got me to thinking about the responsibilities of citizenship, comparisons to other countries, and the typical response of the Trumpian right.
Let me highlight a couple of trends I've seen in my feeds today:
1. Global civil society organizations have placed the U.S. on a watchlist and ranked us alongside Turkey, Kenya, and El Salvador. Is this making America "great"?
1. Global civil society organizations have placed the U.S. on a watchlist and ranked us alongside Turkey, Kenya, and El Salvador. Is this making America "great"?
July 30, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Let me highlight a couple of trends I've seen in my feeds today:
1. Global civil society organizations have placed the U.S. on a watchlist and ranked us alongside Turkey, Kenya, and El Salvador. Is this making America "great"?
1. Global civil society organizations have placed the U.S. on a watchlist and ranked us alongside Turkey, Kenya, and El Salvador. Is this making America "great"?
Ask yourself, is this imagined conversation:
1. An abolitionist talking to a pro-slavery planter in 1850 Alabama?
2. A climate activist speaking to a fossil fuel apologist in 2025?
Take your pick, they both work. Interesting how some ideas remain constant amid vastly different circumstances.
1. An abolitionist talking to a pro-slavery planter in 1850 Alabama?
2. A climate activist speaking to a fossil fuel apologist in 2025?
Take your pick, they both work. Interesting how some ideas remain constant amid vastly different circumstances.
July 25, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Ask yourself, is this imagined conversation:
1. An abolitionist talking to a pro-slavery planter in 1850 Alabama?
2. A climate activist speaking to a fossil fuel apologist in 2025?
Take your pick, they both work. Interesting how some ideas remain constant amid vastly different circumstances.
1. An abolitionist talking to a pro-slavery planter in 1850 Alabama?
2. A climate activist speaking to a fossil fuel apologist in 2025?
Take your pick, they both work. Interesting how some ideas remain constant amid vastly different circumstances.
Arroyo Burro beach.
July 18, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Arroyo Burro beach.
Spectacular view of the Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Cruz Island from the Cold Spring Trail near Montecito. More of these coming.
July 18, 2025 at 6:09 AM
Spectacular view of the Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Cruz Island from the Cold Spring Trail near Montecito. More of these coming.
I read your post and tbh I struggled to see its connection to mine. Sometimes I need someone to connect the dots, haha.
So I posed the question to ChatGPT and here's what it said.
Seems reasonable but let me know.
So I posed the question to ChatGPT and here's what it said.
Seems reasonable but let me know.
July 17, 2025 at 6:02 PM
I read your post and tbh I struggled to see its connection to mine. Sometimes I need someone to connect the dots, haha.
So I posed the question to ChatGPT and here's what it said.
Seems reasonable but let me know.
So I posed the question to ChatGPT and here's what it said.
Seems reasonable but let me know.
"Everything happens for a reason."
I'm immensely proud of my Bay Area roots. We're known for environmentalism, open-mindedness, secularism, and welcoming LGBT folks.
Something negative happened to me recently and when I told two people about this, they replied with this very common phrase.
I'm immensely proud of my Bay Area roots. We're known for environmentalism, open-mindedness, secularism, and welcoming LGBT folks.
Something negative happened to me recently and when I told two people about this, they replied with this very common phrase.
July 16, 2025 at 11:42 PM
"Everything happens for a reason."
I'm immensely proud of my Bay Area roots. We're known for environmentalism, open-mindedness, secularism, and welcoming LGBT folks.
Something negative happened to me recently and when I told two people about this, they replied with this very common phrase.
I'm immensely proud of my Bay Area roots. We're known for environmentalism, open-mindedness, secularism, and welcoming LGBT folks.
Something negative happened to me recently and when I told two people about this, they replied with this very common phrase.
Turns out I've come across the term "Shylock" a few times in my own research. It is an anti-Semitic trope that goes back to Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. Dipshit denied knowing this association, which reminded me of his denial of David Duke and the KKK endorsement.
July 4, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Turns out I've come across the term "Shylock" a few times in my own research. It is an anti-Semitic trope that goes back to Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. Dipshit denied knowing this association, which reminded me of his denial of David Duke and the KKK endorsement.
My favorite statements on patriotism, from George Bernard Shaw, Henry Steele Commager, and Ben Railton.
July 4, 2025 at 5:18 PM
My favorite statements on patriotism, from George Bernard Shaw, Henry Steele Commager, and Ben Railton.
I've been assigning introductory videos for my online students, which I should have done a long time ago. It's great to see what some of our students are capable of. I also received a very touching email from a student who recently took my course. In such dark times, I cherish these moments.
June 24, 2025 at 6:39 PM
I've been assigning introductory videos for my online students, which I should have done a long time ago. It's great to see what some of our students are capable of. I also received a very touching email from a student who recently took my course. In such dark times, I cherish these moments.