Dr. J. Franklin Williamson
@williamsonjf.bsky.social
High school history teacher. Historian of German public mourning and holidays. Special interest in histories of memory, military, religion. Passionate for history education. He/him. Views expressed my own.
“Engines sold separately” is like incompetent grown-up version of “batteries not included.”
November 9, 2025 at 1:37 AM
“Engines sold separately” is like incompetent grown-up version of “batteries not included.”
Which better symbolizes resistance: inflatable Halloween costume or foot long sub sandwich?
November 7, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Which better symbolizes resistance: inflatable Halloween costume or foot long sub sandwich?
I had a POLS professor in college (20+ years ago) say nearly the same thing about North Korea and its approach to communicating and interacting with the rest of the world.
November 1, 2025 at 10:28 PM
I had a POLS professor in college (20+ years ago) say nearly the same thing about North Korea and its approach to communicating and interacting with the rest of the world.
How is this not copyright infringement? Serious question.
October 30, 2025 at 2:59 AM
How is this not copyright infringement? Serious question.
Also: dialogic vs. consumption-oriented education. Many students are trained to just write down/ memorize “the right answer” so that’s what videos give them.
Might be okay sometimes but frustrating for humanities and social sciences, when there’s multiple ways to find or justify a good answer.
Might be okay sometimes but frustrating for humanities and social sciences, when there’s multiple ways to find or justify a good answer.
October 30, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Also: dialogic vs. consumption-oriented education. Many students are trained to just write down/ memorize “the right answer” so that’s what videos give them.
Might be okay sometimes but frustrating for humanities and social sciences, when there’s multiple ways to find or justify a good answer.
Might be okay sometimes but frustrating for humanities and social sciences, when there’s multiple ways to find or justify a good answer.
I seem to remember reading somewhere that Lincoln asked McClellan if he (Lincoln) could borrow the Army of the Potomac, as long as McClellan wasn’t using it for anything
October 26, 2025 at 12:45 AM
I seem to remember reading somewhere that Lincoln asked McClellan if he (Lincoln) could borrow the Army of the Potomac, as long as McClellan wasn’t using it for anything
Also: if you are the person in charge, you can’t call your own actions a protest against anything
October 23, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Also: if you are the person in charge, you can’t call your own actions a protest against anything
So the idea that the Rs who lost their minds about Confederate statues in 2015 are not saying much about the White House in 2025 tells us less about American History and more about the contemporary Republican Party. 5/5
October 22, 2025 at 10:45 PM
So the idea that the Rs who lost their minds about Confederate statues in 2015 are not saying much about the White House in 2025 tells us less about American History and more about the contemporary Republican Party. 5/5
In other words, monumental architecture does not control how the public interprets the past unless the public agrees to go along with what the architecture suggests. 4/x
October 22, 2025 at 10:45 PM
In other words, monumental architecture does not control how the public interprets the past unless the public agrees to go along with what the architecture suggests. 4/x
However, buildings and monuments do tell us a lot about the people who built (or restored, or demolished) them, and what version of history those builders (or restorers, or demolishes) want the public to have in mind. 3/x
October 22, 2025 at 10:44 PM
However, buildings and monuments do tell us a lot about the people who built (or restored, or demolished) them, and what version of history those builders (or restorers, or demolishes) want the public to have in mind. 3/x
As an historian of collective memory, I can confidently say that this assertion was incorrect then and still would be now: buildings and monuments are not, themselves, the sole way to access and understand the past. 2/x
October 22, 2025 at 10:44 PM
As an historian of collective memory, I can confidently say that this assertion was incorrect then and still would be now: buildings and monuments are not, themselves, the sole way to access and understand the past. 2/x
Kinda the whole PR strategy for this regime, it seems.
October 19, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Kinda the whole PR strategy for this regime, it seems.
Also probably not hot “fast” but definitely “hot” incendiary.
October 19, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Also probably not hot “fast” but definitely “hot” incendiary.
Also how carnival barkers operate. Go figure
October 16, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Also how carnival barkers operate. Go figure
This is basically the way right-wing talk radio works: the host has “brilliance” that “nobody” recognizes and so the host demands callers try to debate, just so that the host can belittle them and show intellectual “dominance.”
October 16, 2025 at 1:53 AM
This is basically the way right-wing talk radio works: the host has “brilliance” that “nobody” recognizes and so the host demands callers try to debate, just so that the host can belittle them and show intellectual “dominance.”
Please, let’s hear about the War of 1812. It’s one of my favorites.
October 5, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Please, let’s hear about the War of 1812. It’s one of my favorites.
Yeah, not sure they’re gonna want to come back
September 14, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Yeah, not sure they’re gonna want to come back
I am so sorry to read this. Hope you and your family are able to enjoy memories of the good times y’all had together.
August 27, 2025 at 1:49 AM
I am so sorry to read this. Hope you and your family are able to enjoy memories of the good times y’all had together.
Uh, do you think DHS knows that there were Indigenous peoples in North America before the white people (“aliens,” if you will) arrived (“invaded”). If they had a Time Machine, would DHS be working to stop Manifest Destiny?
July 26, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Uh, do you think DHS knows that there were Indigenous peoples in North America before the white people (“aliens,” if you will) arrived (“invaded”). If they had a Time Machine, would DHS be working to stop Manifest Destiny?
Change last sentence to, “But why does the US still have a problem with left-wing bias in its media?”
July 18, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Change last sentence to, “But why does the US still have a problem with left-wing bias in its media?”
Also, I think we can’t fully separate late night TV from the more general decline of live TV and the rise of streaming. I don’t know the numbers but I mostly catch everything on DVR or online at a later date, except sports. Still sucks to see Colbert cancelled though.
July 18, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Also, I think we can’t fully separate late night TV from the more general decline of live TV and the rise of streaming. I don’t know the numbers but I mostly catch everything on DVR or online at a later date, except sports. Still sucks to see Colbert cancelled though.