Sam Wesner 𓃰

When Electricity Met Democratic Revolution The science that animated a political idea.

www.sciencehistory.org/stories/maga...

My article is live at Distillations Magazine! ⚡️ Thanks to Clay Cansler for top-notch editing & Taylor Bailey for gorgeous images and layout.

[TW: graphic fracture, sound of breaking bone]

Sen Tim Sheehy (R-Montana) badly breaking the arm of a Marine veteran protesting the war Iran.

'It Was Very Creepy': These People Say They Lost Global Entry Just For Watching ICE Agents Two people claim they were punished for acts of protest, and an internal government memo suggests they may not be the last.

I spoke with two ICE watchers who lost their Global Entry after brushes with federal agents. Now an internal memo shows Customs and Border Protection is evaluating cases where people's Global Entry could be revoked based on "encounters" with its officers.
www.huffpost.com/entry/ice-wa...

On Monday, at 1 PM, we welcome Casey Schmitt to our Ships & Seafaring Talk, where she will present her book "The Predatory Sea", a full-length study of the entangled history of captivity and colonialism using Spanish, French and English archives. Sign up here: www.eventbrite.com/e/ships-seaf...

picture of shelleys terrible creature which I always laugh at
taken from wordsworth.org.uk/blog/2015/02...

Humbled by trying to write just one good sentence

A dresser inside a museum in New York City has been discovered as a secret stop on the Underground Railroad — the first of its kind discovered in Manhattan in over 100 years

Schuylkill at dawn

The "Large boulder the size of a small boulder" meme. The Facebook post is from 27th January 2020

Today is "Large boulder the size of a small boulder" day!

part of this is like, conservatives projecting; part of this is conservatives unable to imagine politics without money; and part of this is dudes who are so out of touch with feminized labor that they think children's birthday parties exist as a spontaneous act of parthogenesis

Screenshot of a TikTok video with error message at top saying “your video is under review and can’t be shared right now.”

This morning, I recorded a video on TikTok about why DHS’s arguments for the power to enter homes without judicial warrants in immigration cases are bunk.

Nine hours later, TikTok still says my video is “under review,” and can’t be shared.

Well, here’s a link:

georgetown.box.com/v/Vladeck-IC...

Feds retreating up 27th followed by whistles and shouts of “Shame” detain 1, then another person going to their car.

More than 400 years of history and a decade of advocacy were torn down Thursday afternoon when National Park Service employees removed every single display at the President’s House.

🔗 What's next? We explain: www.inquirer.com/politics/nat...

Tomorrow's front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 24, 2026

ICE detained a 2-year-old girl in Minneapolis and put the child on a flight to a detention center in Texas, despite a court ordering her release: www.startribune.com/agents-detai...

The phrase “abundance of caution” (re:blizzard) gives me COVID flashbacks

Nasra Ahmed, a 23-year-old US citizen, was arrested and detained by ICE. She was held for TWO DAYS.

ICE agents handcuffed her, called her a racial slur, and she was knocked to the ground so hard she got a concussion.

This cannot continue happening. ICE needs to leave.

i hate it when i'm stressed out about something for days or weeks and then someone comes along and is like, "Hey, have you noticed this pit has a slowly descending pendulum?"

Why ICE Can Kill With Impunity Over the past decade, US immigration agents have shot and killed more than two dozen people. Not a single agent appears to have faced criminal charges.

NEW: It's not just Jonathan Ross—or even the Trump administration. Over the past decade, US immigration agents have shot and killed at least 25 people. Not a single one appears to have faced criminal charges. @lilahassan.bsky.social reports: www.wired.com/story/why-ic...

LEAVITT: Why was Renee Good unfortunately and tragically killed?

REPORTER: Because an ICE agent acted recklessly and killed her unjustifiably

LEAVITT: Oh, ok. So you're a biased reporters with a biased opinion. You're a left-wing hack.

Going on the reading list

U.S. citizen detained by ICE:

“…they finally told me that they could offer undocumented family members of mine legal protection if I have any…or money, in exchange for giving them the names of protest organizers, or undocumented persons. I was shocked, and told them no.”

(Or are these are the ramblings of someone who has spent seven months straight in Philly)

Which means 1) no lone geniuses here, the motor of the narrative is people who don’t shy away from a fight and 2) knowing today’s most used LLMs are conflict-avoidant by nature, maybe there’s value in recognizing the role of the argumentative spirit & of just, fighting with people

Editing a piece in which heated arguments (Franklin vs Nollet, Galvani vs Volta) feature and realizing they’re not only narratively important, these big arguments are also propelling the conceptual shifts

From an email to one of our faculty members....

Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!

Interesting paraphrasing of Habermas & ref to the Frankfurt School.

Statement by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell YouTube video by Federal Reserve

Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...