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Jon Coburn

@joncoburn

Mediocre historian. University of Lincoln, UK 'Not Just a Housewife: Women Strike for Peace and the Cold War Women's Peace Movement' out October 2025 | Histories of activism | protest suicide | information literacy

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Latest posts by Jon Coburn @joncoburn

LMFAO SOMEONE MADE IT A REAL THING

sweepthestrait.com

11.03.2026 00:28 πŸ‘ 389 πŸ” 126 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 7

Long-time buddies Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were out for a pleasant van drive in Oklahoma when, all of a sudden, their lives would change.

10.03.2026 13:19 πŸ‘ 9486 πŸ” 1907 πŸ’¬ 176 πŸ“Œ 38

Information Literacy

09.03.2026 09:45 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

We assume everyone uses the web in the ways that we do, based on the norms of when and where we started to use it. I can just about imagine how you could be on your phone and laptop all day and never actually use a browser to go to a search engine and look for things

09.03.2026 09:37 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
Country Joe McDonald holding a guitar in 1981. A card reads: "1942-2026: Country Joe McDonald, Artist Whose Antiwar Song Became an Anthem, Dies at 84. Photo by United Archives, via Getty Images."

Country Joe McDonald holding a guitar in 1981. A card reads: "1942-2026: Country Joe McDonald, Artist Whose Antiwar Song Became an Anthem, Dies at 84. Photo by United Archives, via Getty Images."

Country Joe McDonald, one of the starring acts at Woodstock whose satirical anti-Vietnam War song β€œI-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag” became an anthem, died on Saturday. He was 84. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/a...

08.03.2026 19:06 πŸ‘ 349 πŸ” 108 πŸ’¬ 30 πŸ“Œ 48
You see it, most ironically, in the Domesday Book. In 1986, the BBC marked the 900th anniversary by making a modern version. It conducted a new census of the nation, taking down thoughts, feelings and occupations, all recorded using a technology lIth-century scribes would have marvelled at.
A technology that was, a few years later, defunct: the LaserDisc. A few years after that, no computer could read it. The original Domesday Book persisted, unchanged, on vellum. The modern one barely lasted a generation.

You see it, most ironically, in the Domesday Book. In 1986, the BBC marked the 900th anniversary by making a modern version. It conducted a new census of the nation, taking down thoughts, feelings and occupations, all recorded using a technology lIth-century scribes would have marvelled at. A technology that was, a few years later, defunct: the LaserDisc. A few years after that, no computer could read it. The original Domesday Book persisted, unchanged, on vellum. The modern one barely lasted a generation.

Books will outlast your puny digital technology
www.thetimes.com/article/74a7... @whippletom.bsky.social

07.03.2026 14:51 πŸ‘ 104 πŸ” 35 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 6

Challenge for people who believe Claude *is* conscious and use it anyway: Explain how you’re not a slaver.

07.03.2026 19:04 πŸ‘ 2547 πŸ” 548 πŸ’¬ 74 πŸ“Œ 24

An original Nashville sit-in member, along with Diane Nash, James Bevel, and John Lewis. Trained in non-violence by James Lawson. At age 21, he signed a will before the Freedom Rides, knowing he could die.

May his soul be at peace, and may we all have such courage in the face of oppression.

05.03.2026 23:25 πŸ‘ 1951 πŸ” 549 πŸ’¬ 10 πŸ“Œ 5
Dear Shabana,
I notice today that you referred to me in your speech on immigration at the IPPR think tank.
You said: β€œA party leader should not be on the beaches of France encouraging people to
make a perilous crossing on small boats.”
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised especially after the hateful Labour campaign in Gorton
and Denton, but this is just the latest in a string of lies peddled by a discredited Government
who intentionally fan the flames of racism and division.
When I went to Calais, I was not there to encourage people to travel to the UK. I was there
to see at first hand the suffering your Government and successive Governments have done
in demonising migrants in a pathetic bid to pander to the base instincts of Reform and the
flawed strategy of Morgan McSweeney.
As you will know, if you even bothered to research my visit instead of taking Reform talking
points, I was there to witness the brutality of families living in tents in freezing temperatures. I
filled water tanks and picked up litter.
What that visit did do is confirm my belief that if we are to smash the boat gangs and stop
the boats, we need to offer safer and managed routes for migrants to come to this country.
Showing compassion as a politician is not a crime. In fact, we need to see much more of it.
It reminded me of a young MP who in October 2015 spent three days in Lesbos helping
migrants fleeing war-torn Syria. She posted videos on X, talked about handing out water and
croissants to refugees and food parcels.
When she returned to the UK, she wrote a very moving piece in the New Statesman. She
said β€œwe have to work with our European partners and create new, safe, and legal routes for
refugees to get to Europe. We cannot abandon them to their fate, left as prey for smugglers
whilst risking death on the seas.”
She said β€œmaybe we can make ourselves feel better by saying no-one is making them get on
the boats. And again, the Home Secretary is not entirely wrong when …

Dear Shabana, I notice today that you referred to me in your speech on immigration at the IPPR think tank. You said: β€œA party leader should not be on the beaches of France encouraging people to make a perilous crossing on small boats.” I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised especially after the hateful Labour campaign in Gorton and Denton, but this is just the latest in a string of lies peddled by a discredited Government who intentionally fan the flames of racism and division. When I went to Calais, I was not there to encourage people to travel to the UK. I was there to see at first hand the suffering your Government and successive Governments have done in demonising migrants in a pathetic bid to pander to the base instincts of Reform and the flawed strategy of Morgan McSweeney. As you will know, if you even bothered to research my visit instead of taking Reform talking points, I was there to witness the brutality of families living in tents in freezing temperatures. I filled water tanks and picked up litter. What that visit did do is confirm my belief that if we are to smash the boat gangs and stop the boats, we need to offer safer and managed routes for migrants to come to this country. Showing compassion as a politician is not a crime. In fact, we need to see much more of it. It reminded me of a young MP who in October 2015 spent three days in Lesbos helping migrants fleeing war-torn Syria. She posted videos on X, talked about handing out water and croissants to refugees and food parcels. When she returned to the UK, she wrote a very moving piece in the New Statesman. She said β€œwe have to work with our European partners and create new, safe, and legal routes for refugees to get to Europe. We cannot abandon them to their fate, left as prey for smugglers whilst risking death on the seas.” She said β€œmaybe we can make ourselves feel better by saying no-one is making them get on the boats. And again, the Home Secretary is not entirely wrong when …

Dear Shabana,

Let's clear some things up around migration and remember we're talking about people's lives.

05.03.2026 16:59 πŸ‘ 4918 πŸ” 1803 πŸ’¬ 249 πŸ“Œ 346

I've studied so many different systems for encoding information which will be passive and stable over millennia. The fascination with knowledge which is separate from knowers is related to terror management theory & the desire for immortality. >

19.02.2026 08:05 πŸ‘ 23 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
Post image

This isn't something distant or far away. Super-agent & close Epstein ally, John Brockman had huge influence. His 'rockstar' writers, scientists and academics dominated our book pages & broadsheets.

We need nothing less than a total revisionist history of the last 20 years.
2/

15.02.2026 11:18 πŸ‘ 1154 πŸ” 333 πŸ’¬ 36 πŸ“Œ 15

Erm…

11.02.2026 13:51 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
For several years, ChatGPT users have generated an archive of human candor that has no precedent, in part because people believed they were talking to something that had no ulterior agenda. Users are interacting with an adaptive, conversational voice to which they have revealed their most private thoughts. People tell chatbots about their medical fears, their relationship problems, their beliefs about God and the afterlife. Advertising built on that archive creates a potential for manipulating users in ways we don’t have the tools to understand, let alone prevent.

For several years, ChatGPT users have generated an archive of human candor that has no precedent, in part because people believed they were talking to something that had no ulterior agenda. Users are interacting with an adaptive, conversational voice to which they have revealed their most private thoughts. People tell chatbots about their medical fears, their relationship problems, their beliefs about God and the afterlife. Advertising built on that archive creates a potential for manipulating users in ways we don’t have the tools to understand, let alone prevent.

"I once believed I could help the people building A.I. get ahead of the problems it would create. This week confirmed my slow realization that OpenAI seems to have stopped asking the questions I’d joined to help answer." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/o...

11.02.2026 13:08 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

Over the past two weeks I've begun to realize that rich people only started funding chatbots once they could no longer email Jeffrey Epstein

05.02.2026 22:02 πŸ‘ 5053 πŸ” 1258 πŸ’¬ 29 πŸ“Œ 69
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β€œThe combined tuition fees of the entire Question Time panel would not cover my cost for 1 year of uni. Is that fair?”
Oli Dugmore

It’s absolutely NOT fair. This outrageous scandal must end

06.02.2026 07:34 πŸ‘ 1703 πŸ” 576 πŸ’¬ 67 πŸ“Œ 63

Information literacy

06.02.2026 07:42 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
To:
Jeffrey Epstein[jeevacation@gmail.com]
From:
Sent:
Wed 7/15/2009 1:56:13 AM
Subject:
Re: florida visit?
good typing!
oh well, looks like it's a long flight anyhow... edmonton is so far away from EVERYTHING.
On Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 7:49 PM, Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com>
wrote:
i am tied up until aug
On Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 9:41 PM,
wrote:
You planted a seed with your invite today. I have next Wed thru Sunday off (July 22-26), my last vacation for months.
I was going to take polo lessons in Calgary but I (DON'T) think my body can handle it! I pull a muscle every time, and I'm starting to realize my budding polo career might have to take a back seat to my actual job.
think
What are you doing next week?

To: Jeffrey Epstein[jeevacation@gmail.com] From: Sent: Wed 7/15/2009 1:56:13 AM Subject: Re: florida visit? good typing! oh well, looks like it's a long flight anyhow... edmonton is so far away from EVERYTHING. On Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 7:49 PM, Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com> wrote: i am tied up until aug On Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 9:41 PM, wrote: You planted a seed with your invite today. I have next Wed thru Sunday off (July 22-26), my last vacation for months. I was going to take polo lessons in Calgary but I (DON'T) think my body can handle it! I pull a muscle every time, and I'm starting to realize my budding polo career might have to take a back seat to my actual job. think What are you doing next week?

The word don't is censored. Don't, or Don T. If you're looking for just some fun proof they're doing control+f censoring

05.02.2026 23:30 πŸ‘ 10382 πŸ” 3085 πŸ’¬ 114 πŸ“Œ 175

I agree that it’s high fucking time that we stopped acting like we need to grovel and constantly justify the existence of some of our most incredibly elemental and ancient human pursuits.

28.01.2026 01:34 πŸ‘ 2548 πŸ” 417 πŸ’¬ 39 πŸ“Œ 23
Front page of Royal Historical Society blog post with image of the Berlin Holocaust Memorial, photograph by Rudolph Simon, 2013, Wilkimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. 

Text reads: "On Holocaust Memorial Day we need more history, not just more memory' and abstract: In this post, Andy Pearce – Director of the Centre for Holocaust Education at UCL – considers the current levels of knowledge of the Holocaust among UK secondary school students. UCL studies, in 2016 and 2026, reveal a troubling and enduring divergence between popular understandings of the persecution and murder of Jews in Europe, in the 1930s and 1940s, and the findings of scholarly historical research. 27 January 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of Holocaust Memorial Day in Britain. As Andy argues, prevalent and popular misperceptions risk being sustained if the Holocaust becomes a subject for remembrance and memory, rather than of history and historical scholarship. It is only though β€˜more history’, shared widely and publicly, that we may seek to redress error, distortion and denial."

Front page of Royal Historical Society blog post with image of the Berlin Holocaust Memorial, photograph by Rudolph Simon, 2013, Wilkimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Text reads: "On Holocaust Memorial Day we need more history, not just more memory' and abstract: In this post, Andy Pearce – Director of the Centre for Holocaust Education at UCL – considers the current levels of knowledge of the Holocaust among UK secondary school students. UCL studies, in 2016 and 2026, reveal a troubling and enduring divergence between popular understandings of the persecution and murder of Jews in Europe, in the 1930s and 1940s, and the findings of scholarly historical research. 27 January 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of Holocaust Memorial Day in Britain. As Andy argues, prevalent and popular misperceptions risk being sustained if the Holocaust becomes a subject for remembrance and memory, rather than of history and historical scholarship. It is only though β€˜more history’, shared widely and publicly, that we may seek to redress error, distortion and denial."

"On Holocaust Memorial Day we need more history, not just more memory" bit.ly/4t6wPx6

Dr Andy Pearce, Director of @uclholocaust.bsky.social, writes today on the RHS blog.

#Skystorians

27.01.2026 08:19 πŸ‘ 72 πŸ” 39 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 4

Why is he giving future Raiders this information though?

24.01.2026 12:25 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Board of Peace - Season 1

24.01.2026 07:45 πŸ‘ 11503 πŸ” 6476 πŸ’¬ 467 πŸ“Œ 802

…..eh?

21.01.2026 09:39 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Coretta Scott King was Martin Luther King's political as well as romantic partner. More of an activist than him when they met, she was the "family leader" on peace and anti-colonialism, publicly out against the war on Vietnam years before him. She offers us much for the struggle today.

20.01.2026 13:27 πŸ‘ 20 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

A huge chunk of our political class has "book-you-see-in-an-airport" brain.

Just no interest in rigour.

14.01.2026 16:00 πŸ‘ 675 πŸ” 109 πŸ’¬ 23 πŸ“Œ 2
A photo of teenage Claudette Colvin in glasses and a sweater.

A photo of teenage Claudette Colvin in glasses and a sweater.

Friends, Claudette Colvinβ€”the 15-year-old who refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus in March 1955 & joined the federal case against bus segregation that went to the Supreme Court β€” died today at age 86. But there are lots of myths and mis-impressions about her. A short corrective thread:

14.01.2026 01:27 πŸ‘ 2866 πŸ” 1281 πŸ’¬ 10 πŸ“Œ 67

Reason 3: Cursive forms vary enormously by period, and the idea that being able to read the cursive you learn in 3rd grade would also enable you to interpret a 17th century alchemist’s handwriting is honestly kind of ludicrous

02.01.2026 12:39 πŸ‘ 352 πŸ” 22 πŸ’¬ 8 πŸ“Œ 3

Reason 2: There is a literacy crisis already! People can’t read generally, not just the Magna Carta

02.01.2026 12:36 πŸ‘ 256 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Reason 1: Most historical documents are not written in English, and if they are written in English it would like not be an English easily recognized by a 21st century teen, regardless of cursive fluency

02.01.2026 12:35 πŸ‘ 291 πŸ” 15 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 1

Right now: Stop what you’re doing, speak to your mum, tell her you love her.

You will never have as much time or as many opportunities to do so as you think you will.

31.12.2025 14:18 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Rethinking Error: β€œHallucinations” and Epistemological Indifference | Critical AI | Duke University Press

β€œThis article urges a fresh view on [AI large language model] hallucinations by arguing that, rather than being errors in any conventional sense, they are evidence of a probabilistic system incapable of dealing with questions of knowledge.”

30.12.2025 14:39 πŸ‘ 80 πŸ” 32 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 6