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Erik Linstrum

@eriklinstrum

Historian of Britain, empire, and decolonization at the University of Virginia. Author of AGE OF EMERGENCY and RULING MINDS. Working on fascism and empire. Writing in Jacobin, New Republic, History Today, etc.

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05.11.2023
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Latest posts by Erik Linstrum @eriklinstrum

inquiring minds want to know more about this "Nuremberg 2.0"

05.03.2026 20:33 πŸ‘ 188 πŸ” 25 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

This is a great start, Senator. Thank you. I hope you will also refuse to vote for a single dime of funding for this reckless, illegal, and unconstitutional war.

04.03.2026 19:48 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

the kind of thing that gets played at a war crimes trial

04.03.2026 13:47 πŸ‘ 5460 πŸ” 1104 πŸ’¬ 210 πŸ“Œ 42
Preview
Erik Linstrum - Gilded Rage Erik Linstrum: Gilded Rage - The African Kingdom of Gold: Britain and the Asante Treasure by Barnaby Phillips

For Literary Review, I wrote about Asante gold, Victorian-era colonial war, and complications with the restitution of loot literaryreview.co.uk/gilded-rage

02.03.2026 11:52 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Can’t believe a professional, apolitical, and unhurried search process didn’t catch this

26.02.2026 14:07 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The president's doctorate doesn't match the institution's mission Scott Beardsley became the 10th president at the University of Virginia in January. He is, by all accounts, a man of accomplishment.

Upon further review by experts, it turns out Scott Beardsley’s doctorate is basically a drive through diploma, which isn’t the sort of thing that gives a top tier university credibility or stability.

augustafreepress.com/news/james-f...

26.02.2026 10:57 πŸ‘ 33 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 3
screenshot of a tv user guide, showing two channels under Tue 8PM:

MSNOW - State of the union
TCM East- Gaslight

screenshot of a tv user guide, showing two channels under Tue 8PM: MSNOW - State of the union TCM East- Gaslight

Masterful Troll, TCM.

24.02.2026 15:19 πŸ‘ 6760 πŸ” 1642 πŸ’¬ 68 πŸ“Œ 97
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The timeless elegance of a CUP proof

23.02.2026 11:42 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Last month, University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin approved a proposal to establish a College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence funded by private corporations and philanthropy.
Mnookin said the move was a response to the inevitable creep of artificial intelligence into all disciplines of academia. Rather than reject AI, she envisioned a university that capitalized on this change by making artificial intelligence a "hub" connecting the humanities to computer science.

Last month, University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin approved a proposal to establish a College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence funded by private corporations and philanthropy. Mnookin said the move was a response to the inevitable creep of artificial intelligence into all disciplines of academia. Rather than reject AI, she envisioned a university that capitalized on this change by making artificial intelligence a "hub" connecting the humanities to computer science.

On the first day of my economics elective this spring, my professor said we would be expected to use NotebookLM to pass his class. He had lengthened the coding assignments so that they would be doable only with the help of AI. The reading assignments were longer, too: ten 40-page papers per week, which he asked us to feed into AI for a summary rather than read ourselves. When it came to lectures, he told us to simply upload the slides to AI and ask it to teach us whatever he failed to explain properly in class.

On the first day of my economics elective this spring, my professor said we would be expected to use NotebookLM to pass his class. He had lengthened the coding assignments so that they would be doable only with the help of AI. The reading assignments were longer, too: ten 40-page papers per week, which he asked us to feed into AI for a summary rather than read ourselves. When it came to lectures, he told us to simply upload the slides to AI and ask it to teach us whatever he failed to explain properly in class.

BLEAK. Bleak. I’d been paying attention to Columbia selling out its governance to the Trump admin, not so much its stance on AI.
www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2026...

22.02.2026 16:04 πŸ‘ 591 πŸ” 190 πŸ’¬ 37 πŸ“Œ 90
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Source: Cignetti's salary now averages $13.2M through 2033 After leading Indiana to the national title, coach Curt Cignetti has finalized a contract with the school that will pay him an average of $13.2 million through the 2033 season, a source confirmed to E...

Something is awry in higher education. Indiana University agrees to pay the football coach more than $100 million, shortly after cutting hundreds of academic programs. www.espn.com/college-foot...

20.02.2026 21:16 πŸ‘ 260 πŸ” 109 πŸ’¬ 24 πŸ“Œ 40
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✊

24.01.2026 16:30 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Opinion | Where’s the Outrage? Universities Need to Speak Up. The lack of response to the killing of Renee Nicole Good is shameful.

"We seem to be entering an age of state control armed only with the delusional hope that if universities hide and say nothing about all of the obvious ways in which the nation is slouching toward the demise of democracy, they will avoid political retribution."

14.01.2026 19:00 πŸ‘ 137 πŸ” 64 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 1
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I love teaching this course

12.01.2026 19:32 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The AHA rightly condemned the Iraq war in 2007 and the Ukraine invasion in 2022. Blocking a resolution, overwhelmingly supported by members, to express solidarity with Gaza is cowardly at best and special pleading at worst.

12.01.2026 18:26 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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How UVA’s presidential search missed what took us an hour to find Inside Higher Ed frames the controversy surrounding Scott C. Beardsley's appointment as the University of Virginia's president.

Can’t believe the deliberative and professional search for a new president at UVA didn’t catch a CV loaded with misrepresentations augustafreepress.com/news/vanishi...

12.01.2026 04:06 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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How UVA’s presidential search missed what took us an hour to find Inside Higher Ed frames the controversy surrounding Scott C. Beardsley's appointment as the University of Virginia's president.

Can’t believe the deliberative and professional search for a new president at UVA didn’t catch a CV loaded with misrepresentations augustafreepress.com/news/vanishi...

12.01.2026 04:06 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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How UVA’s presidential search missed what took us an hour to find Inside Higher Ed frames the controversy surrounding Scott C. Beardsley's appointment as the University of Virginia's president.

This seems to strongly suggest that the incoming president of UVA doctored his CV to the edge of outright dishonesty, and that the most recent changes came months before Jim Ryan was forced, as if they were made in anticipation in Ryan’s removal. augustafreepress.com/news/vanishi...

11.01.2026 20:02 πŸ‘ 3901 πŸ” 1082 πŸ’¬ 71 πŸ“Œ 90
Hearts of Darkness: The Varieties of Imperial Violence <p><span>β€œExterminate all the brutes!”: these words conclude a nominally humanitarian treatise inΒ <i>Heart of Darkness</i>, the 1899 novella by<i>Β </i

I've written a chapter, "Hearts of Darkness: The Varieties of Imperial Violence," for a volume on modern imperialism edited by Nicolas BeauprΓ© and Florian Louis. French publication forthcoming. I'm sharing the English version here in the meantime papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

07.01.2026 20:21 πŸ‘ 17 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Hearts of Darkness: The Varieties of Imperial Violence <p><span>β€œExterminate all the brutes!”: these words conclude a nominally humanitarian treatise inΒ <i>Heart of Darkness</i>, the 1899 novella by<i>Β </i

I've written a chapter, "Hearts of Darkness: The Varieties of Imperial Violence," for a volume on modern imperialism edited by Nicolas BeauprΓ© and Florian Louis. French publication forthcoming. I'm sharing the English version here in the meantime papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

07.01.2026 20:21 πŸ‘ 17 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Has it been that long? Now that I have noticed I am *extremely* unhappy about it

30.12.2025 20:05 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Indirectly related: why is the gap between semesters so short this year? It’s brutal and leaves very little time for prep

30.12.2025 18:45 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I have not experienced that level of insanity, but got a university laptop over the summer and have repeatedly wondered if wouldn’t be better off just going out of pocket. The logins, the updates, enough already

22.12.2025 15:52 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

This is aside from the (important) issue of uncredited labor.

21.12.2025 22:44 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Hmm ... I have some suspects in mind.

But seriously, the practice of bulk citation, footnote gigantism, or whatever you call it is a problem! We should only be citing things that we have actually read. And thoughtful engagement with well-selected sources should count more than sheer quantity.

21.12.2025 22:44 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

If you take the job under these circumstances, I am afraid, you are unfit for the job.

19.12.2025 21:30 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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A last-ditch power grab by a rogue and illegitimate board that has long since lost the confidence of faculty, students, staff, and alumni. Also, a choice that perfectly illustrates this board’s contempt for the scholarly enterprise and those who practice it.

19.12.2025 20:46 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

We are delighted to be co-sponsoring this event alongside @ihr.bsky.social and @royalhistsoc.org. Details and sign-up information is below!

19.12.2025 15:46 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Your public awaits the book!

16.12.2025 22:10 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Books of the Year 2025: Part 1

Peasants and popes, free speech and fashion, sentimentality and special forces: the first 10 of 20 historians choose their favourite new #history books of 2025.

www.historytoday.com/archive/revi...

28.11.2025 12:34 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1