"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux
@BretDevereaux
Ancient & military historian specializing in the Roman economy and military. PhD @UNChistory. More impressive credential is that I have beaten Dark Souls.
So, a lot of new followers. Welcome! I mostly use this space to nerd out a bunch about ancient history, military history, or both. I also have a blog where I do mostly that thing, but more so: acoup.blog I also occasionally opine on geopolitics/nat-sec Cheers!
This is an excellent piece. Please read -- the liberal arts can and should survive and thrive, and Prof. Frey was proving that at Tulsa before her (very successful) program was axed.
I wrote about the lack of administrative support for the liberal arts in @nytimes. The standard story we hear is that students don't want it. But a darker reality is that even when it wins big with students and donors it loses with those in power. nytimes.com/2025/07/17/opi…
For the evening crowd: I went long on some westerns
For Long Library this week, I wrote about Man of the West, Ride the High Country, and the dark heart of the "classic western." Link in bio and below
ahahaha there's literally no relationship between AI exposure and employment change.
Call me old fashioned, but I don't think the House of Representatives should shut down all of its business simply to shield the Best Buddy of an infamous criminal pedophile from investigation, regardless of the office he holds.
Breaking News: Speaker Mike Johnson said he would shut down the House until September to block a vote on calling for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. nyti.ms/4nZtblR
This week on the blog: Death! We continue out look at what life was like for pre-industrial peasant farmers - most humans who have ever lived - with a discussion of mortality and why simple 'life expectancy' can be a deceptive statistic. acoup.blog/2025/07/18/col…
Trump's dialogue on the card to Epstein suggests a shared relish in a "secret" about "enigmas [that] never age." It's so sick and dark that it can't be dismissed as locker room talk. Trump's only out is simply to claim it's a fake--and hope there isn't clear evidence it's real.
Lord in heaven this sounds incriminating as hell. Jesus.