Felix Harcourt
@felixh.bsky.social
Associate Professor of History. English transplant to Texas.
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
"I wrote the piece and Claude found the links relevant to my claims" is, even without the AI, such an admission of poor thinking and argumentation. your claims should emerge from the evidence!
Less shocking to me was reading this bit at the end, where Erickson - whose entire day-to-day job is just wanking out a bit of punditry once or twice a week - has handed much of that over to AI.
September 16, 2026 at 4:45 PM
"I wrote the piece and Claude found the links relevant to my claims" is, even without the AI, such an admission of poor thinking and argumentation. your claims should emerge from the evidence!
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
[Benoit Blanc during a Reacher Christmas episode crossover] Listen, son, I myself am of the conviction that violence is the crude weapon of an incurious mind, but I will admit that my gigantic friend here makes the most convincing argument I've yet heard on the virtues of expediency through force.
[benoit blanc in true detective] now i know you think time is a flat circle, but if i may, you’re thinking of a clock
[benoit blanc in twin peaks] lordy there’s a burrito lookin girl on the beach
September 6, 2026 at 6:48 PM
[Benoit Blanc during a Reacher Christmas episode crossover] Listen, son, I myself am of the conviction that violence is the crude weapon of an incurious mind, but I will admit that my gigantic friend here makes the most convincing argument I've yet heard on the virtues of expediency through force.
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
Hear me out: The John F. Kennedy and Dolly Parton Memorial Center for the Performing Arts
August 25, 2026 at 6:04 PM
Hear me out: The John F. Kennedy and Dolly Parton Memorial Center for the Performing Arts
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
"AI prompts are discoverable" is going to lead to so many funny lawsuit outcomes, my god
this story is batshit
Here is the full article, which includes all prompts, trial transcripts, the report itself. The firm hired charged more than $80,000 for the report.
Also shows that AI transcripts can be discoverable and can be very revealing:
www.404media.co/show-how-3m-...
Here is the full article, which includes all prompts, trial transcripts, the report itself. The firm hired charged more than $80,000 for the report.
Also shows that AI transcripts can be discoverable and can be very revealing:
www.404media.co/show-how-3m-...
‘Show How 3M Is 0% at Fault:’ Expert Witness Used ChatGPT to Write Report Defending Company in Deadly Explosion Lawsuit
ChatGPT prompts show how an expert witness report was created in a $61 million lawsuit over an explosion that killed three people.
www.404media.co
August 17, 2026 at 6:05 PM
"AI prompts are discoverable" is going to lead to so many funny lawsuit outcomes, my god
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
Can't quite put words to how much I adored The Rivals of Amziah King.
My favorite movie in many years.
(Thank you @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social for the review that sent us to the theater!)
My favorite movie in many years.
(Thank you @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social for the review that sent us to the theater!)
August 16, 2026 at 1:25 AM
Can't quite put words to how much I adored The Rivals of Amziah King.
My favorite movie in many years.
(Thank you @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social for the review that sent us to the theater!)
My favorite movie in many years.
(Thank you @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social for the review that sent us to the theater!)
I feel like I’ve barely seen it promoted anywhere, but you - yes you - need to go and see The Rivals of Amziah King
August 15, 2026 at 12:17 AM
I feel like I’ve barely seen it promoted anywhere, but you - yes you - need to go and see The Rivals of Amziah King
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
welcome to the field of dreams, an homage to a movie revolving around men banned for life from baseball for gambling. brought to you by fanduel
only now realizing the field of dreams game happened and this is all so unbelievably stupid
August 14, 2026 at 11:56 AM
welcome to the field of dreams, an homage to a movie revolving around men banned for life from baseball for gambling. brought to you by fanduel
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
Yea you see, the problem here is that what historians actually do is construct the ‘well structured large historical dataset’.What you’re saying is that Claude can write an elementary school level paper on like the civil war
Are we ready for machine written history? When given access to a well structured large historical dataset, Claude’s Fable 5 can identify a topic, complete the research and write a strong and original draft research paper. This has the potential to break peer review, graduate school, & job searches.
August 13, 2026 at 10:38 AM
Yea you see, the problem here is that what historians actually do is construct the ‘well structured large historical dataset’.What you’re saying is that Claude can write an elementary school level paper on like the civil war
If you see this, quote the energy you bring to Bluesky
August 5, 2026 at 4:37 PM
If you see this, quote the energy you bring to Bluesky
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
This is just to say
I have OCRed
the text
thet was in
tne arch:ve
and whicb
yov were prabaldy
seamhing
for "breahtast"
Fargme ms
fheg mem debo:w5
sb ?mccf
mmb 5c oc1b
I have OCRed
the text
thet was in
tne arch:ve
and whicb
yov were prabaldy
seamhing
for "breahtast"
Fargme ms
fheg mem debo:w5
sb ?mccf
mmb 5c oc1b
July 28, 2026 at 5:49 PM
This is just to say
I have OCRed
the text
thet was in
tne arch:ve
and whicb
yov were prabaldy
seamhing
for "breahtast"
Fargme ms
fheg mem debo:w5
sb ?mccf
mmb 5c oc1b
I have OCRed
the text
thet was in
tne arch:ve
and whicb
yov were prabaldy
seamhing
for "breahtast"
Fargme ms
fheg mem debo:w5
sb ?mccf
mmb 5c oc1b
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
People who think Emily Wilson is being mean have clearly never presented a paper at an academic conference
July 27, 2026 at 7:20 PM
People who think Emily Wilson is being mean have clearly never presented a paper at an academic conference
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
In which Bo French, the openly racist candidate for Texas Railroad Commission, claims that his Jewish opponent has “much in common” with the Bolsheviks.
July 16, 2026 at 8:06 PM
In which Bo French, the openly racist candidate for Texas Railroad Commission, claims that his Jewish opponent has “much in common” with the Bolsheviks.
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
To be a historian is to speak ill of the dead and the rest of you should take more history classes and join us.
July 12, 2026 at 11:56 AM
To be a historian is to speak ill of the dead and the rest of you should take more history classes and join us.
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
gotta say... a lot of you are failing to live by the number one rule of dog park
July 10, 2026 at 1:27 PM
gotta say... a lot of you are failing to live by the number one rule of dog park
I feel horribly seen
Furthering my theory that this entire website is for people who owned Doonesbury collections as children and understood about a third of it.
July 9, 2026 at 2:09 PM
I feel horribly seen
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
They say:
“American History is Worth Learning”
[Posts picture from British history].
“American History is Worth Learning”
[Posts picture from British history].
July 8, 2026 at 7:01 PM
They say:
“American History is Worth Learning”
[Posts picture from British history].
“American History is Worth Learning”
[Posts picture from British history].
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
This is the most powerful thing I've read in a good long while, and I urge all of you to read it too. I'm gonna be sitting with this one for some time.
This essay is stunning in its moral and intellectual clarity, and also in its gorgeous sentences.
I'm not sure if I'll read the book, but I'm so glad I read this review of it.
lareviewofbooks.org/article/dang...
I'm not sure if I'll read the book, but I'm so glad I read this review of it.
lareviewofbooks.org/article/dang...
A Better World Is Not Possible | Los Angeles Review of Books
Did the Weather Underground have a point?
lareviewofbooks.org
June 29, 2026 at 12:35 PM
This is the most powerful thing I've read in a good long while, and I urge all of you to read it too. I'm gonna be sitting with this one for some time.
Well, the introduction to my fall “WWII to Watergate” course is ready
JD Vance: "I think Nixon's historical legacy is enjoying a bit of a renaissance, and deservedly so. I joked that if Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12 hours news story. The idea that it took down a presidency is crazy."
June 25, 2026 at 10:49 PM
Well, the introduction to my fall “WWII to Watergate” course is ready
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
![Top frame: Screencap from Fox News; Brian Kilmeade: This makes no sense.
Middle frame: Screencap from “The Good Place”; Michael: [shocked] Kilmeade figured it out? Kilmeade?!?
Bottom frame: Michael: This is is a real low point. Yeah, this one hurts.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qf4n475elcg6dtx5b7s43cwv/bafkreiblztc7adu7tncnoj4valkoeug4srmkygg7dvspmymzrtfkkx6ab4)
Was Fred Trump a Klansman? Maybe! (But probably not?). Happy to be featured in this article exploring the question
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/how-fre...
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/how-fre...
How Fred Trump’s Mysterious KKK Riot Arrest Resonates Almost a Century Later
Antifascists were fighting with their far-right rivals. An anti-immigrant group with surging...
talkingpointsmemo.com
May 30, 2026 at 6:11 PM
Was Fred Trump a Klansman? Maybe! (But probably not?). Happy to be featured in this article exploring the question
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/how-fre...
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/how-fre...
Reposted by Felix Harcourt
Sen. Rand Paul, chair of Senate Homeland, has used his opening statement to ask Sen. Markwayne Mullin to address his comments where he called Rand a "freaking snake” and addressed sympathy with a neighbor who assaulted Rand.
March 18, 2026 at 1:42 PM
Sen. Rand Paul, chair of Senate Homeland, has used his opening statement to ask Sen. Markwayne Mullin to address his comments where he called Rand a "freaking snake” and addressed sympathy with a neighbor who assaulted Rand.