Joseph M. Adelman

@jmadelman

Historian of politics, business, media in early America. Author of Revolutionary Networks. He/him. See for more.

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Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· 23d

So this game has gone off the rails.

Box score of a baseball game between Jacksonville and Worcester showing a score of 10-10 after 4 innings.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· 23d

A night that was made for baseball here in Worcester. 😀

A minor league baseball stadium at twilight during a game, as viewed from centerfield.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Jul 4

It was so moving to be in Boston this morning for the annual Declaration reading on the 250th anniversary of its adoption. The crowd was joyful, boisterous, and as welcoming as @wutrain.bsky.social proclaimed Boston will be for another 250 years. #America250 #Boston250 @revolution250.bsky.social

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Jun 19

Statue of Rip Van Winkle reclining on the ground in front of a school

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Jun 14

Brunson put the team on his back. An amazing performance. #Knicks

Graphic showing Jalen Brunson of the Knicks scoring 45 points and the rest of the team scoring 49.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Jun 1

The arrival of June means that I'm officially starting a three-year term as chair of the World Languages Department at Framingham State. Looking forward to working with my new(ish) colleagues, and whatever happens, ¡será una aventura!

A book with a yellow cover, entitled The Essential Department Chair: A Comprehensive Desk Reference, by Jeffrey L. Buller.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· May 24

Hanging with my parents, watching the Hallmark movie about the historian and archivist falling in love over a mysterious trove of Revolutionary War love letters and it is UNHINGED.

Title card for the Hallmark movie “To Philly with Love”

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· May 13

Cartoon from Postal Life magazine, published by the US Post Office Department, Mar/Apr 1968 issue. #postoffice #stamps

Cartoon depicting a doctor examining a boy with the head of George Washington. His mother says, "It began to happen soon after he accidentally swallowed some of my postage stamps!"

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Apr 27

That oughta solve every problem the Mets have had this year.

Notification that reads: “Mets make roster move
Mets designate OF Tommy Pham for assignment, agree to deal with OF Austin Slater.”

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Apr 15

So I’ve heard.

A mostly empty Dunkin iced coffee cup on a desk.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Apr 8

Best Star Trek crew, wrong answers only

From the musical 1776, the characters Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Mar 26

I had the pleasure of talking with @theotherrbg.bsky.social about 1776 and if you know me, you know that as soon as I closed the Zoom window I put the overture on.

Screenshot of an iPhone with Spotify open to the overture from the musical 1776.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Mar 24

John Wilkes and Cicero with a word for the times.

Epigram from the North Briton number 6, July 10, 1762:
Latin by Cicero: "utinam respublica stetisset quo erat statu nec in homines no tam commutandarum quam evertandarum cupidos incidisset"
English translation: "I could wish the commonwealth to have been in its former situation, rather than to have fallen among men not so much desirous of its change as its total destruction."

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Mar 23

Ah, springtime in New England.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Mar 14

What is wrong with these people? Showing *less* respect to fellow players than you would in a regular MLB game?

News story text:

Raleigh has made it clear he won't fraternize with players on opposing WBC teams, a policy that apparently extends to players who don Mariners colors during the MLB season. According to a Seattle Times report, players on Team USA had agreed before the tournament not to fraternize with opponents.
“They're not just exhibition games,” Raleigh said after the highly publicized incident with Arozarena during Monday's Group B game. “These are super important. I have a responsibility to my teammates and my country to be locked in and focused each game and do everything I can to win.”

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Mar 11

Boy, the Mets bullpen cannot catch a break.

New York Times story with headline: “Kennedy to Undergo Rotator Cuff Surgery.”
Subhead: “The secretary of health and human services, known for his Make America Healthy Again campaign, is expected to be back at work on Monday.”

With photos of RFK Jr. wearing a gray suit in the White House.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Feb 25

Working this afternoon on the finishing touches for an online talk tomorrow evening for the Framingham Public Library on "The Revolutionary Legacy of the Free Press." Want to listen in? Sign up here: bit.ly/Lifelong-Learning-Lectures #America250 #FreePress #journalism

Lifelong Learning Lecture: The Revolutionary Legacy of the Free Press
Guest speaker: Dr. Joseph M. Adelman, Professor of History, Framingham State University

Since the ratification of the First Amendment in 1791, the Constitution has promised to safeguard “freedom of the press.” The meaning of the phrase has changed significantly as news media has grown and expanded from the weekly newspapers of the 18th century to the international corporations that own television and internet today. Explore the origins of the “free press” in the American Revolution and how those principles can protect the press today.

All Lifelong Learning mailing list recipients receive the Zoom link. If you have not joined our Lifelong Learning mailing list, go to bit.ly/Lifelong-Learning-Lectures.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Feb 23

As of 8:30am, Framingham has gotten about 8” of snow. But as soon as I went across the driveway for a pass with the snowblower the driveway turned white again.

A ruler stuck in the snow showing approximately 8 inches of accumulation.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Feb 20

Find someone who looks at you the way that Sen. Thruston B. Morton (left, R-KY) and Lawrence F. O'Brien looked at the 1968 report of the President's Commission on Postal Organization.

Black and white photograph with caption: Thruston B. Morton (left) and Lawrence F. O'Brien review the report of the President's Commission on Postal Organization

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Feb 13

It's pretty likely that your friends are kinder in their reviews of your work than these former high-ranking Post Office officials were to each other.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Feb 13

In any case I’m having fun looking through the papers of Postmaster General (and later NBA Commissioner) Lawrence O’Brien.

A man in a blue hat and coat, wearing sunglasses, takes a selfie in front of the entrance to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Jan 28

Always love when I can keep my daily to-do list to just one item.

An empty checkbox with the words “All the things” next to it.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Jan 12

Among the random things I learned in Lewes: In Common Sense, Paine dissed William the Conqueror by describing him as a “French bastard landing with an armed banditti.” When he did that he had only to call to mind the large Norman castle in Lewes, built just after the invasion in the late 11th c.

A thousand-year old stone castle high atop a hill, with a several-hundred-year-old house in the foreground at the bottom, in southern England.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Jan 2

Starting the 2026 work year off in a world of Paine. I’m preparing for an exciting @bfworld.bsky.social live recording with @theitps.bsky.social in Lewes next Saturday, the 250th anniversary of the publication of Common Sense.

Stack of academic books, all related to Thomas Paine and Common Sense, sitting in a table.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Dec 23

Quote with your favorite pic of your from 2025 A man and his baguette, for sure.

A man in glasses holds a baguette on a Paris street.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Dec 18

Intrigued that Boston South Station is installing automated ticket gates. This is something that's become standard in Europe (at least from what I can tell), but I have a feeling there's a subset of people who will throw a fit on the grounds of {insert petty grievance}.

A set of electronic ticket gates at the entrance to train platforms.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Dec 14

Brown has canceled all remaining classes and exams for the Fall semester.

Email from Provost Francis J. Doyle
Subject: Update on Remaining Fall 2025 Classes and Exams

Dear Members of the Brown Community,

I'm writing to follow up on President Paxson's update from a short time ago to provide additional information on academic operations for the campus. Given the deeply tragic events that took place on our campus yesterday, all remaining undergraduate, graduate and medical classes, exams, and papers or projects for the Fall 2025 semester will not take place as scheduled. This choice was made out of our profound concern for all students, faculty and staff on our campus. In the immediate aftermath of these devastating events, we recognize that learning and assessment are significantly hindered in the short term and that many students and others will wish to depart campus. Students are free to leave if they are able. Students who remain will have access to on-campus services and support.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Dec 14

And the university just sent out an update that the lockdown continues as of 9:30pm.

BrownUAlert: The Brown campus continues to be in lockdown, and it is imperative that all members of our community remain sheltered in place. This means keeping all doors locked and ensuring no movement across campus. The law enforcement response remains ongoing. Safety is the utmost and essential priority.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Dec 12

As scams go, you could do worse than opening by describing my book as “hilariously rebellious” and “academic sorcery.”

There’s something almost hilariously rebellious about Revolutionary Networks. You took the printers the supposed “background NPCs” of the American Revolution and turned them into the intellectual Avengers of the 18th century. You made ink-covered artisans into political disruptors, commercial masterminds, and nation-shaping strategists. Honestly, your book does what most history books try to do but fails so painfully it should be illegal. You made print culture feel… dangerous. Like a colonial version of hacking the system.
Your deep dive into 756 printers during one of the most chaotic political eras? That’s not research; that’s academic sorcery. And somehow, despite all this brilliance, Goodreads still hasn’t put your book on the throne it deserves. Which is almost ironic, considering the entire point of your book is about controlling information networks… Yet Goodreads visibility is sneakily dodging you like a Loyalist pamphleteer hiding behind a barn 🤦‍♀️.
Now here’s where things get delightfully chaotic.
Some authors already have a Goodreads account (great).
Some have one but it’s sitting on the lowest placement like a forgotten pamphlet under a printing press (not great).
And some don’t have an account at all (crime against civilization).
But the fun part? I work with the one thing your Revolutionary printers would absolutely exploit if they were alive today:
Goodreads Listopia.
Imagine Listopia as the modern-day equivalent of a bustling 18th-century printshop except instead of ink, you get ReaderGravity, VoteFlow, ShelfLift, and GenreBloom. It’s where readers organically pull books upward through Reader-Voted Lists, creating a chain reaction of real, verifiable attention. No fake reviews. No sketchy bots. No weird “Pay-per-reader” nonsense.
Just authentic readers doing what your colonial printers did:
deciding what ideas spread.
And since Revolutionary Networks is literally about networks of influence, wouldn’t it be beautifully poetic for your book to harne…

What Goodreads Listopia Actually Does for You

Boosts Goodreads Visibility by placing your book in high-traffic, genre-specific lists

Triggers ShelfLift as readers save your book

Creates ReaderGravity that pulls new audiences in

Generates ListEcho, giving your book repeated exposure across multiple lists

Builds GenreBloom, keeping your book visible LONG-TERM

Strengthens your Author Credibility especially important for historical nonfiction

Redirects DiscoverTrail toward Amazon, helping your Amazon Visibility, ranking, and sales

Supports a Smart Goodreads Strategy built around natural engagement

Zero TOS violations, zero review manipulation, zero “shady alley deal behind a print shop” vibes

Now the best part:
You mentioned pricing… So let's be brutally honest.
My service?
Not pricey. At all.
Unless we compare it to, say…
• rebuilding a colonial printing press
• riding Paul Revere’s horse
• buying land in Boston
• or hiring 756 printers to manually hype your book.

Then yes very affordable 😂📚.

Everything I do is organic, policy-safe, and powered by readers who genuinely love discovering new books. No gimmicks. Just smart placement, VisibilityWave, and pure ShelfMomentum.

Now before I build you a full, custom ListMap and Visibility Mapping plan, I’ve gotta ask something important
because if your Revolutionary printers taught us anything, it’s that nothing moves without the right network:

Do you want me to scan your current Goodreads visibility and create a full Listopia Placement Strategy tailored specifically for Revolutionary Networks, or are you ready to dive straight into activating your VoteFlow and ShelfChain? 😈📜🔥

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman· Dec 7

Highly recommend this piece. The widespread, unthinking adoption of corporate AI programming undermines the purpose of education in a democratic society. www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...