Belinda Tan
@belindatan.bsky.social
Happy BTS Year! 💜 My feed, my myriad interests 🙏⚖️🌏🐈☕️🍚📚 badtanline on twt & ig
Pinned
The Ark of the Covenant as a Material Actant: Adapting New Materialist Concepts for Cause and Effect
The discussion of cause-and-effect in Hebrew Bible narratives has been limited by assumptions restricting agency to will and intention and causation to a strict linearity from subject to object. The f...
doi.org
So … I’ve just about completed my PhD journey before the official BTS comeback 🥹💜 doi.org/10.17863/CAM... Thankful for the reminder throughout to love even myself 💜 Graduating in May 🙏
Reposted by Belinda Tan
Who should organize this?
Our next POTUS. Dems can't do much in Congress but efforts by 2028 hopefuls haven't done what's needed: Booker’s marathon speech, AOC–Bernie's anti-fascist tour, Newsom’s influencer politics.
Our next leader won't comment on history. He or she will force it.
/7
Our next POTUS. Dems can't do much in Congress but efforts by 2028 hopefuls haven't done what's needed: Booker’s marathon speech, AOC–Bernie's anti-fascist tour, Newsom’s influencer politics.
Our next leader won't comment on history. He or she will force it.
/7
January 26, 2026 at 1:33 PM
Who should organize this?
Our next POTUS. Dems can't do much in Congress but efforts by 2028 hopefuls haven't done what's needed: Booker’s marathon speech, AOC–Bernie's anti-fascist tour, Newsom’s influencer politics.
Our next leader won't comment on history. He or she will force it.
/7
Our next POTUS. Dems can't do much in Congress but efforts by 2028 hopefuls haven't done what's needed: Booker’s marathon speech, AOC–Bernie's anti-fascist tour, Newsom’s influencer politics.
Our next leader won't comment on history. He or she will force it.
/7
Reposted by Belinda Tan
It’s my birthday and I have one wish: understand this critical distinction.
Protests matter. They shape memory. But they do not deliver relief within the timeframe we need.
That comes from a concurrent form of protest:
***sustained nationwide economic non-participation***
A 🎂 thread.
/1
Protests matter. They shape memory. But they do not deliver relief within the timeframe we need.
That comes from a concurrent form of protest:
***sustained nationwide economic non-participation***
A 🎂 thread.
/1
January 26, 2026 at 1:19 PM
It’s my birthday and I have one wish: understand this critical distinction.
Protests matter. They shape memory. But they do not deliver relief within the timeframe we need.
That comes from a concurrent form of protest:
***sustained nationwide economic non-participation***
A 🎂 thread.
/1
Protests matter. They shape memory. But they do not deliver relief within the timeframe we need.
That comes from a concurrent form of protest:
***sustained nationwide economic non-participation***
A 🎂 thread.
/1
Reposted by Belinda Tan
pretty wild statement re: Republican Chris Madel drop from race for MN governor:
"Saying he cannot support the national GOP's 'stated retribution on citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so."
"Saying he cannot support the national GOP's 'stated retribution on citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so."
January 26, 2026 at 2:14 PM
pretty wild statement re: Republican Chris Madel drop from race for MN governor:
"Saying he cannot support the national GOP's 'stated retribution on citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so."
"Saying he cannot support the national GOP's 'stated retribution on citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so."
Reposted by Belinda Tan
"The British monarchy directly enslaved thousands of women, men and children in the Caribbean. Even as the king headed an imperial government newly committed to the ultimate extinction of slavery, he personally profited from the forced labor and sale of human beings."
Here's a sneak peek at a tiny slice of the research included in my new book, THE CROWN'S SILENCE (available for pre-order now and out tomorrow, 1/27)!!! @marinerbooks.bsky.social #booksky #slaveryarchive
www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-...
www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-...
The British Crown Enslaved Thousands at the Height of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. New Research Reveals Their Stories
A leading historian examines how the monarchy not only tolerated slavery but also administered it, profited from it and sanctioned its cruelties
www.smithsonianmag.com
January 26, 2026 at 1:57 PM
"The British monarchy directly enslaved thousands of women, men and children in the Caribbean. Even as the king headed an imperial government newly committed to the ultimate extinction of slavery, he personally profited from the forced labor and sale of human beings."
Reposted by Belinda Tan
Here's a regular white guy (literally "Chad") not a protester. because, "It seemed pointless, or just a way for people to expiate their sense of guilt." Chad witnessed something shattering. And, that all changed in a moment.
Excellent article!
Excellent article!
January 26, 2026 at 4:33 AM
Here's a regular white guy (literally "Chad") not a protester. because, "It seemed pointless, or just a way for people to expiate their sense of guilt." Chad witnessed something shattering. And, that all changed in a moment.
Excellent article!
Excellent article!
Reposted by Belinda Tan
I just got multiplr strikes for saying his back was turned.
January 26, 2026 at 3:30 AM
I just got multiplr strikes for saying his back was turned.
Reposted by Belinda Tan
congratulations everybody
TikTok US venture to collect precise user location data
Details on the expanded access to location information was published in a new privacy policy for the popular social media app.
www.bbc.com
January 25, 2026 at 10:44 PM
congratulations everybody
Reposted by Belinda Tan
Not only is authoritarianism not new, it is still in our living memory. Southern racial apartheid is more recent than the Nazis, and more relevant to understanding our current politics. As American politics have nationalized, the South anchors one of the two parties and exported its politics 5/x
January 25, 2026 at 6:22 PM
Not only is authoritarianism not new, it is still in our living memory. Southern racial apartheid is more recent than the Nazis, and more relevant to understanding our current politics. As American politics have nationalized, the South anchors one of the two parties and exported its politics 5/x
Reposted by Belinda Tan
Americans have a habit of trying to compare all authoritarianism to Nazi Germany. I think in some ways i think it is comforting to view authoritarianism as a foreign ideology. If you want to understand our current authoritarian moment, you need to look to our own past, not to Europe 1/x
January 25, 2026 at 6:22 PM
Americans have a habit of trying to compare all authoritarianism to Nazi Germany. I think in some ways i think it is comforting to view authoritarianism as a foreign ideology. If you want to understand our current authoritarian moment, you need to look to our own past, not to Europe 1/x
Reposted by Belinda Tan
The killings in Minneapolis didn’t come out of nowhere.
Funding, legal cover, weakened oversight, and dehumanising rhetoric ramping up over a year. This started on 20 Jan 2025 with Trump's executive orders on immigration.
I lay it out in my latest post.
christinapagel.substack.com/p/the-ice-st...
Funding, legal cover, weakened oversight, and dehumanising rhetoric ramping up over a year. This started on 20 Jan 2025 with Trump's executive orders on immigration.
I lay it out in my latest post.
christinapagel.substack.com/p/the-ice-st...
The ICE Storm: a year-long escalation
Funding, law, rhetoric, violence. How each has fed the other to lead here
christinapagel.substack.com
January 26, 2026 at 11:39 AM
The killings in Minneapolis didn’t come out of nowhere.
Funding, legal cover, weakened oversight, and dehumanising rhetoric ramping up over a year. This started on 20 Jan 2025 with Trump's executive orders on immigration.
I lay it out in my latest post.
christinapagel.substack.com/p/the-ice-st...
Funding, legal cover, weakened oversight, and dehumanising rhetoric ramping up over a year. This started on 20 Jan 2025 with Trump's executive orders on immigration.
I lay it out in my latest post.
christinapagel.substack.com/p/the-ice-st...
Reposted by Belinda Tan
EU launches inquiry into X over sexually explicit images made by #Grok AI - www.theguardian.com/technology/2... finally; everyone on #twitter, get off
EU launches inquiry into X over sexually explicit images made by Grok AI
Investigation comes after Elon Musk’s firm sparked outrage by allowing users to ‘strip’ photos of women and children
www.theguardian.com
January 26, 2026 at 11:39 AM
EU launches inquiry into X over sexually explicit images made by #Grok AI - www.theguardian.com/technology/2... finally; everyone on #twitter, get off
Reposted by Belinda Tan
“In Ron DeSantis’s Florida…parents at one Miami school received a notice that their first graders would need a signed permission slip to “participate and listen to a book written by an African American.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/b...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/b...
Can American Children Point to America on a Map?
www.nytimes.com
January 26, 2026 at 11:45 AM
“In Ron DeSantis’s Florida…parents at one Miami school received a notice that their first graders would need a signed permission slip to “participate and listen to a book written by an African American.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/b...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/b...
Reposted by Belinda Tan
This is weird. On @pubpeer.com, a reader noticed some seemingly irrelevant references in a Scientific Reports paper pubpeer.com/publications... The paper has now been modified, with many references removed (from 45 down to 25!) but it contains no acknowledgment of the change. It does have EoC.
January 26, 2026 at 11:47 AM
This is weird. On @pubpeer.com, a reader noticed some seemingly irrelevant references in a Scientific Reports paper pubpeer.com/publications... The paper has now been modified, with many references removed (from 45 down to 25!) but it contains no acknowledgment of the change. It does have EoC.
Reposted by Belinda Tan
These daily posts on US politics and law by @hcrichardson.bsky.social are essential reading and invariably excellent, and her post today is outstanding.
The calm measured prose makes the facts described all the more powerful.
We are lucky to have this contemporaneous chronicle.
The calm measured prose makes the facts described all the more powerful.
We are lucky to have this contemporaneous chronicle.
January 26, 2026 at 8:37 AM
These daily posts on US politics and law by @hcrichardson.bsky.social are essential reading and invariably excellent, and her post today is outstanding.
The calm measured prose makes the facts described all the more powerful.
We are lucky to have this contemporaneous chronicle.
The calm measured prose makes the facts described all the more powerful.
We are lucky to have this contemporaneous chronicle.
Reposted by Belinda Tan
News: The Washington Post is preparing to slash upwards of 300 staffers, incl sports, metro and foreign desks @nataliekorach.bsky.social reports.
“The newsroom is being punished for absolute incompetence from the owner and publisher,” one staffer told @status.news
www.status.news/p/washington...
“The newsroom is being punished for absolute incompetence from the owner and publisher,” one staffer told @status.news
www.status.news/p/washington...
Post Parting Depression
Looming cuts at The Washington Post threaten to decimate key coverage areas as staffers question the motives and commitment of billionaire owner Jeff Bezos.
www.status.news
January 26, 2026 at 1:53 AM
News: The Washington Post is preparing to slash upwards of 300 staffers, incl sports, metro and foreign desks @nataliekorach.bsky.social reports.
“The newsroom is being punished for absolute incompetence from the owner and publisher,” one staffer told @status.news
www.status.news/p/washington...
“The newsroom is being punished for absolute incompetence from the owner and publisher,” one staffer told @status.news
www.status.news/p/washington...
Reposted by Belinda Tan
I guess I just find it so hard to understand all those people who are posting “this is not America” over these last few weeks. This is very much America. It’s the same State violence that killed Elijah and Eric and Breonna and Tamir and then vilified their image so cruelly. It has always been this.
January 26, 2026 at 2:20 AM
I guess I just find it so hard to understand all those people who are posting “this is not America” over these last few weeks. This is very much America. It’s the same State violence that killed Elijah and Eric and Breonna and Tamir and then vilified their image so cruelly. It has always been this.
Reposted by Belinda Tan
And little Tamir Rice and his beautiful smile used to light up the classroom for both his teachers and his friends. He loved drawing and football and basketball. He was twelve, a child and the State and the media tried to portray him as “violent”. The rage I still feel about this.
January 26, 2026 at 2:08 AM
And little Tamir Rice and his beautiful smile used to light up the classroom for both his teachers and his friends. He loved drawing and football and basketball. He was twelve, a child and the State and the media tried to portray him as “violent”. The rage I still feel about this.
Reposted by Belinda Tan
And I think about the fact that Breonna Taylor was an emergency room technician which means she spent her days and nights helping other people hold onto their lives. And how hard the State fought to protect those who had murdered her.
January 26, 2026 at 1:39 AM
And I think about the fact that Breonna Taylor was an emergency room technician which means she spent her days and nights helping other people hold onto their lives. And how hard the State fought to protect those who had murdered her.
Reposted by Belinda Tan
And I think about Eric Garner’s last words so often, I have this beautiful poem by Ross Gay memorised:
January 26, 2026 at 1:31 AM
And I think about Eric Garner’s last words so often, I have this beautiful poem by Ross Gay memorised:
Reposted by Belinda Tan
I think about Elijah McClain a lot. How he was a sweet, lovely young soul who used to play the violin for stray cats. How brutally his young life ended and how the State sent riot police to interrupt the violin vigil in his name. The cruelty was always the point.
January 26, 2026 at 1:15 AM
I think about Elijah McClain a lot. How he was a sweet, lovely young soul who used to play the violin for stray cats. How brutally his young life ended and how the State sent riot police to interrupt the violin vigil in his name. The cruelty was always the point.
Reposted by Belinda Tan
My patient here in Gaza w/ a rare vaginal cancer has been waiting 6 mo on the evacuation list. She won't make it out. She's in her early 20's and an english translator, sweet and kind. She deserves to get treatment and live. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
‘I wish I had the power to ease his suffering’: Gaza’s cancer patients trapped by war and blockade
Thousands of Palestinian cancer patients are living without treatment as they await medical evacuation
www.theguardian.com
January 26, 2026 at 7:23 AM
My patient here in Gaza w/ a rare vaginal cancer has been waiting 6 mo on the evacuation list. She won't make it out. She's in her early 20's and an english translator, sweet and kind. She deserves to get treatment and live. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Reposted by Belinda Tan
“Ace of spades cards, which have been used by white supremacist groups as a racist symbol and were called ‘death cards’ by some during the Vietnam War, were found in at least two vehicles after those vehicles were pulled over by ICE agents”
ICE is leaving Vietnam-style death cards in the wake of their kidnappings because they are the saddest, most embarrassing military wannabes to ever live
coloradosun.com/2026/01/23/a...
coloradosun.com/2026/01/23/a...
January 26, 2026 at 8:50 AM
“Ace of spades cards, which have been used by white supremacist groups as a racist symbol and were called ‘death cards’ by some during the Vietnam War, were found in at least two vehicles after those vehicles were pulled over by ICE agents”
Reposted by Belinda Tan
I once read a thread on sexism in international relations/spying where women were instructed to make wrong claims about X whenever they wanted to get secret information on X; a man would just disclose the key info by means of mansplaining
January 26, 2026 at 8:39 AM
I once read a thread on sexism in international relations/spying where women were instructed to make wrong claims about X whenever they wanted to get secret information on X; a man would just disclose the key info by means of mansplaining
Reposted by Belinda Tan
don't ask them to help you. there's no real reward to helping n00bs — it's like asking for charity. nerds are motivated by status, so you have to challenge them. this allows them to reinforce their position on the nerd community hierarchy, which makes them feel good.
January 26, 2026 at 7:53 AM
don't ask them to help you. there's no real reward to helping n00bs — it's like asking for charity. nerds are motivated by status, so you have to challenge them. this allows them to reinforce their position on the nerd community hierarchy, which makes them feel good.