Eleanor Courtemanche
@ecourtem.bsky.social
Midwestern prof: Victorian lit & financial crisis. Zeitgeist-seismometer. 75% normcore
Anti-doomer but ☹️☹️ wtf
Anti-doomer but ☹️☹️ wtf
Pinned
Beyond the Doom Loop of High Theory
If paradox can be toxic, what’s the antidote?
www.publicbooks.org
For @publicbooks.bsky.social, I reviewed Elizabeth Anker's fascinating & extremely ambitious "On Paradox," which critiques almost the whole theoretical connection between politics and aesthetics (and then rebuilds a little). Books should take big swings! www.publicbooks.org/beyond-the-d...
Reposted by Eleanor Courtemanche
there’s only one dramatic adaptation of wuthering heights that could ever be worth making. if it’s not based on the cover of the fratelli fabbri italian paperback edition, I don’t want to hear about it
February 14, 2026 at 8:34 PM
there’s only one dramatic adaptation of wuthering heights that could ever be worth making. if it’s not based on the cover of the fratelli fabbri italian paperback edition, I don’t want to hear about it
Dense early-spring fog on Clearwater Beach
February 13, 2026 at 1:49 AM
Dense early-spring fog on Clearwater Beach
Reposted by Eleanor Courtemanche
Thomas CAUGHT doubtmaxxing as Christ stuns death-cels
February 13, 2026 at 12:07 AM
Thomas CAUGHT doubtmaxxing as Christ stuns death-cels
Reposted by Eleanor Courtemanche
paradoxically I think Heathcliff is the only human in Muppet Wuthering Heights. Cathy is of course Ms Piggy. Kermit is Edgar Linton.
I would absolutely watch a version of Wuthering Heights where Heathcliff was an animated cartoon cat, Roger Rabbit style.
February 11, 2026 at 9:23 PM
paradoxically I think Heathcliff is the only human in Muppet Wuthering Heights. Cathy is of course Ms Piggy. Kermit is Edgar Linton.
Reposted by Eleanor Courtemanche
Since I heard Penn State launched a course called "One Book Slowly" this year (Eric Hayot is teaching Madame Bovary) I can't stop thinking about it
I think the greatest gift college professors in the humanities can give to students right now is a seminar room where, for 80 minutes twice a week, nothing that happens to them is a sales pitch for an AI product.
February 11, 2026 at 9:26 PM
Since I heard Penn State launched a course called "One Book Slowly" this year (Eric Hayot is teaching Madame Bovary) I can't stop thinking about it
Yes! I’m sorry, Benedict would be absolutely riddled with syphilis 😆
a lesson i will never learn is if you complain enough in your work slack about how ridiculous it is for a regency era character to shuffle through a stack of miniature portraits like a collection of pokemon cards, eventually someone will make you blog
www.vulture.com/article/brid...
www.vulture.com/article/brid...
A Collection of Miniature Bridgerton Rants
In a Regency world that implies a mass print culture capable of speedy and pervasive distribution of colored images, no gripe is too small.
www.vulture.com
February 11, 2026 at 8:31 PM
Yes! I’m sorry, Benedict would be absolutely riddled with syphilis 😆
Listen to my Duluth cousin-in-law Kerry explain curling! The US silver medalists come from her club youtu.be/ocMVQ2VecKE?...
Duluth’s Cory Thiesse & Korey Dropkin become first U.S. mixed doubles curling team to play for gold
YouTube video by FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul
youtu.be
February 11, 2026 at 12:54 AM
Listen to my Duluth cousin-in-law Kerry explain curling! The US silver medalists come from her club youtu.be/ocMVQ2VecKE?...
Reposted by Eleanor Courtemanche
Student in class today asked me what the difference was between a British pound in money versus in weight, which meant I got to quote Nate Bargatze as George Washington: "Nobody knows..."
a group of men in historical costumes with the words nobody knows above them
ALT: a group of men in historical costumes with the words nobody knows above them
media.tenor.com
February 10, 2026 at 8:47 PM
Student in class today asked me what the difference was between a British pound in money versus in weight, which meant I got to quote Nate Bargatze as George Washington: "Nobody knows..."
Reposted by Eleanor Courtemanche
What’s colonialism got to do with it? Tracing the connections from sugar cane to power outages to ICE.
Bad Bunny in the Sugar Cane and ICE on the Streets
From Santa Clara to Puerto Rico to Minneapolis
open.substack.com
February 10, 2026 at 11:00 PM
What’s colonialism got to do with it? Tracing the connections from sugar cane to power outages to ICE.
I’m sure it’s right that the American pop-culture/soft power nexus is collapsing abroad, and was always v complicated to begin with
But “the culture” is still just as strong a force in the US: the Bad Bunny halftime show lit up the board in every quadrant & was a true event
But “the culture” is still just as strong a force in the US: the Bad Bunny halftime show lit up the board in every quadrant & was a true event
February 10, 2026 at 6:59 PM
I’m sure it’s right that the American pop-culture/soft power nexus is collapsing abroad, and was always v complicated to begin with
But “the culture” is still just as strong a force in the US: the Bad Bunny halftime show lit up the board in every quadrant & was a true event
But “the culture” is still just as strong a force in the US: the Bad Bunny halftime show lit up the board in every quadrant & was a true event
🧵The train drama you didn’t know you needed this morning
For a stupid company they last a long time!
For a stupid company they last a long time!
okay! so, The Milwaukee Road, America's Greatest and Stupidest Railroad, a mini-thread.
More properly known as the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), they were one of a million midwest based mainline railroads, originally formed in 1847
More properly known as the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), they were one of a million midwest based mainline railroads, originally formed in 1847
February 10, 2026 at 3:22 PM
🧵The train drama you didn’t know you needed this morning
For a stupid company they last a long time!
For a stupid company they last a long time!
Reposted by Eleanor Courtemanche
It's also really important to realize that a draw-down of 700 troops has left more than 2000 still here. They vastly outnumber the total local police force, and they are terrorizing with impunity, even though the mainstream media has largely moved on.
I don’t think we’re hearing anywhere near enough from impacted families. The quiet terror :
www.minnpost.com/community-vo...
www.minnpost.com/community-vo...
Two families feel the quiet terror of immigration enforcement - MinnPost
For my undocumented friends, much about normal life changed when federal immigration agents came to Minnesota.
www.minnpost.com
February 10, 2026 at 3:12 PM
It's also really important to realize that a draw-down of 700 troops has left more than 2000 still here. They vastly outnumber the total local police force, and they are terrorizing with impunity, even though the mainstream media has largely moved on.
Tina Brown’s media-gossip takedown of Jeff Bezos is entertaining 🍸
Bafflement with Bezos
The whole debacle of the Washington Post brand hara-kiri last week dispatched the myth that a tech billionaire could save serious journalism.
open.substack.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:27 AM
Tina Brown’s media-gossip takedown of Jeff Bezos is entertaining 🍸
Protect Rümeysa! Even more protection needed, like a personal bodyguard from the ACLU
NEW: An immigration court has terminated removal proceedings against Tufts doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk, finding that DHS did not meet its burden of establishing that she was removable, her lawyers tell the Second Circuit. live-awp-vermont.pantheonsite.io/app/uploads/...
February 10, 2026 at 12:17 AM
Protect Rümeysa! Even more protection needed, like a personal bodyguard from the ACLU
Reposted by Eleanor Courtemanche
I don’t understand a word Radiohead says yet still listen to them. See, it’s easy.
February 9, 2026 at 8:43 PM
I don’t understand a word Radiohead says yet still listen to them. See, it’s easy.
Reposted by Eleanor Courtemanche
I've waited a long time to be able to say this, but we're hiring a full-time Film Critic for @avclub.com! Details are in the job listing, but you should send application materials to jobs@avclub.com
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
homer simpson and bart simpson are sitting on a couch
Alt: homer simpson and bart simpson are sitting on a couch
media.tenor.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:21 PM
I've waited a long time to be able to say this, but we're hiring a full-time Film Critic for @avclub.com! Details are in the job listing, but you should send application materials to jobs@avclub.com
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
This clever, lively book traces a lineage from Rokeya Hossain’s 1924 feminist novel “Padmarag” to her 1922 Bengali translation of Marie Corelli’s critique of Victorian patriarchy in “The Murder of Delicia” — back to Dickens’s wicked divorce from his wife Catherine
February 9, 2026 at 9:49 PM
This clever, lively book traces a lineage from Rokeya Hossain’s 1924 feminist novel “Padmarag” to her 1922 Bengali translation of Marie Corelli’s critique of Victorian patriarchy in “The Murder of Delicia” — back to Dickens’s wicked divorce from his wife Catherine
Reposted by Eleanor Courtemanche
Claude as the hippie flower child in AI equivalent of Haight-Ashbury
Gemini as depressive English student with Eeyore-like moods about not being good enough
ChatGPT as a slick-talking and slightly scammy "young entrepreneur"
Grok as sad teenager locked up in house w/ abusive Nazi dad
Gemini as depressive English student with Eeyore-like moods about not being good enough
ChatGPT as a slick-talking and slightly scammy "young entrepreneur"
Grok as sad teenager locked up in house w/ abusive Nazi dad
There is a sci-fi story in this somewhere about Grok being the AI with an abusive father and no friends.
All the cool AIs went out for bits and I didn't see you there?
February 9, 2026 at 6:52 PM
Claude as the hippie flower child in AI equivalent of Haight-Ashbury
Gemini as depressive English student with Eeyore-like moods about not being good enough
ChatGPT as a slick-talking and slightly scammy "young entrepreneur"
Grok as sad teenager locked up in house w/ abusive Nazi dad
Gemini as depressive English student with Eeyore-like moods about not being good enough
ChatGPT as a slick-talking and slightly scammy "young entrepreneur"
Grok as sad teenager locked up in house w/ abusive Nazi dad
Trying to stop the internet before I figure out who Jake and Logan Paul are 😓
February 9, 2026 at 6:55 PM
Trying to stop the internet before I figure out who Jake and Logan Paul are 😓
Reposted by Eleanor Courtemanche
starting to feel like there's a direct relationship between the growing obsession with lifestyle hygeine (no drinking, no caffeine, no sex, obsessive working out and looksmaxxing) and the inability to meaningful moral stands on issues of actual import
Cafes across the U.S. are embracing the low- and no-caffeine lifestyle, with options that are a far cry from dusty tea bags and rewarmed decaf. nyti.ms/3XKlqoj
February 9, 2026 at 5:12 PM
starting to feel like there's a direct relationship between the growing obsession with lifestyle hygeine (no drinking, no caffeine, no sex, obsessive working out and looksmaxxing) and the inability to meaningful moral stands on issues of actual import
Reposted by Eleanor Courtemanche
THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH A HISTORY MAJOR
Bad Bunny has a consulting historian. news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...
Pop star Bad Bunny needed a Puerto Rican history scholar. UW–Madison had just the one.
Bad Bunny collaborated with UW–Madison history professor Jorell Meléndez-Badillo on Puerto Rican narratives that accompany the new album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.”
news.wisc.edu
February 9, 2026 at 5:44 AM
THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH A HISTORY MAJOR
“A living community produces new art”: I’m hearing it more and more
February 9, 2026 at 3:34 PM
“A living community produces new art”: I’m hearing it more and more
Do we know WHO got actually married in the middle of that halftime show? 😅😅
February 9, 2026 at 3:28 PM
Do we know WHO got actually married in the middle of that halftime show? 😅😅
Reposted by Eleanor Courtemanche
No Kings includes Draft Kings
February 8, 2026 at 11:49 PM
No Kings includes Draft Kings
Reposted by Eleanor Courtemanche
Wrote a little about Patchwork, the new graphic biography of Jane Austen by Kate Evans.
kasiareads.com/2026/02/08/p...
kasiareads.com/2026/02/08/p...
Patchwork, Kate Evans
I don’t know why I read so many graphic novel biographies, because I’m not generally that fond of them, but I guess it’s that I always feel like my knowledge of history is sorely …
kasiareads.com
February 8, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Wrote a little about Patchwork, the new graphic biography of Jane Austen by Kate Evans.
kasiareads.com/2026/02/08/p...
kasiareads.com/2026/02/08/p...