Heidi Backes
@heidibackes1.bsky.social
Prof of Spanish lit and cultural history / Gothic fiction / Fascism / Memory & Trauma Studies / Monograph SPECTRAL SPAIN out now with U of Wales Press (2024) / Currently working on Fascist Female Gothic
Pinned
I'm excited to share that I have signed a contract with @uniwalespress.bsky.social for my next book, "Fascist Female Gothic: National Catholicism and the Politics of Fear in Spanish Fascist Women's Writing, 1937-1945," which will be published in their Gothic Literary Studies series.
Reposted by Heidi Backes
“I don’t want to be in this place I want to go to my school.”
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
February 17, 2026 at 7:31 PM
“I don’t want to be in this place I want to go to my school.”
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
Reposted by Heidi Backes
Gang.
GANG.
LLM DETECTORS ARE ALSO LLMs AND PRONE TO THE EXACT SAME ERRORS.
STOP USING THEM.
GANG.
LLM DETECTORS ARE ALSO LLMs AND PRONE TO THE EXACT SAME ERRORS.
STOP USING THEM.
Just because I keep seeing those "I checked this piece and it's written by AI" - this is an old article of mine, before AI was available. So could we not?
February 16, 2026 at 4:34 PM
Gang.
GANG.
LLM DETECTORS ARE ALSO LLMs AND PRONE TO THE EXACT SAME ERRORS.
STOP USING THEM.
GANG.
LLM DETECTORS ARE ALSO LLMs AND PRONE TO THE EXACT SAME ERRORS.
STOP USING THEM.
Reposted by Heidi Backes
I posted about Thomas Hubbard on Threads and I might have accidentally incited a small mob. Oh well.
February 15, 2026 at 2:55 AM
I posted about Thomas Hubbard on Threads and I might have accidentally incited a small mob. Oh well.
Reposted by Heidi Backes
A young violinist was nervous about meeting with Jeffrey Epstein due to his 2008 child sex abuse conviction. Epstein reassured her by noting his friendship with @bardcollege.bsky.social’s Leon Botstein, and set up a dinner between Botstein and the musician. She soon became one of Epstein’s victims.
Epstein Used Botstein’s Prestige and Connections to Recruit and Support One of His Victims, a Violinist from Europe - The Daily Catch
Jeffrey Epstein utilized his burgeoning relationship with Bard College President and American Symphony Orchestra Conductor Leon Botstein in 2013 to procure perks for a young violinist who ultimately b...
www.thedailycatch.org
February 14, 2026 at 3:51 PM
A young violinist was nervous about meeting with Jeffrey Epstein due to his 2008 child sex abuse conviction. Epstein reassured her by noting his friendship with @bardcollege.bsky.social’s Leon Botstein, and set up a dinner between Botstein and the musician. She soon became one of Epstein’s victims.
Reposted by Heidi Backes
I’m just going to leave this here
February 13, 2026 at 5:54 PM
I’m just going to leave this here
Reposted by Heidi Backes
This is really a core problem that any true democratic humanism must confront head-on, and the task is to build out infrastructures for advanced humanistic study without need for buy-in from elite institutions or the rich people controlling them
In other words, respect for serious study in the humanities is such an alarmingly minority position, even among the monied elites, that protecting the humanities at elite institutions is very hard. One of my "big brothers" in European intellectual history no longer take students - no jobs for them.
February 13, 2026 at 5:21 PM
This is really a core problem that any true democratic humanism must confront head-on, and the task is to build out infrastructures for advanced humanistic study without need for buy-in from elite institutions or the rich people controlling them
Reposted by Heidi Backes
The volume & geographic distribution of protest nationwide during year 1 of Trump's second term was extraordinary.
February 12, 2026 at 6:19 PM
The volume & geographic distribution of protest nationwide during year 1 of Trump's second term was extraordinary.
Reposted by Heidi Backes
NEW: Senate Democrats REJECT funding for DHS, which will lead to shutdown of the agency. Keep in mind, ICE and CBP are still funded by supplemental money in the BBB, but it's harder to spend and will deplete those funds. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Senate Democrats Block DHS Measure as Funding Deadline Approaches
Lawmakers say they remain far apart on deal on Homeland Security to put new restrictions on immigration enforcement
www.wsj.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:42 PM
NEW: Senate Democrats REJECT funding for DHS, which will lead to shutdown of the agency. Keep in mind, ICE and CBP are still funded by supplemental money in the BBB, but it's harder to spend and will deplete those funds. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Reposted by Heidi Backes
Reposted by Heidi Backes
Glad to see a Columbia administrator speaking the plain sense about AI so many college leaders refuse to contend with. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/o...
Opinion | A.I. Companies Are Eating Higher Education
www.nytimes.com
February 12, 2026 at 11:13 PM
Glad to see a Columbia administrator speaking the plain sense about AI so many college leaders refuse to contend with. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/o...
Reposted by Heidi Backes
‼️Suiza votará una propuesta antimigración de la ultraderecha para limitar la población a 10 millones de habitantes
Suiza votará una propuesta antimigración de la ultraderecha para limitar la población a 10 millones de habitantes
El referéndum podría amenazar los acuerdos de la UE y paralizar la economía, según alertan las empresas suizas
www.eldiario.es
February 12, 2026 at 1:33 PM
‼️Suiza votará una propuesta antimigración de la ultraderecha para limitar la población a 10 millones de habitantes
Reposted by Heidi Backes
“If you wanted to create a tool that would enable the destruction of institutions that prop up democratic life, you could not do better than AI. Authoritarian leaders & tech oligarchs are deploying AI systems to hollow out public institutions with an astonishing alacrity.”
February 12, 2026 at 1:36 PM
“If you wanted to create a tool that would enable the destruction of institutions that prop up democratic life, you could not do better than AI. Authoritarian leaders & tech oligarchs are deploying AI systems to hollow out public institutions with an astonishing alacrity.”
Reposted by Heidi Backes
UPDATE: The 21 year old who has been posting “chilling” white supremacist messaging on Trump’s official Department of Labor feeds was finally fired.
JUST KIDDING! DHS hired him.
(P.S. They’ve been doing it too)
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...
JUST KIDDING! DHS hired him.
(P.S. They’ve been doing it too)
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...
February 12, 2026 at 1:43 PM
UPDATE: The 21 year old who has been posting “chilling” white supremacist messaging on Trump’s official Department of Labor feeds was finally fired.
JUST KIDDING! DHS hired him.
(P.S. They’ve been doing it too)
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...
JUST KIDDING! DHS hired him.
(P.S. They’ve been doing it too)
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...
Reposted by Heidi Backes
🏳️🌈 TODAY IN TENNESSEE: “A House committee devolved into shouts of protest and was hastily adjourned after Republicans approved an @GinoBulso bill to delegitimize same-sex marriage…” www.tennessean.com/story/news/p...
February 12, 2026 at 12:02 AM
🏳️🌈 TODAY IN TENNESSEE: “A House committee devolved into shouts of protest and was hastily adjourned after Republicans approved an @GinoBulso bill to delegitimize same-sex marriage…” www.tennessean.com/story/news/p...
Few things leave me surprised these days, but this is just... wow.
NEW: A page from Bondi's burn book. This is a list of the searches by Rep Jayapal of the unredacted Epstein files. That means the DOJ grabbed her search terms from the computers they set up for members of congress to view the Epstein files to use as ammunition. The photo is from Reuters.
February 11, 2026 at 11:59 PM
Few things leave me surprised these days, but this is just... wow.
Reposted by Heidi Backes
Thank you, Julie Johnson, for speaking out against the grotesquely misnamed SAVE act. We need you to keep fighting for us in the House.
February 11, 2026 at 10:30 PM
Thank you, Julie Johnson, for speaking out against the grotesquely misnamed SAVE act. We need you to keep fighting for us in the House.
Reposted by Heidi Backes
Gallup will no longer measure presidential approval after 88 years thehill.com/homenews/med...
February 11, 2026 at 7:12 PM
Gallup will no longer measure presidential approval after 88 years thehill.com/homenews/med...
Reposted by Heidi Backes
Likely-historic photo by NBC News of all the Epstein victims asked to raise their hands if they've not yet been asked to meet with the DOJ as Bondi testifies in foreground
February 11, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Likely-historic photo by NBC News of all the Epstein victims asked to raise their hands if they've not yet been asked to meet with the DOJ as Bondi testifies in foreground
Reposted by Heidi Backes
The Bondi style is vintage fascist rhetoric. Never respond to questions and instead hurl baseless accusations at the questioner. Also state over and again that the acts and decisions of the Leader may never be questioned. This comports with a political theory, but it's not democracy.
February 11, 2026 at 4:53 PM
The Bondi style is vintage fascist rhetoric. Never respond to questions and instead hurl baseless accusations at the questioner. Also state over and again that the acts and decisions of the Leader may never be questioned. This comports with a political theory, but it's not democracy.
Reposted by Heidi Backes
"A modern-day concentration camp ... People have been killed by the staff here." Irish citizen Seamus Culleton has been in ICE detention since September, despite having a valid work permit and his own business in the US.
February 10, 2026 at 10:09 AM
"A modern-day concentration camp ... People have been killed by the staff here." Irish citizen Seamus Culleton has been in ICE detention since September, despite having a valid work permit and his own business in the US.
Reposted by Heidi Backes
We have received numerous credible reports of torture, killing, and inhumane treatment of detained individuals at the Camp East Montana migrant detention facility, located within Fort Bliss. #txlege
February 10, 2026 at 6:47 PM
We have received numerous credible reports of torture, killing, and inhumane treatment of detained individuals at the Camp East Montana migrant detention facility, located within Fort Bliss. #txlege
Reposted by Heidi Backes
James Comer spent years and millions of taxpayer dollars trying and failing to prove that there was a policy connection between Hunter’s appointment to the Burisma board in 2014 and his VP dad. But Comer won’t spend a day or a dollar investigating this.
February 10, 2026 at 12:38 PM
James Comer spent years and millions of taxpayer dollars trying and failing to prove that there was a policy connection between Hunter’s appointment to the Burisma board in 2014 and his VP dad. But Comer won’t spend a day or a dollar investigating this.
Reposted by Heidi Backes
They will be warehousing people.
And treating them as objects.
These are concentration camps.
And treating them as objects.
These are concentration camps.
In the last month ICE has bought warehouses in:
- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown
This is unprecedented.
- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown
This is unprecedented.
February 10, 2026 at 1:58 AM
They will be warehousing people.
And treating them as objects.
These are concentration camps.
And treating them as objects.
These are concentration camps.
Reposted by Heidi Backes
Detention Reports has been updated to include a national map of all active ICE detention facilities that link to individual facility reports. Learn about this new feature and other new features at my latest post: austinkocher.substack.com/p/the-best-s...
February 9, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Detention Reports has been updated to include a national map of all active ICE detention facilities that link to individual facility reports. Learn about this new feature and other new features at my latest post: austinkocher.substack.com/p/the-best-s...