Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
@rerbelding.bsky.social
Historian of American responses to the Holocaust, author of "Rescue Board" (Doubleday, 2018). Love cats, books, TV, travel, teachers, fighting for a better world. Opinions mine.
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
November 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
I have been thinking about this line today, on the value of editors, from the late great John Bennet, for no reason in particular.
November 18, 2025 at 2:14 PM
I have been thinking about this line today, on the value of editors, from the late great John Bennet, for no reason in particular.
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
I’d like to please juxtapose Jill Lepore’s complaints about how whiny #MeToo students made Harvard a miserable place with the former President of Harvard’s texts to Epstein seeking advice on trying to date a student.
The emails have Summers reporting to Epstein about his attempts to date a Harvard economics student & to hit on her during a seminar she was giving.
November 16, 2025 at 12:44 AM
I’d like to please juxtapose Jill Lepore’s complaints about how whiny #MeToo students made Harvard a miserable place with the former President of Harvard’s texts to Epstein seeking advice on trying to date a student.
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
Just thinking again how Democrats asked people to accept short-term suffering in order to give space to prevent long-term, worse suffering and then said, "Thanks for suffering in the short-term. You'll get to suffer long-term too so that our Thanksgiving plans don't get disrupted."
November 10, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Just thinking again how Democrats asked people to accept short-term suffering in order to give space to prevent long-term, worse suffering and then said, "Thanks for suffering in the short-term. You'll get to suffer long-term too so that our Thanksgiving plans don't get disrupted."
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
Absolutely correct
American politics makes a lot more sense when you realize that the GOP is afraid of pissing off the GOP base, and the Dems are afraid of pissing off the GOP base, but neither party is afraid of pissing off the Dem base.
November 10, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Absolutely correct
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
Here's another bit of conventional wisdom Zohran completely blew away: His speech was at well above a 10th-grade level. It was complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references. You don't have to condescend to voters with baby talk! Part of re-establishing norms is speaking like an adult.
November 5, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Here's another bit of conventional wisdom Zohran completely blew away: His speech was at well above a 10th-grade level. It was complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references. You don't have to condescend to voters with baby talk! Part of re-establishing norms is speaking like an adult.
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
There are issues we can compromise on! But if you let bigots into the “big tent” you’re actually shrinking it because you’ve just told whole demographics that they’re not really welcome.
October 20, 2025 at 2:59 PM
There are issues we can compromise on! But if you let bigots into the “big tent” you’re actually shrinking it because you’ve just told whole demographics that they’re not really welcome.
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
Retired Army Sgt. Brian Wofford spoke to me this morning at the Oklahoma City #NoKings protest. Didn’t expect him to be carrying his DD214 so I asked some warmup questions like when he got out and whether his injury was service-related.
He paused while describing the car bomb in Iraq to say this:
He paused while describing the car bomb in Iraq to say this:
October 19, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Retired Army Sgt. Brian Wofford spoke to me this morning at the Oklahoma City #NoKings protest. Didn’t expect him to be carrying his DD214 so I asked some warmup questions like when he got out and whether his injury was service-related.
He paused while describing the car bomb in Iraq to say this:
He paused while describing the car bomb in Iraq to say this:
Merry Wives @shakespeareindc.bsky.social was so much fun. If you need a break from scrolling and the doom of DC, go see this show. 10/10, just a room of joy.
September 28, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Merry Wives @shakespeareindc.bsky.social was so much fun. If you need a break from scrolling and the doom of DC, go see this show. 10/10, just a room of joy.
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
I know it's ethically a no-no, but I still think the New Yorker could make a fortune if they had a Cameo-like service where you could pay for Isaac Chotiner to call a friend saying he'd like to schedule an interview to ask them a few questions.
September 25, 2025 at 12:59 PM
I know it's ethically a no-no, but I still think the New Yorker could make a fortune if they had a Cameo-like service where you could pay for Isaac Chotiner to call a friend saying he'd like to schedule an interview to ask them a few questions.
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
I Am An AI Hater. “But I am a hater, and I will not be polite. The machine is disgusting and we should break it. The people who build it are vapid shit-eating cannibals glorifying ignorance. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself.” [anthonymoser.github.io]
August 29, 2025 at 12:20 AM
I Am An AI Hater. “But I am a hater, and I will not be polite. The machine is disgusting and we should break it. The people who build it are vapid shit-eating cannibals glorifying ignorance. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself.” [anthonymoser.github.io]
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
"Recently I took a friend in a pink shirt to lunch. Insensitively, I led him into a gourmet sandwich shop. Suddenly I saw his face light up as he was confronted with sandwiches named “Padrino” and “Pomodoro” and ingredients like soppressata, capicollo and a striata baguette....
August 12, 2025 at 12:27 AM
"Recently I took a friend in a pink shirt to lunch. Insensitively, I led him into a gourmet sandwich shop. Suddenly I saw his face light up as he was confronted with sandwiches named “Padrino” and “Pomodoro” and ingredients like soppressata, capicollo and a striata baguette....
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
The worst single-day crime spree in modern Washington history, of course, took place on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump issued no order to the National Guard to intervene -- Mike Pence did -- and later pardoned the perpetrators.
Citing a nonexistent crime crisis, Trump plans to take over the Washington DC police and put troops in the streets of the nation's capital. Contrary to his claims, violent crime in DC is at a 30-year low. @katierogersnyt.bsky.social Campbell Robertson Chris Cameron www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08...
Here’s the latest.
www.nytimes.com
August 11, 2025 at 8:14 PM
The worst single-day crime spree in modern Washington history, of course, took place on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump issued no order to the National Guard to intervene -- Mike Pence did -- and later pardoned the perpetrators.
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
Jesus Christ, these people are just so goddamned scared and weak all the time.
Rick Scott: "DC is not safe. People don’t just walk the streets in DC and feel safe anywhere around DC. I mean, I gotta be careful in what I do. I've got people in my office that are very careful about where they go. So this is great when Donald Trump is doing."
August 11, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Jesus Christ, these people are just so goddamned scared and weak all the time.
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
I literally sent my children (14 & 11yo) on a scavenger hunt around D.C. last week BY THEMSELVES. They walked, they took the bus, and they took the metro/subway. These folks are either the biggest liars for their own political purposes or the biggest bunch of sheltered wimps on the planet. Or both.
Rick Scott: "DC is not safe. People don’t just walk the streets in DC and feel safe anywhere around DC. I mean, I gotta be careful in what I do. I've got people in my office that are very careful about where they go. So this is great when Donald Trump is doing."
August 11, 2025 at 6:38 PM
I literally sent my children (14 & 11yo) on a scavenger hunt around D.C. last week BY THEMSELVES. They walked, they took the bus, and they took the metro/subway. These folks are either the biggest liars for their own political purposes or the biggest bunch of sheltered wimps on the planet. Or both.
My brain has responded to today's news by deciding that I need a mental loop of Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name of."
August 11, 2025 at 4:02 PM
My brain has responded to today's news by deciding that I need a mental loop of Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name of."
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
None of the problems DC has, not a one, wouldn’t be improved if DC had statehood.
August 11, 2025 at 12:02 PM
None of the problems DC has, not a one, wouldn’t be improved if DC had statehood.
Outside of a Dog was kind enough to arrange all the books and sales for a mini-tour I did in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota last year. I bought the store's t-shirt in gratitude-and also 'cause it was awesome-and will now also wear it in solidarity. Vermillion lost a great place and amazing people.
most people are not bigots. they might not understand but they know meanness when they see it.
August 10, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Outside of a Dog was kind enough to arrange all the books and sales for a mini-tour I did in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota last year. I bought the store's t-shirt in gratitude-and also 'cause it was awesome-and will now also wear it in solidarity. Vermillion lost a great place and amazing people.
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
If someone is being targeted
any
human
being
it's my responsibility
it's my obligation
even if i'm safe forever
because someone needs to do something and I'm someone
any
human
being
it's my responsibility
it's my obligation
even if i'm safe forever
because someone needs to do something and I'm someone
July 10, 2025 at 1:46 AM
If someone is being targeted
any
human
being
it's my responsibility
it's my obligation
even if i'm safe forever
because someone needs to do something and I'm someone
any
human
being
it's my responsibility
it's my obligation
even if i'm safe forever
because someone needs to do something and I'm someone
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
That photo of those people pointing at a sign celebrating the time when alligators will tear into human flesh reminded me of this photo (which I’ve cropped) of the 1930 lynching that inspired the song “Strange Fruit.” The man with the tattoo is pointing to a person who he’s just helped murder.
July 5, 2025 at 9:04 PM
That photo of those people pointing at a sign celebrating the time when alligators will tear into human flesh reminded me of this photo (which I’ve cropped) of the 1930 lynching that inspired the song “Strange Fruit.” The man with the tattoo is pointing to a person who he’s just helped murder.
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
This merch is the stuff people are going to find in their parents’ basements in 50 years and go “god, I know it’s important historical context but I just don’t want to touch it, do you think a museum would want it or should I just burn it”
My latest: Alligator Alcatraz, Florida’s immigrant concentration camp, has its grand opening today after being built in one week. Trump, DeSantis and Noem will be there to celebrate their collaboration.
I wrote about this fulfillment of a Republican wet dream—complete with tacky merch:
I wrote about this fulfillment of a Republican wet dream—complete with tacky merch:
Alligator Alcatraz immigrant prison camp is Florida's sadistic 'one-stop shop' for mass deportation
Trump will attend the opening on Tuesday with Gov. DeSantis and DHS Sec. Noem.
www.thehandbasket.co
July 1, 2025 at 12:44 PM
This merch is the stuff people are going to find in their parents’ basements in 50 years and go “god, I know it’s important historical context but I just don’t want to touch it, do you think a museum would want it or should I just burn it”
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
It’s hard to overstate how angry rank and file Dems are at the Dem establishment right now. And if I were a self-preservationist incumbent I would take note.
June 25, 2025 at 1:44 AM
It’s hard to overstate how angry rank and file Dems are at the Dem establishment right now. And if I were a self-preservationist incumbent I would take note.
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
Part of Zohran’s strength was a positive vision rather than an alternative to something worse but I think a lot of awful people were really banking on a result that allowed them to definitively close the book on the idea that MeToo shit is disqualifying, I wish them a harrowing night
June 25, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Part of Zohran’s strength was a positive vision rather than an alternative to something worse but I think a lot of awful people were really banking on a result that allowed them to definitively close the book on the idea that MeToo shit is disqualifying, I wish them a harrowing night
Reposted by Rebecca Erbelding (she/her)
Womp womp.
The wompest of all possible womps.
The wompest of all possible womps.
June 25, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Womp womp.
The wompest of all possible womps.
The wompest of all possible womps.