Thomas Lecaque
@tlecaque.bsky.social
Scholar of religious violence and apocalypticism from the Crusades to contemporary America, living and teaching on occupied Baxoje, Meskwaki and Sauk land. Joyful swearbear. Amateur cook. He/him.
Pinned
Thomas Lecaque
@tlecaque.bsky.social
· May 22
Hi followers. In case you thought I was JUST a shitposter, I'm a historian, trained as a medievalist and working on the long eighteenth century, a college professor, and also for the last six years I've been writing about the far right. Primarily the religious far right, but not exclusively.
Nothing says "what a healthy government we've got here" like overt martyrdom claims from the Secretary of Defense. Cool. Cool cool cool cool.
Last week, the Secretary of Defense called the US a "Christian nation" & said a soldier "finds eternal life" by dying for country. But, sure, some people want to debate if #ChristianNationalism is even a thing.
publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/at-nationa...
publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/at-nationa...
At National Prayer Breakfast, Hegseth Says US Soldiers Gain Salvation by Dying for ‘Christian Nation’
While Trump's remarks dominate the headlines about the event, more concerning Christian Nationalist comments came a few minutes later.
publicwitness.wordandway.org
February 9, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Nothing says "what a healthy government we've got here" like overt martyrdom claims from the Secretary of Defense. Cool. Cool cool cool cool.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
We should all read more fiction that we do. Seriously, having a fictional referent to draw on, even one that has literally nothing to do with what I'm working on, is helping me read this source so much.
February 9, 2026 at 8:02 PM
We should all read more fiction that we do. Seriously, having a fictional referent to draw on, even one that has literally nothing to do with what I'm working on, is helping me read this source so much.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
February 9, 2026 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
i expect (but don't know) this is to replace andy mannix, who went to propublica, and did years of great stuff for the strib before. come be the next iteration. if you're from out of town, and interested, come over for dinner too.
Journalism Jobs: The @startribune.com is hiring an investigative reporter at their headquarters in Minneapolis MN, a state increasingly at the center of national news conversations including policing, immigration, public safety, business, politics and fraud.
recruiting2.ultipro.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:46 PM
i expect (but don't know) this is to replace andy mannix, who went to propublica, and did years of great stuff for the strib before. come be the next iteration. if you're from out of town, and interested, come over for dinner too.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
The failure here is that step one isn’t “grab your hammer.”
Here's how to disable Ring's creepy Search Party feature
Ring's Super Bowl ad alerted many people to the company's Search Party feature, which is basically neighborhood surveillance. Here's how to disable it.
www.engadget.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:02 PM
The failure here is that step one isn’t “grab your hammer.”
In @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social 's Annihilation, he describes a journal where the writer just describes a thistle in excruciating detail as a way of avoiding discussing the monster in the room. That's what this source feels like. I might be wrong, but that's the vibe.
One of the things about reading manuscript sources, and lots of them, in context, is that sometimes you can think--maybe, just maybe--that you're seeing the subtext despite centuries of layers to peel away.
This might be madness, or archival tunnel vision, I don't know, but.
This might be madness, or archival tunnel vision, I don't know, but.
February 9, 2026 at 7:47 PM
In @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social 's Annihilation, he describes a journal where the writer just describes a thistle in excruciating detail as a way of avoiding discussing the monster in the room. That's what this source feels like. I might be wrong, but that's the vibe.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
fwiw Americans are very bad at understanding that the 2 things you're not supposed to discuss - politics and religion - infuse literally everything that the country has done, is doing, and will do
it's the water we swim in, which is why we don't see it
it's the water we swim in, which is why we don't see it
February 9, 2026 at 5:55 PM
fwiw Americans are very bad at understanding that the 2 things you're not supposed to discuss - politics and religion - infuse literally everything that the country has done, is doing, and will do
it's the water we swim in, which is why we don't see it
it's the water we swim in, which is why we don't see it
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
Journalism Jobs: The @startribune.com is hiring an investigative reporter at their headquarters in Minneapolis MN, a state increasingly at the center of national news conversations including policing, immigration, public safety, business, politics and fraud.
recruiting2.ultipro.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:32 PM
Journalism Jobs: The @startribune.com is hiring an investigative reporter at their headquarters in Minneapolis MN, a state increasingly at the center of national news conversations including policing, immigration, public safety, business, politics and fraud.
One of the things about reading manuscript sources, and lots of them, in context, is that sometimes you can think--maybe, just maybe--that you're seeing the subtext despite centuries of layers to peel away.
This might be madness, or archival tunnel vision, I don't know, but.
This might be madness, or archival tunnel vision, I don't know, but.
February 9, 2026 at 7:33 PM
One of the things about reading manuscript sources, and lots of them, in context, is that sometimes you can think--maybe, just maybe--that you're seeing the subtext despite centuries of layers to peel away.
This might be madness, or archival tunnel vision, I don't know, but.
This might be madness, or archival tunnel vision, I don't know, but.
In which I discover there are two Pauls.
Logan Paul, resident of Puerto Rico, realizes what Jake Paul, also resident of Puerto Rico, seemingly does not: calling your neighbors fake Americans unlikely to win you a lot of local love
The social media influencer called out his boxing star sibling over claims that Sunday night's Super Bowl halftime show was un-American.
February 9, 2026 at 7:09 PM
In which I discover there are two Pauls.
The Alberta Crisis makes me think of the Canadian Convoy, which was largely funded from the US according to the financial records that got leaked and I (and many better others) looked through and wrote about.
February 9, 2026 at 7:00 PM
The Alberta Crisis makes me think of the Canadian Convoy, which was largely funded from the US according to the financial records that got leaked and I (and many better others) looked through and wrote about.
The New York Times trying to convince us to ignore climate change and Trump's tariffs by voluntarily giving up one of the few socially acceptable vices/societal survival methods the majority still embrace. Cool times. No.
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 6:46 PM
The New York Times trying to convince us to ignore climate change and Trump's tariffs by voluntarily giving up one of the few socially acceptable vices/societal survival methods the majority still embrace. Cool times. No.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
“Collection of Handwritten Letters from Children in Detention Center” sounds like an exhibit in the Holocaust Museum.
1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
February 9, 2026 at 6:31 PM
“Collection of Handwritten Letters from Children in Detention Center” sounds like an exhibit in the Holocaust Museum.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
Literally to *concentrate* people = 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 9, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Literally to *concentrate* people = concentration camps.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
LONDON (AP) — Palace says King Charles III will support police who are assessing reports that ex-Prince Andrew gave files to Epstein.
February 9, 2026 at 6:23 PM
LONDON (AP) — Palace says King Charles III will support police who are assessing reports that ex-Prince Andrew gave files to Epstein.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
Art matters. Bad Bunny knows it. Trumps knows it. The cast & crew of Casablanca knew it. And they made the greatest scene in film history. (Trump would hate it.) youtu.be/yOliU7X1fEg?...
Victor Laszlo Gets a Crowd To Sing "La Marseillaise" (Clip) | Casablanca (1942) | TCM
YouTube video by Turner Classic Movies
youtu.be
February 9, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Art matters. Bad Bunny knows it. Trumps knows it. The cast & crew of Casablanca knew it. And they made the greatest scene in film history. (Trump would hate it.) youtu.be/yOliU7X1fEg?...
I'd be ok with Elon Musk being the first permanent inhabitant of the Moon. If he wants to plan and build the city himself, from his own schematics, I'd be ok if he took every frequent traveler to Epstein Island with him. Sounds great. Let the Cybertruck Dome of the Mare Tranquilitatis be their home.
February 9, 2026 at 6:08 PM
I'd be ok with Elon Musk being the first permanent inhabitant of the Moon. If he wants to plan and build the city himself, from his own schematics, I'd be ok if he took every frequent traveler to Epstein Island with him. Sounds great. Let the Cybertruck Dome of the Mare Tranquilitatis be their home.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
Analysis: we fired all our arts and culture writers
Analysis: Weeks before he set foot on the stage, Bad Bunny’s halftime performance had already become a media event.
But if you were looking for political commentary, the closest that you got was when he said “God bless America” in English.
But if you were looking for political commentary, the closest that you got was when he said “God bless America” in English.
Analysis | Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show was expected to provoke. Did it?
The Bad Bunny Super Bowl show nodded to injustices in Puerto Rico but mostly evoked wholesome family values that meshed with the more sentimental commercials.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 9, 2026 at 5:13 PM
Analysis: we fired all our arts and culture writers
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
It's been almost a year now, but the Trump administration lifting the Domino's sugar ban early in their administration made clear exactly how they feel about forced labor (hint: they *love* it). It flew under the radar at the time with so much else going on. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/b...
Trump Administration Quietly Lifted Ban on Dominican Sugar Company Over Forced Labor
www.nytimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 5:31 PM
It's been almost a year now, but the Trump administration lifting the Domino's sugar ban early in their administration made clear exactly how they feel about forced labor (hint: they *love* it). It flew under the radar at the time with so much else going on. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/b...
If sugarcane is on the field, the halftime show is political. My brothers in Christ, the only reason billionaires don't think it's political is because they don't see the murderous exploitation of enslaved humans as a problem worth discussing.
February 9, 2026 at 5:24 PM
If sugarcane is on the field, the halftime show is political. My brothers in Christ, the only reason billionaires don't think it's political is because they don't see the murderous exploitation of enslaved humans as a problem worth discussing.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
I kid you not, when I TA'd for a U.S. History, post-1865 course taught by a Latino Studies prof, everything, and I mean everything, always came back around to sugar.
And he was right.
And he was right.
For those interested in why Black & Caribbean people are going off about the sugar cane from last night's halftime show: sugar is a plantation commodity that fueled slavery & colonialism
bookshop.org/p/books/swee...
bookshop.org/p/books/swee...
Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History
The Place of Sugar in Modern History
bookshop.org
February 9, 2026 at 5:21 PM
I kid you not, when I TA'd for a U.S. History, post-1865 course taught by a Latino Studies prof, everything, and I mean everything, always came back around to sugar.
And he was right.
And he was right.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
BREAKING: “in my 24th year of my quest to settle the planet Mars, I have just been informed of a basic fact of celestial mechanics.”
February 9, 2026 at 10:31 AM
BREAKING: “in my 24th year of my quest to settle the planet Mars, I have just been informed of a basic fact of celestial mechanics.”
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
Really enjoying IN THE LAND OF NINKASI by @tatepaulette.bsky.social, a beautifully written, super entertaining book about Mesopotamian brewing, history and culture.
February 9, 2026 at 1:54 PM
Really enjoying IN THE LAND OF NINKASI by @tatepaulette.bsky.social, a beautifully written, super entertaining book about Mesopotamian brewing, history and culture.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
Relooted, a game about freeing African artifacts from Western museums and collections, interrogates history through sharply designed heists.
Relooted challenges who gets to own and tell African history
Relooted, a game about freeing African artifacts from Western museums and collections, interrogates history through sharply designed heists. Read our review.
www.avclub.com
February 9, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Relooted, a game about freeing African artifacts from Western museums and collections, interrogates history through sharply designed heists.