BenDeBruyn
bendebruyn.bsky.social
BenDeBruyn
@bendebruyn.bsky.social
Teaches English Literature at UCLouvain. Author of “The Novel and the Multispecies Soundscape” (2020) and other publications
Reposted by BenDeBruyn
How on earth did JD Vance have the gall to lecture Europe about ‘free speech’
June 25, 2025 at 3:10 PM
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At this point abolishing ICE and reforming the Supreme Court have to be non-negotiables for every 2028 Dem.
September 8, 2025 at 7:17 PM
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The next Democratic president should declare that the National Emergencies Act and Article II of the Constitution allow him to:

•admit D.C. and Puerto Rico as states
•abolish ICE
•grant citizenship to any immigrant
•disband the 5th Circuit
•expand the Supreme Court

Seriously: Why the hell not?
September 2, 2025 at 3:31 PM
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Demetre Daskalakis was a key figure in the Covid, mpox, and bird flu responses. This is a huge loss.
Full resignation letter from Demetre C. Daskalakis, a CDC leader, does not hold back.
"The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud."
August 28, 2025 at 1:45 AM
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Reading an article titled "Why didn't Brazilian democracy die?" and a key part of the story is a Supreme Court that actually did its job
August 25, 2025 at 5:43 PM
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The University of Chicago will not be admitting new PhD students in English, nor in almost any humanities field, this year. What a loss to our discipline! What a disservice to talented students everywhere!
More UChicago Ph.D. Programs Will Pause Admissions
The arts and humanities dean said “nearly all” faculty leaders preferred “a broader pause for the division.” Some social sciences programs also aren’t accepting new students.
www.insidehighered.com
August 23, 2025 at 1:22 PM
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Buried in The Observer yesterday was this: UK police knocking on doors demanding details of social media accounts of people, to pass to a foreign government, simply because they happen to live near where a US politician wanted to have a holiday observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
August 11, 2025 at 6:59 AM
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I remember the worst day for crime in Washington D.C.'s history and whose fault it was.
August 11, 2025 at 10:26 PM
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Out Now: Humanimalia 15.2!
Featuring timely essays on human–animal entanglements, including 🐴 a taxidermied horse in London, 🐗 a feral pig in Australia, 🐐 “happy” goats in Italy, 🐾 robot dogs in Gaza, 🐦 pheasants in NL, and 🐑 sheepdogs in the UK.
🔓 OA here: humanimalia.org/issue/view/1...
July 30, 2025 at 8:24 AM
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NYC Comptroller Brad Lander was just arrested by Trump’s ICE agents because he asked to see a judicial warrant.

This is fascism and all New Yorkers must speak in one voice. Release him now.
Here's a longer video of Brad Lander's detention just now inside 26 Federal Plaza as he tried to walk a man out of immigration court, by masked federal agents.
June 17, 2025 at 4:54 PM
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So let me get this straight: masks are bad and un-American if worn to fight a pandemic, but good if worn by people claiming to be government agents when they kidnap people off the street
May 10, 2025 at 3:06 PM
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ICYMI: As of yesterday, this list was up to 215 entries. It's hard keeping up with him, though.
Lest We Forget the Horrors: An Unending Catalog of Trump’s Cruelties, Collusions, Corruptions, and Crimes
Early in President Trump’s first term, McSweeney’s editors began to catalog the head-spinning number of misdeeds coming from his administration. We...
buff.ly
May 7, 2025 at 1:00 AM
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Sorry to be sharing more of this stuff, but it bears repeating: do not travel to the U.S.
March 11, 2025 at 9:16 PM
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The premise of American foreign policy to Ukraine, today, is one of grievance. It is worth patiently considering the proposals. They reveal little about Ukraine, but much about America in February 2025.
snyder.substack.com/p/recoup-the...
"Recoup the costs"
The sadism of American policy to war-torn Ukraine
snyder.substack.com
February 21, 2025 at 8:52 PM
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I've extended the deadline & adjusted the wording on this scholarship after queries from prospective students.

Please encourage students interested in a funded PhD on poetry in either 18c/Romantic and/or settler colonialism & Indigenous sovereignty to get in touch!
www.wgtn.ac.nz/scholarships...
February 14, 2025 at 7:12 PM
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Please stop with the generative AI. It's garbage, theft, making us less capable. Image by www.nobodyssweetheart.com
February 12, 2025 at 3:42 PM
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Sometimes I feel uneasy with my silly little posts about birdwatching or my kids, given the state of things.

But I’m not sure that me posting “everything is fucking fucked, isn’t it?” every day would be helpful either.

Holding on to joy while facing up to reality is a tricky balance…
February 2, 2025 at 8:36 PM