Charlotte Canning
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cmcanning.bsky.social
Charlotte Canning
@cmcanning.bsky.social
Performance historian. Reader. Teacher. Feminist. Views my own and represent no one else. She/hers
Pinned
The Scopes Trial began 100 years ago today. Why do we even remember it? The power of theatre. Live performance makes things real and relatable.
Theater Helps Us Remember the Scopes Trial 100 Years Later
'Inherit the Wind' changed how people understand, and remember, the legendary Scopes trial.
time.com
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
I hope folks grasp the fascistic resentment underpinning this shit, and the fact that there is nothing these AI robber barons would like more than to automate human creativity because they resent it and wish to devalue, own, and control it and us.
The whole article is repulsive but this passage is at the core of it. She has no interest in writing books, she wants to win some kind of competition that nobody entered
February 8, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Tell me you know f*ck all and about the performing arts and their history without telling me you know f*ck all about the performing arts in their history.
Opinion | Maybe It’s Time to Close the Kennedy Center for Good
Washington isn’t a cultural hub, the building is ugly, and its leaders don’t much care about the arts.
www.wsj.com
February 8, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
We absolutely can afford a UBI, and we do need it, regardless of any impacts AI ends up having.

The cost of UBI is its net cost, not its gross cost. If you get $15k and pay $7k higher taxes as part of the deal, that cost is $8k not $15k.

Try calculating the costs of not doing UBI. Include fascism.
My Sunday Times piece: The idea that we will need a universal basic income because of all the jobs that will be displaced by AI is gaining traction, but it is wrong on several counts:

We can’t afford a universal basic income — and don’t need it

www.thetimes.com/article/70cd...
We can’t afford a universal basic income — and don’t need it
If AI massacres jobs, the state will never find £1.5 trillion a year to keep us going. Targeted help would be far more sensible
www.thetimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
Reminder that ICE was invented after 9/11 to terrorize people on US soil.

W’s “war on terror” incl mass surveillance, even more racial profiling & aggressive policing & treating immigration as a security issue. Muslims & Brown folk perceived as such can tell you how that went.

Abolish.
February 8, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
Good report here on how very little TANF funds actually go to supporting low income families. It has become a slush fund for states to spend on things that have little to do with program’s mission.

“How a $30 Billion Welfare Program Became a ‘Slush Fund’ for States”

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
How a $30 Billion Welfare Program Became a ‘Slush Fund’ for States
Republicans and Democrats alike decry the lack of oversight for America’s famous antipoverty experiment.
www.wsj.com
February 8, 2026 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
The cowardice and censorship continues apace!
NBC appears to cut crowd’s booing of JD Vance from Winter Olympics broadcast
The US vice-president, JD Vance, was greeted by a chorus of boos during when he appeared at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan on Friday
www.theguardian.com
February 8, 2026 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
The pace of hiring in the U.S. has dropped off precipitously for a number of reasons, ranging from tariff uncertainties that mean companies have a tough time planning to workers staying in their jobs.
This Is Why It’s So Hard to Find a Job Right Now
A ‘deep freeze’ has enveloped the U.S. labor market. A whole bunch of factors are at play.
on.wsj.com
February 8, 2026 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
crickets from the free speech crowd, of course
FAMU can't use the word Black on anything posted around campus related to Black History Month, to stay in compliance with Florida state laws against DEI. Black students can't use the word Black at their Historically Black College during Black History Month.
February 8, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
Not only did they bring a small private army, but among the waste of taxpayer money was BRINGING A FULL PLANE OF FOOD.

To *Italy*.
February 7, 2026 at 12:19 AM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
This guy too. These two skiers make me proud to be American, I hope they both win
Chris Lillis and Hunter Hess both skiers in Team US made clear today that they wanted to represent a country that treats people with love and respect. Both athletes declared themselves as anti-ICE.
February 8, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
Props to this guy. That took guts. Good for #Oregon
United States Olympian Hunter Hess: "Just because I'm wearing the flag doesn't mean I represent everything that's going on in the U.S"
February 8, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
The current president has made almost 4 billion dollars since he was voted in office 🙃 This episode breaks down how he made that money and how it compares to other presidents.

www.npr.org/2026/02/08/n...
How the Presidency is Making Trump Richer : Up First from NPR
Before President Donald Trump’s first term, he was in a “tight spot” financially, according to New Yorker writer David Kirkpatrick. At the start of his second term, Kirkpatrick says, Trump was in an “...
www.npr.org
February 8, 2026 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
This is exceedingly weird. No mention of the Lewis departure on the Post’s home page, hours after it was announced.

It was only a year or two ago that Post editors were willing to cover their own institution
February 8, 2026 at 2:05 AM
Yes.
Every instance of "AI democratizes the arts, you're classist and ableist and a gatekeeper for trying to stop it" is a slap in the face to the literally centuries of poor, disabled people making art on the margins and a crass lie in service of a machine that strips down and regurgitates dreams
February 8, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
“Renee was not the first person killed, and she was not the last,” Becca Good said. “You know my wife’s name and you know Alex’s name, but there are many others in this city being harmed that you don’t know — their families are hurting just like mine, even if they don’t look like mine.”
Renee Good's partner addresses Minneapolis immigration crackdown one month after killing
Becca Good has seldom spoken out since Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.
nbcnews.to
February 7, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
New version of GOP suppression bill would impose nationwide proof of citizenship, photo ID requirements. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
New version of GOP suppression bill would impose nationwide proof of citizenship, photo ID requirements
The bill would undermine the right to vote in the U.S. ahead of the 2026 midterms.
www.democracydocket.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Bad Bunny was born a US citizen. How does that “illustrate“ anything about immigration?
The Super Bowl halftime show, with Bad Bunny showcasing Latin music before a global television audience expected to top 100 million, will illustrate the nation’s immigration divide whether or not the reggaeton star delivers an explicit political message.
The enthusiasm — and scorn — surrounding Bad Bunny’s star turn at the Super Bowl
The halftime show will illustrate the nation’s immigration divide whether or not the reggaeton star makes an explicit message about Trump’s deportation drive.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 8, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
Don't forget: Last fall, Kristi Noem boasted that ICE would be "all over" the Super Bowl, and said only people who "love this country" should attend.

Now ICE enforcement operations there won't happen. It's very plausible ICE would face a hostile reception. 4/

newrepublic.com/article/2062...
February 8, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
This Day in Labor History: February 8, 1887. President Grover Cleveland signed the Dawes Act into law, creating a process to split up Indian reservations in order to create individual parcels of land and then sell the remainder off to white settlers. Let's talk ideas of work & the American genocide!
February 8, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
Not many federal attorneys---and certainly no leadership---left in Minneapolis. I suspect a contempt order is imminent. Without middle managers, however, that contempt order may go pretty far up the chain.
cnn.com CNN @cnn.com · 7h
The top lawyer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota has left the agency, the same week an ICE attorney was removed after telling a district judge that “this job sucks” and that the Trump administration is “overwhelmed” with immigration cases.
ICE chief counsel in Minnesota retires amid growing number of immigration cases | CNN Politics
The top lawyer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota has left the agency, the same week an ICE attorney was removed after telling a district judge that “this job sucks” and that the Tru...
www.cnn.com
February 8, 2026 at 10:38 AM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
This is a populist message and alternative to MAGA that can form the basis of constitutional renewal
Ossoff: We were told that MAGA was for working-class Americans. But this is a government of, by, and for the ultra-rich. It’s the wealthiest Cabinet ever. This is the Epstein class. They are the elites they pretend to hate.
February 8, 2026 at 1:55 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
FROM POPULAR FRONT TO COLD WAR by Elissa Sampson and Robert M. Zecker tells the story of the International Workers Order, founded in 1930 to provide life, burial, and health #insurance while promoting interracial solidarity and supporting #labor unions.

Learn more here: https://ow.ly/REhJ50XxLB2
From Popular Front to Cold War by edited by Elissa Sampson and Robert M. Zecker | Paperback | Cornell University Press
From Popular Front to Cold War tells the story of the International Workers Order (IWO), an organization founded in 1930 to provide life, burial, and health insurance to its members. But as the essays...
ow.ly
February 8, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
After consulting with Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles, intel chief Tulsi Gabbard is hiding "evidence of an unusual phone call between an individual associated with foreign intelligence and a person close to Donald Trump," according to the Guardian.
Criminals are running our federal government.
NSA detected phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump
Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 7:58 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
Only the legit hardcore MAGA base is a fan of an American-Nazi like secret police.

The rest of us ain't about that and I believe resistance is gonna ramp up
Striking from Marquette poll:

Majorities of non-college grads and even 50% of rural Americans disapprove of ICE handling of enforcement. Majorities of both oppose deporting longtime residents with jobs/no criminal records.

That's data given to me. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/2062...
February 8, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by Charlotte Canning
Solidarity and allyship is essential, even when it’s not perfect. The right realizes this, and that’s why they try to erase stories like these. Lock in!
Friends!

Tuesday, Feb. 10th, at 6:00 pm EST, @resistanceschool.bsky.social will host our very first virtual public salon!

We will discuss the killings of Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and why the system erases white martyrs in the fight for civil rights.

Register here: buy.stripe.com/28EfZi7VN6RA...
February 7, 2026 at 11:39 PM