Ivan Kreilkamp
@ivan812.bsky.social
English prof, easily distracted Victorianist
Writing: https://ivankreilkamp.com/
Writing: https://ivankreilkamp.com/
Reposted by Ivan Kreilkamp
M. Gessen, gift link: The soviet secret police too "were ruled by quotas... Fundamentally, the terror was random. That is, in fact, how state terror works. The randomness is the difference between a regime based on terror and a regime that is plainly repressive"
Opinion | State Terror Has Arrived
www.nytimes.com
January 25, 2026 at 1:55 PM
M. Gessen, gift link: The soviet secret police too "were ruled by quotas... Fundamentally, the terror was random. That is, in fact, how state terror works. The randomness is the difference between a regime based on terror and a regime that is plainly repressive"
Reposted by Ivan Kreilkamp
Another civilian gunned down by federal agents in Minneapolis, the day after several Democrats, including moderate media darlings, voted to give ICE another $10 billion.
January 24, 2026 at 5:04 PM
Another civilian gunned down by federal agents in Minneapolis, the day after several Democrats, including moderate media darlings, voted to give ICE another $10 billion.
Reposted by Ivan Kreilkamp
Gotcha—let’s dig into that step by step.
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish.
2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish.
2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.
January 23, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Gotcha—let’s dig into that step by step.
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish.
2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish.
2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.
Never forget that these malignant idiots do not give a shit about the first amendment
January 23, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Never forget that these malignant idiots do not give a shit about the first amendment
“What remains, then, is interdisciplinarity as slop: a residue of once corrosively ambitious ideas, endlessly reheated to justify mergers, eliminations, and the hollowing out of intellectual life” (Jonathan Kramnick on the mergers at Montclair State in the chronicle.com)
January 23, 2026 at 11:55 AM
“What remains, then, is interdisciplinarity as slop: a residue of once corrosively ambitious ideas, endlessly reheated to justify mergers, eliminations, and the hollowing out of intellectual life” (Jonathan Kramnick on the mergers at Montclair State in the chronicle.com)
Reposted by Ivan Kreilkamp
👇👇
Great episode. You don't necessarily expect an episode on this topic to include the line "now we're walking past the Sci Fi/ Fantasy dildo section" (it's set partly in the Smitten Kitten, a Minneapolis adult/sex shop that is doing a lot of mutual aid work)
On the Front Line of Minnesota’s Fight With ICE
www.nytimes.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:32 PM
👇👇
Great episode. You don't necessarily expect an episode on this topic to include the line "now we're walking past the Sci Fi/ Fantasy dildo section" (it's set partly in the Smitten Kitten, a Minneapolis adult/sex shop that is doing a lot of mutual aid work)
On the Front Line of Minnesota’s Fight With ICE
www.nytimes.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Great episode. You don't necessarily expect an episode on this topic to include the line "now we're walking past the Sci Fi/ Fantasy dildo section" (it's set partly in the Smitten Kitten, a Minneapolis adult/sex shop that is doing a lot of mutual aid work)
Me to university tenure/promotion committee
Me when my book finally comes out but I mentally moved on two years ago.
January 21, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Me to university tenure/promotion committee
I wish the team well -- it's quite an underdog sports story -- but for some counter-programming and a broader context for Indiana University's appearance in the championship game tonight, check out this excellent doc, "Freedoms Under Assault"
comforty.vhx.tv/products/fre...
comforty.vhx.tv/products/fre...
Freedoms Under Assault - PPV
Freedoms Under Assault is a powerful full-length documentary that chronicles the systematic destruction of a world-class university and the politically motivated culture war against its faculty over a...
comforty.vhx.tv
January 19, 2026 at 3:03 PM
I wish the team well -- it's quite an underdog sports story -- but for some counter-programming and a broader context for Indiana University's appearance in the championship game tonight, check out this excellent doc, "Freedoms Under Assault"
comforty.vhx.tv/products/fre...
comforty.vhx.tv/products/fre...
Enjoyed the most recent @marcmaron.bsky.social special (“Panicked”). Maron is giving Ian McShane in Deadwood
January 18, 2026 at 12:36 AM
Enjoyed the most recent @marcmaron.bsky.social special (“Panicked”). Maron is giving Ian McShane in Deadwood
Reposted by Ivan Kreilkamp
The failure of a faux university in which “Niall was the mind, Bari was the media and Joe was the money,” is arguably not a "tragedy worthy of the Greeks"
January 16, 2026 at 10:17 PM
The failure of a faux university in which “Niall was the mind, Bari was the media and Joe was the money,” is arguably not a "tragedy worthy of the Greeks"
Gina Birch, “I Am Rage:”
Rage, I am rage
I'm a burning cauldron of rage
It fires it howls
Its red burning red
I hear the howling sound of my rage
You say you are nice
You say you are fine
But scratch the surface and you like me are rage
Rage, I am rage
I'm a burning cauldron of rage
It fires it howls
Its red burning red
I hear the howling sound of my rage
You say you are nice
You say you are fine
But scratch the surface and you like me are rage
January 16, 2026 at 9:45 PM
Gina Birch, “I Am Rage:”
Rage, I am rage
I'm a burning cauldron of rage
It fires it howls
Its red burning red
I hear the howling sound of my rage
You say you are nice
You say you are fine
But scratch the surface and you like me are rage
Rage, I am rage
I'm a burning cauldron of rage
It fires it howls
Its red burning red
I hear the howling sound of my rage
You say you are nice
You say you are fine
But scratch the surface and you like me are rage
“Why can’t we have new bad things?” he asked me at one point. “Like really new, really bad things?”
The crisis whisperer: how Adam Tooze makes sense of our bewildering age
The long read: Whether it’s the financial crash, the climate emergency or the breakdown of the international order, historian Adam Tooze has become the go-to guide to the radical new world we’ve enter...
www.theguardian.com
January 15, 2026 at 11:40 PM
“Why can’t we have new bad things?” he asked me at one point. “Like really new, really bad things?”
Reposted by Ivan Kreilkamp
🧵 The autoworker at the Dearborn Truck Plant is a proud member of a strong and fighting union—the UAW. He believes in freedom of speech, a principle we wholeheartedly embrace, and we stand with our membership in protecting their voice on the job.
January 14, 2026 at 4:43 PM
🧵 The autoworker at the Dearborn Truck Plant is a proud member of a strong and fighting union—the UAW. He believes in freedom of speech, a principle we wholeheartedly embrace, and we stand with our membership in protecting their voice on the job.
Reposted by Ivan Kreilkamp
All free text fields about "what would make it easier for you to teach civil discourse" got filled in "less state censorship."
January 13, 2026 at 9:58 PM
All free text fields about "what would make it easier for you to teach civil discourse" got filled in "less state censorship."
“I am a hater, and I will not be polite. The machine is disgusting and we should break it. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself.
AI cannot be a hater, because AI does not feel, or know, or care. Only humans can be haters. I celebrate my humanity” ❤️
AI cannot be a hater, because AI does not feel, or know, or care. Only humans can be haters. I celebrate my humanity” ❤️
I Am An AI Hater
I am an AI hater. This is considered rude, but I do not care, because I am a hater.
anthonymoser.github.io
January 13, 2026 at 11:28 PM
“I am a hater, and I will not be polite. The machine is disgusting and we should break it. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself.
AI cannot be a hater, because AI does not feel, or know, or care. Only humans can be haters. I celebrate my humanity” ❤️
AI cannot be a hater, because AI does not feel, or know, or care. Only humans can be haters. I celebrate my humanity” ❤️
At my kid’s college this year they had a showing of the Holdovers for students staying on campus over
thanksgiving- loved that
thanksgiving- loved that
Loved reading this @newrepublic.com essay by @sayanniething.bsky.social on what has come to be one of my comfort movies, The Holdovers:
newrepublic.com/article/1764...
newrepublic.com/article/1764...
Alexander Payne’s School for Sad Sacks
“The Holdovers” is a brilliant study of an all-boys school and the troubled men it produces.
newrepublic.com
January 11, 2026 at 10:21 PM
At my kid’s college this year they had a showing of the Holdovers for students staying on campus over
thanksgiving- loved that
thanksgiving- loved that
“Yeah, but would America really buy a n**** winning?” Trump said. From @emilynussbaum.bsky.social’s CUE THE SUN
January 11, 2026 at 7:39 PM
“Yeah, but would America really buy a n**** winning?” Trump said. From @emilynussbaum.bsky.social’s CUE THE SUN
Reposted by Ivan Kreilkamp
“Anti-democracy measures do not simply arrive and takeover healthy democracies. They are workshopped first – most often on the most vulnerable communities.”
January 10, 2026 at 1:40 AM
“Anti-democracy measures do not simply arrive and takeover healthy democracies. They are workshopped first – most often on the most vulnerable communities.”
Loved this essay (about a permanent grad student in the UCLA history department who “was our truth-telling hermit, able to turn a mirror on historians’ follies”). But am concerned that a flaunt/ flout error in @nplusonemag.com may be sign of end times? 😳
January 9, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Loved this essay (about a permanent grad student in the UCLA history department who “was our truth-telling hermit, able to turn a mirror on historians’ follies”). But am concerned that a flaunt/ flout error in @nplusonemag.com may be sign of end times? 😳
"Some, too, applaud the swift extrajudicial execution with a bullet to the head of a young mother for not moving her car out of the way quickly enough. Such is the rich tapestry of our diverse, argumentative country!"
New CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil closing the broadcast from MN last night.
January 9, 2026 at 2:53 PM
"Some, too, applaud the swift extrajudicial execution with a bullet to the head of a young mother for not moving her car out of the way quickly enough. Such is the rich tapestry of our diverse, argumentative country!"
“One thing is important: human dignity. Please don’t destroy it. Please don’t humiliate.” Not a bad aesthetic/ political credo (Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr’s)
January 9, 2026 at 12:59 PM
“One thing is important: human dignity. Please don’t destroy it. Please don’t humiliate.” Not a bad aesthetic/ political credo (Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr’s)
Reposted by Ivan Kreilkamp
“i want back my rocking chairs, / solipsist sunsets, / & coastal jungle sounds...”
A poem by Renee Nicole Good, who was murdered by ICE earlier today.
lithub.com/renee-nicole...
A poem by Renee Nicole Good, who was murdered by ICE earlier today.
lithub.com/renee-nicole...
Renee Nicole Good, murdered by ICE, was a prize-winning poet. Here’s that poem.
Renee Nicole Good, 37, mother to a six-year-old boy, was murdered earlier today by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, a few blocks from her home. According to the Minnesota Star Tribune: [An ICE agent] s…
lithub.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:54 AM
“i want back my rocking chairs, / solipsist sunsets, / & coastal jungle sounds...”
A poem by Renee Nicole Good, who was murdered by ICE earlier today.
lithub.com/renee-nicole...
A poem by Renee Nicole Good, who was murdered by ICE earlier today.
lithub.com/renee-nicole...
😯 “"We have asked for Maduro to leave, to retire, for President Donald Trump of the United States to be able to remove him, and we have visualized that next year this will happen,” said shaman Ana María Simeón"
(article dated Dec 29)
(article dated Dec 29)
Peruvian shamans predict Maduro's fall, continued global conflicts in 2026
A group of Peruvian shamans gathered in front of the sea in the Miraflores district of Peru’s capital city to carry out an annual ritual in which they make predictions for the upcoming year.
apnews.com
January 6, 2026 at 5:50 PM
😯 “"We have asked for Maduro to leave, to retire, for President Donald Trump of the United States to be able to remove him, and we have visualized that next year this will happen,” said shaman Ana María Simeón"
(article dated Dec 29)
(article dated Dec 29)
Jeffrey Isaac in @commondreams.org: "US hypocrisy about 'making the world safe for democracy' was bad, and sometimes very bad. Trump’s geopolitical brutalism is worse. Much worse."
Trump's Attack on Venezuela Is Not Your Average American Imperialism | "Anyone who considers the current attack on Venezuela as in tension with MAGA has not been paying attention to MAGA."
Trump's Attack on Venezuela Is Not Your Average American Imperialism
Anyone who cares about democracy in the US or in Venezuela ought to be very concerned about what is happening now.
www.commondreams.org
January 5, 2026 at 7:12 PM
Jeffrey Isaac in @commondreams.org: "US hypocrisy about 'making the world safe for democracy' was bad, and sometimes very bad. Trump’s geopolitical brutalism is worse. Much worse."