Greg Beckett
@gbeckett.bsky.social
Anthropology Professor. Interested in politics, culture, history, and climate change. I write about political crisis in Haiti. Author of There Is No More Haiti and co-editor of Trouillot Remixed: The Michel-Rolph Trouillot Reader.
https://gregbeckett.org
https://gregbeckett.org
Reposted by Greg Beckett
AOC: “I understand that VP Vance believes shooting a young mother of three in the face three times is an acceptable America that he wants to live in, & I do not — That is a fundamental difference between VP Vance & I — I do not believe the American people should be assassinated in the street”
January 9, 2026 at 6:30 PM
AOC: “I understand that VP Vance believes shooting a young mother of three in the face three times is an acceptable America that he wants to live in, & I do not — That is a fundamental difference between VP Vance & I — I do not believe the American people should be assassinated in the street”
Reposted by Greg Beckett
Trump 🔽
This is hysterical and sad at the same time.
This is hysterical and sad at the same time.
December 29, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Trump 🔽
This is hysterical and sad at the same time.
This is hysterical and sad at the same time.
Reposted by Greg Beckett
AOC: "It's not just that Trump is corrupt. It's that everyone participating in this is corrupt — Elon is corrupt. Jeff Bezos is corrupt. Mark Zuckerberg is corrupt"
December 29, 2025 at 2:55 PM
AOC: "It's not just that Trump is corrupt. It's that everyone participating in this is corrupt — Elon is corrupt. Jeff Bezos is corrupt. Mark Zuckerberg is corrupt"
Reposted by Greg Beckett
“But it's also clear that there is likely something in the files that further incriminates him.” This is what I think, too. Horrible as the facts at hand are, there must be something else, something verging on the unimaginable.
www.meditationsinanemergency.com/feminism-ver...
www.meditationsinanemergency.com/feminism-ver...
Feminism Versus Trump and Epstein
We already knew that Jeffrey Epstein had sexually assaulted and exploited dozens of girls and young women, that he had done so openly, that his dehumanization of the vulnerable had not prevented a who...
www.meditationsinanemergency.com
December 26, 2025 at 9:04 PM
“But it's also clear that there is likely something in the files that further incriminates him.” This is what I think, too. Horrible as the facts at hand are, there must be something else, something verging on the unimaginable.
www.meditationsinanemergency.com/feminism-ver...
www.meditationsinanemergency.com/feminism-ver...
Reposted by Greg Beckett
‘As for the “open” bit, forget it – that aspect of Open AI’s mission was quietly forgotten. Any discoveries the company might make were now proprietary.’
John Lanchester on the AI bubble.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Lanchester on the AI bubble.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Lanchester · King of Cannibal Island: Will the AI bubble burst?
Nvidia shares are the purest bet you can make on the impact of AI. The leading firms are lending money to one another in...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 22, 2025 at 10:50 AM
‘As for the “open” bit, forget it – that aspect of Open AI’s mission was quietly forgotten. Any discoveries the company might make were now proprietary.’
John Lanchester on the AI bubble.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Lanchester on the AI bubble.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Greg Beckett
If you're taking some comfort, thinking "maybe all this is just a simulation," sorry, scientists appear to have disproven that with math.
Physicists prove the Universe isn’t a simulation after all
New research from UBC Okanagan mathematically demonstrates that the universe cannot be simulated. Using Gödel’s incompleteness theorem, scientists found that reality requires “non-algorithmic understa...
www.sciencedaily.com
December 19, 2025 at 12:12 AM
If you're taking some comfort, thinking "maybe all this is just a simulation," sorry, scientists appear to have disproven that with math.
Reposted by Greg Beckett
Reposted by Greg Beckett
‘As Adorno saw it, Surrealist art had been compromised by postwar conditions: made of “world-rubble”, the montages of Surrealism created only “nature morte”; “After the European catastrophe the Surrealist shocks lost their force.”’
Hal Foster on Surrealism v. fascism: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Hal Foster on Surrealism v. fascism: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Hal Foster · Tightrope of Hope: Surrealism v. Fascism
The Surrealists saw colonialism and imperialism as intrinsic to fascism, and from start to finish they campaigned...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 6, 2025 at 8:46 PM
‘As Adorno saw it, Surrealist art had been compromised by postwar conditions: made of “world-rubble”, the montages of Surrealism created only “nature morte”; “After the European catastrophe the Surrealist shocks lost their force.”’
Hal Foster on Surrealism v. fascism: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Hal Foster on Surrealism v. fascism: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Greg Beckett
‘Like Bobby Sands, these six hunger strikers are young: none is over thirty; Zuhrah turned twenty in prison. They aren’t setting out to become heroes or martyrs.’
E.S. Wight on the largest co-ordinated hunger strike in British prisons since 1981, from the blog.
www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/de...
E.S. Wight on the largest co-ordinated hunger strike in British prisons since 1981, from the blog.
www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/de...
E.S. Wight | On Hunger Strike
Qesser Zuhrah, Amu Gib, Heba Muraisi, Jon Cink, T Hoxha and Kamran Ahmed are on hunger strike. All are on remand in...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 4, 2025 at 12:10 PM
‘Like Bobby Sands, these six hunger strikers are young: none is over thirty; Zuhrah turned twenty in prison. They aren’t setting out to become heroes or martyrs.’
E.S. Wight on the largest co-ordinated hunger strike in British prisons since 1981, from the blog.
www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/de...
E.S. Wight on the largest co-ordinated hunger strike in British prisons since 1981, from the blog.
www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/de...
Reposted by Greg Beckett
‘The Surrealists saw colonialism and imperialism as intrinsic to fascism, and from start to finish they campaigned against both, opposing the wars in Morocco in the 1920s and Algeria in the 1950s.’
Hal Foster:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Hal Foster:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Hal Foster · Tightrope of Hope: Surrealism v. Fascism
The Surrealists saw colonialism and imperialism as intrinsic to fascism, and from start to finish they campaigned...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 9:15 AM
‘The Surrealists saw colonialism and imperialism as intrinsic to fascism, and from start to finish they campaigned against both, opposing the wars in Morocco in the 1920s and Algeria in the 1950s.’
Hal Foster:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Hal Foster:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Greg Beckett
Age of the ‘scam state’: how an illicit, multibillion-dollar industry has taken root in south-east Asia
Age of the ‘scam state’: how an illicit, multibillion-dollar industry has taken root in south-east Asia
Like the narco-state, a ‘scam state’ refers to countries where an illicit industry has dug its tentacles deep into institutions and transformed the economy
www.theguardian.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Age of the ‘scam state’: how an illicit, multibillion-dollar industry has taken root in south-east Asia
Reposted by Greg Beckett
‘Of all the violent phases in the history of Liverpool, the slave trade was the most vicious, yet it was barely acknowledged until recently.’
John Kerrigan on Liverpool, the Atlantic slave trade and m. nourbeSe philip’s long poem 𝘡𝘰𝘯𝘨!
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Kerrigan on Liverpool, the Atlantic slave trade and m. nourbeSe philip’s long poem 𝘡𝘰𝘯𝘨!
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Kerrigan · No Illusions: Syntax of Slavery
Slavery was accepted across most of the early modern world. No one wanted to be a slave, except when the alternative was...
www.lrb.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 8:34 PM
‘Of all the violent phases in the history of Liverpool, the slave trade was the most vicious, yet it was barely acknowledged until recently.’
John Kerrigan on Liverpool, the Atlantic slave trade and m. nourbeSe philip’s long poem 𝘡𝘰𝘯𝘨!
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Kerrigan on Liverpool, the Atlantic slave trade and m. nourbeSe philip’s long poem 𝘡𝘰𝘯𝘨!
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Greg Beckett
This doesn’t seem weird to anyone else
You might not have caught what just happened on the Senate floor, but the Senate just “deemed as passed” the Epstein resolution.
That means as soon as it arrives from the House, it automatically passes the Senate (with no amendments) and heads to the President’s desk.
Wow.
That means as soon as it arrives from the House, it automatically passes the Senate (with no amendments) and heads to the President’s desk.
Wow.
November 19, 2025 at 12:08 AM
This doesn’t seem weird to anyone else
Reposted by Greg Beckett
Thank you to our comrades in the Senate for reminding us of the folly of libbing out.
November 10, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Thank you to our comrades in the Senate for reminding us of the folly of libbing out.
Reposted by Greg Beckett
At a certain point you have to conclude that the Democrats agree with the Republicans that they are contemptible and illegitimate, and don’t deserve to govern.
November 10, 2025 at 1:23 AM
At a certain point you have to conclude that the Democrats agree with the Republicans that they are contemptible and illegitimate, and don’t deserve to govern.
Reposted by Greg Beckett
Australia has so much electricity from solar power that it is going to start offering free electricity to everyone for at least three hours during the day as the wholesale price of power goes negative
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity
Australia's extensive solar power penetration makes so much energy that the government wants to offer free electricity at peak hours.
electrek.co
November 6, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Australia has so much electricity from solar power that it is going to start offering free electricity to everyone for at least three hours during the day as the wholesale price of power goes negative
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
Reposted by Greg Beckett
Dick Cheney did more than anyone else to build up expansive and destructive executive branch powers in the wake of 9/11; he lived to see another president turn those same powers against his own daughter.
He should be a warning sign to the GOP today but too many of them are in the cult.
He should be a warning sign to the GOP today but too many of them are in the cult.
November 4, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Dick Cheney did more than anyone else to build up expansive and destructive executive branch powers in the wake of 9/11; he lived to see another president turn those same powers against his own daughter.
He should be a warning sign to the GOP today but too many of them are in the cult.
He should be a warning sign to the GOP today but too many of them are in the cult.
Reposted by Greg Beckett
Do better, "Financial Times." Here's the truthful headline:
"U.S. aerial killings in the Caribbean violate international and American law."
@financialtimes.com #Venezuela
"U.S. aerial killings in the Caribbean violate international and American law."
@financialtimes.com #Venezuela
October 27, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Do better, "Financial Times." Here's the truthful headline:
"U.S. aerial killings in the Caribbean violate international and American law."
@financialtimes.com #Venezuela
"U.S. aerial killings in the Caribbean violate international and American law."
@financialtimes.com #Venezuela
Reposted by Greg Beckett
amazing how you can write about culture professionally and still have no idea what’s going on in the world
October 17, 2025 at 9:37 PM
amazing how you can write about culture professionally and still have no idea what’s going on in the world
Reposted by Greg Beckett
‘The environmental history of European empire doesn’t end with decolonisation. The quasi-colonial schemes of the Green Revolution were as consequential ecologically as the infrastructure projects that had been established under colonial rule.’
Oliver Cussen on water: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Oliver Cussen on water: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Oliver Cussen · Fish in the Wrong Place: Aquatic Colonialism
The environmental history of European empire doesn’t end with decolonisation. The quasi-colonial schemes of the Green...
www.lrb.co.uk
October 15, 2025 at 7:47 PM
‘The environmental history of European empire doesn’t end with decolonisation. The quasi-colonial schemes of the Green Revolution were as consequential ecologically as the infrastructure projects that had been established under colonial rule.’
Oliver Cussen on water: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Oliver Cussen on water: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Greg Beckett
Here is a reporter who deserves to be remembered.
kyivindependent.com/ukrainian-jo...
kyivindependent.com/ukrainian-jo...
Ukrainian journalist Roshchyna posthumously named Press Freedom Hero
The IPI said Roshchyna's death on Sept. 19, 2024 "exposed the brutal treatment suffered by the dozens of Ukrainian journalists unjustly held by Russian authorities, and brought new urgency to the need...
kyivindependent.com
October 11, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Here is a reporter who deserves to be remembered.
kyivindependent.com/ukrainian-jo...
kyivindependent.com/ukrainian-jo...
Reposted by Greg Beckett
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
“It is unambiguous and it is clear climate change is playing a role. These aren’t just bigger fires, they’re fires occurring under increasingly extreme weather conditions that make them unstoppable.”
“It is unambiguous and it is clear climate change is playing a role. These aren’t just bigger fires, they’re fires occurring under increasingly extreme weather conditions that make them unstoppable.”
Wildfires are getting deadlier and costing more. Experts warn they’re becoming unstoppable
Of 200 fires in the past 44 years, half of the fires that cost US$1bn or more were in the last decade
www.theguardian.com
October 6, 2025 at 7:43 AM
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
“It is unambiguous and it is clear climate change is playing a role. These aren’t just bigger fires, they’re fires occurring under increasingly extreme weather conditions that make them unstoppable.”
“It is unambiguous and it is clear climate change is playing a role. These aren’t just bigger fires, they’re fires occurring under increasingly extreme weather conditions that make them unstoppable.”
Reposted by Greg Beckett
"Solar energy is anticipated to be the world’s main source of energy by 2050" hell yeah
October 4, 2025 at 5:15 AM
"Solar energy is anticipated to be the world’s main source of energy by 2050" hell yeah
Reposted by Greg Beckett
it’s Sunday on bluesky so I am urging everyone to take care of themselves. Take a walk, have a second cup of coffee or tea, read a book, spend some time looking at small poems
September 28, 2025 at 12:39 PM
it’s Sunday on bluesky so I am urging everyone to take care of themselves. Take a walk, have a second cup of coffee or tea, read a book, spend some time looking at small poems
Reposted by Greg Beckett
One thing I’ve really absorbed living in the Bay Area is that the tech libertarians are so, so much stupider than the rest of the country understands.
yeah this guy is dumber than donkey shit
so this is what counts as an intellectual for the modern right, huh
September 25, 2025 at 2:30 PM
One thing I’ve really absorbed living in the Bay Area is that the tech libertarians are so, so much stupider than the rest of the country understands.