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Rachel Brickner

@thethingofitis.bsky.social

Teaching Politics at Acadia U; dog walking and gardening in Wolfville, NS; reading books on my old couch; always rooting for my hometown, Detroit, MI.

196 Followers  |  527 Following  |  20 Posts  |  Joined: 12.11.2024  |  2.1623

Latest posts by thethingofitis.bsky.social on Bluesky


Just beautiful. 🩷πŸ₯Ή

27.01.2026 10:37 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Hot takes on the news of the day
YouTube video by Rep. Melanie Stansbury Hot takes on the news of the day

It’s been a fascinating news day watching the spin. Here are my hot takes on the news of the day, the latest on Venezuela, and the implications for global security and the American people ⬇️

05.01.2026 06:15 β€” πŸ‘ 169    πŸ” 61    πŸ’¬ 14    πŸ“Œ 3

It has always been so obvious that the backlash to MeToo isn’t about whether the abuse is happening but whether people are allowed to want it to stop

17.11.2025 21:27 β€” πŸ‘ 9019    πŸ” 1699    πŸ’¬ 77    πŸ“Œ 39
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JD Vance claims that diversity weakens unions, as people end up distrusting each other and not organizing.

Let me tell you two menswear stories related to this claim. 🧡

30.10.2025 08:06 β€” πŸ‘ 8346    πŸ” 2712    πŸ’¬ 344    πŸ“Œ 790
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this rocks. when indiana edu killed the student newspaper, Purdue stepped up, printed the forbidden issue, drove it to Bloomington and stocked the boxes.

18.10.2025 18:27 β€” πŸ‘ 15557    πŸ” 4484    πŸ’¬ 15    πŸ“Œ 2

Solidarity to you from AUFA!

21.08.2025 09:22 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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When you strip away humanity

26.07.2025 11:31 β€” πŸ‘ 19227    πŸ” 8060    πŸ’¬ 524    πŸ“Œ 951

Help @runforsomething.net meet the urgent demand for support. runforsomething.net/donate

29.06.2025 21:03 β€” πŸ‘ 141    πŸ” 45    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

The takeaway is not that electoral politics will fix everything.

We know it won’t.

Obviously.

The takeaway is that people will show up if you give them hope & a way forward.

And that, my friends, can & must look like a lot of things right now.

25.06.2025 04:45 β€” πŸ‘ 2192    πŸ” 430    πŸ’¬ 25    πŸ“Œ 16

happy zohran day to all who celebrate

24.06.2025 12:51 β€” πŸ‘ 6877    πŸ” 597    πŸ’¬ 60    πŸ“Œ 28

the thing with Mamdani is that he’s obviously an incredible political talent - the campaign he’s run has been extremely impressive even if you don’t like his policies

the party should be delighted, and that they’re instead pulling out all the stops to beat him speaks volumes

22.06.2025 18:59 β€” πŸ‘ 11291    πŸ” 1717    πŸ’¬ 237    πŸ“Œ 140
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This Fucking Guy I lived in New York City for twenty-five years and I don’t live there anymore.

open.substack.com/pub/rebeccat...

21.06.2025 22:38 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Peaceful 10K march in Los Angeles against ICE and National Guard. Trump is the one spewing vitriol and inciting violence.

08.06.2025 23:18 β€” πŸ‘ 668    πŸ” 224    πŸ’¬ 16    πŸ“Œ 11
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The Professors Are Using ChatGPT, and Some Students Aren’t Happy About It

I've started explicitly addressing some of what's described in this article as I go on my merry way, institution to institution insisting that we can and must continue to teach writing. There's two main risks. Both are real. 🧡
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/t...

14.05.2025 12:16 β€” πŸ‘ 208    πŸ” 81    πŸ’¬ 9    πŸ“Œ 33

A Chicago Pope implies the existence of an MLA Pope and APA Pope

08.05.2025 17:36 β€” πŸ‘ 28801    πŸ” 8105    πŸ’¬ 38    πŸ“Œ 761

People using AI to cheat is one thing but what’s even more alarming is people talking about how they talk to ChatGPT all day, how they use it to write text messages to their friends, how it has usurped their own humanity at a time when we need people to resist tech fascism. That’s the real horror

07.05.2025 14:03 β€” πŸ‘ 1830    πŸ” 474    πŸ’¬ 45    πŸ“Œ 38

Teaching the test across 4 decades? Student as customer about the same amount of time? AI purveyors should be grateful to have such a market groomed for them with so much help from the govering bodies of the institutions of higher learning

07.05.2025 15:17 β€” πŸ‘ 14    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0

Tremendous. By Joseph Fasano. poets.org/poem/student...

05.05.2025 21:58 β€” πŸ‘ 417    πŸ” 104    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1

"Abolitionist" is not too strong a word here.

"We must not just seek just goals– an end to oppression, say, or accountability for harmdoers – we have to get there by striving to be the people we're supposed to be, every single step of the way."

21.04.2025 13:34 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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We need new leaders in Washington. I’m running for Senate to be one. Let’s go.

02.04.2025 10:04 β€” πŸ‘ 25677    πŸ” 5389    πŸ’¬ 860    πŸ“Œ 875

Are you keeping track?

Liberals or Democrats:
β€”won Wisconsin supreme court
β€”won Wisconsin school superintendent
β€”flipped mayorship of Aurora, IL's 2nd city
β€”flipped county executive position in WI's Winnebago
β€”strong results in school board races in WI
β€”very strong municipal results in IL

02.04.2025 04:08 β€” πŸ‘ 701    πŸ” 180    πŸ’¬ 11    πŸ“Œ 6

Congrats on this well deserved honor. It’s a great book. I learned so much reading it.

01.04.2025 09:20 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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When scholars of authoritarianism and fascism leave U.S. universities because of the deteriorating political situation here, we should really worry.

26.03.2025 00:50 β€” πŸ‘ 23751    πŸ” 8228    πŸ’¬ 595    πŸ“Œ 669

If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary.

24.03.2025 22:18 β€” πŸ‘ 27737    πŸ” 10523    πŸ’¬ 325    πŸ“Œ 572

Truly glorious, hopeful thread! β€οΈπŸ“š

22.03.2025 13:20 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

People asking who the leader of the Democratic Party is? She’s right here.

14.03.2025 11:56 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The Department of Education is (was?) responsible for:

βœ…Distributing & monitoring spending for special-ed & low-income students;
βœ…Facilitating postsecondary financial aid; &
βœ…Civil rights enforcement

Impossible to see how dismantling it will do anything but hurt kids & students.

11.03.2025 23:21 β€” πŸ‘ 137    πŸ” 59    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 1

New Iraqi Uranium Tubes just dropped

09.03.2025 20:23 β€” πŸ‘ 128    πŸ” 26    πŸ’¬ 10    πŸ“Œ 1
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JD Vance is a Bad Father The empty masculinity of Trump’s men

β€œThere’s no Father’s Day card for men who turn their daughters into second-class citizens.”

10.03.2025 14:26 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Just for once, just for once in my life, I would like to see a panel or symposium or essay cluster on "the future of the university" (or its infinite variations) feature mostly scholars who have done a lot of teaching and admin and advising, and who have done it at schools that aren't super rich.

09.03.2025 07:45 β€” πŸ‘ 1166    πŸ” 161    πŸ’¬ 26    πŸ“Œ 18

@thethingofitis is following 19 prominent accounts