Eric Brandom
@ebrandom.bsky.social
Intellectual history, here decontextualized. Especially modern France, history of political thought, and socialism. And Kansas, because that's where I live "als Gelehrter, der durch Schriften zum eigentlichen Publikum, nämlich der Welt, spricht."
Pinned
Eric Brandom
@ebrandom.bsky.social
· Feb 22
"the common ruin of the contending classes"
The ease with which the middleschooler uses "temu" as a prefix to mean "worse" -- and yet!
February 8, 2026 at 3:51 AM
The ease with which the middleschooler uses "temu" as a prefix to mean "worse" -- and yet!
What the dachshund loves, really, deeply, more than anything else, is an electric blanket
February 8, 2026 at 3:32 AM
What the dachshund loves, really, deeply, more than anything else, is an electric blanket
"The border is a factory for making racism and racist violence."
Since there's been some conversation about historical analogies for the present stuff with ICE, I figured I'd share this. In it I argue the similarity between (opposition to) border enforcement and (the effort to abolish) slavery.
buttondown.com/nateholdren/...
buttondown.com/nateholdren/...
Against The Border Power
As I’ve mentioned while back I wrote a letter to Little Village saying deportation as such is wrong, that we should think of it as something like slavery and...
buttondown.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:44 AM
"The border is a factory for making racism and racist violence."
Reposted by Eric Brandom
On my semi-regular quest to see if anyone else remembers a TV show from the 90s where a girl befriends a talking banana-shaped pencil topper which takes her on various historical adventures. A girl who went to my primary school was the lead, so we were forced to watch it.
February 7, 2026 at 5:50 PM
On my semi-regular quest to see if anyone else remembers a TV show from the 90s where a girl befriends a talking banana-shaped pencil topper which takes her on various historical adventures. A girl who went to my primary school was the lead, so we were forced to watch it.
"J'ai peur des polémiques, c'est sans doute une marque de sénilité." Durkheim to Bouglé in 1912 www.jstor.org/stable/3321242
February 7, 2026 at 4:25 PM
"J'ai peur des polémiques, c'est sans doute une marque de sénilité." Durkheim to Bouglé in 1912 www.jstor.org/stable/3321242
Reposted by Eric Brandom
Lefty, he can't sing the blues
All night long like he used to
The dust that Pancho bit down south
Ended up in Lefty's mouth
All night long like he used to
The dust that Pancho bit down south
Ended up in Lefty's mouth
February 7, 2026 at 2:25 AM
Lefty, he can't sing the blues
All night long like he used to
The dust that Pancho bit down south
Ended up in Lefty's mouth
All night long like he used to
The dust that Pancho bit down south
Ended up in Lefty's mouth
Reposted by Eric Brandom
“We parted company at the moment when all kinds of things were about to find their way into words.”
Find yourself a correspondent who writes to you as Gustave Flaubert did to George Sand.
Find yourself a correspondent who writes to you as Gustave Flaubert did to George Sand.
![I am all at a loose end since you left; I feel as if I haven't seen you for ten years. Every conversation that I have with my mother is about you. Everyone here loves you dearly.
Under what constellation were you born then, to be blessed with such qualities, so diverse and so rare?
I do not know the name of the feeling that I have for you. But it is a special tenderness, something I have never felt until now, not for anyone. We got on well together, didn't we? It was very agreeable.
It was so good that I do not want to share the pleasure with anyone else. If you happen to use Croisset in one of your books, do disguise it so that nobody recognizes it. I would appreciate it. The memory of your visit is just for the two of us, for me. That is how selfish I am.
I particularly missed you last night, at ten o'clock. There was a fire, over at my wood-merchant's. The sky was pink and the Seine was the colour of red-currant syrup. I worked at the pumps for three hours and I came home as weary as the Turk with the giraffe? [...]
One of the Rouen newspapers (Le Nouvelliste) reported your visit to Rouen, so that on Saturday after I had left you I met several bourgeois in a state of indignation over the fact that I had not put you on display. A former magistrate took the prize: 'If we had known that she was here... we would have... we would have ..? - five-minute pause, he's looking for the word - We would have... smiled at her.' That would have been rather meagre, don't you think?
[...]
To love you 'more' is difficult for me. But I do embrace you most tenderly.
Your letter this morning, so melancholy, stirred me. We parted company just at the moment when all kinds of things were about to find their way into words. All of the doors between the two of us are not yet open. You inspire a great respect in me and I do not have the courage to ask you questions, Farewell, I kiss your sweet and lovely countenance, and I am
Your
Gve Flaubert](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2cadvbwpkxtuvmv2gpy5laml/bafkreicdbsmvqvjh7yrnhf4gmbf76b5thd2qdbekaniwqnwyedktpizko4@jpeg)
February 7, 2026 at 12:06 AM
“We parted company at the moment when all kinds of things were about to find their way into words.”
Find yourself a correspondent who writes to you as Gustave Flaubert did to George Sand.
Find yourself a correspondent who writes to you as Gustave Flaubert did to George Sand.
ICE seems to have grabbed several people early Thursday morning at a few spots in my town. News spread quickly but hours after the fact. Lots of rumors. Also looks to be genuinely galvanizing local action.
February 7, 2026 at 1:58 AM
ICE seems to have grabbed several people early Thursday morning at a few spots in my town. News spread quickly but hours after the fact. Lots of rumors. Also looks to be genuinely galvanizing local action.
Reposted by Eric Brandom
I cannot explain why, but I find curling remarkably soothing to watch. I understand neither the strategies nor the physics of the sport, but watching these figures and the stone gliding across the ice puts me in a very meditative state.
February 6, 2026 at 11:39 PM
I cannot explain why, but I find curling remarkably soothing to watch. I understand neither the strategies nor the physics of the sport, but watching these figures and the stone gliding across the ice puts me in a very meditative state.
Reposted by Eric Brandom
i made some desk job affirmations to get me through the day
April 21, 2025 at 5:31 PM
i made some desk job affirmations to get me through the day
Hadestown
🔥👹🔥👹🔥👹🔥👹🔥👹🔥👹
🔥
🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃
💀 🔥 🔥
🔥👹🔥👹🔥👹🔥👹🔥👹🔥👹
🔥
🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃
💀 🔥 🔥
🔥👹🔥👹🔥👹🔥👹🔥👹🔥👹
February 6, 2026 at 5:21 PM
Hadestown
Reposted by Eric Brandom
Cranach, always a perfect freak
February 6, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Cranach, always a perfect freak
Reposted by Eric Brandom
I just got a copy of my cover for my forthcoming book! It features a postcard from Fez by the Moroccan Jewish photographer Joseph Bouhsira. Bouhsira was the first Moroccan to establish his own commercial photography studio, and many of his images featured the Jewish community in Fez.
February 6, 2026 at 4:18 AM
I just got a copy of my cover for my forthcoming book! It features a postcard from Fez by the Moroccan Jewish photographer Joseph Bouhsira. Bouhsira was the first Moroccan to establish his own commercial photography studio, and many of his images featured the Jewish community in Fez.
Reposted by Eric Brandom
Since there's been some conversation about historical analogies for the present stuff with ICE, I figured I'd share this. In it I argue the similarity between (opposition to) border enforcement and (the effort to abolish) slavery.
buttondown.com/nateholdren/...
buttondown.com/nateholdren/...
Against The Border Power
As I’ve mentioned while back I wrote a letter to Little Village saying deportation as such is wrong, that we should think of it as something like slavery and...
buttondown.com
February 5, 2026 at 7:57 AM
Since there's been some conversation about historical analogies for the present stuff with ICE, I figured I'd share this. In it I argue the similarity between (opposition to) border enforcement and (the effort to abolish) slavery.
buttondown.com/nateholdren/...
buttondown.com/nateholdren/...
This is Louis-Napoleon crap, looks considerably better this way
The crown of Empress Eugénie was one of nine invaluable royal ornaments snatched by burglars during the Louvre heist in October, but the thieves dropped it on the sidewalk before making their escape. The Louvre announced it will soon invite restorers to submit proposals for the crown’s repair.
The Louvre Thieves Dropped This Priceless Crown. Now It Looks Like This.
Empress Eugénie’s crown was left lying on the sidewalk after the Louvre Museum heist in October. The museum has now released pictures of the damage.
nyti.ms
February 6, 2026 at 3:20 AM
This is Louis-Napoleon crap, looks considerably better this way
Reposted by Eric Brandom
Follower of Rembrandt van Rijn, A Man Seated Reading at a Table in a Lofty Room, ca. 1628-30
February 6, 2026 at 2:17 AM
Follower of Rembrandt van Rijn, A Man Seated Reading at a Table in a Lofty Room, ca. 1628-30
Reposted by Eric Brandom
Does anyone understand what is going on here? The caption says, "Grand papa sa fiché de petite maman, parce que petite maman s'est fait des tetais - avec du coton, na!" (This isn't important, just was looking at Gavarni stuff)
February 4, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Does anyone understand what is going on here? The caption says, "Grand papa sa fiché de petite maman, parce que petite maman s'est fait des tetais - avec du coton, na!" (This isn't important, just was looking at Gavarni stuff)
Paul Gavarni (French, 1804-1866), "L'Authorité" art.thewalters.org/object/37.14...
February 6, 2026 at 1:45 AM
Paul Gavarni (French, 1804-1866), "L'Authorité" art.thewalters.org/object/37.14...
Reposted by Eric Brandom
I attended an event at the Art Institute of Chicago tonight and took the opportunity to check out the exhibit “Anatomy of Loss and Absence” in the textile gallery. It was really spectacular!
February 6, 2026 at 12:56 AM
I attended an event at the Art Institute of Chicago tonight and took the opportunity to check out the exhibit “Anatomy of Loss and Absence” in the textile gallery. It was really spectacular!
Briefly considered and then I think wisely rejected telling the checker at Dillons how my day actually is going
February 6, 2026 at 12:45 AM
Briefly considered and then I think wisely rejected telling the checker at Dillons how my day actually is going
Reposted by Eric Brandom
The original design featured Toussaint L'ouverture but the IOC rejected it claiming it was "too political". The new design features a riderless horse and the word Haiti. (Wow, damn!)
The look created for women also has gold hoop earrings and a Haitian tignon which women were once forced to wear. 🇭🇹🥇
The look created for women also has gold hoop earrings and a Haitian tignon which women were once forced to wear. 🇭🇹🥇
Why the IOC removed image of Toussaint Louverture from Haiti’s Olympic uniforms
Haiti has fielded two athletes for the Milan Cortina Winter Games and will proudly wear Haitian symbols — although one less than intended after intervention by the International Olympic Committee.…
www.chicagotribune.com
February 5, 2026 at 2:27 AM
The original design featured Toussaint L'ouverture but the IOC rejected it claiming it was "too political". The new design features a riderless horse and the word Haiti. (Wow, damn!)
The look created for women also has gold hoop earrings and a Haitian tignon which women were once forced to wear. 🇭🇹🥇
The look created for women also has gold hoop earrings and a Haitian tignon which women were once forced to wear. 🇭🇹🥇
Reposted by Eric Brandom
that's why it's the Kansas motto
February 4, 2026 at 6:21 PM
that's why it's the Kansas motto
What a stressful image
February 4, 2026 at 6:13 PM
What a stressful image
Does anyone understand what is going on here? The caption says, "Grand papa sa fiché de petite maman, parce que petite maman s'est fait des tetais - avec du coton, na!" (This isn't important, just was looking at Gavarni stuff)
February 4, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Does anyone understand what is going on here? The caption says, "Grand papa sa fiché de petite maman, parce que petite maman s'est fait des tetais - avec du coton, na!" (This isn't important, just was looking at Gavarni stuff)