Marie Becker
@alulaauburn.bsky.social
Reading, writing and herding cats. Trying to advocate for students and humanist pedagogy in a tiny flailing way. She/her. AI-critical, chronically ill, trying to build shelter out of books and yarn.
Reposted by Marie Becker
If the NYT told the story of the homeless teenager exploited by Matt Gaetz with even half as much empathy as it tells the story of Olivia Nuzzi, it would be in danger of committing journalism.
November 14, 2025 at 5:47 PM
If the NYT told the story of the homeless teenager exploited by Matt Gaetz with even half as much empathy as it tells the story of Olivia Nuzzi, it would be in danger of committing journalism.
Hitting the point in the term where I fear I've been sweet, understanding Miss Nelson for too long and need to bring some Viola Swamp energy to drag us all to the finish line.
(iykyk)
(iykyk)
November 12, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Hitting the point in the term where I fear I've been sweet, understanding Miss Nelson for too long and need to bring some Viola Swamp energy to drag us all to the finish line.
(iykyk)
(iykyk)
Reposted by Marie Becker
The People Want to Read: on the massive budget cuts proposed for Chicago Public Library. What's at stake and what you can do, whether or not you live in Chicago.
buttondown.com/wellsourced/...
buttondown.com/wellsourced/...
The People Want To Read: On Massive Budget Cuts Proposed in Chicago
If passed, Chicago Public Library will lose half their budget for acquiring new books and materials.
buttondown.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:03 PM
The People Want to Read: on the massive budget cuts proposed for Chicago Public Library. What's at stake and what you can do, whether or not you live in Chicago.
buttondown.com/wellsourced/...
buttondown.com/wellsourced/...
Reposted by Marie Becker
I poured everything I had into this one. "I see you gathering, hundreds at a time, to learn, to keep watch, and bare your teeth. I see you running toward danger, together, and loving each other more fiercely than you ever knew you could." organizingmythoughts.org/in-chicago-w...
November 8, 2025 at 2:50 PM
I poured everything I had into this one. "I see you gathering, hundreds at a time, to learn, to keep watch, and bare your teeth. I see you running toward danger, together, and loving each other more fiercely than you ever knew you could." organizingmythoughts.org/in-chicago-w...
Reposted by Marie Becker
Harold and the Purple Crayon is a manifesto for human creativity disguised as a children's book. I wrote about it.
blog.oup.com/2025/10/turn...
blog.oup.com/2025/10/turn...
Turn off AI. Pick up a crayon.
Google Gemini offers “a new way to bring your imagination to life.” Adobe Firefly promises “The ultimate creative AI solution.” And Craiyon invites you to “Create AI Art.” Don't believe the tech hype.
blog.oup.com
October 10, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Harold and the Purple Crayon is a manifesto for human creativity disguised as a children's book. I wrote about it.
blog.oup.com/2025/10/turn...
blog.oup.com/2025/10/turn...
Reposted by Marie Becker
They were human props in fascist propaganda. The state of Illinois should play no role in these theatrics, and we certainly shouldn't prosecute protesters who did nothing wrong. Let ICE spin its own BS cover story. We don't have to lend them IL courts for that.
October 4, 2025 at 12:28 AM
They were human props in fascist propaganda. The state of Illinois should play no role in these theatrics, and we certainly shouldn't prosecute protesters who did nothing wrong. Let ICE spin its own BS cover story. We don't have to lend them IL courts for that.
Reposted by Marie Becker
ICE unleashed tear gas on the street in Chicago’s Logan Square today and I tried to find meaning among the fog and my own anger about, well, everything. dansinker.com/posts/202…
October 3, 2025 at 10:31 PM
ICE unleashed tear gas on the street in Chicago’s Logan Square today and I tried to find meaning among the fog and my own anger about, well, everything. dansinker.com/posts/202…
Reposted by Marie Becker
The Block Club Chicago newsroom continues to report on today’s federal immigration activity across Chicago.
If you have footage of agent activity you filmed, please reach out via this website:
blockclubchi.co/3IIYou4
If you have footage of agent activity you filmed, please reach out via this website:
blockclubchi.co/3IIYou4
October 3, 2025 at 8:15 PM
The Block Club Chicago newsroom continues to report on today’s federal immigration activity across Chicago.
If you have footage of agent activity you filmed, please reach out via this website:
blockclubchi.co/3IIYou4
If you have footage of agent activity you filmed, please reach out via this website:
blockclubchi.co/3IIYou4
Reposted by Marie Becker
CALL PRITZKER TO DEMAND HE REMOVE ILLINOIS STATE POLICE FROM BROADVIEW:
(Chicago) 312-814-2121 or 312-814-2122
(Springfield) 217-782-6830 or 217-782-6831
Hearing impaired (TTY): 888-261-3336
I called and talked about how the state cops joined ICE in brutalizing protesters today.
(Chicago) 312-814-2121 or 312-814-2122
(Springfield) 217-782-6830 or 217-782-6831
Hearing impaired (TTY): 888-261-3336
I called and talked about how the state cops joined ICE in brutalizing protesters today.
October 3, 2025 at 7:44 PM
CALL PRITZKER TO DEMAND HE REMOVE ILLINOIS STATE POLICE FROM BROADVIEW:
(Chicago) 312-814-2121 or 312-814-2122
(Springfield) 217-782-6830 or 217-782-6831
Hearing impaired (TTY): 888-261-3336
I called and talked about how the state cops joined ICE in brutalizing protesters today.
(Chicago) 312-814-2121 or 312-814-2122
(Springfield) 217-782-6830 or 217-782-6831
Hearing impaired (TTY): 888-261-3336
I called and talked about how the state cops joined ICE in brutalizing protesters today.
Reposted by Marie Becker
We need a bigger national spotlight on this building raid, fam. Agents dropped from helicopters onto the roof. Citizens and non-citizens alike were dragged from their homes in the night. People who weren't kidnapped during the raid had their belongings seized after the fact. This is madness.
"Jones, 27, is among the residents left at 7500 S. South Shore Drive who are trying to piece together what remains after an early morning, high-powered federal immigration raid led to the arrests of dozens of their neighbors at their South Shore apartment building."
Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated'
The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.
chicago.suntimes.com
October 2, 2025 at 4:23 PM
We need a bigger national spotlight on this building raid, fam. Agents dropped from helicopters onto the roof. Citizens and non-citizens alike were dragged from their homes in the night. People who weren't kidnapped during the raid had their belongings seized after the fact. This is madness.
Reposted by Marie Becker
This whole section really.
September 28, 2025 at 10:59 PM
This whole section really.
Reposted by Marie Becker
"you are the ones with the most to lose. My colleagues & I may have to leave this cherished institution & that would be a great loss for us. But we have already lived lives of consequence and can find other pursuits. You, however, would lose the education you deserve." 🔥
thebatt.com/news/anonymo...
thebatt.com/news/anonymo...
Anonymous Texas A&M professor calls on students to be ‘agent of change’
Editor's note: The following is an open letter to the Texas A&M student body written by a tenured professor at A&M and provided to The Battalion. The pr
thebatt.com
September 24, 2025 at 12:04 AM
"you are the ones with the most to lose. My colleagues & I may have to leave this cherished institution & that would be a great loss for us. But we have already lived lives of consequence and can find other pursuits. You, however, would lose the education you deserve." 🔥
thebatt.com/news/anonymo...
thebatt.com/news/anonymo...
Reposted by Marie Becker
My latest column for the Chronicle of Higher Ed is now live. It's an argument for including AI-critical voices in campus conversations and policymaking workgroups, and I'm proud to get this dissenting piece into the mainstream genAI/higher ed discourse. Please read and share if you're so inclined 🙂
Advice | Sometimes We Resist AI for Good Reasons
Why higher ed needs to listen to the contrarians in setting policies on using tools like ChatGPT in faculty work.
www.chronicle.com
September 24, 2025 at 5:47 PM
My latest column for the Chronicle of Higher Ed is now live. It's an argument for including AI-critical voices in campus conversations and policymaking workgroups, and I'm proud to get this dissenting piece into the mainstream genAI/higher ed discourse. Please read and share if you're so inclined 🙂
Reposted by Marie Becker
In addition to cancelling your Disney accounts, now is also a great time to delete academia.edu
September 21, 2025 at 10:09 PM
In addition to cancelling your Disney accounts, now is also a great time to delete academia.edu
Reposted by Marie Becker
Nearly 50 college instructors across #Illinois landed on #CharlieKirk's “Professor Watchlist.” @wbez.org reached out to all of them and found the list triggered hateful messages, threats of rape or death, and intensification since Kirk's killing.
#twill www.wbez.org/politics/202...
#twill www.wbez.org/politics/202...
Illinois professors face threats after landing on Charlie Kirk group watchlist
An online database compiled by a group affiliated with slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk identifies close to 50 Illinois college instructors it labels "radical professors."
www.wbez.org
September 19, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Nearly 50 college instructors across #Illinois landed on #CharlieKirk's “Professor Watchlist.” @wbez.org reached out to all of them and found the list triggered hateful messages, threats of rape or death, and intensification since Kirk's killing.
#twill www.wbez.org/politics/202...
#twill www.wbez.org/politics/202...
Reposted by Marie Becker
We wrote a thing about AI, fascism, and why framing this as "hype" is too apolitical
www.liberalcurrents.com/deflating-hy...
www.liberalcurrents.com/deflating-hy...
Deflating “Hype” Won’t Save Us
The problem with AI isn’t hype. The problem is who and what it’s useful for.
www.liberalcurrents.com
September 16, 2025 at 1:31 PM
We wrote a thing about AI, fascism, and why framing this as "hype" is too apolitical
www.liberalcurrents.com/deflating-hy...
www.liberalcurrents.com/deflating-hy...
Reposted by Marie Becker
I said something last week that is more broadly applicable today:
Calling for empathy is not neutral or apolitical when only one group of people have been socialized and brutalized into having empathy.
Calling for empathy is not neutral or apolitical when only one group of people have been socialized and brutalized into having empathy.
September 11, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I said something last week that is more broadly applicable today:
Calling for empathy is not neutral or apolitical when only one group of people have been socialized and brutalized into having empathy.
Calling for empathy is not neutral or apolitical when only one group of people have been socialized and brutalized into having empathy.
Have about 24-36 hours to decide to go part time or drop out of a program my friends are describing as “full of bees.” Really wish I could just think about nothing but giving scritches instead
September 5, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Have about 24-36 hours to decide to go part time or drop out of a program my friends are describing as “full of bees.” Really wish I could just think about nothing but giving scritches instead
Reposted by Marie Becker
Since tomorrow is Labor Day and school is in session, I'd like to argue (again) that teaching about GenAI should include discussion of the extractive, exploitative labor conditions that make the technology possible. 🧵
September 1, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Since tomorrow is Labor Day and school is in session, I'd like to argue (again) that teaching about GenAI should include discussion of the extractive, exploitative labor conditions that make the technology possible. 🧵
Reposted by Marie Becker
Had a fun time writing about bread and circuses vs. bread and roses and whether in crises we're allowed to have fun. www.meditationsinanemergency.com/circuses-vs-...
Circuses vs. Roses: Notes on Pleasure and Scold Culture
Someone made this extra-grumpy meme about the fact that football player and podcaster Travis Kelce proposed to pop superstar Taylor Swift and now they're engaged, or rather about the fact that of cour...
www.meditationsinanemergency.com
August 28, 2025 at 2:51 AM
Had a fun time writing about bread and circuses vs. bread and roses and whether in crises we're allowed to have fun. www.meditationsinanemergency.com/circuses-vs-...
Reposted by Marie Becker
I think the message is pretty clear across the board about their regard for writing and reading which obviously means you should write and read and write and read and write and read and write and read.
Also, this sucks.
Also, this sucks.
For decades the program has supported writers who would become big names – Alice Walker, Michael Cunningham, Louise Erdrich and more. Last week, applicants got an email saying the program would be no more.
NEA cancels decades-long creative writing fellowship
For decades the program has supported writers who would become big names – Alice Walker, Michael Cunningham, Louise Erdrich and more. Last week, applicants got an email saying the program would be no more.
n.pr
August 26, 2025 at 10:42 PM
I think the message is pretty clear across the board about their regard for writing and reading which obviously means you should write and read and write and read and write and read and write and read.
Also, this sucks.
Also, this sucks.
Reposted by Marie Becker
OMFG please kill me. The goal really is to just build a homogenous society of the most insufferable capitalist leeches huh?
"Forget trying to get kids to smoke, what if we get them to join a national pyramid scheme in kindergarten?"
"Forget trying to get kids to smoke, what if we get them to join a national pyramid scheme in kindergarten?"
August 26, 2025 at 2:36 PM
OMFG please kill me. The goal really is to just build a homogenous society of the most insufferable capitalist leeches huh?
"Forget trying to get kids to smoke, what if we get them to join a national pyramid scheme in kindergarten?"
"Forget trying to get kids to smoke, what if we get them to join a national pyramid scheme in kindergarten?"
Reposted by Marie Becker
We need to know what humans do before we argue that machines can do it just the same. There can’t be AI literacy without a literacy in being human: how we make meaning in work and life, distinguishing the artificial from the imaginary from the true. mail.cyberneticforests.com/human-litera...
Human Literacy
Something I Can Tell Students Now That I Am Not Teaching
You and I probably both keep hearing that students should be working toward AI literacy. They should know what to type into prompt windows, ...
mail.cyberneticforests.com
August 24, 2025 at 12:25 PM
We need to know what humans do before we argue that machines can do it just the same. There can’t be AI literacy without a literacy in being human: how we make meaning in work and life, distinguishing the artificial from the imaginary from the true. mail.cyberneticforests.com/human-litera...
Reposted by Marie Becker
You can add up all the enjoyable pursuits of LLMs and the work productivity hacks and none of them, separately or together, will be more important than AI’s ecological costs or political disruption.
“We” is more important here.
“We” is more important here.
August 23, 2025 at 7:02 PM
You can add up all the enjoyable pursuits of LLMs and the work productivity hacks and none of them, separately or together, will be more important than AI’s ecological costs or political disruption.
“We” is more important here.
“We” is more important here.