M. Elizabeth Thorpe
@thorpe.bsky.social
Mom, wife, teacher, scholar, cat-owner. Into things like identity, the law, and the 1A. Consistently amazed that her colleagues continue to take her seriously. She/her/hers Rhetorician.
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
Society taken over by grown adults still bitter about college.
I didn't get into my first choice!
I was assigned a reading I didn't like!
Something I said got criticism and dirty looks instead of praise!
I'm still annoyed about that argument we had!
That is now the basis of institutional policies.
I didn't get into my first choice!
I was assigned a reading I didn't like!
Something I said got criticism and dirty looks instead of praise!
I'm still annoyed about that argument we had!
That is now the basis of institutional policies.
August 15, 2026 at 3:28 PM
Society taken over by grown adults still bitter about college.
I didn't get into my first choice!
I was assigned a reading I didn't like!
Something I said got criticism and dirty looks instead of praise!
I'm still annoyed about that argument we had!
That is now the basis of institutional policies.
I didn't get into my first choice!
I was assigned a reading I didn't like!
Something I said got criticism and dirty looks instead of praise!
I'm still annoyed about that argument we had!
That is now the basis of institutional policies.
Leslie Knope's barbecue cookbook was called The Feminine Mesquite and I don't think there's enough discussion about that.
July 24, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Leslie Knope's barbecue cookbook was called The Feminine Mesquite and I don't think there's enough discussion about that.
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
Muppets Canterbury Tales when?
July 19, 2026 at 8:33 PM
Muppets Canterbury Tales when?
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
Four years ago, Biden gave a speech warning about the dangers to democracy and the networks refused to air it because it was "political."
I wonder if Trump making a partisan case for relitigating the 2020 election and calling for his political opponents to be jailed is going to be "political" too?
I wonder if Trump making a partisan case for relitigating the 2020 election and calling for his political opponents to be jailed is going to be "political" too?
July 14, 2026 at 2:53 PM
Four years ago, Biden gave a speech warning about the dangers to democracy and the networks refused to air it because it was "political."
I wonder if Trump making a partisan case for relitigating the 2020 election and calling for his political opponents to be jailed is going to be "political" too?
I wonder if Trump making a partisan case for relitigating the 2020 election and calling for his political opponents to be jailed is going to be "political" too?
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
i am begging democrats to take this threat to our elections as seriously as they take a fundraising deadline
it's even dumber than you think
July 13, 2026 at 9:51 PM
i am begging democrats to take this threat to our elections as seriously as they take a fundraising deadline
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
What’s a woman?
We asked The Odyssey and you’ll never believe the answer…s!
1. Bird with a lady head
2. Shapeshifting witch
3. Baddie who came out of a bird egg
4. A whirlpool maybe
5. Tentacle monster who barks like a dog
6. More different shapeshifting witch
7. Weird horny island hermit
We asked The Odyssey and you’ll never believe the answer…s!
1. Bird with a lady head
2. Shapeshifting witch
3. Baddie who came out of a bird egg
4. A whirlpool maybe
5. Tentacle monster who barks like a dog
6. More different shapeshifting witch
7. Weird horny island hermit
It cracks me up how mad people are about Eliot Page existing in a story that pretty famously contains Tiresias the Transition Enthusiast, an mpreg headburster, and a chick who hatched out of a swan’s egg.
Yes hi I am Homer my gender is “lol”
(Yes I said chick she’s a swan & so’s her sister. HONK.)
Yes hi I am Homer my gender is “lol”
(Yes I said chick she’s a swan & so’s her sister. HONK.)
July 14, 2026 at 2:49 PM
What’s a woman?
We asked The Odyssey and you’ll never believe the answer…s!
1. Bird with a lady head
2. Shapeshifting witch
3. Baddie who came out of a bird egg
4. A whirlpool maybe
5. Tentacle monster who barks like a dog
6. More different shapeshifting witch
7. Weird horny island hermit
We asked The Odyssey and you’ll never believe the answer…s!
1. Bird with a lady head
2. Shapeshifting witch
3. Baddie who came out of a bird egg
4. A whirlpool maybe
5. Tentacle monster who barks like a dog
6. More different shapeshifting witch
7. Weird horny island hermit
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
AI might as well be short for "anti-intellectualism"
"If it could, capitalism would happily dispense with understanding altogether—to capital, understanding is overhead it is willing to bear for only as long as there is no alternative." (Why We Fear AI)
"If it could, capitalism would happily dispense with understanding altogether—to capital, understanding is overhead it is willing to bear for only as long as there is no alternative." (Why We Fear AI)
Not long ago, was asked to provide feedback on a university-level strategy document and, in the mist of anti-academic KPIs, knowledge production was just "forgotten" 👀
Yes, technofascism wants to hollow out our institutions, but that does not mean we need to let it pass. Stand our ground 💪
Yes, technofascism wants to hollow out our institutions, but that does not mean we need to let it pass. Stand our ground 💪
Knowledge production is not an add-on to universities functions, but their core social role and why they are funded through tax money to perform research.
bsky.app/profile/oliv...
bsky.app/profile/oliv...
July 13, 2026 at 3:54 PM
AI might as well be short for "anti-intellectualism"
"If it could, capitalism would happily dispense with understanding altogether—to capital, understanding is overhead it is willing to bear for only as long as there is no alternative." (Why We Fear AI)
"If it could, capitalism would happily dispense with understanding altogether—to capital, understanding is overhead it is willing to bear for only as long as there is no alternative." (Why We Fear AI)
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
1000 evaluators given identical resumes & told candidate used AI. Only difference on resumes was candidate’s name: Emily vs James. Study found women using AI are evaluated as less competent than men who use AI...To evaluators, women’s AI use signaled inability, while men’s AI use signaled initiative
Women’s use of AI is perceived as a sign of incompetence, while men’s use of AI is seen as an indication of initiative. 🤦🏻♂️
Women Who Use AI Seen As Incompetent; Men Who Use AI Seen As Pragmatic
A 2026 study found that when women and men use AI tools to create identical resumes, evaluators view the women as less competent, while crediting the men with initiative.
www.forbes.com
July 3, 2026 at 1:59 PM
1000 evaluators given identical resumes & told candidate used AI. Only difference on resumes was candidate’s name: Emily vs James. Study found women using AI are evaluated as less competent than men who use AI...To evaluators, women’s AI use signaled inability, while men’s AI use signaled initiative
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
It's tragically appropriate that we spent a whole generation telling students that the humanities were moribund, and they should all study STEM, only for the greatest innovations in STEM to prove why the humanities were so essential all along.
July 5, 2026 at 1:27 PM
It's tragically appropriate that we spent a whole generation telling students that the humanities were moribund, and they should all study STEM, only for the greatest innovations in STEM to prove why the humanities were so essential all along.
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
The debt collective should apply for the $1,776 billion on behalf of student debt holders who are experiencing the weaponization of the dept of education against them.
May 22, 2026 at 6:33 PM
The debt collective should apply for the $1,776 billion on behalf of student debt holders who are experiencing the weaponization of the dept of education against them.
Professors are at once proud and chagrined. We're thrilled they're booing, but it would have been great if they felt that way when papers were due.
College students booing all the commencement speakers who mention AI is genuinely uplifting.
May 18, 2026 at 12:02 PM
Professors are at once proud and chagrined. We're thrilled they're booing, but it would have been great if they felt that way when papers were due.
TN is Jim Crowing so hard right now
May 8, 2026 at 4:44 PM
TN is Jim Crowing so hard right now
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
It's almost like television's obsession with, and anachronistic understanding of, the liberal arts milieu - The Chair, Lucky Hank, Vladimir, Rooster - is a part of the subconscious cultural mourning process around the swift extinction of that same world.
April 14, 2026 at 11:35 PM
It's almost like television's obsession with, and anachronistic understanding of, the liberal arts milieu - The Chair, Lucky Hank, Vladimir, Rooster - is a part of the subconscious cultural mourning process around the swift extinction of that same world.
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
This might be the greatest split-screen ever broadcast.
They’ll play this in museums in future.
(🎥 LCI 🇫🇷)
They’ll play this in museums in future.
(🎥 LCI 🇫🇷)
March 12, 2026 at 3:11 PM
This might be the greatest split-screen ever broadcast.
They’ll play this in museums in future.
(🎥 LCI 🇫🇷)
They’ll play this in museums in future.
(🎥 LCI 🇫🇷)
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
Annie Abrams is doing some of the best commentary on ongoing efforts to make k-12 teaching increasingly rigid and unimaginative, with teachers themselves enjoined to be little more than automatons. Strong pressure to use teaching scripts — scripts that encourage children to memorize but not think.
March 11, 2026 at 11:48 AM
Annie Abrams is doing some of the best commentary on ongoing efforts to make k-12 teaching increasingly rigid and unimaginative, with teachers themselves enjoined to be little more than automatons. Strong pressure to use teaching scripts — scripts that encourage children to memorize but not think.
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
there's so much bad in the world but there's also people who lift up and carry an elderly bat around every day so he can pretend he's flying again, and that's the part of the world I think is worth fighting for
March 7, 2026 at 3:46 PM
there's so much bad in the world but there's also people who lift up and carry an elderly bat around every day so he can pretend he's flying again, and that's the part of the world I think is worth fighting for
It is becoming clear that AI doesnt save time or money. It's a cheating machine, which is also helpful at fixing grammar, coming up w/ recipes, & making revenge porn. So the thing to do is keep investing in new tech & not the things we know are valuable in the economic, humanist, & civic senses.
I heard on NPR google alone is spending 185 bn on new data centers just this year. Coincidentally this is well over twice what it would cost to pay for free college for every American who wants it and to restore tenure to all full-time faculty, according to the Sanders/Jayapal legislation
February 6, 2026 at 9:53 PM
It is becoming clear that AI doesnt save time or money. It's a cheating machine, which is also helpful at fixing grammar, coming up w/ recipes, & making revenge porn. So the thing to do is keep investing in new tech & not the things we know are valuable in the economic, humanist, & civic senses.
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
The connections among Epstein, AI oligarchs, cognitive scientists, eugenicists, misogynists, rapists, and outright fascists are so strong it's stunning that they are not outlined in every account of AI development and deployment.
If you are bullish on AI you might want to check yourself.
If you are bullish on AI you might want to check yourself.
February 6, 2026 at 4:34 PM
The connections among Epstein, AI oligarchs, cognitive scientists, eugenicists, misogynists, rapists, and outright fascists are so strong it's stunning that they are not outlined in every account of AI development and deployment.
If you are bullish on AI you might want to check yourself.
If you are bullish on AI you might want to check yourself.
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
The Kennedy Center.
New monuments.
Wrecking ball to history funding and interpretive expertise and access.
Arts and humanities are the most powerful stuff of society and we all know it.
New monuments.
Wrecking ball to history funding and interpretive expertise and access.
Arts and humanities are the most powerful stuff of society and we all know it.
February 2, 2026 at 11:16 AM
The Kennedy Center.
New monuments.
Wrecking ball to history funding and interpretive expertise and access.
Arts and humanities are the most powerful stuff of society and we all know it.
New monuments.
Wrecking ball to history funding and interpretive expertise and access.
Arts and humanities are the most powerful stuff of society and we all know it.
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
rightwingers see people caring about others in their community and instead of finding that inspiring they think it’s some sort of grand conspiracy because they don’t understand what it means to care for others you don’t personally know
January 25, 2026 at 7:57 PM
rightwingers see people caring about others in their community and instead of finding that inspiring they think it’s some sort of grand conspiracy because they don’t understand what it means to care for others you don’t personally know
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
CBP chief Bovino has confirmed that the officers who executed Alex Pretti in the street yesterday are not only *not on administrative leave,* they have all been reassigned to other jurisdictions and are all on the street today.
This is totally unheard of for any officer-involved shooting
This is totally unheard of for any officer-involved shooting
January 25, 2026 at 8:01 PM
CBP chief Bovino has confirmed that the officers who executed Alex Pretti in the street yesterday are not only *not on administrative leave,* they have all been reassigned to other jurisdictions and are all on the street today.
This is totally unheard of for any officer-involved shooting
This is totally unheard of for any officer-involved shooting
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
The fact that every right winger with influence screams "who is paying for all of this" tells you exactly how awash in cash they all are, and how much they rely on that to keep their movement afloat.
James O'Keefe says he's never seen anything so organized as the anti-ICE movement, observers--he seems to think this term is code--everywhere he goes. Who is paying for it??? he demands to know. It's like he can't even imagine people caring for one another.
January 25, 2026 at 11:06 AM
The fact that every right winger with influence screams "who is paying for all of this" tells you exactly how awash in cash they all are, and how much they rely on that to keep their movement afloat.
Reposted by M. Elizabeth Thorpe
Remembering how cops tossed Kyle Rittenhouse - who was open carrying a semiautomatic rifle - a bottle of water and told him, “We appreciate you… we really do”
January 24, 2026 at 8:10 PM
Remembering how cops tossed Kyle Rittenhouse - who was open carrying a semiautomatic rifle - a bottle of water and told him, “We appreciate you… we really do”