Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again. #Pinks #ProudBlue

I wrote about Plato, Huxley, and Dewey— thepointmag.com/examined-lif...

James Merrill House accepts applications for its 2026-2027 residencies from Oct 1, 2025 to Jan 12, 2026. Decisions made by mid-March. The residency provides living and working space for a writer to complete a project of literary or academic merit. Learn more by visiting jamesmerrillhouse.org.

“What struck me about that video when I saw it was that so many politicians communicate by focusing on what they’re telling you. But what was fascinating about Mamdani’s campaign is that he turned the act of listening into a form of broadcasting.”

Am I deceived, or does this whole exchange bear the earmarks of a very familiar kind of moral panic that’s recurrent around school and education?

“A new humanities department survey (HDS) demonstrates both the challenges the field faces today and the resilience of many departments in the face of those difficulties.” bit.ly/HDS4_Intro

As of Friday, there have been 46 cases in which federal judges have blocked Trump policies. The rulings in those cases have come from 39 different judges appointed by 5 different presidents (of both parties) to 11 different district courts across 7 different circuits. Maybe it's not the judges?

Fyi, my new piece in @bostonreview.bsky.social about the history of calling Social Security a “Ponzi scheme,” and how attacks on Social Security have often marked the opening wedge of a broader war on public goods. www.bostonreview.net/articles/soc...

1/14 Our current constitutional crisis cannot be solved by voting Democrat or by removing president from office- this is a problem that will persist until we fix our information infrastructure. Please hear me out.

Effective- - Create space for R's to oppose nominees - Build pressure on R's to oppose Trump policies or flip on bills - Strengthen Dems' '25 and '26 electoral response - Buttress legal challenges to Trump actions These actually help but rarely solve, and let's be real- you're already mad at me

I am adding this AI statement to my syllabus. My philosophy is up with the joy of language, down with punitive threats. I hope this approach is inspiring for students.

Nothing about the public space—politics, journalism, media, and entertainment—encourages or cultivates epistemic humility in society.

I learned how to create a pivot table in a 4 hour class I took from home. I learned to think about what problems needed a pivot table and how to summarize that information for different audiences as a humanities undergraduate.

I know why we are accelerating into disaster instead but it would be nice to say: school is for slowing down and rebuilding an attention span through books

Beautiful remembrance by @caitlinflanagan.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

A propos of nothing, Harvard President Charles Eliot on baseball: “This year I’m told the team did well because one pitcher had a fine curve ball. I understand that a curve ball is thrown with a deliberate attempt to deceive. Surely this is not an ability we should want to foster at Harvard.”