“They talk very loud, very fast, and all together. If they ask you a Question, before you can utter 3 Words of your Answer, they will break out upon you, again—and talk away.” John Adams, on New Yorkers, August 23, 1774.

New column. 2025: The Year of Trump? davidabell.substack.com/p/2025-the-y...

Upcoming two-part graduate student conference at Princeton and Sciences-Po on "The French Revolution and the Sacred." Call for papers here: fit.princeton.edu/events/frenc...

A new column of mine in the Chronicle of Higher Education, on the in-fighting at the American Historical Association: www.chronicle.com/article/acad...

How to Celebrate the 250th? open.substack.com/pub/davidabe...

Perhaps the most damning words in this article are the claim that this is "a bitter conservative family fight" over the neo-Nazi, Nick Fuentes. What does this say about the conservative family?

My newest review, of Lynn Hunt's "The Revolutionary Self," in The Nation: www.thenation.com/article/soci...

New column: On grade inflation and university culture today. davidabell.substack.com/p/no-a-for-e...

Sigh www.nytimes.com/2025/10/31/o...

A new essay of mine on the situation in France: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

David A. Bell @davidavrombell.bsky.social on the Enlightenment  and race

This is a welcome post about expertise, but even more so about the dangers of total suspicion and the nihilism it encourages. Thinking of societies fueled by total suspicion always gets me back to experiences in Russia recently, but also to close post-Soviet contacts. One story always returns 1/4

“Expertise is… a process, driven by trial and error. ʼBelieving in the scienceʼ doesn’t mean taking what scientists say at any moment as holy writ—the scientists themselves don’t do this. It means believing in the process and accepting that what is seen as truth today may look like error tomorrow.”

Do we need to "stop trusting the experts"? davidabell.substack.com/p/do-we-need...

My newest piece for the NYRB, on William Max Nelson's excellent book on Enlightenment biopolitics: www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

My new column, on the political crises in France and the US. open.substack.com/pub/davidabe...

Why the idea of “vaccine choice” is based on a dangerous misconception of what parents can control (by my better half): www.wsj.com/health/why-v...

The Power of Political Martyrdom open.substack.com/pub/davidabe...

A new piece of mine in the Chronicle. Yes, it's stating the obvious. Sadly, the obvious needs to be stated. www.chronicle.com/article/the-... (also available on my Substack w/out paywall: davidabell.substack.com/p/the-myth-o...).

The Myth of Faculty "Indoctrination" davidabell.substack.com/p/the-myth-o...

France will be in the headlines this week, with a no-confidence vote Monday and a national day of action (“Bloquons tout”) Wednesday. Here’s my take on why President Macron’s leadership led to this. And please consider subscribing to my free newsletter. open.substack.com/pub/davidabe...

How Macron has been undone by his own self-serving reading of French history: davidabell.substack.com/p/macrons-fa...

“A profoundly unpopular government is at war with its own people. It is corrupt, immoral, and taking Israel to a place of extremes, where there is might at the expense of morals; messianism at the expense of humanity and hope.” Extraordinary piece by @jo-ann.bsky.social in @newrepublic.com.

thank u to @itihaasnaama.bsky.social for recommending my new book The Future That Was alongside these amazing authors @kalramnath.bsky.social @abalasub.bsky.social 🥰💕 youtube.com/shorts/S99MW...

We have another contender for Nuttiest Republican Office-Holder, and, folks, I think this one may be a winner. x.com/shadowofezra...

A cover letter plus a research statement, a teaching statement, a diversity statement and a writing sample? Talk about overkill. I have run a lot of faculty searches and can say from experience that you don’t need all this.

My newest piece for the @nytimes, on the similarities and differences between the AI revolution and the Enlightenment, and what the latter shows about the dangers of the former: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/02/o...

From @davidavrombell.bsky.social substack. There's a price not just Columbia, or Harvard, pays for buckling - all Americans do when illegal means of enforcement are by them legitimized

My take on Trump 2.0 at six months: neither fascism nor business-as-usual but government by extortion. open.substack.com/pub/davidabe...

New, from an anonymous NIH insider: Trump is being pushed to spend more NIH money. The White House is ordering NIH to do multi-year budgets for awards. This budget trick means fewer awards, fewer labs funded, and lower paylines for researchers. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/alert-the-...

The ignorance shown by Vought here is breathtaking m, if not surprising.

"The universities have… in effect, declared war on millions of Americans." On the Manhattan Institute's appalling "Statement on Higher Education": davidabell.substack.com/p/derangement

On "university derangement syndrome": davidabell.substack.com/p/derangement

Jo Ann Mort gets it right on Mamdani and the Middle East. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Belgian engineers have discovered a powerful, transformative technology for transportation over short distances. Revolutionary. youtu.be/EAkm773d7RQ?...

New newsletter: davidabell.substack.com/p/houses-div...

Rank in order of importance: * Trump bombing Iran * Continuing horror in Gaza * Gutting of US welfare state * Destruction of American science * Uncontrolled global warming * Mamdani's college application * Massively exploding federal deficits * Massively expanding inequality

Shameful capitulation by Penn. Just gross.

I’m having a fun vacation so far have I missed anyth— oh, right.

New newsletter: On Academic Productivity: davidabell.substack.com/p/on-academi...

@nytimes.com: Columbia University is NOT “off the hot seat.” Try reporting what is actually going on there with federal funding! www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/n... archive.is/2025.06.18-2...

My op-ed about the perilous political situation in the US, in Le Monde: www.lemonde.fr/idees/articl...

Double.

As the US Army celebrates it 250th birthday, Trump is celebrating the enemy that tried to defeat it.

New newsletter: The End of "The Affair": davidabell.substack.com/p/the-end-of...

Among other things, if funding is cut 50% there literally won’t be any money to fund new grants.

I worry that not enough of a big deal is being made about how long-term the devastation of these budget cuts to our scientific and health agencies will be, beyond the absolute ruin they will cause in the acute period.