A small (personal) example of this book’s intellectual dishonesty: My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media. Huh? When did I say that?!

2025 best games by @npr.org staff. An amazing combination of validating my existing wishlist while flagging amazing things for me that I've never seen! www.npr.org/2025/12/03/n...

From The Washington Post: The concentration of wealth among the richest Americans is unlike anything in history — and so is billionaires’ influence in politics. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

I had to repeatedly check that this wasn't The Onion

For the record, having the wrong answer to the right question is worth zero points.

"too much theory without enough experimentation can cause bloating and gassiness in the scientific literature"

The problem here is shitty science. You can find "evidence" for all of the above, just like RFK's study linking Tylenol to autism. But then the argument shifts to things like causal inference, p-hacking, lousy study design, and everyone's bored and goes home. And keeps believing this stuff.

Once again, I am begging Wisconsin journalists to <stop stenographizing Robin Vos’ lies> about DEI in standalone block quotes in articles. Maybe you could even ask him for even <one> example of even <one> DEI program like this on even <one> UW campus? 🤷‍♂️ www.jsonline.com/story/news/e...

Don't. Print. Lies. In. The. Newspapers. This is just a slightly politer version of the lies Robin Vos spreads about UW all the time (bsky.app/profile/mcop...). It's ugly. It's not true. Nor are the grants lies true. Frankly, it's all obscene given the authoritarian assault now on 🇺🇸 higher ed.

If you want a totally "unchecked situation" about federal grants, it's that One Mad King can now simply cancel federal contracts funding area and language studies at universities around the country, without cause, while Congress does nothing. But that doesn't sell copy, so here are lies instead.

Rex Douglass is a free agent. Rex is a data bulldozer and champion of science, plus no bs palantir overhead. Get him before he gets got.

Putting aside the researchers' inability to identify acts of state terrorism, the number they're using to justify this subhed is five.

This WaPo piece about the Airbnb/DOGE guy who is now the head of design in government ignores that: *DOGE fired the actual talented design people in government, including Social Security! *IRS had a beautifully designed tax filing system that DOGE killed *USDS already did online passport renewals

Hey @lanostry.bsky.social, we made the big time!

gotta keep an eye on those obelisks, you just never know

Also, 30,000 fake papers out of 1 million+ does not indict or threaten science as a whole. This entire "science is in crisis from within" narrative is a right-wing myth.

Throughout my timeline I see academic friends despairing about Columbia capitulating to Trump's authoritarianism. Sadly, it will likely not be the last. I hope you all can direct your outrage into action. Use your voice, especially if you can leverage the privilege of tenure, but also your skills.

Thiel's DOGEbuddies have shredded the NSF and NIH. Anyone want to take bets on whether that INCREASES or DECREASES the rate of scientific progress? Because I'll gladly take your fucking money and laugh in your face if you think the events of 2025 have been GOOD for scientific progress. Dumbshit.

this is a sabotage tactic so cartoonishly transparent that paul rudd’s character tried it during his guest arc on parks and recreation

Conflict research relies on questionable data. Rachel Sweet's recent JCR article proposes a systematic and deliberate process to review data. It persuaded me that grappling with data quality is both the right thing to do AND opens up new avenues for research! 🗺 journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

This is the functional equivalent of saying it’s not a bribe unless it’s from the Bribery region of France; otherwise it’s just sparkling pay-to-play it's a nonsense argument that has been embraced by the Supreme Court and undermines the public good ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/snyde...

Kseniia Petrova, a Russian scientist at Harvard Medical School, was detained at Logan Airport after returning from France and sent to an ICE detention in Louisiana, The Insider reports. A big critic of Putin and the war in Ukraine, she may now be deported to Russia.

Here is UW - Madison's budget. Our <largest> funder is the federal government. 25%. It used to be the state. Either way, the university in its current form ceases to exist if these federal cuts really happen. But The. Public. Doesn't. Know. This. And our leaders are absent from the public debate.

Did you know there is a primary election on February 18th? The one race on all of your ballots will be for State DPI Superintendent, in addition to some local races depending where you live. In-person absentee voting begins TODAY! Check with your local clerk for details, or visit myvote.wi.gov!

#Wisconsin Senators #RonJohnson and #TammyBaldwin have long supported having strong Inspectors General for government accountability. Here Sen. Johnson explains, "They are our go-to folks when it comes to government oversight." www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFw1...

🧪 Several folks have asked me what I (not an MD, but someone with extensive training in zoonotic diseases and work experience in pandemic prevention) recommend in this particular era. It is: Vaccination. Esp for respiratory diseases. Titers/boosters for your MMRs. Hand washing. Masks.

Outraged by the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a wilderness survival trainer spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was ProPublica reporter @josh-kaplan.bsky.social. propub.li/3DGXECO

A reminder that Gorka's dissertation uses the following "Venn diagram-like approach" to help explain the dynamics of terrorism.

👇🎯 Once again, the ardent insistence in the last two weeks on pretending that the entire actual Harris/Walz campaign didn’t happen - & the 2024 Democratic Party platform didn’t actually exist - is utterly maddening

Interested in inequality research? Here is a starter pack containing research centers / institutes / organizations dedicated to the study of socioeconomic inequality. Time seemed ripe as, finally, organizations are moving to Bluesky. Let me know if others should be added. go.bsky.app/5daYr6v

Main page headline vs. Story page headline. Why tho?

X’s algorithm now downranks posts with links to other sites. That penalizes academics, journalists and other authors who offer links to their research and writing. It penalizes folks who offer links to reliable sources (as I did in this post). It rewards unreliable slop. /2

I wrote a book called The Originalism Trap: How Extremists Stole the Constitution and How We the People Can Take it Back I already wanted everybody to read it, but now I *really* want everybody to read it, to understand what's coming and what we can do instead penguinrandomhouse.com/books/735353...

so far the only explanation i've seen that doesn't smack of "if only she'd listen to me she would have won" is "global discontent with incumbents because of inflation and post-pandemic malaise + toxic information environments"

Will try this once more given many misreadings: 1. The post was in reply to Bernie Sanders' absurd claim that Dems have ignored the working class. Say what you will about Joe Biden, he/his policies are the most pro-labor/working class since LBJ. If, like me, you want more, go yell at Senate GOPers.

Now available on Amazon! www.amazon.com/Speaking-Sci...

PUBLICATION DAY ‼️📚 OK, this book is a GAME CHANGER! Many scholars “Bridge the Gap" and brief policymakers, and many policymakers seek out research and evidence… There was no concrete ethical guidance on how to do this… UNTIL NOW! global.oup.com/academic/pro...

After the demise of the poslisci feed, I've built a new one at PolScience. Dm or comment to be added. #apsa Please re-tweet and/or follow the list.

🚨New fp21 Report🚨 "A Curriculum for Foreign Policy Expertise" A new curriculum for foreign policy expertise is necessary to improve the quality of US #foreignpolicy. Includes the "(in)Definite Reading List for Foreign Policy Expertise" www.fp21.org/curriculum polisky, policysky, 🗺, #IntSec

The State Department is upping its research game! DOS is scoping a federally-funded research and development center (FFRDC) for diplomacy and is inviting public comment. Join @fp21.bsky.social tomorrow Aug 6 at 2pm ET to discuss how the FFRDC can best improve US foreign policy

This academic year has been particularly challenging for those working at universities in the U.S. Over the past few months I've been thinking about how we ended up here, and some paths forward. I wrote down some of those thoughts for the Brookings Institution: www.brookings.edu/articles/uni...

Sometimes you just need a report to tell you Hypothesis H1c

Alexander Bick shares his experience leading the "tiger team" charged with planning the US response to Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine. polisky, policysky, 🗺, #IntSec muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/oa_edi...

It is amazing that an important step in the judicial system process boils down to how good you are at tag and hide-and-seek.

Great civil war research! At first glance it looks like state sponsorship encourages armed groups to fight, but @rubinmichael.bsky.social and Iris Malone show that state sponsorship explains little when you control for group and country indicators. polisky, policysky, 🗺, #IntSec

From the ESOC Call for Papers for 2024 Annual Meeting: This year's theme is “Hate and Conflict." The submission deadline for full working papers is June 14th, and the meeting will be on October 17-19 at UCLA. See link for more details: esoc.princeton.edu/events/2024/... #Polisky #ConflictSky

My @fp21.bsky.social colleague Dan Spokojny has launched a free substack on foreign policy expertise. Subscribe! Since I met Dan five years ago, I have jumped at every opportunity to work with him. His passion for transforming U.S. foreign policy is inspiring. polisky, policysky, 🗺, #IntSec