“I hope your son gets his money’s worth at Yale - and don’t worry, he’ll come back to you eventually.” -Industry, S04E03

NEW BOOK! I'm very happy to say that my new book, Utopia, co-written with Douglas Mao, has been published on-line academic.oup.com/book/62279

Interview about liberalism and gerontocracy www.brinkatyale.com/issue-fiftee...

"Historian Ben Jackson has observed that 'neoliberalism is an ideal subject for intellectual historians.' ... To this I would add that neoliberalism is likewise an ideal subject for ideology critique." Excellent. www.jhiblog.org/2026/02/02/s...

Why the most illuminating historical analogy for Trump might be with… Franklin Roosevelt - my latest with @jacklgoldsmith www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/o...

Yay yaledailynews.com/articles/cri...

I found a historical analogy I like www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/o...

Badly needed from @dwaldenwrites.bsky.social thepointmag.com/examined-lif...

Yes jacobin.com/2026/01/resi...

Ouch www.theideasletter.org/essay/woke-o...

Make it stop (good piece) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

“The United States was the architect, very largely, of the rules that I have been involved with my whole life,” Sands says. “We saw it as the mansion on the hill, the guardian of the idea of the international rule of law.” www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/m...

“If you’re willing to admit that it was the Red Army that beat fascism,” Tooze said, somewhat grudgingly, “then you can have your fascism analogy.” www.theguardian.com/business/202...

‘When Mr. Ammel asked Ms. Sinema why she was planning to skip President Joe Biden Jr.’s State of the Union speech in 2024, for instance, she responded that she had no interest in listening to “some old man” talk about legislation she had written, Ms. Ammel claimed.’ www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/u...

Entrevista a @samuelmoyn.bsky.social por Sebastián Guidi www.lacritica.ar/post/samuel-...

Wait, are you telling me that the law isn’t apolitical? www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...

I like weird tho www.city-journal.org/article/supr...

This will be awesome. All Yalies welcome.

I offer a "Primat der Innenpolitik" take in this squib on the Venezuelan abduction for the @NewStatesman roundup. www.newstatesman.com/symposium/20...

Too many judges are too old (and the judiciary is a gerontocratic institution) www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/o...

Must-read by @oonahathaway.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/o...

Empirical scholars master the obvious again. Priceless: “At first, I got the heebie-jeebies at their coding,” he said. “Undergraduates reading cases and deciding? That’s a tough judgment call for even an experienced lawyer or judge.” www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/u...

If you want to know how bad this situation is, I am out here doing doctrinal analysis. www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Venezuela more evidence of continuity as much as change www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Year-end tally of Trump admin combat actions in 2025: —Yemen—1,000+ strikes* —Somalia—140+ strikes, 1 ground raid** —Syria—78+ strikes, 3 ground raids*** —Iran—3 B-2 strikes —Iraq—1 strike —Nigeria—1 set of TLAM strikes —Caribbean—11 strikes —Eastern Pacific—20 strikes —Venezuela—1 known CIA strike

Excited to see my latest book out this year. Preorder! bookshop.org/p/books/gero...

Great coverage www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/b...

“Reason” author doesn’t mention Lochner or its contemporary libertarian reincarnations, avoiding any judgment of the overall functions of judiciaries. Of course, he’s perfectly right that no one said democracy guarantees the outcomes anyone prefers. reason.com/2025/12/30/t...

“Nearly two-thirds of active psychiatrists are 55 or older.” Is this fact related to any larger syndrome? www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/o...

Excellent: “It wasn’t originalism that saved the nation or its Constitution, it was a decades-long struggle of ordinary people who knew what no document needed to tell them.” newrepublic.com/article/2042...

Yay-made a list harpersmagazine.substack.com/p/our-most-r...

“Journalists who declare themselves exempt from the influence of historiography are often the captives of some defunct historian.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/b...

Please send the Reverend my book

Apparently gerontocracy is also a philosophical phenomenon www.ft.com/content/9f89...

This one was fun to write: did 2025 put a final stake thru the heart of the process school? Or was it maybe the beginning of a revival? (Take our course this spring for more!) @yalelawschool-yls.bsky.social @samuelmoyn.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/o...

The Cambridge History of Rights by Samuel Moyn and Meredith Terretta A comprehensive and authoritative examination of rights-making in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. 📚 https://cup.org/4pQar8Y #humanrights

Trump 1.0: “The big cases … went ‘one for you, one for me,’ which … help[ed] bolster the court’s legitimacy” (Lee Epstein). Trump 2.0: The court gave Trump an L once in a great while, which A/ sufficed for a big enough audience to breathe a sigh of relief. B/ fooled no one. Let’s see which it is.

You do not, under any circumstances, gotta hand it to the Supreme Court

Excellent www.jhiblog.org/2025/12/22/m...

Can’t wait youtu.be/Mzw2ttJD2qQ?...

Awesome. Challenging. Respectful (more than we were to him). I so admire Steve’s public role, and persona — even when I don’t share it, let alone his exact views.

"Pulling the Supreme Court back from the cliff is something progressives should view as far preferable to the alternative—where it may not just be the Court that gets pushed over the edge and into oblivion, but our entire constitutional (and democratic) order." Me in today's issue of "One First":

i enjoy checking in on a post from the previous day and looking to see how many people lost their minds and immediately began imputing the worst faith motives and assuming the worst possible interpretations

It’s time to accept that the US supreme court is illegitimate and must be replaced | Ryan Doerfler and Samuel Moyn

Yay! Sometimes good things happen to good people. law.yale.edu/yls-today/ne...