This is big government run amok; will Texas students have to endure government officials censoring professors in the classroom? That isn’t Texas and it isn’t America. 4/5

Studying philosophy does make people better thinkers, according to new research on more than 600,000 college grads theconversation.com/studying-phi...

"Because reactionary centrists do not really have values, they struggle to understand the motivations of those who do." www.thebulwark.com/p/when-moder...

If you started paying attention to the US in 1960, this sure feels like the darkest timeline. But unfortunately, purges against Black & brown people are normal US behavior. You know what's NOT normal US behavior? This is the first time there's been a mass movement to STOP a purge in real time.

hands-down the best thing i've read about the sex wars (and why they still really matter for today's politics) jude-doyle.ghost.io/this-is-how-...

RIP Helen De Cruz (1978-2025) 💔 Helen De Cruz @helendecruz.net), professor of philosophy at Saint Louis University, has died. dailynous.com/2025/06/20/h...

I looked this up, and yes, it is real. I've included an article about it in the comments. Please share for those who may need it. Thank you!

Some topical listening...

Honestly surprised I haven't seen more use of this clip today

First the AHA, now the APA, comes out in opposition to Texas Republicans attempts to kill higher education by a thousand cuts: www.apaonline.org/news/702273/...

Absolutely co-signing this defene of empathy, as a source of knowledge and a form of strength, that we need more of rather than less.

Had a great chat recently with Jack Sezer at Veridical Podcast! Mostly about abortion but more broadly about the philosophy of mind and contemporary politics. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

"Fuck you, make me" (@clairewillett.bsky.social's phrase) turning out to have an incredible win rate so far in this administration

RFK Jr. rejects cornerstone of health science: Germ theory. arstechnica.com/health/2025/...

PhD Timeline xkcd.com/3081

ACTION ALERT: Texans, stop a state takeover of higher ed! This alert from Texas AAUP-AFT asks your legislators to oppose SB 37, a power grab that would give administrators full control over curricular and grievance decisions. Tell your representative— vote no! secure.everyaction.com/0zggTzaLTEmP...

I like this analysis of the “long 90s”, as a political/economic/social settlement that solidified in the 80s and has now broken down. (The economic and social dimensions definitely extend to countries outside the US, not sure how far the political stuff does)

🔔 Here is the full list of our online panels, workshops and teach-ins today, April 17. There is still time to register for one or all of these events. Some will be recorded but others will not, so don’t miss out!! 👇👇 #DayofActionforHigherEd #FreeHigherEdNow

This is how you do it. The "Mutual Academic Defense Compact". The moral imperative may be to fight... but the strategic imperative is to not fight alone: www.gazettenet.com/UMass-Amhers...

Five alarm fire for academic freedom in Texas, which now threatens to close programs that teach factual history.

URGENT ACTION ALERT: Texans, stop this state takeover of higher ed! This @texasaaup.bsky.social alert asks your legislators to oppose SB 37, a power grab to give administrators full control over curricular and grievance decisions. Tell your senator to vote no! secure.everyaction.com/wJsYTW_hD0e_...

I was on the fence about Colossal at the wolves at first: they’re not sure wolves, they’re GMO gray wolves with a superficial resemblance, but I can extend benefit of the doubt to people doing cool stuff with science, and a degree of public exaggeration isn’t unusual. archive.ph/2025.04.10-1...

In the last few weeks I read several times about how "Nazis destroyed German Universities, and the country haven't recovered since", and thought "surely it's a bit of an exaggeration". But this chart of Nobel laureates over time shows just how (relatively) abrupt the end of the "German era" was

if we want to rebuild american institutions and earn back the world’s trust after this we cannot settle for half-measures. lots of people need to go prison. lots more need to be permanently stripped of wealth and power.

my competitive advantage for Great Depression II is that i love beans and rice

Fairly undeniable at this point that abolish ICE was always the only reasonable position

What's most significant about today's day of action is the sheer number of locations where protests took place -- more than 1000 towns and cities, all over the country. That's only happened one or two times before *in all of American history.*

the porn brain of the new right. the reactionaries dreaming of rape. the unsettledness of all things. is there a better way? yes. www.liberalcurrents.com/the-new-gend...

AAUP has just published a memo laying out the many legal reasons why universities should not hand over the names & nationalities of their students or faculty, as the Trump admin has asked. Please share freely with your friendly university admin! @aaup.bsky.social www.aaup.org/news/institu...

another thread i want to emphasize--and one that came up in my discussion with bret devereaux last week--is how successfully responding to a constitutional crisis requires understanding the nature of that crisis. it's therefore worth considering what trump+musk *think* they are trying to do--

Currently at this cool event, thinking about links between the different elements of a movement for social change bioneers.org,

NYU canceled an invited talk by the former president of Doctors Without Borders, out of fear her talk would be accused by the government of being both anti-Trump and antisemitic: ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/215...

people really want the current divisions in the D party to be left/center. they aren't really though. the big division right now is currently fight/don't fight.

The most obvious lesson to draw from the leaked Signal chat is that these people really are morons. It's not a public act, it's not a schtick, there's not some secret back room where they drop the facade. They are genuinely stupid, incompetent people.

Letter signed by members of the Columbia History Department urging resistance to the Trump Administration's efforts to dictate university policy. "Should this control be realized, here or elsewhere, it would make any real historical scholarship, teaching, and intellectual community impossible."

A strong statement from a diverse group of constitutional scholars: www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...

A few of the statements & letters to university administrations from our colleagues during this historical moment of assault on higher ed. Solidarity to all those working hard to defend our institutions. #academicsky academeblog.org/2025/03/17/r...

NEWS: After an emergency meeting of Indivisible groups across the country, Indivisible is officially calling on Senate Minority Leader Schumer to step down from his leadership position. indivisible.org/statements/i...

Protesters are out in Budapest, Hungary today demanding the resignation of pro-Putin Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Love it!

Tarrant County chief executive Tim O'Hare demands University of Texas system officials ban student drag shows, citing a Trump Executive Order on "Gender Ideology Extremism." x.com/TarrantCoJud...

If only all days were like today 😍 Over 400 of our K-12, higher ed, & retired members traveled to Austin to meet with lawmakers. Our message: Texans want fully funded PUBLIC schools, not private school vouchers. Looks like fun, huh? Join us next Monday for Round 2: www.mobilize.us/texasaft/eve...

American Jews are telling you that the arrest & disappearing of Mahmoud Khalil is wrong AND not good for the Jews AND that we see this administration for exactly what it is.

if you find yourself reluctant to support the guy at Columbia because you find some of the politics he espoused distasteful or even abhorrent, you should know that this is exactly the reaction that they hoped for in choosing him as a target for unlawful detention based on political speech.

Is Everyone the Same Person? | By Hedda Hassel Mørch (@heddamorch.bsky.social) The only way to make sense of our self is to expand it. nautil.us/is-everyone-... #philsky #philosophy #self

When we fight, we win. Judge Halts Implementation of Trump Anti-DEIA Executive Orders Nationwide The AAUP is proud to stand up & defend our campuses & communities against those attempting to squash civil rights & halt progress toward an equitable, multi-racial democracy. www.washingtonpost.com

Critical support to anti-imperialist leader Connor McDavid

I’m going to be spend a lot of time over the next two weeks at the APA’s first ever fully online conference, the brainchild of @helendecruz.net! It’s not too late to register, and there are going to be some great sessions. Here are some of my personal highlights www.apaonline.org/mpage/2025ce...

Wrote a short article for the Institute of Art and Ideas website about the idea of a composite self, both as a literal hypothesis about our nature and as a way of thinking about how we should relate to our own minds. 
iai.tv/articles/you...

Current mood