(solemnly) You've had mail.

Huge kudos today to the American Association of University Professors and its Harvard chapter.

Do the Comey indictment and Pres Nat Security Memo 7 on domestic terrorism mark an inflection point? Join @stephenricher.bsky.social , @alexwhiting.bsky.social, and me for Terms of Engagement today at noon ET. www.youtube.com/live/OR8jneg...

That’s a lot of subscriptions!

Not left vs right, but federal vs. local: “Recent statements by the president suggesting Portland needs federal military intervention are inaccurate and counterproductive,” said an open letter released Sunday by the Portland Metro Chamber and signed by more than 100 organizations and leaders”

Abusing Notion’s AI Agent for Data Theft Notion just released version 3.0, complete with AI agents. Because the system contains Simon Willson's lethal trifecta, it's vulnerable to data theft though prompt injection. First, the trifecta: The lethal trifecta of capabilities is: Access to your…

“I want to distinguish between chickenshit and cowardice” A good distinction in the analysis of compliance…

"Campaigns that should be building movements are instead building donor databases. Political energy that could mobilize communities gets redirected into optimizing email subject lines and testing which desperate plea extracts the most dollars from exhausted supporters." substack.com/inbox/post/1...

Two important decisions by left intellectuals in history. Was Bertrand Russell wrong to refuse to debate fascist Oswald Mosley? Was Noam Chomsky wrong to defend alleged holocaust denier Robert Faurisson's right to publish? Different kinds of decisions, but different intuitions too.

“the reversal came after Iger and television chief Dana Walden ‘got spooked by the strong reaction in the Hollywood creative community’” Good lesson about solidarity & voice to defend democratic values. www.ft.com/content/0b63...

Significant news story from over here in Boston area.

Jimmy Kimmel is back. Join @stephenricher.bsky.social and me o tues at noon ET to talk about free speech and the chilling effect. Terms of Engagement, episode 11! www.youtube.com/live/d37ON0r...

Maybe someone is paying attention to @nytpitchbot.bsky.social

@stephenricher.bsky.social and I will join @alexkeyssar.bsky.social to try to understand political violence in the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk on Terms of Engagement today, at noon ET. www.youtube.com/live/1KkBI6K...

My piece today in US News re: Harvard v. Trump admin. www.usnews.com/opinion/arti...

Money isn’t everything. “incumbent [Boston] Mayor Michelle Wu captured 72 percent of the vote to [Josh] Kraft’s 23 percent — even though he outspent her 15-to-1.” www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/12/b...

Harvard beats Trump admin in court. What happened and what's next? Join me, @stephenricher.bsky.social and Andrew Crespo - who is general counsel of Harvard AAUP - to understand Judge Burroughs' decision and its implications. Terms of Engagement airs today at 12 ET: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJV6...

Richard Bernstein argues at @chkbal.bsky.social that arguments advanced by the Trump admin in the L.A. posse comitatus case could, if accepted, implicitly bar the courts from acting if a President uses the military to seize polling places or re-run balloting he claims was rigged, crooked, etc.

Really excited to join @virginiaksolomon.bsky.social - president of @commoncause.org and @stevelevitsky.bsky.social at 1:30 pm ET today for a discussion: "Can We Save American Democracy." Brought to you by @harvardash.bsky.social. Register and join us! ash.harvard.edu/events/can-w...

Very happy to be going on "the wheelhouse" with host @frankiegraziano.bsky.social at 9am today to talk about American democracy and the threats to it. Yay public radio. www.ctpublic.org/show/the-whe...

Hmmm.

Provocative essay @BostonReview: maybe intellectuals don't really have a distinctive role in defending democracy and freedom today, as Chomsky argued in his classic 1967 essay. Reminded me of this event, back in 2015, when I had the privilege of hosting Noam @harvardkennedy.bsky.social.

A new piece I wrote appearing in FOREIGN AFFAIRS today www.foreignaffairs.com/germany/warn...

Going live in at noon ET today with @stephenricher.bsky.social to talk about the mail-in voting hot mess and impacts on confidence in the 2026 elections. Join us for our week democracy show "Terms of Engagement" here: www.youtube.com/live/2YFFEwF...

Nick Clegg on tech-bro culture: “far from thinking they’re lucky, they think they’re hard done by, [that] they’re victims… from Elon Musk’s chainsaw-wielding… to any Silicon Valley podcast. If you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.” www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

“King made clear that the case for the map rested purely on maintaining Republican control of the federal government — and that if Texas did not push the gerrymander through, the GOP would likely lose control of the U.S. House in next year’s midterm election.”

@juliettekayyem.bsky.social is going to join @stephenricher.bsky.social and me to talk about the cherry blossoms, check points, and the National Guard in D.C. on "Terms of Engagement" on today (Tuesday) at noon ET. Do you feel safer yet? www.youtube.com/live/uihaJaA...

You see? It can be done. Scott is a Republican. www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2...

To paraphrase the great John Belushi (Blues Brothers, 1980), "I hate Indianapolis Nazis" www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHD0...

Quod omnes tangit… www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/14/o...

Georgia state election board rules Lyft promotion of discounted rides on Election Day improperly rewarded act of voting. The story gets even weirder from there: the board declined to find improper a "free rideshare to the polls" program that did have indications of partisan intent [Stephen Richer]

Constitutional law's substance has changed considerably since I first taught it 33 years ago, but the challenge now is less about teaching new doctrine than about integrating traditional coverage into the current authoritarian context. On the blog, I explain my plans for the coming semester.👇

@stephenricher.bsky.social and I are going live in one hour - 12 ET - with special guest @michellegoldberg.bsky.social to talk about South Park, the power of political parody, and how to escape the chilling effect on "Terms of Engagement." www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpSR...

In a recent interview, Cornell William Brooks examines the Voting Rights Act in a modern context. “With respect to voting rights … this is a moment [that] calls for institutional bravery.” Learn more here ⤵️ sdvoice.info/the-voting-r...

“Violent Crime in DC hits 30 year low” according to Department of Justice, earlier this year: www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/v...

Nothing about us without us… www.nytimes.com/2025/08/10/u...

Federalizing Harvard patents - “That’s socialism!”

Join @stephenricher.bsky.social and me on Tues @noon ET to talk about Gerrymandering in TX, and whether Democratically controlled states like CA, NY, and IL should counter-Gerrymander in response. Special guest is @profnickstephan.bsky.social of Harvard Law School. youtube.com/live/LWf--u8...

My best guess is Republicans can net 9 seats from a mid-decade redistricting. Here's my scorecard, and discussion. leedrutman.substack.com/p/democracy-...

Wow. A group of top scholars at Harvard just sent a letter to its president, Alan Garber, warning against surrendering to Trump. Signatories include Steven Levitsky, Dani Rodrik, Ryan Enos, Theda Skocpol, and Steven Walt. Someone forwarded it to me. Read it here:

@stephenricher.bsky.social and I will talk about the Trump - Columbia University deal today at noon ET on the third episode of our new livestream "Terms of Engagement." Special guest Suresh Naidu, Professor of Economics at Columbia, will give us a view from campus. www.youtube.com/live/QCNKHKw...

Whose afraid of Zohran Mamdani? “While Democrats obsess over the middle class, Mamdani’s economic policies prioritize poor and working-class people. He has, in a way, betrayed the white liberal investment in the institutions that made him possible.” www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/o...

Characteristically thoughtful David Pozen post on Columbia-Trump deal: “the agreement gives legal form to an extortion scheme—the first of its kind!—that defies the relevant statutes as well as the constitutional separation of powers and the First Amendment” balkin.blogspot.com/2025/07/regu...

Very interesting and bold expansion of the franchise. I like it. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/w...

Join me at noon ET tomorrow (Tuesday) for the first installment of "Terms of Engagement" - a democracy and politics live stream that I'm hosting with my colleague Stephen Richer. We'll be talking about ICE, protests against ICE, and democracy. www.youtube.com/live/6G7YB8E...

“The nearly 600 employees that NWS has lost in the last six months has been about the same amount the agency lost in the 15 years prior, according to Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization” www.texastribune.org/2025/06/09/t...

“Higher education institutions are prototypical marketplaces of ideas. College campuses have served as historical sites of foment and the breeding grounds for progress. In periods of social unrest,…"intellectual advancement has traditionally progressed through discord and dissent…””

Republican Party policy positions are lagging shifts in their constituents. Probably Democrats also, but in the opposite direction. www.wsj.com/politics/the...

A legislative setback for tech-accelerationism...