I don’t know that I’d go this far but I do know that two group chats with Texas friends have already brought up the Paxton endorsement up & talked about it as a major win for Dems. I do think Talarico has a real chance to win in Texas.

APSA schedule is out and I’m not on a Sunday morning panel. The curse is broken

I’m visiting Nebraska right now. Earlier this evening I was walking to my car and looking around at the storm clouds coming in when a guy across the parking lot said “YEP! IT’S COMIN! Get on home!” Sometimes I miss living in the Midwest, ha.

Dangerous game responding to student emails on my phone because you never know when autocorrect is going to change my last name to Baked. Anyway, happy finals week from me, Dr. Baked.

A live look at me in the group chats letting everyone know I found gas for under $4/gallon this morning

National Academy of Sciences experts denounce Trump’s NSF board purge In an open letter, thousands of researchers criticized the White House’s firing of the research agency’s board as ‘an alarming attack’ on U.S. science

How it feels today to be on a Blackboard campus not a Canvas campus 😂

They hacked Canvas during finals week. This is why the faculty need a secure ballroom.

There will be more to say - and this is far from over - but this is one giant step toward justice for our grantees at the National Endowment for the Humanities. #NEH staff have awaited this day for more than a year - for you, and for us. 🙏✊

I was supposed to be in Canada this week for Canadian PolMeth (forever love that it’s called MapleMeth) & the Consortium for Electoral Democracy conference but I’m taking care of family stuff after my dad’s passing. Bummed to be missing both & I can’t believe it has been 4 yrs since my UofT postdoc!

Strong endorse, for so many reasons. Two of the reasons are that thinking takes time and creativity takes time. The productivity machine turning everything into a numbers race is bad for the work and bad for the people doing the work.

*making notes for my department meeting on Friday* ideas: department refreshments room

SCOOP: The F.D.A. blocked the release of studies finding that Covid and shingles vaccines were safe. In the case of Covid, FDA staff had to withdraw studies heading toward publication: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/u...

I went to a bookstore doing a May Day promotion where you picked a poppy that had a hidden number 5-50 on it & that number was the percentage off you received on your purchase. I got 50 and I wonder if this is what winning the lottery feels like.

If the Voting Rights Act is rightly seen by many of us as the real beginning of American democracy, then it is fitting that a Court hell-bent on undoing democratic rule, including granting the president king-like powers, would seek to dismantle it.

My dad passed away recently after 10 years of cancer. One thing I’ll say on here is that he didn’t have many opportunities growing up & made sure his daughters knew they could open any door. He was SO PROUD I took advantage of education & work at a university. He made it happen. The best dad ❤️

The United States now has the most government restrictions on academic freedom of any high-income country. www.chemistryworld.com/news/academi... Raw data from @vdeminstitute.bsky.social —> academic-freedom-index.net/research/Aca...

Live look at me sitting in O’Hare after MPSA

The being on the same block as the big political science conference is too funny. & yes, I was one of three people with MPSA badges taking a picture of this at the time 😂

Tomorrow at MPSA! The room for the APLS panel (1:30) and roundtable + reception (3:20) is in fact Monroe. The program lists two different rooms depending on which entry you’re looking at, just a heads up!

I don’t think Idiocracy was supposed to be a blueprint

MPSA folks! **Free food and drinks** at our APLS roundtable (3:20 CDT) & panel. Both in Monroe. Come by and bring guests!! Hear from @mirandayaver.bsky.social @robertbrehm.bsky.social @klunztrujillo.bsky.social @melissabaker.bsky.social, Ingrid Haas, Kathryn Haglin, Ashley Fox, and more!

APLS MPSA event #2: Roundtable and reception that will include free food and drinks! Also scheduled to be in Monroe. Join us and bring your friends!

APLS MPSA event #1: Research talks. Room is scheduled to be Monroe.

For folks headed to MPSA next week, the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences is hosting an open conference within a conference! Friday afternoon in Monroe, free food & drinks, & the events are a typical research panel (1:15) & a roundtable (3:20) on doing research during -these times-.

Somebody needs to make this happen

What a terrible day to know how to read

Coffeeshops need to bring back couches and comfy chairs. Nobody wants stools, corporate minimalist chairs, or wooden benches.

I’m no lawyer but expelling an adult for walking out of an event at a public institution seems like a way to create lawsuits against the state and academic institutions that are very easy to win.

Outdoor events have started at my neighborhood pool for the season and now I can’t wrap my head around the fact there’s still a month left in the semester. Or maybe I’ll just move meetings to here.

The preliminary data from the AAUP‘s annual faculty compensation survey is out. Things are not OK.

The latest U.S. Presidential Budget Request calls for the elimination of the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences - which plays a massive role in supporting personality and social psychology research.

Not anticipating this question from Gorsuch is WILD

Deeply uncomfortable with students in my classes being recorded without consenting or even knowing, especially since I teach political science.

Darek Perez, a student who has been in my lab the last couple of years, has been named a Top Ten Senior at UTEP! He is such an impressive and accomplished person already, very well deserved! www.utep.edu/newsfeed/202...

Happy Sweet 16 day & GBR

Rejoining society after four days of basketball being on for 12-14 hours a day

Nebraska basketball is going to give me a heart attack and the kid who scored the winning basket went to my high school in Lincoln. Poetic.

Halfway through day 1 of March Madness and somebody who is in first place in one of my bracket groups has Utah State winning it all. Wacky vibes all around.

March Madness is here and the videos of underprepared OKC bars learning that Nebraska has the best fanbase in college sports and will sell out any venue in any location are kind of funny. Packed bars doing the “go big red” chant and the single bartender is in the background like 😳 GBR

I need everyone to know that my dog who usually only watches real dogs or basketball on tv just watched this commercial very intently youtu.be/BPYSW6M_HFY

A couple weeks ago Darek Perez, one of the undergraduate students in my lab, presented a poster at the college research symposium for faculty, grad students, and undergrad students. Last week he found out he won a top 3 poster award from the symposium! Extra appreciative of good news these days 😊

Weird desert weather update: This morning it was 36 degrees (and windy enough that I got attacked by tumbleweeds when crossing the street haha). High of 62. Later this week it is supposed to be almost 100 degrees for several days. 😵‍💫

I’m not traveling for spring break but looks like I’ll be able to spend most of the week at the pool regardless. 95 degrees in March is wild.

APSA acceptance, the first day of almost two weeks of constant college basketball, & the day before spring break starts. Happy Thursday to me!

Attending #apls2026? Check out the AI panel on Saturday morning to hear Taylor Bell present our project on political ideology and perceptions of legality and morality of deepfake revenge porn!

Also presenting: Poster #42 “From Lessons to Verdicts: How White Privilege Education Shapes Jurors’ Evaluations of Racialized Police Shootings” 📅 Sat, March 14 – 6:30 PM 📍 Tuscany 1/A If you're at #APLS2026, come say hi or message me! @aplssc.bsky.social @ap-ls.org

Heading to Reno for the AP-LS conference in a few days! I’ll be presenting: Poster #94 “Direct, Vicarious, and Socialized Experiences of Police Discrimination: Predicting Perceptions of an Officer Encounter” 📅 Fri, March 13 – 6:30 PM 📍 Tuscany 1/A #APLS2026 @aplssc.bsky.social @ap-ls.org

Sunset is after 7pm! We made it.