This isn’t (yet) a clear example of a norm unraveling, since it’s the same guy violating the norm multiple times. But future governments will have to proactively right this ship, or the norm will be violated again — and the president will effectively be immune from investigation.

🚨postdoc opportunity at UBC🚨 applications are now open for the Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship, due internally Oct. 15 - www.postdocs.ubc.ca/award/killam... I can nominate 1 person and give feedback on that nominee's materials - if interested plz email me by Sept. 10 - join us!

There is no law that prevents the president from firing the head of the BLS if they don’t like BLS’s numbers. Just a norm. Now there is neither a law nor a norm.

Three observations: 1. The Roberts Court position on presidential immunity seems slightly less crazy today. 2. It's hard to prevent law enforcement from being abused in such ways, and sucks that Rs let existing norms collapse. 3. Tulsi looks like RFK Jr. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/u...

'Unraveling' of a norm, in real-time.

The replication crisis is a great, recent example of norms changing -- and that change resulting in better social outcomes.

The golden rule of spin: if you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all.

These sorts of 'beachhead' violations of a norm (don't violate due process) are the sorts of things that cause the norm to unravel. I hope the norm holds, but IMO, this is *very* dangerous.

Question for legal scholars: As someone who once worked for an independent agency, I appreciate the value that their independence provides. If SCOTUS decides that independent agencies are unconstitutional, what are alternatives for ensuring a more stable, apolitical civil service?

A friend is wrapping their PhD at Harvard. They have a job lined up, but planned to defend and walk in a few months. Following today’s announcement, their advisor moved the defense. To tomorrow. That is how it’s done.

Incredible that which team of men-who-run-around-in-circles you root for says something about you and your values.

Garber’s got the gift of gab

This is the most sensible explanation for Trump’s tariffs that I’ve seen. He may also have some quaint ideas about how tariffs are good for society. But if they didn’t bolster executive power we wouldn’t have them.

LSE's @eapower.bsky.social is seeking a postdoc to model the impacts of social networks and reputation on inequality. Very cool opportunity. jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

Federal funding of university research has its roots in WWII, specifically finding new ways to scale penicillin production to protect our troops from infectious diseases. news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

One of the things that makes me particularly skeptical of DOGE’s stated aims is that government efficiency is much less about the number of employees and much more about the number of regulations. For a timely example, see: open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...

This sucks. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/h...

New ep! I talk to @erezyoeli.bsky.social about how game theory underpins our societies: strategyaaron.substack.com/p/a-beautifu...

A part of the culture war people don’t talk enough about: whether society should place expectations on individuals to behave in ways that are beneficial for others. Anti-woke anti-vaccine anti-foreign-aid is in large part just anti-helping-others.

USAID had a program that… identified and promoted its most efficient programs. It was run by one of the world’s foremost experts on evaluating foreign aid programs, Dean Karlan. He just quit. Folks, this isn’t about efficiency.

Once you enter the punishment phase of a subgame perfect strategy, then the aim is to inflict sufficient harm to deter future transgressions. That’s it. That’s what all these commentaries miss.

No evidence for inequity aversion in non-human animals: a #meta-analysis of accept/reject paradigms royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... New paper led by Oded Ritov and w/ @nicholaraihani.bsky.social and Jan Engelmann.

New RCT w Ternovski (lead), Keppeler & Vogel. Contrary to prior work, we find $ incentives have 0 effect on COVID vax, but can have negative spillover for folks living at same address (not receiving $), possibly due to temporary larger demand at public vax events jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Financial incentives fail to motivate prosocial behavior, exhibit #13,982: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Does the culture you grow up in shape the way you see the world? In a new Psych Review paper, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & I tackle this centuries-old question using the Müller-Lyer illusion as a case study. Come think through one of history's mysteries with us🧵(1/13):

Hey #AcademicSky, what are examples of good scholarship on building a sense of belonging in the workplace? I'm looking to expand and diversify the material I have... any suggestions? That includes your own work! Cite yourself, please.

Emic justifications for 'don't transgress against a norm even when the harm is de minimus': www.nytimes.com/2025/01/15/m... Etic explanation: norms can't condition on continuous variables (how much harm), but can on categorical ones (did the transgression occur). papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Dad’s a pilot. Both grandfathers were pilots. Uncle, cousin, and brother… pilots. Can confirm.

Norms are categorical. If you permit small transgressions, you’re permitting large ones. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Jill Jordan and @dgrand.bsky.social have a nice one-ed on this very topic: www.nytimes.com/2019/03/30/o...

This NYT article lists guar and xantham gum as indicators that a food may be ultra-processed. While this may be true, my understanding is that guar and xantham are not, themselves, ultra-processed or otherwise bad for you. Am I wrong about this? www.nytimes.com/2025/01/08/w...

Re-upping this query in advance of holiday book buying. Thanks!

What’s your recommendation for an accessible introduction to psychology — written with a general audience in mind? Thanks!

Katherine Zarrella argues, in today's Times, that price increases of luxury products reflect not only increased demand, but an incentive to 'price out' some consumers. Implicitly, this analysis uses the logic of costly signaling. 🧵 www.nytimes.com/2024/12/19/o...

We are open to a range of disciplinary backgrounds - come join us!

I subscribe to News Detective’s fact checker. Highly recommended. Subscribe here: bsky.app/profile/news...

People’s partisan beliefs are internalized to the point where they cannot be easily changed with financial payments. New in PNAS Nexus, from @marckeuschnigg.bsky.social and Co.

There are far too many brilliant academics I follow on here to limit my list to 150 people, so this is regrettably small and a tad arbitrary, but here's my must-have expert list for scholars of law, history, and politics. go.bsky.app/V6whuQC

If you run online surveys, you should read this paper.

Prompting users to consider accuracy is a simple thing that platforms can do to slow the spread of misinformation. The latest from @dgrand.bsky.social and Co.

New paper in JEBO: telling people their contributions can be made observable increases participation in a peer-to-peer solar program. doi.org/10.1016/j.je...

Neat experimental design by @sebjilke.bsky.social @johnt1.bsky.social @dominikvogel.bsky.social and Flo Keppeler plans ahead for spillovers across treatments In this draft, they discuss the implications for scaling interventions.

Moshik Tempkin (@mtemkin.bsky.social)'s new book about historical leaders is out today. Pretty excited to read it, and thought I'd pass along the rec. www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/moshi...