I have 3 weeks left of book leave, and wrote up some things I've learned along the way — about thinking about research and structure, about getting two dozen rejections on my last proposal, and why it's really fine to not love writing rcobooth.substack.com

I can’t stress this enough. The state of 4th Amendment law is that the cops can’t force you to type in a passcode but they can force you to swipe your finger or present your face. Never stop using passcodes/passwords to unlock your devices. And consider additional code to unlock Signal.

Guys if you see observers thank them. There’s real stress and burnout in the ranks right now. People understand they are waking up every day to chase and monitor federal thugs who can execute them. But they keep doing it nonstop to protect their neighbors

this was so good, and I had no real idea this was happening

Update: The admin is moving to quickly deport witnesses who saw ICE detainee die. They say the man was just trying to get his meds. ICE guards shackled him Then they choked him. The admin moved to deport the witnesses — right after they spoke to WaPo. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Also, when you defy Trump, you’re kind of implicitly making fools of the elite law firms and universities and media companies and billionaires and Congress, which is fun.

They expect - they NEED - the people they threaten to fall in line, like the law firms and universities and media companies and billionaires and Congress did. If you say “No, make me,” they simply do not have a Plan B. TRUMP DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH GUYS TO MAKE YOU.

just parody, @wsj.com

"Both in Massachusetts and around the country, white and Asian parents were far likelier to pull their children out of public schools than Hispanics and African Americans." www.the74million.org/article/fall...

a little reflection from my third timester rcobooth.substack.com/p/whats-surp...

I feel like "attention hacking" is most of politics now. The Minnesota aid fraud story is becoming a perfect example. Recap: In 2022, the Biden DOJ filed the first charges against dozens of fraudsters, many of them Somali-American, who'd fleeced a state food aid program. (1/x)

some last thoughts on a big year open.substack.com/pub/rcobooth...

there's going to be pressure within Trump world in 2026 to rewrite the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to exclude patients undergoing IVF @annanorth.bsky.social looks at the likely showdown at the EEOC www.vox.com/policy/47264...

I wrote about a schism on the right over IVF, that’s set to come to a head in 2026 (gift link)

and yes, many people in NYC spend even more than that! the headline estimate came from the 2025 NYC comptroller report bsky.app/profile/rcob...

Universal child care in NYC won't be easy. But it's possible, practical, and could give the United States a desperately-needed blueprint. I wrote for @nytimes.com about what Zohran Mamdani will need to keep in mind as he looks to deliver on his campaign pledge www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/o...

"Democratic socialist Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and moderate presumptive City Council Speaker Julie Menin are seemingly on an ideological collision course. But free child care is emerging as one issue area they might potentially align on." www.politico.com/news/2025/12...

Chris Herbst and @erdaltekin.bsky.social find the increase in ICE arrests since Trump took office to be associated with 39,000 fewer foreign-born child care workers and 77,000 fewer U.S.-born working mothers (as of July) www.newamerica.org/better-life-...

I started working on this one originally because I was struck by the fact that men were registering more concern than women about falling birth rates, but also voicing greater support for a return to traditional gender roles

claudia goldin apology form

@philipncohen.com how is the line you quoted from TNR an example of birth rate "panic" ?

A new study on 40+ European countries found women increasingly want men to share child care and housework equally—but men's attitudes have barely budged. In countries where this gap was widest, both birth rates and female employment were lower. (1/3)

This truly is exciting - and inspiring!

“Only about half of cases before 1991 were a result of transmission from an infected mother.” just…staggeringly dangerous stuff www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/h...

I love this idea of highly flexible childcare, and the care during night shifts reminded me of this work on nighttime childcare in the US: www.erikson.edu/research/ill...

One idea from Bogotá I can't stop thinking about: 24-hour mobile child care for parents working night shifts — bus drivers, recyclers who sort trash before dawn. Or child care that comes to a college student on exam day, or to a workplace that pays for it and gets a tax break

One way I think about care blocks is they're part of a larger and powerful trend of taking single-use govt. buildings and transforming them into multi-purpose intergenerational hubs. see also: public schools with declining enrollments, libraries

my goal as a journalist is to report carefully on the best, most practical social policy ideas that can change the world, and this is easily the most exciting one I’ve had the opportunity to cover this year 🧵↓ www.vox.com/policy/46963...

After decades of building for singles, cities are realizing the bill has come due. I wrote about the dearth of housing for families — and what it’ll take to fix it www.vox.com/policy/46981...

Excited to share that I'm writing a book: a history of the debates over funding public schools from the 1960's to now. (Yes the working title is tongue in cheek.) Now I just need to finish writing—stay tuned! And if you want to follow my work, you can do so here: www.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/...

Vox is now on Patreon! 💛📣 We’re using Patreon’s tools to introduce great new benefits and give you even more insights into our journalism and the people who make it: exclusive videos, live conversations featuring our reporters, new community features, and more.

This week on Explain It to Me: the future of housing. We talk to @ayesharascoe.bsky.social about buying a house with her bestie, @rcobooth.bsky.social about the new options out there, and @jerusalem.bsky.social on why homeownership just might be overrated. open.spotify.com/episode/1JUU...

it's clear reading this @rtraister.bsky.social piece how little the Democratic Party thinks it erred in running Joe Biden at his age Also this memorable quote: "Many can’t imagine doing anything in which they won’t be heavily staffed and relevant all the time.” nymag.com/intelligence...

I love reading @sigalsamuel.bsky.social's ethical advice column. It's refreshing and I always learn something new www.vox.com/the-highligh...

a sharp @suzmkahn.bsky.social review in @washingtonmonthly.com on After the Spike. Parenting will always have something of an "opportunity cost" but that doesn't mean there's not a lot policy can do to make it a better option washingtonmonthly.com/2025/11/02/a...

this part from new Q&A between @ericlevitz.bsky.social and Simon Bazelon really jumped out at me www.vox.com/politics/466...

Spencer Cox has earned a national reputation as a pro-housing politician. It seems like if Utah will be able to fund this involuntary treatment campus (big if, very unclear) it will be paid for by in no small part by moving funds from existing shelters + permanent housing programs

exceptional reporting from @ellenbarry.bsky.social + Jason DeParle on the new homeless policy shifts in Salt Lake City — which the Cicero Institute casts as “a harbinger of the future.” gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/u...

"There have been some notable Southern success stories, especially in fourth grade. ... Eighth grade results have been less impressive for these Southern exemplars, though." www.chalkbeat.org/2025/10/28/l... from @mattbarnum.bsky.social in his debut Ideas piece for @chalkbeat.org.

“The pandemic made child care more salient — the glaring absence of it became everyone’s problem — but the urgency faded as offices reopened with blunt return-to-work mandates that assumed child care access had simply sorted itself out.”

Child care tends to get high marks in polls — but it rarely tops voters’ lists of priorities. Even among younger voters, it tends to sits well below health care, housing, and inflation I wrote about what it might take to change that www.vox.com/politics/466... (gift link)

New >> I wrote about @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social's mayoral bid centered on universal child care — and how he’s both framing the issue the way pollsters would advise, and diverging from their playbook www.vox.com/politics/466...

found this very moving and clarifying from @irincarmon.bsky.social www.thecut.com/article/make...

really interesting @chabeli.bsky.social piece on the push (and struggle) to get caregivers spotlighted in Hollywood 19thnews.org/2025/10/holl...

The buzziest political word of the year is “affordability” — it’s the mantra that Democrats across the country have raced to claim as their own ever since the mantra carried Zohran Mamdani to victory in New York City’s mayoral primary. But can “affordability” be more than just a campaign pitch?

There's already some coverage: @rcobooth.bsky.social wrote in @vox.com this morning describing our theory, and placing the Framework in this current political moment, while debating whether affordability can overcome just being another buzzword /7: www.vox.com/politics/465...

I wrote about the Democrats’ new favorite word: Affordability gift link: www.vox.com/politics/465...

new! I wrote about the hottest word in Democratic politics — AFFORDABILITY. Can leaders agree on what's underpinning costs being so high? Can they agree on solutions? www.vox.com/politics/465...

The first look at the scale of Disney backlash after it suspended Kimmel. Wow>> “Antenna estimated a total of 3 million cancellations for Disney+ and 4.1 million for Hulu in September. Both of those figures far exceeded the trailing three-month averages for the services” www.wsj.com/business/med...

“Teens who reported frequent body dissatisfaction after viewing posts on Instagram…saw about 3 times more body-focused/ED-adjacent content than other teens,” the authors wrote www.reuters.com/business/ins...