Y'all come! On Tuesday, I'll be interviewing @gelles.bsky.social about "Dirtbag Billionaire," his terrific book on the founder of Patagonia and doing well while doing right by the planet. Reserve a spot here on campus or online:

"State leadership is waging a culture war on academic freedom, and students are its casualties." Every line of this editorial by Daily Texan editor Ava Saunders is pointed, smart and just plain terrific. thedailytexan.com/2026/02/19/c...

....and so of course he announces new tariffs out of pique. wotta guy

“The president asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope. In light of the breadth, history, and constitutional context of that asserted authority, he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it," Roberts wrote

I’m so confused. I thought it was the illiberal left that demanded safe spaces and used cancel culture to silence anyone who threatened to disturb their snowflake ideological purity. Can someone help me out here? www.texastribune.org/2026/02/19/t...

This kind of vagueness is the enemy of education. Am I supposed to avoid discussing climate change with my students in “Covering the Environment“ because it might be verboten? Is that the point? I’m really too old to be intimidated by crap like this. www.statesman.com/news/educati...

I do so love my students

princes can be arrested? do Eric and Don Jr. know

I am going to say something I rarely say: You absolutely have to read Thomas Friedman today. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/o...

Does anybody out there write with as much heart and immersive detail as Eli Saslow? One of my favorite writers when he was at the Washington Post, and kicking ass at the @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/u...

Voted. Talarico, Hinojosa, Hendricks, Jaworski, Eckhardt, Slagle —and I’ll happily vote for their primary opponents in the general election. It’s great to have so many solid candidates!

They can be shamed into not killing people? That might be heartening. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/h...

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat turkey jerky again.

had such a good conversation with my students today about Talarico and the Streisand effect...

Just reading this hurts. The main person in the story is nearly 4 inches taller than me. He put himself through torture to be a little taller. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/u...

A hallmark of slipping mental capacity is the confusion of terms like "exonerated" and "implicated."

These guys just seem to love killing people. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/h...

Another reason to hate kudzu: insideclimatenews.org/news/1602202...

The Trump administration “is telling American manufacturers, ‘You guys go build gasoline cars again,’” he said. “The Chinese government is telling its manufacturers, ‘You go build the advanced vehicles that are going take over the world.’” @hirokotabuchi.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/c...

Like the late Jerry Lewis, I'm big in France. reporterre.net/300-journali...

"Responsible journalists understand that much of what you hear — even from law enforcement — turns out to be wrong, wishful, or outright bogus. Prudence requires restraint... at its core, responsible journalism is as much an act of restraint as it is a pursuit of truth." @jaysonblair7.bsky.social

Aw, damnation. Bye, Boo. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/m...

Trumpist goobers take over a town; chaos ensues. Funny: People who think government is the problem don't govern well. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

"We must counter ‘rapist who traffics in female children to be raped by worlds most powerful, richest men’ — that can’t be redeemed.” Steve Bannon is even more sleazy and horrible than you thought he was. Which seems impossible. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/u...

“It’s a tough area for institutions,” said Gene Tempel, the founding dean emeritus of Indiana University’s School of Philanthropy and a former president of the university’s foundation. “They are in search of money, and the old saw about tainted money is tain’t enough of it.”

Texas Republicans hate malpractice lawsuits — but they want an exception for detransitioning. Because bigotry. eedition.houstonchronicle.com/infinity/art...

Trump's EPA said a major justification for revoking the GHG endangerment finding is that emissions from the U.S. transport sector (cars, trucks, etc.) are so low that reducing them wouldn't make any difference to the climate. But if this sector was a country, 🧵

“Other presidents sought to cultivate their reputations, but none went as far as Mr. Trump has to create a mythologized, superhuman and omnipresent persona leading to idolatry.” @peterbakernyt.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/u...

A great, sad Rick Rojas story about bludgeoning resistance. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/u...

“Presidents don’t name things after themselves, people name things after presidents — and there is a big difference between the two,” said @jenmercieca.bsky.social , a communications professor at Texas A&M University. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/u...

What a wonderful, engaged crowd for our panel, “Scientists and Journalists Team Up in Time of Crisis” at AAAS! Thanks, everyone!

Treating your warriors like snowflakes with no mind of their own or capacity for critical thinking.

good, though words in this @nytimesoped.bsky.social editorial "Ms. Bondi’s performance was more than just political theater. It was a final indignity in a process that has victimized Mr. Epstein’s victims all over again." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/o...

Every sentence of this story sent my eyebrows a little higher until by the end they were floating somewhere over my head. Great reporting from @justindoud.bsky.social thedailytexan.com/2026/02/10/f...

AAAS is so fun, y’all

Self experimentation has a long story tradition, but you’re not supposed to be a dumbass about it. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

aren't they already deadly enough?

As the media moved "from deferential stenography and toward fearless investigation, that led to declining trust in the news media. Aggressive, probing and accountability-oriented journalism held up a mirror to American society — and many Americans didn’t like what they saw." @polgreen.bsky.social

We're being governed from an evil clown car, and somehow were all in the evil clown car, too, and it's careening this way and that and putting us all in danger. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/u...

A lovely Dave Farber obit from Peter Wayner www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/t...

Something about this review by a “local guide” just doesn’t seem right

Thanks for speaking to my "sustainability and the news" class, @andrewdessler.com

Department of the Eye of Sauron www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...

You could call this a bug, but it looks a lot like a design feature. www.texastribune.org/2026/02/13/s...

The Heartland Institute: Still aggressively, laughably dumb.

“It boggles the mind that the administration is rescinding the endangerment finding; it’s akin to insisting that the world is flat or denying that gravity is a thing,” said Dr. Howard Frumkin, a physician and professor emeritus of public health at the University of Washington.

The NYT is developing and using incredible technology to search and report on the Epstein files. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/i...

Minnesota nice beat Minnesota ICE.

Boom. Also: "Ms. Ruemmler, in addition to being Goldman’s general counsel since 2021, was a partner and vice chair of the reputational risk committee." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/b...

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