The countdown of our 25 most-read articles of 2025 can't stop, won't stop. Here is #6.

My niece mispronounced cousins 'coven' and I'm not sure I disagree with it

“If Western so-called liberal democracy had boasted the emergence of a ‘post racial’ society, if it claimed that it was ‘law and order’ that held back the worst of its racist, fascist instincts instead of activating them, the brutal killing of George Floyd undid that claim.”

The “fun” thing about the kennedy center freakout is that conservatives have been carving out “creative” exceptions to anti discrimination laws so they can be bigots to ordinary people just trying to make a purchase, but if actual artists don’t want to perform for the god king they must be punished

My gorgeous girl really deserves more attention. If more people understood what she teaches about know-your-place aggression, more “good” and “decent “ white people would realize it’s way past time for them to work deliberately to make society good and decent.

Prior to his shocking ascent to the highest echelons of government, Kennedy was little more than a joke for purveyors and participants in the national political arena, mocked as a brain worm–addled nepo baby with no legitimate prospects in Washington. trib.al/drI48pX

There was a liberal court for a few years in the mid 20th century and the right wing response was to delegitimize for DECADES right up to the point they had a supermajority, at which point it became Wrong to do so. These people think you are stupid bsky.app/profile/chri...

A campaign to impeach RFK would be a public service. Are any of the many people who have been fired or have left HHS actively organizing around this?

Most read on Tech Policy Press in 2025: "The argument must be that no computerized system should replace the voice of voters. Do not ask if the machine can be trusted. Ask who controls them." — Eryk Salvaggio.

One thing I wish I'd added is that in Trump's first term, the Democrats should have impeached Trump for abuse of the pardon power. It was one of his most dangerous offenses, and they ignored it, which created a terrible precedent. They could impeach him for abuse of the pardon power now.

I didn't want to have to delete these sites but I can see I must.

The vice president is a cynical shapeshifter, willing to say anything—and be anybody—to become the most powerful person in America. trib.al/2vPsgND There is nobody he won’t betray, and no principle he won’t cast aside, in his quest to accrue more fame and power.

this seems specifically designed to break mail-in voting (where deadlines are defined by postmark)

People who sympathize with Palestine over Israel voted for Harris by a 25 point margin People who sympathize with Israel over Palestine voted for Trump by a 48 point margin. The competition is fierce but I think "Thanks, Dearborn" has to be the dumbest Dem scapegoating line in modern history

“Companions without internal lives of their own — ‘happy slaves’ — and friendship without friction cannot address solipsism, only flatter us into believing our self-absorption is something else.”

Palantir. Sauron. CyberDyne. Blackrock. Mr Beast Inc. Cerberus. Blackwater. Anduril. Citizen. Citadel. Gilead. Bain Capital. Darktrace. Oracle. Umbra.

You're not the audience for the MTG glow up happening because you (as an individual) would never be in an actual position to make common cause with her or to reject her in some nebulous "coalitional" political way. This is the elite speaking to other elites to shape elite opinion.

Miami Herald investigative journalist Julie K. Brown—whose 2018 reporting essentially reopened the Jeffrey Epstein case—wants to know why her July 2019 flight information is in the Epstein files. trib.al/2TYXfiK

post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, pearl jam, soundgarden, or Alice In Chains.

Ruth Wilson Gilmore's definition of racism gets at why it's not something that can be ignored: "the state-sanctioned and/or extralegal production and exploitation of group-differentiated vulnerability to premature death". --- THE PREMATURE DEATH part is not something that can be "ignored"

This was Toni Morrison’s whole vibe and position.

I appreciate the skyline echoing IRL convos with family… these late stage capitalism sponsored bowls, pointing out the bland intellect and haters embodied in mediocre white men…

shel silverstein was a prophet

All this needs is Earth, Wind and Fire’s September to play in the background

It is EXHAUSTING not only being made responsible for coming up with new kinds of assignments for our students; it's also tedious reading op-eds that suggest the core problem is a crisis in teaching. But, as Chris and I lay out here, this isn't a crisis in teaching; it's an attack on learning.

No woman I know in academia would be surprised by this, but its good to see it documented like this, I guess.

Abusing your grandmother's suffering for content and making fake memories with AI is some evil ass stuff.

"New artificial intelligence companies looking to raise funds to supercharge their nascent businesses are being made to pay lofty interest rates on the money they borrow, indicative of investors’ skepticism when new, unproven A.I. businesses take on large debts."

"America’s wealthiest tech billionaires added more than $550bn to their combined net worth this year, as they benefit from an investor frenzy around leading artificial intelligence companies."

Just wow. @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy came out swinging in this article. He's right though and that's the coolest part.

The Wisconsin component of the analysis here is revealing. Evidence is consistent with DOGE strategically delaying contract terminations in WI until after the 2025 state Supreme Court elections to mitigate electoral risk.

Layli Long Soldier's poem 38 from the collection Whereas is worthy of your time today

On this day in 1862, U.S. forces hanged 38 Dakota men in Minnesota who had been involved in a war between Dakota people and white settlers that began after broken promises to deliver food to local tribes.

Let’s take care of each other today.

There's a lot of money in being a dim bully who was oppressed by nothing but their own mediocrity.

Fake victim successfully victimizes a trans teaching assistant. The actual bully here was always the student.

The statistic was quietly posted online in a department report in recent days.

I wish I had written this a lil tighter . The pull quote I wanted was “2026 is the last year mainstream journalism has to show it wants to survive. “ But esprit d’escalier and all that

"The reason so many of yesterday’s free-speech champions transitioned so easily into today’s pro-Trump censors is that their definition of free speech never included the right of others to talk back." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

I feel very encouraged by the collective effort to get the CBS cecot story out to the US public. Thanks to everyone for your service.

Collecting DNA seems fine, sure it won't be misused etc www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Aim is to advance “America first agenda” Africa is the continent most affected by the removals, with ambassadors from 13 countries being removed: Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mauritius, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia and Uganda. apnews.com/article/dipl...

Saved until I catch up

No class size reduction but dumps resources for AI chatbots and tools in K-12. Sure.

Absolutely astounding how: -trivial most of the benefits of AI to teachers discussed here are (a few minutes here, a different way to do an old or "fun" thing there) -vague the nods to ethics are -common the pushes to use it are (FOMO, "don't be left behind," "need to learn about it," save time)

"Peakers," power plants "meant to run only in short bursts during periods of spiking electricity demand," are "often decades-old, fossil-fueled facilities" that "emit more pollution when they are running and cost more to produce electricity..." Data center demand is keeping them online.

You’ll read Nebraska and have a picture in your mind of who is impacted, the story will tell you just how wrong you are. And Tyson is going to do as little as possible to support them.

Yes.

The right, along the Roberts Court, is trying to nullify the Reconstruction amendments guaranteeing equality under the law, in order to restore the Antebellum Constitution, which envisions “liberty” as an eternal aristocracy of race and class (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Not a historian but just chiming to say that I’ve visited 4 archival collections in person this year and barely scratched the surface of what’s available on my topic