Happy to see the @newyorker.com got the description right. We’re in the middle of an outright assault on Higher Ed. Trump’s vindictive and illegal campaigns to destroy the best of our society are not “crackdowns,” they’re assaults, attacks, onslaughts.

Another reminder that it’s worth thinking about dissent in as many ways as possible these days. Resistance is always possible

Great news! www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

I got to talk with Maria Lipman about my book last week. Check it out!

Totally normal headline

Masked agents kidnapping civilians, hanging 50 ft banners of the leader’s face, declaring war on an American city — that anyone can’t see this is evil is just insane

Masked agents kidnapping civilians, hanging 50 ft banners of the leader’s face, declaring war on an American city — that anyone can’t see this is evil is just insane

This guy says he wants universities to focus on the truth. Why wasn’t the question asked whether it bothers him that the political movement he has aligned himself with is based on a rigorously enforced lie?

Universities: before you capitulate, remember that you’re up against a weak-willed petty tyrant who wasn’t able to face a stock market dip for more than a weak. He gives up all the time. He gives in all the time. He loses interest even more. Stand up. You’re stronger than this.

Pretty much all US news items right now

I think this might actually be right

If a pediatrician talking about children dying “might be perceived as anti-government,” maybe the problem is not with the pediatrician

TODAY @ NOON ET in NYC: COLUMBIA PROFESSORS TO HOLD EMERGENCY VIGIL AGAINST ADMIN CONCESSIONS TO TRUMP ADMINISTRATION. Columbia gates at 116th & Amsterdam Ave (Not Broadway) • Hands Off Our Students, Faculty, & Research • Defend Science • Defend Academic Freedom • Defend Freedom of Speech

SCOOP: Hooded ICE agents snatched Indian-born Georgetown postdoc Badar Suri from Rosslyn street Monday, per court filing. Like Khalil, linked to pro-Palestinian views & Rubio 'foreign policy' power, lawyer says. Then whisked to Louisiana. w/ @kyledcheney www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

Today is the official pub date for my book, Cultural Capitalism. Get out there and protest extra-judicial arrests, the concerted destruction of expertise and knowledge creation, the defunding of social services, the attack on freedom of movement, and the gentle compliance of the Democratic Party.

There is no word for this other than evil. Ukraine is being bombed daily by a leader who has engaged in war crimes. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

Makes me want to read the whole collection cover to cover!

I’m as disgusted as anyone with T&V’s behavior yesterday. But I don’t think Zelenskyy is getting his due. He wasn’t just the adult in the room. He handled himself with incredible dignity. He was walking into a trap. He knew it. He was prepared. And he refused to either back down or take the bait.

Today, along with 2,000 other NIH employees, I had to clear out my office 😭 It was truly the honor of my life to work with such incredibly passionate people focused on improving human health. I’ve never experienced a more positive culture where *everyone* cared about their job and serving others.

Random cover from the TBR pile: The Beasts by Leslie Garrett (1966) This first novel about a nice young man who gets involved in satanic orgies was selected as the "Maxwell E. Perkins Commemorative Novel" by Scribers. "Sorry about that, Maxwell," quipped one reviewer.

To be fair, with equal evidence, I assumed it was because a lush is in charge at the pentagon and all government employees (including FAA) are scared for their livelihoods.

What’s amazing about this is how narrow the band is. Record lows and highs are only 12 pts apart.

Meanwhile in Russia: state TV host Olga Skabeeva and pundit Spiridon Kilinkarov surmised that Donald Trump owes his presidency to Russia and should in return let them have all of Ukraine. youtu.be/tfF8VqKDs4I

@microsoft.com is charging you for AI you never wanted and didn’t ask for. If you don’t want to pay for this BS you need to go into your Office365 account and change your subscription to the cheaper option without AI. You were “upgraded” automatically.

I made a book! It’s about the wild Russian book industry as the Soviet Union fell; it’s got interviews with authors, publishers, and critics, close readings and bestseller stats—all while showing how capitalism emptied out Russian culture and how it might be coming for us next.

I’m honestly scared after yesterday. I don’t see how democracy survives the next four years. But it’s more than that. We have a retributive police state with a self-fashioned messiah at its head. This is so obviously terrifying that the cheers behind the executive actions yesterday just ring evil.

Ann Telnaes resigns after WaPo kills cartoon. open.substack.com/pub/anntelna...

I have $200 to spend at Cambridge University Press. What should I get? Self-promotion welcome!

Heading to #ASEEES in Boston in a couple of days! Anyone going to be there? Friday at 1:30, I’ll be chairing a discussion of our book Red Migrations (tinyurl.com/mwdj88) Sunday at 8am, I’ll be helping to launch the New Cambridge History of Russian Literature (tinyurl.com/5h7sy9ew).

I picked up AS Byatt’s Possession without knowing anything about it. Started reading. And: what was going on in the 1980s that literary books about books and scholars could be bestsellers? Like what were we going through as a culture?

Across the Globe, thousands participated in marches against the Russia-Ukraine war and Putin's criminal regime organized by Yulia Navalny, Ilya Yashin, and other leaders of the Russian opposition today. In Chicago, hundreds showed up to say "Stop Putin, stop the war!"

Moved here from that other place. ISO: -heated literary throw downs -juicy archival morsels -some sense of community that hasn’t (yet) been co-opted by fascism-curious billionaires

Slavic Nihilism By Artyom Trakhanov

Organizing a series of conferences on perestroika and just blown away by the number and quality of submissions. Enough great papers for double to spots we have. Many from young scholars. The time seems ripe for reexamining the end of history.

Reading Intermezzo deliberately slowly. Savoring. But I think that’s not how Rooney works.