I woke up and chose violence: AI stole my work? Do it again, I taunted. Turns out it couldn’t fool me once, let alone twice substack.com/home/post/p-...

A reader asked: With the news focused on Iran, will Trump’s numbers soar? Over at SMK, I respond: Shock and awe rarely shocks the polls for long. alexiscoe.substack.com/p/reply-some...

A reader asked: With the news focused on Iran, will Trump’s numbers soar? Over at SMK, I respond: Shock and awe rarely shocks the polls for long. alexiscoe.substack.com/p/reply-some...

"Partisanship didn’t just dull Congress’ oversight of the president, it rewired it," writes @alexiscoe.bsky.social, who contends that when one party controls Congress and the White House, Congress "cede[s] power to the president to cover their own asses." More: apple.news/A3BI6GaKRSCi...

“Either way, the presidency rests on permissions Congress writes,” says @alexiscoe.bsky.social. “Bad presidents are temporary. Congress is the through-line — and it keeps feeding a fire that will not spare it.” More on expanding executive power ⤵️ apple.news/A3BI6GaKRSCi...

Until recently, I hadn’t really tried AI — but it tried me. AI stole my work and according to the headlines, it is coming for the rest. So this week at SMK, I’m figuring out exactly what I’m dealing with: alexiscoe.substack.com/p/i-tried-ai...

“The Founders missed Frankenstein by 30 years and the Mar-a-Lago face by a few hundred more. But they may have recognized the presidency we have now: a grotesque concentration of authority in the hands of Trump.” More from @alexiscoe.bsky.social: apple.news/A3BI6GaKRSCi...

Until recently, I hadn’t really tried AI — but it tried me. AI stole my work and according to the headlines, it is coming for the rest. So this week at SMK, I’m figuring out exactly what I’m dealing with: alexiscoe.substack.com/p/i-tried-ai...

Weakest, laziest, most cowardly group ever assembled - Republican House. Too lazy to govern effectively or consider what their constituents need. Just lie, pretend things are going great, pass laws that eliminate people to vote against you, arrest & deport people who don't automatically vote red.

I wrote about the 250th SOTU: what will age, what won’t, and what the scoreboard actually says. alexiscoe.substack.com/p/america-se...

👇👇👇

My latest for Rolling Stone: Stop blaming the monster. Blame the lab. apple.news/A3BI6GaKRSCi...

Trump’s SOTU will be a hostage situation with applause breaks. History will be abused. Lincoln invoked. The Constitution used as a prop. Half the room will clap like it’s WrestleMania. Half will sit like they’re at a sentencing.

My latest for Rolling Stone: Stop blaming the monster. Blame the lab. apple.news/A3BI6GaKRSCi...

Again, I know it feels good to send a donation to someone who is finally going to send Mitch McConnell or Lindsey Graham packing, but you're going to see a *lot* more bang for your buck with less exciting but much more meaningful state legislative races. This is a great way to do that:

Just sitting here in a snowstorm auditing the macroeconomic implications of a sexting metaphor

The first of two digital archives coverage substack.com/home/post/p-...

“Just as images from Birmingham undercut segregationist defenses, today’s photos and videos undermine claims used to justify aggressive federal actions. The camera remains a corrective political instrument.” Which is why we need photos from inside the ICE detention centers/concentration camps.

Upcoming events! March 11, 7pm. NYPL (in-person book talk): In conversation with Bob Crawford. April 12, 1pm. Mills Mansion (in-person): Keynote on Anne Morgan.

I wrote a Presidents’ Day roundup: moral rupture, political images, and the presidency we built on purpose. alexiscoe.substack.com/p/3-things-w...

Why do we keep handing the keys of the republic to men who seem to fundamentally despise themselves? My thoughts on our lowest ranking presidents. alexiscoe.substack.com/p/the-behead...

Why do we keep handing the keys of the republic to men who seem to fundamentally despise themselves? My thoughts on our lowest ranking presidents. alexiscoe.substack.com/p/the-behead...

What do martyrdom, moor-pining, and the Articles of Confederation have in common? To me, everything. alexiscoe.substack.com/p/the-behead...

What do martyrdom, moor-pining, and the Articles of Confederation have in common? To me, everything. alexiscoe.substack.com/p/the-behead...

Cupid works in citations—but I also accept every manner of presents. alexiscoe.substack.com/p/sluts-and-...

In SMK, I wrote about this lie apparently some of us learned: America has no national language—only a recurring panic that wishes it did. alexiscoe.substack.com/p/lies-we-le...

When newspapers cut “nonessential” sections, what they’re really cutting is thought. On losing the Washington Post as a place to write history in real time. alexiscoe.substack.com/p/i-can-writ...

My Q&A with @tj-stiles.bsky.social is a masterclass in intellectual humility, narrative ambition, and the unromantic economics of writing. Also, a perfect editor moment after his NBA win — tears, applause, a dry reminder: aren’t you glad I made you cut all that stuff? substack.com/home/post/p-...

My Q&A with @tj-stiles.bsky.social is a masterclass in intellectual humility, narrative ambition, and the unromantic economics of writing. Also, a perfect editor moment after his NBA win — tears, applause, a dry reminder: aren’t you glad I made you cut all that stuff? substack.com/home/post/p-...

Sometimes you learn the most from writers working in very different disciplines than your own. So: Huge thanks to @alexiscoe.bsky.social for agreeing to talk about shaking up the historical canon and the risks (and pleasures) of researching very dead white dudes: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/o...

Who should organize this? Our next POTUS. Dems can't do much in Congress but efforts by 2028 hopefuls haven't done what's needed: Booker’s marathon speech, AOC–Bernie's anti-fascist tour, Newsom’s influencer politics. Our next leader won't comment on history. He or she will force it. /7

It’s my birthday and I have one wish: understand this critical distinction. Protests matter. They shape memory. But they do not deliver relief within the timeframe we need. That comes from a concurrent form of protest: ***sustained nationwide economic non-participation*** A 🎂 thread. /1

It’s my birthday and I have one wish: understand this critical distinction. Protests matter. They shape memory. But they do not deliver relief within the timeframe we need. That comes from a concurrent form of protest: ***sustained nationwide economic non-participation*** A 🎂 thread. /1

I'm by pure coincidence on a trip to south Florida during the awful weather in North Carolina, and I'm greatly enjoying @alexiscoe.bsky.social bio on George Washington. 😊

This was a tough one. open.substack.com/pub/alexisco...

When the palace is exempt from the fire code and the king says it’s fine to strike a match, why wouldn’t you? alexiscoe.substack.com/p/reply-some...

Just three months from today, my book about Americans’ 250 year struggle over slavery’s place in George Washington’s legacy will be out in the world. Some great (and NYT bestselling!) writers have said kind things about it. I hope you’ll consider pre-ordering a copy. bookshop.org/p/books/thy-...

Feed: "NYT > Books > Book Review" By: Alexis Coe on Monday, December 15, 2025

I went live with historian Alexis Coe to talk about history as something we are doing, not just remembering—democracy, national myth, and what it means to stay in the room when the story feels unfinished.

@kalpenn.bsky.social: I'm still floored that you read [Contract with America] in the fourth grade. Me: I mean, it really messed me up for a while. I joined "Here We Go Again" to talk forgotten families and what all of this means heading into America’s 250th. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...

Have yourself a demented little Christmas [card] alexiscoe.substack.com/p/demented-c...

December 2020: “Santa is not going to be spreading any infections to anybody.” — Dr. Anthony Fauci December 2025: RFK Jr. wants the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule to look like Denmark’s. In response, Danish officials say the U.S. is getting “crazier and crazier," has diseases they don’t.

Captain’s Log, Day 337. Situation grim. Crew remains at posts out of spite, pedantry, and an old, stubborn attachment to an unfinished America. —AC Ie I contributed to this NYT survey: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

My best subject line of 2025

Valuable life advice this week from @alexiscoe.bsky.social

I spent my final NYTBR column of 2025 circling a question a deceptively simple question: what happened to the American Dream? History, economics, and the mechanics of disappointment here: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/b...

In my last NYTBR column of 2025, I started with a question that has become unanswerable: What happened to the American Dream—and why does it feel so out of reach? More books on the big bad economy here: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/b...

Relieved to say the saga is losing me as Lizza toggles between “she was in a mental health crisis” and “she was running a multi-pronged psy-op with professional operatives.”

The singular delight of being one's nerdiest, most ardent self on @NPR: www.npr.org/2025/12/07/n...