I recently finished Mamdani’s, “A Slow Poison.” Incredibly disappointing - it read as an apologia for Idi Amin. It focused over and over again on weak defenses based on Amin’s popular support while downplaying his erratic behavior and overlooking his incredible cruelty and mass murder.

My book—No Option But Sabotage: The Radical Environmental Movement and the Climate Crisis—comes out today! It's the result of 3+ years of research and 150+ interviews with 100+ activists and experts.

I have a new paper. We look at ~all stats articles in political science post-2010 & show that 94% have abstracts that claim to reject a null. Only 2% present only null results. This is hard to explain unless the research process has a filter that only lets rejections through.

Our new cat, Tevye, has been biddy biddy bumming all around the house this week.

I’m excited to share that I’ll be doing a book talk and launch with @jjgreenjr.bsky.social for my new book: *No Option But Sabotage* at Politics and Prose (The Wharf) next Friday, 1/30. politics-prose.com/thomas-zeitz...

Excellent work by @galbeckerman.bsky.social at @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...

It would be great if Jews were even permitted to mourn undisturbed. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/u...

I think this is my favorite daf'yomi from @miriamanzovin.bsky.social so far. I think I'm gonna use it as an example to my students on how bonkers we can go with commentary. youtu.be/jJNf5sdCtvs?...

You'd have to be crazy not to apply to this!

Hey #Polisky - I'm trying to put together a panel for APSA 2026 that focuses on antisemitism. Is anyone interested in contributing an abstract? If so, let me know!

Hi #polisky - I am teaching a course this semester that involves student-directed research on issues of human rights, peace, and justice in Israel and Palestine. Are there any scholars here that might be willing to serve as experts, responding to a student-developed survey in March/April?

Hey @timmiller.bsky.social and @samsteindc.bsky.social - the VP is part of the cabinet.

Currently watching Clear and Present Danger, which feels like it’s a real @radiofreetom.bsky.social flick. Man, we made great movies back then.

A new PNAS paper finds that polarization increased immediately after the invention of smartphones and the advent of social media, which both appeared around the same year, 2008. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

In 1931 in Kiel, Germany, Rachel Posner, the wife of a rabbi, took this picture. On the back of the photograph she wrote: “‘Death to Judah,’ so the flag says. ‘Judah lives forever,’ so the light answers.” The light will continue to answer the darkness. Happy Hanukkah.

This is just so heartbreaking; shocking, though sadly not entirely surprising anymore. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/12...

One of my favorite things about having sons is that every time I run the wash, I need to check pants pockets for acorns and rock collections.

Like many hostages, Segev Kalfon’s account of his 738 days in Hamas captivity included numerous examples of physical and mental abuse. The captors broke his teeth, starved him and pressured him to convert to Islam. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/w...

This is a really excellent piece by @joshyunis.bsky.social, recently featured by @phoebebovy.bsky.social joshyunis.substack.com/p/the-mamdan...

#OpenAccess on #FirstView - "Rulers’ Age and the Stability of Governments: A Survival Analysis" - cup.org/49e24ib by Marco Improta & Elisabetta Mannoni

It is insane to me that in 2025, these responses are somehow considered acceptable by a non-trivial portion of the American public.

🚨JOB ALERT🚨 Washington State University is HIRING an Associate or Full Professor of American Politics who will also serve as the Director of our excellent Foley Institute. An awesome opportunity to be right at the nexus of research and policy! wsu.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WSU_Jo...

Just unbelievable horror and evil here. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/w...

I was flattered to be asked to discuss some of the basics of protest dynamics with @usatoday.com last week ahead of the No Kings protests that happened over the weekend. www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

A very interesting analysis about finding a path to move forward. It has implications for electoral victory, but also for what I suspect are broader, moral issues related to our politics. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/o...

It is so heartwarming to see all the videos of families reunited. Let us hope we can move forward on a new path that brings some form of peace and healing to everyone.

For the first time in years, I do not have any manuscripts to review for journals! Now I'm just going to deactivate my email for the rest of the year.

Let us hope this is the first step toward something meaningful. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

To all observing Yom Kippur, I wish you an easy fast and a meaningful holiday during these tough times. G’mar Chatimah Tovah.

Awesome work by two awesome Africanists!

Such an absolutely incredible read. I've thought about having my students read it in my African politics course.

APSA-bound #polisky: register for the Pol. Psych Pre-Conf by Friday (8/15)! Featuring @lilymasonphd.bsky.social, @valentimvicente.bsky.social , @mjcohen.bsky.social, @agtheodoridis.bsky.social, S. Feldman, M. Pickup, L. Stephenson, T. Ollerenshaw, & O. Christley! www.eventbrite.com/e/2025-polit...

(This is my actual view, the above is just my snarky reply to those who whine about recognizing Palestine being a “reward” for 10/7)

A stain upon our nation. Shame on us. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Eye opening, even for those of us tuned in to the radicalization of the right.

This is exactly right. This has to be some of the mealiest-mouthed reporting in a long time.

To all of those think-tankers writing solemn papers about how to get to a ceasefire: The war will not end until Ukraine wins

Calling all political psych and political behavior #polisky scholars! Don't forget to register for the pre-conference this year before APSA. We have an excellent speaker lineup and we'll be discussing the psychology of authoritarianism.

It's true; it's not antisemitic to be critical of a nation-state. It is, however, deeply antisemitic to post an image attempting to draw connections between an imagined cabal of tangentially linked public figures purely on the basis of most of them (not even all) being Jewish.

An interesting piece in @theatlantic.com by @jonathanbchait.bsky.social about the Islamophobic attacks on Mamdani. But I think it pulls the main punch, which is that, in Trumpworld, the primary mode of performance *is* racism and hatred.

This excellent in @theatlantic.com piece highlights how a singular focus on Israel by so many distorts the situation, blinds us to potential solutions, and perpetrates a myth in which only Israelis have agency.

In 2013, I spent a small amount of time in Afghanistan with USAID. Many of our Afghan staff sought entry to the US to avoid Taliban retribution. I was proud to write them letters of support. The idea that we would repay their service with this betrayal is sickening.

For anyone interested in Lumumba and Congo, @stuartareid.bsky.social wrote an incredible book: "The Lumumba Plot." I highly, HIGHLY recommend it! www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/616779...

I think @jonathanbchait.bsky.social does a great job detailing the fine line that many have had to walk over the past few years. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

In “Violent Riots and South African Satisfaction with Democracy”, @profjslewis.bsky.social finds that exposure to local violent riots is correlated to reduced satisfaction with democracy. Read more: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

An excellent article from @theatlantic.com. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Attention all #polisky folks interested in political psychology - we are happy to announce our pre-conference in Vancouver!!! We'll have excellent speakers, a panel discussion, and research poster presentations! Propose your poster here: forms.office.com/r/vPM6h7CHCg

This is so deeply sick

French Holocaust Memorial, Two Synagogues Vandalized With Green Paint in Paris www.haaretz.com/jewish/2025-...