Purushottam Bhandare and Katerina Canyon test MAGA's anti-immigrant rhetoric about laziness and crime against the facts: "The average new immigrant reduces the federal budget deficit by over ten thousand dollars during their lifetime." publicseminar.org/2025/09/immi...

Sad to hear of Jonathan Lear's passing. A wonderful philosopher, his work inspired me greatly. Early on in the COVID pandemic, I wrote a piece for @publicseminar.bsky.social drawing on Radical Hope to contemplate how we ought to live when a way of life collapses: publicseminar.org/2020/05/radi...

A Creation Born Out of the Longing of Golus: An excerpt from Bruno Schulz and Galician Jewish Modernity. publicseminar.org/20... @PublicSeminar

"In the torrent of emotions produced by spectacular violence, viewers may struggle to gain critical distance and instead identify with what is depicted." —@bas2181.bsky.social on the Walter Benjamin's warning: an aestheticized politics primes us for war. publicseminar.org/2025/09/char...

"In Schulz’s language, realism signals resignation—a resignation from myth, or from the mythologizing transformation of reality that is so central to his own poetics." —Karen Underhill chats with Alex Rossen about her book BRUNO SCHULZ AND GALICIAN JEWISH MODERNITY publicseminar.org/2025/09/brun...

"The current episode of international economic policy is in part the inherited legacy of crises past." —Earlier this spring, William Milberg broke down Trump’s "neopatrimonial mercantilism" @nssrnews.bsky.social publicseminar.org/2025/05/us-t...

My essay for @publicseminar.bsky.social on Elon Musk's curious lack of empathy has gotten a second life on its Substack page. Still relevant for reasons that have to do with more than Musk, particularly as Congress is poised to pull healthcare from millions of Americans.

Did someone say "gold bars"? We're rereading @jjoque.bsky.social on Trump's preoccupation with Fort Knox and the Right's hope that "if only we can get our hands on the gold, the data, the building, we can easily control and manage the chaos of modern existence." publicseminar.org/2025/05/the-...

"Alongside Israel’s ability to delay or freeze the transfer of funds, its grip on the Palestinian treasury’s financial resources includes punitive measures against Palestinian banks and the imposition of restrictions and acts of financial piracy." —Lamees Farraj publicseminar.org/2025/05/how-...

The latest at PS: Rachmi Diyah Larasati on authoritarianism in Indonesia, Benjamin Andrew Schupmann on Trump’s rhetoric, Inga Hajdarowicz on the Polish border, and a survivor of the genocide in Gaza on Palestinian American community. open.substack.com/pub/publicse...

"It is tempting to dismiss Trump’s language as mere rhetoric. But it may signal something deeper: a breakdown in the shared meaning of language, which can threaten the very foundations of a civil society." —Benjamin Andrew Schupmann on why we listen closely to Trump publicseminar.org/2025/06/trum...

"More than two decades after the end of Suharto’s military dictatorship, the terrifying sound of RX King and Honda bikes has returned in Indonesia." —Rachmi Diyah Larasati on strongman politics in Indonesia and the underground music scene's feminist dissent. publicseminar.org/2025/06/moto...

"Together they gambol through Berlin’s club scene, fueled by amphetamines, techno, and allusions to radical politics." —Alexandra Chaves on Aria Aber's GOOD GIRL and whether raving can "deterritorialize us from capitalist competition." @nssrnews.bsky.social publicseminar.org/2025/06/aria...

"Declaring that migrants will enjoy due process is simply Noem’s way of saying that migrant detention at Guantanamo will be as American as Friday night football, and people should not be alarmed." —Joseph Margulies's April essay anticipated months of bad faith ahead publicseminar.org/2025/04/guan...

As New Yorkers vote in the mayoral primaries, we're rereading Inessa Medzhibovskaya's translation of Leo Tolstoy's salute to the activism of young people. publicseminar.org/2025/05/tols...

"The choice is stark: rule by the many, or rule by the billionaires who already act as if they own the world." —Salvador Santino Regilme charts of oligarchs around the world have remade democracy in their own image. publicseminar.org/2025/06/how-...

"I am frustrated with people assigning AI agency. If you look under the hood, you see that it’s a constructed entity, made by humans." —Dennis Yi Tenen chats with Tsering Dolka Gurung about why writers shouldn't treat AI as an existential threat. @wwnorton.com publicseminar.org/2025/06/writ...

“'I am not afraid, as I have your support,' İmamoğlu’s AI-generated voice declared. Thanks to AI, Erdoğan and his Islamicist regime had failed to silence the voice of Turkey’s most significant political opponent." —Selin Bengi Gümrükçü on AI activism in Turkey publicseminar.org/2025/06/turk...

"By exclusively relying on war and aiming for the total obliteration of its enemies, Israel seeks a regional domination that does not integrate the defeated but excludes them and transforms them into 'new Gazas.'” —Prescient writing from Emmanuel Guerisoli publicseminar.org/2025/04/isra...

"If you write about a storyteller—and Pabst was a professional storyteller—then the way that person tells their story shapes the way you tell their story." —Daniel Kehlmann chats with Mitchell Abidor about following G. W. Pabst in his new novel, THE DIRECTOR. publicseminar.org/2025/06/inte...

"How people are disabled impacts the extent to which they are accepted by others," writes @drajp.bsky.social. The scholar proposes a paradigm of “cripnormativity,” which imposes a hierarchy of socially acceptable and unacceptable disabilities. publicseminar.org/2025/06/greg...

"We are narrative agents, and the only narrative agents we know of in the universe—so far." —@floridi.bsky.social chats with Giannis Perperidis and Alexandros Schismenos about syntax versus semantics, the European project, and what we still get wrong about AI. publicseminar.org/2025/06/defi...

"The ICE raids in Los Angeles were the first step in Trump’s goal to impose martial law and consolidate his power. This is hardly far-fetched." —Peter Dreier charts key takeaways on the anti-ICE protests in LA. publicseminar.org/2025/06/la-a...

"In dark times, the sacred work is not to flee but to testify." —@ysl.bsky.social on reading Whitman's poetry of disillusionment, and what it's like to make art in a United States without "a common language of spirit." publicseminar.org/2025/05/whit...

Great Engineers, Terrible Philosophers. A conversation on the…evolution of AI technology,the nature of intelligence,& the importance of the European project,by Luciano Floridi @floridi.bsky.social,Giannis Perperidis,Alexandros Schismenos / @publicseminar.bsky.social publicseminar.org/2025/06/defi...

"Martin examines how restoration efforts are often driven by human desires rather than ecological necessity." —Mairéad O’Donnell reviews Laura J. Martin’s Wild by Design, recently reissued in paperback by @harvard.edu @maireadod.bsky.social @nssrnews.bsky.social publicseminar.org/2025/05/wild...

The Supreme Court just dismissed Mexico's suit against US gun companies accused of aiding illegal firearms trafficking. But as Jeremy Robson recently wrote for PS, there's no denying that US guns play a major role in violent crime in Mexico. @nssrnews.bsky.social publicseminar.org/2025/05/exit...

"A one-sided relationship is just fine, whether she’s making eyes at someone without ever making a move or throwing her energy and talents into supporting a book published under someone else’s byline." —Madeleine Adams on the love language of publicity in CRUSH publicseminar.org/2025/06/crus...

"In PERVERTS, sex is a source of trauma and disgust; perhaps more surprisingly, so is the search to be closer to God." —Mikayla Emerson reviews Ethel Cain's new album and examines what it means to seek spirituality to the point of sickness. @nssrnews.bsky.social publicseminar.org/2025/06/god-...

During my time with @uslnyc.bsky.social, I had the opportunity to review @laurajmartin.bsky.social’s remarkable book Wild by Design for @publicseminar.bsky.social You can read the full review below 👇 publicseminar.org/2025/05/wild...

For those curious about the conditions on Rikers Island that caused a federal judge to seize control this week, read Carina Filemyr's review of CITY TIME, David Campbell and Jarrod Shanahan's account of life inside NYC's largest jail. @nyupress.bsky.social publicseminar.org/2025/05/cook...

"Time is the fiction writer’s number one ingredient.'” Gina Chung chats with Mikayla Emerson about her new story collection, GREEN FROG @ireadvintage.bsky.social @thenewschool.bsky.social publicseminar.org/2025/05/gina...

Serbia’s nonhierarchical protests have fostered a powerful coalition, Jorge González Arocha writes. But to make a lasting impact, they need a concrete vision of political transformation. publicseminar.org/2025/04/serb...

I wrote about #WaltWhitman, for @publicseminar.bsky.social as a guide through #USA’s #spiritual disfigurement. His call for a #moral awakening feels more vital than ever. ✨Whitman & the Crisis of American #Spirit✨ publicseminar.org/2025/05/whit... #Gaza #Trump #culture #America #spirituality

Bureaucracy isn’t just red tape—it’s interpretation, neutrality, and the infrastructure of democracy. What happens when autocrats attack it? Mark Frazier, James Miller, Kim Lane Scheppele, and Julia Sonnevend unpack the administrative state. @nssrnews.bsky.social publicseminar.org/2025/05/the-...

“The city would be swallowed by the sea, but its material basis could be repurposed.” —Lily Chishan Wong reviews Miami in the Anthropocene, in which Stephanie Wakefield calls for radical change in how we think about the future of our cities. @uminnpress.bsky.social publicseminar.org/2025/04/miam...

"What if trans people were a more sizable population? Would that make the right’s assault, even if repugnant, reasonable?" —@anonemacher.bsky.social on why critiquing right-wing attacks on trans people as "disproportionate" isn't good enough. @nssrnews.bsky.social publicseminar.org/2025/04/the-...

"Stewart acted not only as the defendant, but also as her own judge and jury; perhaps, like Socrates in the Apology and Crito, she concluded that doing what most people would do—flee the regime’s ruling—would be bad for the brand." publicseminar.org/2025/04/mart... @nssrnews.bsky.social

"Maybe it’s a necessary thing in order to attack a book that you don’t read it. Because if you read it, maybe you have a more complicated point of view.” —In an unmissable conversation, Salman Rushdie joins Luis Jaramillo for a conversation about freedom of speech. publicseminar.org/2025/04/salm...

"Put on earrings. Go out for ice cream. Swim. Expose the conditions of torture." —Sonali Chakravarti reviews I'M STILL HERE, and makes the case for fighting fascism by living life to its fullest. publicseminar.org/2025/04/im-s...

“The Taliban has paved the way for an impending collapse of women’s healthcare services.” —Former Minister of Women's Affairs Sima Samar writes on the Taliban’s systematic assault on Afghan women’s rights. publicseminar.org/2025/04/tali...

My brilliant colleague and friend Sonali Chakravarti (who's not here) wrote about I'm Still Here. It's a lovely piece. @publicseminar.bsky.social publicseminar.org/2025/04/im-s...

"We cannot assume, sadly, that feminism and fascism are automatic antagonists." — @reproutopia.bsky.social chats with @natashalennard.bsky.social about ENEMY FEMINISMS @haymarketbooks.org publicseminar.org/2025/04/some...

Joseph Margulies on Guantanamo 2.0 as a PR campaign: “Declaring that migrants will enjoy due process is simply Noem’s way of saying that migrant detention at Guantanamo will be as American as Friday night football, and people should not be alarmed.” publicseminar.org/2025/04/guan...

Media outlets have characterized Congressman Al Green’s “righteous incivility” toward Trump as an “outburst.” But what we should be talking about is Green's message, argues Eric T. Jones: Trump WILL cut Medicaid, drastically worsening racial health inequity. publicseminar.org/2025/04/al-g...

Hard to believe it was 5 years ago, in the heat of the pandemic, that Benjamin Davis and I wrote "Theses for Theory in a Time of Crisis" and invited our favorite theorists to respond. Still grateful to @publicseminar.bsky.social! publicseminar.org/essays/these... publicseminar.org/essays/sente...

Unsolicited advice to Silicon Valley: maybe Western civilization isn't wrong about empathy? My latest for @publicseminar.bsky.social and related to my @princetonupress.bsky.social book, "The Greatest of All Plagues."

"The Janjaweed, who are leading this war, are an old story in Sudan. Their aims throughout have been clear: to change the demography of the country, replacing the Indigenous Africans." —Reread: Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin with Anna Simone Reumert on genocide in Sudan. publicseminar.org/2024/06/the-...

"Democrats have gone too far in creating excessive, uncoordinated layers of regulation, project review, and 'community' input which often is dominated by wealthier single-family homeowners." —@rickmcgahey.bsky.social on NYC and “City of Yes.” publicseminar.org/2025/03/new-... @racepowerpolicy.org

"The reality of ‘democracy’ for Latin American nations is not just a question of winning elections but of unraveling the international systems of state-level coercion." —Nolan Young on the techno-oligarchy in Honduras @nssrnews.bsky.social @zolberginst.bsky.social publicseminar.org/2025/03/hond...