Really great abstract, looking forward to reading.

The Free Speech wing of the Free Speech party has made it so you have to upload journalism like it's an ISIS video

“Titanic.” Yikes.

"No one countenances cutting benefits for current or near retirees." Time to go talk to some Gen Z, Mitt. There's a lot more anger about what's happening than one might think.

Oh wow @reuters.com got the photo here:

I think there should be regulation for public bodies--and a strong norm for private ones--that having one's name attached to an institution should be an exclusively posthumous honor. www.cnn.com/2025/12/18/p...

The plot thickens

NEW: The RNC Chair is calling the 2026 midterms a “pending, looming disaster” for Republicans.

Wishcasting. We have to think about why the political culture turned toxic in the way it has. Probably many reasons, but social media and the ongoing fracturing of the media landscape are pretty good candidates. If that’s the cause, not much reason to expect better, it’ll prolly get worse.

Pack it in boys, we’re moving to Toronto

Americanization of the EU continues

Particularly interesting for people who teach courses on public policy.

can’t believe Jared Kushner was unable to negotiate a meaningful and just peace with Putin

This isn’t just a kakistocracy anymore; it’s outright aristoclasm. In a kakistocracy, the worst people rise to power and run things badly through incompetence, corruption, or sheer malice. Aristoclasm goes a step further:

I thought this was really smart overall and a great explanation of the intellectual leaders/vision of Trumpism in particular, but it bumps up against the same problem that all such essays do, which is that there are so few meaningful principles there to understand. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

one reason "great power competition" is a bad description of the emerging order is that an interlinked global kleptocracy does not care about national interests or rivalries

A really strong small business agenda to make it easier on the little guy is great politics for the “socialist” mayor

Fuck, Northwestern just caved. Reading the deal now. ( www.northwestern.edu/president/do... )

Very amusing summary of the Nuzzi-Lizza drama. for those who have been disinclined to take the effort to figure out what is going on there exactly but also curious, this is worth a read

As always, Drudge shows how the press would cover Trump if Trump were a Democrat and/or they weren't afraid of him.

This ish has big direct to undergrad syllabus vibes.

Yes

Fascinating article www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/b...

The advisability of demagafication depends very much on the strength of the D majority in 2028. If it is limited and conflicted, which is historically likely, a highly partial demagafication will result and that may well be worse than nothing. Court packing could be less costly and more effective

Brought to you in part by a long term partnership between science, universities, and government. This is the kind of thing trumps bullshit war on science and universities is taking from us: they cut the risk of flu among those getting the vaccine in half.

It is really one of the all time great examples of the importance of agenda control. When it looked like it could be kept off the table, the Rs were in lock step behind the Pres. Once it was clear a vote could not be blocked, everyone supported it. www.nytimes.com/video/us/pol...

This is wild

An absolute disgrace that @ox.ac.uk hosted this celebration of murdering a journalist.

This is really cool

Even this headline is sycophantic. I'm old enough to remember what T.A.C.O. stands for... www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/u...

Are you an ABD needing help with your project? Interested in immigration, autocratization, & religion? Want to spend 2 weeks thinking deeply about interdisciplinary work? This summer school is for you. I'll be one of the instructors helping your think big and rigorously :-) More info below! (1/2)

How do political institutions shape today’s wave of economic interventionism? 🇺🇸 vs 🇪🇺 Find out in our new article just out in @govjournal.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... @donatodc.bsky.social

Seriously, what is wrong with these people?

Well said

Nuzzi's fawning coverage of the sociopathic conspiracy crank she was having an affair with aided his rise to political power, which he is using to perpetrate the worst intentional public health catastrophe of our unnecessarily shortened lifetimes, and THAT is the STORY.

Two thoughts. 1) The state treating leaders claims as facts with no care for their truth is the highway to dark places. Pretty much doin 90 to get to 1984. 2) the supremes should’ve seen this coming, in fact they were warned. Officials shouldn’t be above the law. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...

Where political science meets David Lynch

Summers Lovin' Epstein emails reveal that Harvard prez Larry was hopelessly devoted to grease ball Jeff. Did some of Summers' nights involve a hand jive from a beauty school dropout? And did he lose interest after girls went through those magic changes? by Maureen Dowd

For folks (and journalists) who want to search the Oversight Committee email texts, I made a database for searching the 20k text files: splendorous-chaja-f79791.netlify.app

Why is Michael Wolff advising Jeff Epstein in this way? I guess I haven’t really followed the issue closely enough to get what’s going on there

Really looking forward to the first annual Workshop on Organizational and Political Economics in Chicago (OPEC!) this coming Saturday. @luozhaotian.bsky.social has done fabulous work pulling this together.

Will people who this happens to blame the Democrats or the Republicans?

Assume all the yes and no votes from Dem senators are strategic and not sincere votes. The party caucus made a decision. No way to know how many were in favor. Then the caucus decided who would vote yes and no based on what would protect each of them politically the most. That’s how this works.

An extension until Jan 30 is not much of an extension, really. If the Republicans were not going to cave until after January, which seems a reasonable belief, it is not really obvious to me how the Ds are worse off through the deal. Let’s blow up the holidays for ACA tax credits is not a great sell.

Is it just me or does Thomas Paine look like a NYT columnist?

The budget negotiation is much like a strange production of Waiting for Godot, where Godot is played by Donald Trump

@himself.bsky.social nails it. People have so much pent up energy to be organized/to help. So enough with the text messages for $ and let’s get the Party started doing stuff for everyday people.

Cuomo was drummed out of office 4 years ago for sexual harassment. He then lost the mayoral Dem primary. He then employed rank gutter racism to win as an independent -- winning Trump's endorsement! -- and that didn't work either. Few modern politicians so richly deserve obscurity and exile.