Why Trump’s Compact for Higher Ed deserves an ‘F’ (hint: it’s not just for the facism . . .) www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

Like so much of this administration: scary and stupid at the same time. Read the interview—The Grand Strategy Behind Trump’s Crackdown on Academia www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/o...

Watching democracy die on the daily . . .

Looking for inspiration? My interview with the amazing Carmen Rojas of the Marguerite Casey Foundation on how they prepared for the current moment -- and how they stepped up giving to match the moment @npquarterly.bsky.social @eri-usc.bsky.social nonprofitquarterly.org/foundations-...

Great new piece by three grad students who are part of @uscsociology.bsky.social and @eri-usc.bsky.social dornsife.usc.edu/eri/2025/09/...

I signed an open letter from economists supporting Gov. Lisa Cook and Fed Independence. Add your name by Monday: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... | Letter: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

I have an article coming out on the Latino vote — and buyers remorse about Trump. Or you could just watch this by Snow Tha Product: youtu.be/RtcPhMiiYNU?...

Had a great conversation with Dr. Lande Ajose from the Waverley Street Foundation about community organizing, engaged research, and the climate crisis. www.waverleystreet.org/news/in-conv...

Gosh, so unexpected . . . not. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Anyone now doubting that authoritarianism is here? Trump fires the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for reporting inconvenient data. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Ok, I can write a long piece on how the community is responding to the ICE raids in LA, and how Black-Brown solidarity is being fortified -- or you can just want Will.i.am and Taboo tell the story. www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7nH...

It remains striking to me how GOP tax-cutters can continue to talk about pro-growth outcomes in the absence of evidence. I'm, well, a bit more tethered to truth . . . www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/u...

My interview with Sidney Blumenthal about the events in Los Angeles -- and what they mean for the nation. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAag...

Untethered from truth and unbothered by deception, you can arrive at anything . . .

Today's must-read: this superb piece by Rudy Espinoza from Inclusive Action. nonprofitquarterly.org/my-street-ve...

A view from Los Angeles: www.dissentmagazine.org/online_artic...

A welcome break from the noise . . . ¡Adelante! www.latimes.com/world-nation...

A blog about our book, CHARGING FORWARD. thenewpress.org/author-op-ed...

A new film about Lithium Valley, inspired by our book, Charging Forward, and directed and produced by Jacob Kornbluth. It's a remarkably balanced view of an incredibly complicated (and conflictual) situation. Check it out: video.kvcr.org/show/a-bette...

Everyone’s talking #lithium. But what if the green transition was actually green—and just? "A Better Next Big Thing" documentary (inspired by my book) features communities fighting for their future in #California's #ImperialValley #SaltonSea. Watch it on PBS: video.kvcr.org/video/a-bett...

The possibilities and perils of lithium development in the Imperial Valley -- wrote a book about it, got interviewed about it (with other cool USC researchers!). @eri-usc.bsky.social today.usc.edu/powering-up-...

Watch the premiere of A BETTER NEXT BIG THING on PBS KVCR on April 10. The documentary, inspired by our book Charging Forward, examines issues at stake for the world’s largest & cleanest #lithium supply in California’s Salton Sea region. www.chargingforwardbook.org/events/bette... (1/2)

#Lithium connects California's Imperial Valley to deserts in South America —turns out it's about much more than batteries. It’s about justice, communities, & sustainability. Join us on #EarthDay 4/22 for the online premiere of a new documentary, Power in the Desert. RSVP bit.ly/power-in-the-desert

From Rufo: "Putting the universities into a recession would discipline them . . . a long-term goal is to adjust the formula of finances from the federal government to the universities in a way that puts them in an existential terror." Will universities see & respond? www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/o...

I just washed, dried, and folded my clothes, and noticed a theme . . .

What could possibly go wrong?

Key article & clipped quote: 'Daniel Kahneman—winner of the Nobel Prize—called this thinking in economics "theory-induced blindness." "Once you have accepted a theory & used it as a tool in your thinking, it is extraordinarily difficult to notice its flaws," he wrote.' www.npr.org/2025/02/11/g...

Known for being a prison for terrorists, Guantánamo Bay has space created for humanitarian relief (used that way in 1990s). Gosh, what could go wrong w housing 30,000 supposedly dangerous migrants in a place that that was previously used for asylum-seeking families? www.nytimes.com/2025/01/29/u...

And naturally it’s Teen Vogue to the rescue. www.teenvogue.com/story/ice-wa...

Also posted on X -- but since the toxicity there rivals the toxicity of our #LosAngelesFires , I thought I'd also share here some reflections on my own experience. One of many cases where the personal is political and vice versa. #StaySafe #StayStrong nonprofitquarterly.org/fire-communi...

Anyone else affected by SoCal fires? Our house is ok but we have a rental property bordering Altadena; back of the property burned down, taking out a carport, a storage shed, and three cars! Daughter lives there so she’s evacuated. Apocalyptic. Three houses down, this sad state.

I'm assuming neither of them are on Bluesky? If so, this might bring them together (maybe complaining about you making their stuff public but anything to bring family harmony!). Happy holidays, mi compa'. You've had a great year -- and I'm delighted to be your friend, colleague, and co-conspirator.

My conversation with @julito77.bsky.social about Latino political identity on his cool podcast @latnewsletter.bsky.social Enjoy -- well, learn even if not enjoyable to confront the crisis in Latinidad . . . open.spotify.com/episode/44EF...

Congrats. Great news!

Agreed. Provocative!

This is an important article by two brilliant friends that gets it exactly right -- generous to those who they think come up short, incisive about the need to focus on structure, focused on how to make real change. My must-read recommendation for today. democracyjournal.org/magazine/75/...

I was privileged to be part of this conversation at the #PolicyLink summit in Atlanta -- about how do we really manifest "the all"? How do we find the way to each other, to "us"? How do keep going through the divisions and hard times? #Inspired www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdA3...

At the #NNIC2024 & Amaha Kassa opens up plenary conversation with a Gramsci quote: "The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters." Indeed . . .

Climate investments matter for Latinos -- and they're at risk w/ the incoming Trump administration. Latinos also breathe worse air, so will be hit on health. ¡Despiértate! You have nothing to lose but your asthma . . . thelatinonewsletter.org/p/latino-job...

This might explain the anger but what fully explains why it is so poorly targeted?

Sustainable puppy . . . 😎

Interesting. Definitely used it as a control. What’s the argument for a weight? I’d get not wanting a few big counties to dominate (go, LA!) but would worry about excess influence of small cases. Just curious.

Nice interview in @politico.com re our new book (with @chrisbenner.bsky.social) on #LithiumValley & the future of equity in a clean energy economy www.politico.com/newsletters/...

I’d comment more extensively but I’m dodging tiles.

It's kinda hard to get sustainable on-the-job training for this . . .

Want to learn about our new book, CHARGING FORWARD: LITHIUM VALLEY, ELECTRIC VEHICLES, & A JUST FUTURE, but were looking for the "cheater" version? Podcast summary just landed, w my part at minute 16. Listen up - and then, of course, buy the book for yourself & friends! www.kpbs.org/podcasts/kpb...

Hoover Institution economist gets it wrong again: last time saying min wage killed jobs (he forgot to seasonally adjust data) & now that California is not generating private sector jobs (he forgot that you can't mix & match job surveys). Wouldn't pass my stats class. www.latimes.com/business/sto...

Had our Thanksgiving early last Saturday — and my daughter treated us with a song (the arms were borrowed). Happy happy, joy joy.

Heading into Thanksgiving? Want a love story to cheer you up? Read on . . . www.latimes.com/lifestyle/st...

Exactly. We have been needing a place for conversation and contestation, not demonizing and demagoguing. Feels good to have a platform not turned into a cesspool of disinformation and a tool for a particular political program . . .