Employers worldwide are pulling back on AI as they navigate a flood of errors and low-quality work that sap employee time, raise privacy and security risks, and drive up costs

Companies rushed in on AI. Now some are pulling back

Rapid AI adoption left workers cleaning up a flood of errors and low-quality work

theguardian.com

From $4 gas and 7% mortgage rates to surging airfares, the Iran war is significantly raising the cost of living for inflation-weary consumers ahead of the midterm elections. https://cnn.it/4hLQGxR

When Stephanie Zebrowski retired and started collecting Social Security in 2018, she was able to get by on her monthly payment with a little left over before the next one arrived. That's no longer the case. https://cnn.it/4iiDUqN

Biology professor Daniel E. Lieberman ’86 said sugary breakfast cereals should carry warnings like those on cigarette packs at a book talk in Zimmer Hall Wednesday evening. Abigael T. Sidi reports. www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...

Daniel Lieberman Warns Against ‘Hedgehog’ Diets and Ultra-Processed Foods at Book Talk | The Harvard Crimson

Biology professor Daniel E. Lieberman ’86 said sugary breakfast cereals should carry warnings like those on cigarette packs at a book talk in the Science Center Wednesday evening.

thecrimson.com

Move over, beach reads. With the fall equinox behind us, we can now curl up with cozy autumn books. There are new titles coming from Barbara Kingsolver, Chad Harbach, Jasmine Guillory and more. n.pr/4xWERJU

10 books we are looking forward to this fall

Move over, beach reads. With the fall equinox behind us, we can now curl up with cozy autumn books. There are new titles coming from Barbara Kingsolver, Chad Harbach, Jasmine Guillory and more.

n.pr

A well-deserved honor for Ellora Derenoncourt: the Stone Center Affiliate has been named a 2026 MacArthur Fellow for her research into the historical roots of racial disparities in wealth and economic mobility. Read the announcement: www.macfound.org/fellows/clas...

Ellora Derenoncourt

Uncovering the roots and ongoing drivers of racial disparities in wealth and income mobility in the United States.

macfound.org

Correction: Shatema Threadcraft, @profcraft.bsky.social is the winner of the Okin-Young Award in Feminist Political Theory for "Anti-Black Violence and Toni Morrison's Democratic Storytelling," published in the APSR. (Not co-recipient, as stated in our earlier post.) Congratulations! buff.ly/KPDSFE6

American Political Science Review (@apsrjournal.bsky.social)

Congratulations to @profcraft.bsky.social, co-recipient of the Okin-Young Award in Feminist Political Theory for "Anti-Black Violence and Toni Morrison's Democratic Storytelling," published in the…

buff.ly

Shoutout to the 🐐GOAT🐐, respect greatness www.macfound.org/videos/2026-...

Ellora Derenoncourt - 2026 MacArthur Fellow

macfound.org

In the bustling heart of the southern Indian city of Chennai is a market that never sleeps, where residents from the poorest neighborhoods wage a battle of survival with the sea. n.pr/3TKwh2Z

PHOTOS: The precarious life of fisherfolk

In the bustling heart of the southern Indian city of Chennai is a market that never sleeps, where residents from the poorest neighborhoods wage a battle of survival with the sea.

n.pr

Trump approval among "the most conservative generation in 60 years," Gen Z (ages 18-29, NYT/Siena 9/8-9/13): Approve: 18% Disapprove: 78% www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Toplines: September 2026 Times/Siena Poll of Registered Voters

Results of a New York Times/Siena poll conducted among 1,503 voters from Sept. 8 to 13, 2026.

nytimes.com

California has 60,000 black bears, and they are venturing far from their usual habitat in search of food and shelter. It’s the humans who have to adapt

Bears in Los Angeles Are Getting Their Close-Ups, Ready or Not (Gift Article)

California has 60,000 black bears, and they are venturing far from their usual habitat in search of food and shelter. It’s the humans who have to adapt.

nytimes.com

"Law enforcers already have authority to charge companies and their CEOs for creating and releasing dangerous, unvetted, or defective products."

AI Firms Can and Must Face Liability for 'Dangerous, Unvetted Products,' Says Lina Khan

Former FTC Chair Lina Khan demands action on dangerous AI, calling for accountability for companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. Should lawmakers impose regulations to prevent AI from causing harm? The public demands answers as the industry faces scrutiny for its potential dangers. #AIregulation

commondreams.org

Setting aside that Trump's $5K check is not real, the total cost would be about on par with Elon Musk's fortune. Whatever anyone says about a midterm bribery check being fiscally irresponsible, it's nowhere near as irresponsible as letting one man hoard the equivalent of all those checks to himself.

Have seen this Nature piece about the effects of X's algorithm mentioned again and it bears repeating; exposure to a right wing algorithm makes you - measurably and predictably - more right wing, even after you stop using it. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The political effects of X’s feed algorithm - Nature

Among users initially on a chronological feed, 7 weeks of exposure to X’s algorithmic feed in 2023 shifted political attitudes and account-following behaviour in a more conservative direction compared...

nature.com

ProPublica spoke to dozens of people who had lived in homeless encampments when cities cleared them out in “sweeps.” We distributed notecards so people could tell us about the toll in their own words. ➡️ This is what they wrote:

One of those things you were pretty sure was true but now you have causal quantiative evidence in the American Economic Review: business schools trained CEOs to pay workers less in pursuit of maximizing shareholder value www.aeaweb.org/conference/2...

Broken swing sets? Missing basketball nets? Have no fear, Renew Crew is here. Neighborhood parks are meant for recreation — not frustration. If it’s broken, this crew will fix it. If it’s run-down, they’ll renew it. Renew Crew: Coming soon to a park near you.

Are you, or do you have, a PhD student (or ECS) working on the economics or political economy of Africa or South Africa? Consider applying for this workshop at Stellenbosch! If selected you get a trip to beautiful South Africa, dedicated feedback on your work, and to network with other great folks.

Africa Initiative postdoctoral research associate Chikezirim Nwoke is investigating how Nigeria's centuries-old apprenticeship system is breaking down — and what's rising in its place. Read the full story: https://ow.ly/BMXy50YUFtN

New research challenges a popular development strategy: mobilizing citizen pressure on Uganda's health providers boosted provider behavior, but didn't increase service use or improve outcomes. Bottom-up solutions need the right conditions to work. https://loom.ly/9EhJ-TQ

Opinion: The rush to collaborate with these tech companies comes with risks. Read the column by Soumaya Keynes (@soumayakeynes.ft.com) here: ft.trib.al/qMUXSj6

Here are more captive Democratic fundraising spam donors. Again, there are thousands of cases like these. 82yo from OK: $300K across 22K donations 87yo from RI: $286K across 19.5K donations 84yo from NM: $24K across 2.5K donations 73yo from CA: $521K across 28K donations

The Democratic Party has let a consulting industry exploit elderly donors in its name, wreck its reputation and finances in the process, and walk away rich whether the party wins or loses. When a mirror is held up, the instinct is to break the glass rather than look. On why the press looks away:

The Bulwark Killed an Investigation into Political Fundraising Spam After Its Publisher Took the Consultants’ Side

This is a story about the Democratic Party captured by its consultants, and about what happens when the pro-democracy press is asked to say so.

data4democracy.substack.com

The business model of spam fundraising depends on hooking a group of elderly donors who give at a disturbing frequency, summing to sizable amounts. Most of them don't appear especially wealthy. I've compiled a handful of these cases. There are thousands of cases like these in the FEC data. 🧵

Adam Bonica@adambonica.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The Democratic Party has let a consulting industry exploit elderly donors in its name, wreck its reputation and finances in the process, and walk away rich whether the party wins or loses. When a mirror is held up, the instinct is to break the glass rather than look. On why the press looks away:

Our mission is to fuel pathbreaking social science research that delves deep to examine complex global issues. Check out our video and learn more about what we do at the Weatherhead Center. https://loom.ly/W7XaQ2Q

About the Weatherhead Center

Weatherhead Center for International Affairs

youtube.com

This is truly heartbreaking. Dolly Parton was an extraordinary person and an irreplaceable champion of the working class. We are a better country because of her.

This is the letter kids got at the end of Dolly’s Imagination Library. I defy you to read this and not cry.

Dolly Parton, among a thousand other amazing things she did in her life, gifted over 330 million books to kids through her Imagination Library program. Her passing is a tremendous loss to the world, but you can support the program today to keep it going imaginationlibrary.com

One reason vote-by-mail remains under attack by Republicans is because of who it helps turn out.

We're done kicking the can down the road. Here's how we're fixing the city-owned section of the BQE.