"The best kind of Masshole. Smart, smarmy, compassionate." www.bostonglobe.com/2026/05/06/b...

Marblehead man goes viral for comments on town housing plan: ‘Are we kind of being pricks?’ - The Boston Globe

David Modica’s remarks at Town Meeting on Marblehead’s plan to comply with the controversial MBTA Communities Act have exploded online.

bostonglobe.com

Partisan gerrymandering is a race to the bottom. Yesterday, Virginia voters narrowly approved (51–49) a constitutional amendment letting the state legislature redraw its congressional map through 2030 — bypassing the bipartisan commission voters created just a few years ago.

Come join us for the Local Political Economy (pre) Conference in Boston on September 2nd!! This year we'll have papers AND posters. Indicate your interest in presenting, discussing, or just attending by 4/30/26 here: forms.gle/bP16UPzRxfsk....

Local Political Economy Conference

APSA pre-Conference Wednesday September 2nd, 2026 (tentatively) 10am-6pm at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Campus Happy Poster Hour reception 6-8pm to follow at the Bloomberg Center for Cities at H...

forms.gle

🏘️🏗️🏙️ Today, we release findings from the 2025 #MeninoSurvey, the only nationally representative survey of American mayors that explores what mayors see as the main drivers of rising housing costs, housing policy, and political barriers they face to building more homes. surveyofmayors.com 🧵⬇️

Read the full report, supported by @arnoldventures.bsky.social, titled, “Unlocking Housing Supply: Mayors’ Views on the Politics of Housing” at surveyofmayors.com. Co-authored by @katherineeinst.bsky.social, @davidmglick.bsky.social, @maxwellpalmer.com

So many regulatory processes, from local zoning to federal rule-making, rely on public comment, and comments are treated as submitted in good faith. I've heard anecdotal cases of comments being written by AI, but not astroturfing-as-a-service.

David Roberts@volts.wtf · 5mo ago

They were going to pass rules to phase out gas stoves, until they received 20,000 public comments against the regulations. Except, oops, it turns out the comments were generated by AI.

Consistently, in survey after survey, housing availability and affordability is THE number one issue facing Massachusetts voters. A ‘status quo’ approach to housing from any elected official, of any political party, should be considered malpractice today.

A new poll from @abundanthousingma.org & YouGov finds 58% of voters support legalizing starter homes on 5,000sf lots. Just 21% oppose it. Legalizing smaller homes, instead of locking communities into 40,000sf+ mansion zoning, makes the American Dream more attainable in Massachusetts.

It's only two weeks into 2026, but I'm pretty sure The Raven Scholar is going to be the one of the best books I read this year.

Is there an incompleteness or impossibility theorem about this? It's impossible to prevent hallucinations, and any model that reviews models to detect hallucinations is also vulnerable to hallucinations?

Prof Mike Yearworth@mikeyearworth.bsky.social · 11mo ago

"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits." www.computerworld.com/article/4059...

How to fix America's gerrymandering problem? @benschneer.bsky.social and I wrote in Time today about a solution we developed (with @cantstopkevin.bsky.social). time.com/7309565/amer...

How to Fix America’s Gerrymandering Problem

As Trump pushes states to redraw districts in favor of Republicans, this solution could help stop gerrymandering.

time.com

How to fix America's gerrymandering problem? @benschneer.bsky.social and I wrote in Time today about a solution we developed (with @cantstopkevin.bsky.social). time.com/7309565/amer...

How to Fix America’s Gerrymandering Problem

As Trump pushes states to redraw districts in favor of Republicans, this solution could help stop gerrymandering.

time.com

I've been thinking through the implications of extreme gerrymandering for several years now. Today I wrote an article in Time that lays out the problem and describes one solution. We think that we need a "partisan" solution to partisan gerrymandering. time.com/7309565/amer...

How to Fix America’s Gerrymandering Problem

As Trump pushes states to redraw districts in favor of Republicans, this solution could help stop gerrymandering.

time.com

You may have noticed things are happening fast in the world of redistricting… I along with @maxwellpalmer.com and @simko.bsky.social wrote an article last week (though published today) that analyzes the changes to the congressional district map in Texas, and particularly San Antonio.

Republicans are seeking to create a durable gerrymander in Texas

Short-term tactical gains in Texas could ultimately yield a race to the bottom.

expressnews.com

Blocking new development doesn’t “preserve” your town—it drains your wallet. No new homes = no new taxpayers… but guess what does grow? School budgets, potholes, annual maintenance costs and legacy pension requirements. Fewer people to split that bill = higher taxes for you.

Please check out the thread and paper @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social, @maxwellpalmer.com, and I wrote below. We started this project a LONG time ago, and could never have anticipated exactly how timely it would be when it finally was published.

Legislators who descend from immigrants historically supported more permissive immigration policies | USAPP

Recent years have seen dramatic shifts in Americans’ attitudes towards immigration, with a majority now favoring decreasing immigration levels. But in what is often called a “nation of immigrants”, ho...

blogs.lse.ac.uk

James Feigenbaum@jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · last yr.

Does family history matter to policy making? With @maxwellpalmer.com and @benschneer.bsky.social (forthcoming @qjeharvard.bsky.social), we reconstruct MCs’ ancestry and found that lawmakers with immigrant parents or grandparents consistently vote for more permissive immigration policies 1/X

What happens when immigrants and their descendants enter the halls of power? Does family history matter for policy on a contentious topic like immigration? @benschneer.bsky.social, @maxwellpalmer.com, and I wrote a post for the LSE United States Centre about our forthcoming @qjeharvard.bsky.social

LSE US Politics and Policy blog - USAPP@lseusablog.bsky.social · last yr.

Legislators who descend from immigrants historically supported more permissive immigration policies find @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social and @maxwellpalmer.com of @bostonu.bsky.social and Benjamin Schneer of @harvardkennedy.bsky.social blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/20...

Really?

A truly depressing account of the enormous time, effort, & resources that go into building *anything* in blue cities. Can not be exaggerated how much this phenomenon is crippling blue politics in the US. www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...

How many meetings does it take in Philadelphia to build 57 affordable homes? A lot.

The Philadelphia Housing Authority and developer Pennrose have been trying to get project approval since 2019. The cost has risen, and federal funding could be at risk.

inquirer.com

bill de blasio in park slope, ordering his breakfast sandwich as “mi sandwich especial” and quoting the onion headline omg www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Boston's Zoning Board of Appeals, in a 5-2 vote, rejected plans for 70-units of new housing, just 0.3mi to the MBTA's Andrew Square station, to replace a 2-story industrial building. US Congressman Stephen Lynch (D) sent an aide to read a letter opposing the development for lack of parking...

New: Johnston, R.I., has formally taken ownership of 31 acres of land through eminent domain as it moves forward with plans to build a new Town Hall and police and fire stations there, thwarting a proposal seeking to build affordable housing at the site. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/17/m...

Johnston, R.I., follows through on seizure of land by eminent domain, halting 250-unit affordable housing project - The Boston Globe

Town officials are facing a lawsuit alleging they abused the law to block the housing “simply because they don’t want that kind of thing in their town.”

bostonglobe.com

Local politics is the best politics. www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

The Missing $25 Gift Card That’s Rocking the Hamptons

Mystery has prompted a disciplinary trial with 1,400 pages of testimony and derailed a school principal’s career; 38 surveillance cameras

wsj.com

I am confident that this will be the best thing I read today.

This story underscores just how much communities are willing to spend to avoid building more housing. @maxwellpalmer.com and I find that communities buy land, sometimes to block affordable housing, with no plan or capacity to maintain/redevelop the property. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/01/05/m...

After eight years, Northborough has no purpose for historic White Cliffs estate - The Boston Globe

Northborough has poured millions into the White Cliffs estate. It still is unused.

bostonglobe.com

I just completed all 25 days of Advent of Code 2024! #AdventOfCode adventofcode.com

I just completed "Hoof It" - Day 10 - Advent of Code 2024 #AdventOfCode adventofcode.com/2024/day/10

I just completed "Red-Nosed Reports" - Day 2 - Advent of Code 2024 #AdventOfCode adventofcode.com/2024/day/2

The Thanksgiving stuffing waffle is the platonic ideal of leftovers.