jon ben-menachem
@jbenmenachem.com
criminalization, abolition, labor, politics, journalism—social science theory & methods too. sociology phd candidate @ columbia. @swcolumbia.bsky.social
Wow, economists are institutionalizing AI as a first stage in journal review? www.refine.ink/blog/economi...
Refine partners with the American Economic Association and the Econometric Society
Two leading publishers in economics now use Refine's AI-assisted technical verification as part of their publication processes.
refine.ink
One thing about being a professional writer and then an academic is that you really start to get a feel for the intent of criticism. I have received criticism so constructive that it led me to fundamentally reconsider a project, and I have received criticism that feels more like hazing
Selection effects (on the part of students) turn out to be rather important
Dan Silverman@dmsilverman.bsky.social · 21h agoNew study shows that — contra widely accepted narratives — there is NO EVIDENCE that professors change their students’ politics and make them more liberal through their teaching
Dogma and The Odyssey should be watched alongside Dude, Where’s My Car for a New Jersey homecoming marathon
Marc Deschamps@marcdachamp.bsky.social · 21h agoOK, in honor of the The Odyssey, give me your top 3 films about trying to get home (NOT including The Odyssey) 1. Dogma (1999) 2. Trapped in Paradise (1994) 3. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)
Garlic, lemon, olive oil, and green veg... A powerful combo
I may have been the world's most powerful DND player
Geoffrey Hughes@geofffhughes.bsky.social · yesterdayIt also says a lot that this attempt to decry a decline in standards of academic honesty begins with such a gobsmacking assault on the very idea of truth. Jason Alday may well have been the world's most famous living sociologist. I may well have been the world's most wealthy gardner. Come on.
In honor of Ross Douthat's last day at the NYT, let's remember this particular headline tweak from just last year.
Congrats Emanuele!
Emanuele Murgolo@emanuelemurgolo.bsky.social · 6d ago🚨 New paper out in @journalrep.bsky.social! Key findings: ➡️LGBTQ+ civilians are more likely to be searched, arrested, and subjected to police use of force ➡️Disparities are greater for Black/Latino LGBTQ+ civilians, pointing to intersectional police discrimination 👉 Link: doi.org/10.1017/rep....
One reason why philosophy improved my writing is that you’re always expected to argue against the strongest iteration of a position. In public writing on social issues, I think a good related practice is actually citing the view you’re engaging. Has a real person said it? Is the view prevalent?
We’re approaching the point where Chris Rufo could invent a Black sociologist to be mad at, fake AI photos and all, and it would produce weeks of agitated Fox News stories about the decline of the university
I’ve written for publications that actually staff fact checkers. This kind of claim would never have a shot of being published there. The author on this byline is actually an editor, which is even sadder
Kim Weeden@weedenkim.bsky.social · yesterdayNo US sociologists I've talked to had heard of Arday 2 weeks ago. Granted, not a random sample. He didn't publish in flagship soc journals or top soc of ed journals. His apt was in education. If he was famous, it wasn't for his work. And there lies the problem. www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
I had no idea about this policy change. Genuinely terrifying
Walter Olson@walterolson.bsky.social · 2d ago"The BOP modified the rules of prison assignment in May.... The attorney general can now direct the BOP to transfer any particular inmate to any particular prison, based on the attorney general’s exclusive judgment," overriding any security formulas that would otherwise have governed placement. /1
The cops are not wearing cameras for your safety. They’re wearing cameras so they can use the footage as evidence when you’re being prosecuted apnews.com/article/ice-...
ICE will release body camera video only when seen in the agency’s ‘best interests,’ policy says
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is moving to equip officers with body cameras in the next two months but the public should not expect to quickly see footage of every critical incident.
apnews.com
How do you break this at the individual level? Stop carrying a phone?
Ronan Farrow@ronanfarrow.bsky.social · 6mo ago(5/11) Walmart, Whole Foods, and Kohls are switching to electronic shelf labels that can display dynamic prices. Kroger deployed them with Microsoft AI—a setup a 2024 Senate inquiry warned could enable “surge pricing” via facial recognition. (Kroger claims it will only lower prices.)
NY Assembly Member @amemeritatorres.bsky.social successfully fought to get that mandatory disclosure law passed last year. Now she’s introduced a new bill that would ban surveillance pricing altogether: www.cityandstateny.com/opinion/2026...
Opinion: Why New York must ban surveillance pricing
The One Fair Price Act establishes a simple, commonsense principle: the same product or service should have the same price for everyone.
cityandstateny.com
I feel like the fact that nearly half a million New Yorkers just lost their health insurance is not being talked about as much as it probably should be. www.politico.com/news/2026/07...
Uh I just got my electric bill and I gotta say: What the fuck is going on at coned?
the public basically has no recourse when technologists hand out toys to cops
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 2d agoI wrote a chapter on this.
New: Universities (CU, CSU, others nationwide) are partnering with AI giants like ChatGPT to roll out university-sanctioned AI Hear from the students resisting & why some liken their opposition to wartime conscientious objectors www.denverpost.com/2026/08/07/c... via @denverpost.com #EdColo #AI
As Colorado universities align with ChatGPT, student AI resisters take a stand against the ‘plagiarism machine’
“The majority of my participants flat out don’t think AI has a place in education,” said Mirakle Wright, a CU graduate student who is studying resistance to artificial intelligence.
denverpost.com
Unfortunately this is the point at which I must pretend electoral politics do not exist, for the benefit of everyone
laura olin@lauraolin.bsky.social · 2d agoAbdul El-Sayed on capitalism: “I’m capitalist who just knows about capitalism. I have a bad habit of reading, I’m so sorry.”
The right to vote isn’t all that real if you can’t actually access it. Incarcerated organizers in Maine have had to fight over many years to win their rightful access—but even today plenty of gaps remain. My latest in @boltsmag.org: boltsmag.org/maine-prison...
Maine Prisoners Organize to Protect Their Rare Right to Vote - Bolts
Maine is one of the only places in the country where prisoners keep their right to vote. But logistical barriers to voting still contribute to their larger exclusion from the political process.
boltsmag.org
The DNC wants to ban states from using ranked choice voting in presidential primaries thefulcrum.us/electoral-re...
Calling it a "pied-à-terre" tax was some brilliant Mamdani political jujitsu because now anyone who whines about it sounds like Marie Antoinette
This post is true but consider the inverse — “Help! This man needs an ambulance!” — and the automated system is putting you in the parking enforcement channel
hammancheez@hammancheez.bsky.social · 2d agoI'm sorry I despatched a swat team with a report there was an armed invader shooting at police to your house. You just wanted to report an illegally parked moped. That was my bad.
Instead of temporarily embarrassed millionaires, this tax policy change is revealing all of the “comfortable” and “upper middle class” folks
Dominique Baker@bakerdphd.bsky.social · 3d agoI enjoyed the couple considering making the person with a lower income become a full-time resident of the NY property (the other one would continue to list their CT home) but my favorite was this person who didn't realize her second home in NY would count (even AI couldn't help find an exemption!)
"As a joke, comedian and entrepreneur Madi Walser started a website to advertise New York City artists willing to stay in empty vacation homes as 'charity to the 1%.' Then, she received eight inquiries from pied-à-terre owners interested in joining." Wild read 🎁 www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
NYC’s Pied-à-Terre Owners Hunt for Creative Ways to Dodge New Tax
Owners of second homes are “apoplectic” over the levy. Some are highlighting flaws to try to reduce their home’s value or moving in family members.
wsj.com
New: Flock planned to use cameras in hundreds of thousands of Uber, Lyft, and delivery driver vehicles as a way to collect more license plate data. Pitched the idea to an Attorney General. Would basically turn Uber/Lyft into roaming surveillance vehicles www.404media.co/flock-pitche...
Flock Pitched a Plan To Turn Uber and Lyft Drivers Into Roaming Surveillance Vehicles
A Flock presentation shows the company planned to use around 350,000 Uber, Lyft, and delivery drivers to collect license plate data for its surveillance system.
404media.co
