How does critically engaging popular culture help us build a healthier democracy? Check out my interview with Dr. Kristen Hoerl, author of "The Impossible Woman: Television, Feminism, and the Future." Full interview on YouTube youtu.be/9l7ZbW_xLEo?...

Interested in politics and pop culture? Check out the new podcast from the CSU Center for Democracy, Art, and Popular Culture! Great inaugural episode with Dr. Kristen Hoerl @verypossiblewoman.bsky.social Full convo on YouTube: youtube.com/playlist?lis...

This is laugh out loud dumb. If a woman said this, she would be fired. Perhaps institutionalized. Definitely not given truckloads of investment capital.

Dare Obasanjo@carnage4life.bsky.social · last wk.

“What we need to explain to the world: Number one, we are close to creating a genie that can grant any wish. Number two, we are going to make sure that our first wishes broadly benefit humanity” - Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI — This is definitely the opposite of Anthropic’s AI kills all jobs pitch.

Once you understand that this is a model of science written by non-scientists who hate universities but love venture capital and redirecting money to political allies, everything makes a lot more sense. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/u...

Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities

Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.

nytimes.com

In February, USA Rugby banned trans women from all levels of one of the world’s most inclusive sports. What happened next was telling. Across the country, teams refused to comply. The story of the Baltimore Ferals, who are pushing back: www.thebanner.com/sports/rugby...

A lot of people don’t realize the dust bowl wasn’t a natural phenomenon. It happened when agrobusiness interests dramatically transformed the plains without regard for drought, and created vicious dust storms that choked whole families to death. That’s what I think of when I read about data centers.

The literal story of my life.

Noah Berlatsky@nberlat.bsky.social · 2w ago

I'm always like, "well this essay shouldn't take long to write" and then it takes long to write. you'd think I'd learn, but no.

Considering printing my syllabi on yellowing paper with old-timey print and telling my students they are small batch & artisanally produced by a craftswoman who spent years perfecting her trade using nothing but 20th century technology & received wisdom, handed down through generations.

From "bowling alone" to football together. Giving new meaning to "we'll leave the light on for you."

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov · 3w ago

This summer, we kept the lights on all night, every night, at five soccer fields across New York City.

This was the scene at Calvert Vaux Park in Gravesend, Brooklyn Tuesday night.

President Trump used a primetime address to make false claims, threaten news outlets, and release documents that misleadingly suggest Colorado's public voter rolls were "compromised" by China.

Isn't it wild how many incompetent white men are in charge of things? Especially given what a shitty job they do? SO MANY OF THEM IN CHARGE! I don't really have a joke here, it's just they really should have earned some backlash at this point. Parties should be terrified to nominate them!

📣Authoritarians are predictable. They all do the same tired shit. One of their favorite moves? Undermining faith in elections to reduce turnout while laying the groundwork to contest results that don’t go their way. They are sore losers & consummate cheaters. protectdemocracy.org/work/the-aut...

The Authoritarian Playbook - Protect Democracy

Today’s authoritarian playbook is a process that happens piecemeal and is hard to distinguish from normal political jockeying.

protectdemocracy.org

"Verify your age" My first desktop computer arrived in a cow-print box.

Kevin Gannon (now a Moo Deng fan account)@thetattooedprof.bsky.social · 3w ago

"Verify your age" At the first Major League Baseball game I attended I saw a promising rookie named Cal Ripken, Jr.

Trump doesn’t force people to do bad things. All he did was show people they could get away with being horrible if they really wanted to, and a lot of powerful people decided they didn’t need to pretend anymore. Especially those in influential positions who could push back but did not.

I wish more journalists would point out that Sen. McConnell and Rep. Tom Kean (missed 4 months of work) are/were essentially on paid sick & medical leave. The same employment protection they’ve spent their careers blocking other Americans from having.

Remember what killed the aliens in War of the Worlds? I do.

Jenny Cohn@jennycohn.bsky.social · 4w ago

“Meta AI Data Center Linked To Rare Bacteria In City’s [Waste] Water System” 7/9/26

Unironic coverage of an ambitious young woman who rises to fame via a reactionary think tank and book authorship by making fertility the justification for removing women from public life and calls herself..."Mrs. Waters." Zero mention of the Handmaid's Tale parallels? www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/u...

A Conservative Role Model for Ending the Fertility Crisis

nytimes.com

Buck up, US fans. The women’s World Cup is less than a year away.

let this be a lesson to deal with your feelings of gender anxiety and masculine inadequacy with a hobby or therapy or something and not a high stakes senate election

My upcoming book is absolutely packed to the brim with em dashes—more em dashes than any well-adjusted human being could possibly need or want—and if any of you tries to claim they are the result of some soulless LLM rather than my own unhinged compulsion I will fight you.

Sheep Detectives is a real emotional rollercoaster.

I can beat that. We've got 3 generations under 1 (pretty large) roof! The new math of care.

The Wall Street Journal@wsj.com · last mo.

Nearly half of American adults under 30, pinched by the cost of housing, are living with a parent. It can be an adjustment for both. on.wsj.com/4wuboqH

Pets improve people's mental and physical health. They are also expensive. This is sound public policy--not just a feel-good story.

Lea Zengage@leazengage.bsky.social · last mo.

-Notice News 1/ "YES: Mamdani's administration just funded New York City's first-ever pet food pantry program.

The embodiment of a picture being worth a thousand words. Caption: Members of the group Patriot Front ride the metro as a commuter looks on, during the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 4, 2026. REUTERS/Cheney Orr"

I’ve covered Black women and democracy for much of my career. And in my time at The 19th, I’ve kept returning to one idea: The journey to belonging is the unfinished business of our democracy.

See, people always want to make this just about "sports," but the real upshot here is that, 6-3, trans women can't make a claim under the Equal Protection Clause. And if they can't do that, it's hard to see how they have constitutional rights.

Happy election day, Colorado! Strengthening democracy is a year round project for the Colorado State University Democracy Initiative! Follow our YouTube channel for videos & research at the nexus of pop culture and democracy. youtube.com/shorts/-C0Vv...

Sports or music? What environment is better for building community?

YouTube video by Center for Democracy, Art, and Popular Culture

youtube.com

Guaranteed: 1) Black girls will be harassed and demanded to be tested over and over again regardless of how competitive they are. 2) Winners from public schools will be relentlessly hounded by the parents and coaches of losers at private schools, with the goal of making them quit the sport.

Nancy Armour@nrarmour.bsky.social · last mo.

The ban is heinous for what it does to transgender athletes. But if you think cisgender girls and young women won’t be caught up in the fallout, too, you are woefully ignorant

Yep. It's going to pressure girl athletes to conform to traditional standard of "feminine" beauty to avoid intrusive inspections or having to produce documents.

Nancy Armour@nrarmour.bsky.social · last mo.

The ban is heinous for what it does to transgender athletes. But if you think cisgender girls and young women won’t be caught up in the fallout, too, you are woefully ignorant