Sharing this new Foreign Policy essay from @arturochang.bsky.social, featuring arguments from his new @princetonupress.bsky.social book, A New World of Revolutions.

Arturo Chang@arturochang.bsky.social · 4d ago

Thanks for the book feature, Foreign Policy! In this essay I analyze the Trump administration's recent appeals to the Monroe Doctrine and how they've moved away from its intended political vision. foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/31/t...

I get several of these every week.

Sarah J. Jackson@sjjphd.bsky.social · 2w ago

Since A Second Sight came out I've received about 2-3 of these scam emails a week. They are not only profoundly annoying but obviously prey on author's passions and attachment to their work. In some cases they impersonate real people at legit organizations.

This is my lane. I went through the 194 Trump v Barbara opinion from yesterday section by section, noting what they got right about US migration and citizenship history, and what the dissents get wrong. Please share if you think it is helpful to others.

I Read Trump v Barbara So You Don’t Have To — Anna O. Law

As someone who took 16 years to research and write a new book, Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship , a policy and legal history, I paid keen attention to the oral arguments (April 1) ...

annaolaw.com

Pumped to share this latest Virtual Sentiments episode with @lkatfield.bsky.social perfectly timed for Independence Day weekend (and her Best Book Award win from APSA’s American Political Thought section!) Available wherever you prefer to listen to podcasts! open.substack.com/pub/kristenc...

Virtual Sentiments Podcast: Laura Field on the Making of the MAGA New Right

A perfect pairing for your Independence Day weekend road trips

open.substack.com

Happy Canada Day to all who celebrate!

Does anyone have access to this book review? muse.jhu.edu/pub/420/arti...

Tomorrow is the official publication day for Thomas Paine: Collected Writings, in 6 volumes, from Princeton University Press. Just in time for the 250th...

Great news for trillionaires concerned about tyrannical limits on their free speech, I guess?

Supreme Court Lifts Spending Limits on Political Parties and Candidates

nytimes.com

Does anyone have access to this book review? muse.jhu.edu/pub/420/arti...

What would Plato make of a trillionaire? New @nytopinion.nytimes.com op-ed by Stone Center affiliate @laywilliams.bsky.social explores trillion-dollar fortunes through Plato’s ideas and modern inequality metrics, asking how we make sense of wealth at this scale. Read the article below👇

New York Times Opinion@nytopinion.nytimes.com · 2mo ago

Of all the numbers David Lay Williams has seen about Elon Musk’s new status as a trillionaire, “the one that struck me most forcefully was a calculation in The Times that Mr. Musk’s net worth is five million times as large as that of the average American family,” he writes.

@laywilliams.bsky.social, author of The Greatest of All Plagues, talks Elon Musk, Plato's Laws, and modern economic inequality in his guest essay for @nytimes.com. Read the full piece here:

Elon Musk Confirms AncientConcerns About the Superrich

Ever since Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire, people have been trying to grasp the scale of his incomprehensible fortune.

nytimes.com

New essay on meritocracy, part of an outstanding collection of essays on meritocracy, edited by @durlauf.bsky.social and James Robinson in the The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science based on conference at @ucstonecenter.bsky.social. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

This is why you don't elect billionaires to be president, I submit.

George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸@gtconway.bsky.social · last mo.

"No one gives a shit about housing." Only ballrooms.

Musk says not a single person has died due to him axing USAID. Sadly, part of my job involves tracking aid spending. So here’s a thread with just some of the people who lost their lives because of USAID cuts

Extremely pleased the @nytimes.com saw fit to print my little essay contextualizing Musk's trillionaire status with the well-considered advice of Plato, capping wealth at four times that of the poorest citizen.

Opinion | Elon Musk Confirms Ancient Concerns About the Superrich

nytimes.com

Delighted to share my guest essay from this morning's @nytimes.com opinion section. And kudos to the Times for their excellent artwork!

New York Times Opinion@nytopinion.nytimes.com · 2mo ago

Of all the numbers David Lay Williams has seen about Elon Musk’s new status as a trillionaire, “the one that struck me most forcefully was a calculation in The Times that Mr. Musk’s net worth is five million times as large as that of the average American family,” he writes.

Here's what I have to say about Elon Musk becoming a trillionaire: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Is it bad that Elon Musk has a trillion dollars? Yes, and here’s why | Ingrid Robeyns

Just as the ‘poverty line’ determines what’s required for basic living, we need a ‘wealth line’ to show when extreme wealth becomes harmful, says economist and philosopher Ingrid Robeyns

theguardian.com

Excellent piece from @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social on recent developments in inequality.

Is it bad that Elon Musk has a trillion dollars? Yes, and here’s why | Ingrid Robeyns

Just as the ‘poverty line’ determines what’s required for basic living, we need a ‘wealth line’ to show when extreme wealth becomes harmful, says economist and philosopher Ingrid Robeyns

theguardian.com

Excellent piece from @kaliholloway.bsky.social on the experience of American inequality today.

Americans are reaching a financial breaking point

The majority of Americans are actively stressed about money. The rich have never been richer. No wonder we’re so mad.

washingtonpost.com

Essays like this are why I began subscribing to the New Yorker decades ago. And while Habermas may have failed in his quest to save reason from darker forces, it was a worthy and necessary fight.

Jürgen Habermas Defended Reason in a Darkening Age

The great German philosopher, who died in March, understood how much depended on a principled public sphere.

newyorker.com

Be sure to check out @gorenlj.bsky.social's new book interview with @unlawfulentries.bsky.social!

Very good @newyorker.com piece by Jay Caspian Kang, mostly a string of reflections from professors on the effects of AI on higher learning. While some hit optimistic notes, most of this is very grim. We aren't addressing any of this seriously, for what it's worth. www.newyorker.com/news/fault-l...

Nice (and rare!) tenure-track job at the University of Wisconsin--Madison for theorists specializing in American Political Thought. One of my favorite towns!

Assistant Professor of Political Science - Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.Job Category:FacultyEmployment Type:Regula...

jobs.wisc.edu

Excellent new piece on inequality from @kaliholloway.bsky.social in @thenation.com. (You’ll find me cited a few times.)

Americans Are Reaching a Financial Breaking Point

The majority of Americans are actively stressed about money. The rich have never been richer. No wonder we’re so mad.

thenation.com

Just for the record, Plato thought wise lawgivers would prohibit the richest citizens from acquiring more than four times the amount of property held by the poorest ones.

David Lay Williams@laywilliams.bsky.social · 2mo ago

When I published my book less than two years ago, naturally, I cited Musk's wealth -- then at $200 billion -- as an astonishing fact. Today it has exceeded $1 trillion. Two years.

New (and thoughtful!) review of The Greatest of All Plagues by James Harris (St. Andrews) in the Journal of Modern History.

The Greatest of All Plagues: How Economic Inequality Shaped Political Thought from Plato to Marx. By David Lay Williams. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2024. Pp. xviii+404. $35.00 (cloth o...

journals.uchicago.edu

When I published my book less than two years ago, naturally, I cited Musk's wealth -- then at $200 billion -- as an astonishing fact. Today it has exceeded $1 trillion. Two years.

The New York Times@nytimes.com · 2mo ago

Breaking News: Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire as SpaceX shares soared above $150 on its first day of trading.

If SBF's petition for a presidential pardon is granted, this would really neatly wrap up a saga about how deeply corrupting inequality is. Mike McLendon and I wrote about this a while back. We may be compelled to write more soon.

CNN@cnn.com · 2mo ago

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former crypto billionaire who orchestrated one of the largest financial frauds in history, officially asked President Donald Trump for a pardon, according to the Justice Department’s website. https://cnn.it/4xlBMnS