Dear NYT: I would not rather read this article via your app. Not in a box. Not with a fox. I would not, could not, in a car, in a tree, on a train. I will never want to read your article in an app. Say, I do not like news apps. I wouldn’t, not even in a boat or with a goat.

Among my value-adds to this SAT at UC debate? I calculated the rates of Ds and Fs in every entry-level calculus course at UC Berkeley from 2017 to 2025 to show that while average GPAs stayed THE SAME, the D/F rate jumped by nearly 40% on average (from ~8% to ~11%).

Mikhail Zinshteyn@mzinshteyn.bsky.social · 5d ago

NEW: After University of California dropped the SAT, the student graduation rate went UP! So did the retention rate and first-year GPAs. A faculty report warned those indicators would go DOWN if the SAT went away. BUT! More UC students are failing entry-level calculus. My story probes the issues:

NEW: After University of California dropped the SAT, the student graduation rate went UP! So did the retention rate and first-year GPAs. A faculty report warned those indicators would go DOWN if the SAT went away. BUT! More UC students are failing entry-level calculus. My story probes the issues:

The UC got rid of the SAT in admissions. Some faculty are pushing to bring it back

Students don’t need to take the SAT to get into the UC. Professors say students are coming in unprepared for college-level work and want the test back.

calmatters.org

NEW: After University of California dropped the SAT, the student graduation rate went UP! So did the retention rate and first-year GPAs. A faculty report warned those indicators would go DOWN if the SAT went away. BUT! More UC students are failing entry-level calculus. My story probes the issues:

The UC got rid of the SAT in admissions. Some faculty are pushing to bring it back

Students don’t need to take the SAT to get into the UC. Professors say students are coming in unprepared for college-level work and want the test back.

calmatters.org

California: "ICE leadership has told officers to arrest all illegal immigrants they encounter, regardless of whether an individual has a criminal history." Operation is to last 45 days and appears to have begun in San Diego a few days ago. www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/infra...

ICE to hit California hard before midterm elections: Sources

ICE leadership has told officers to arrest all illegal immigrants they encounter, regardless of whether an individual has a criminal history.

washingtonexaminer.com

WH says Trump was using LA’s and San Diego’s hypothetical annihilation as a reason to bomb Iran. It is either high oil prices or our seeming death. Trump has a history of targeting cities in blood-soaked terms to fit his political narrative du jour. laist.com/news/politic...

White House aide: Trump did not call for attacks on US cities but explained how he's preventing them

Trump’s communications director said on social media Tuesday that the president’s comments about L.A. and San Diego have been misrepresented.

laist.com

Free money for eligible CA families expires soon! Tell a friend!

California families still have time to use $120 per kid to feed them

Tens of millions of dollars in food benefits for California families are about to expire. Here’s how to use the money.

calmatters.org

What Do Authoritarians Do When They Are About to Lose an Election? Trump’s schemes to subvert the midterms have so far failed. What happens next? A reflection on the threat as well as the limits of authoritarian escalation. My new piece:

What Do Authoritarians Do When They Are About to Lose an Election?

Trump’s schemes to subvert the midterms have so far failed. What happens next? A reflection on the threat as well as the limits of authoritarian escalation

steady.page

“The Supreme Court has ruled that the Constitution does not guarantee a painless execution, a decision states such as Tennessee cite to defend their lethal injection protocols. Very well. Then states should stop telling the public that lethal injection is clinical and not cruel.”

Opinion | I Consulted With Christa Pike’s Death Row Team. I Knew This Could Happen.

Lethal injection failures are not glitches; they are features of the process.

nytimes.com

A+ reporting by @jaweedkaleem.bsky.social UC’s motion “marks a significant new chapter in the conflict between the Trump administration and the nation’s preeminent public university system. It is the first time UC has formally asked a court to reject the government’s antisemitism case against it.”

UC asks judge to dismiss DOJ antisemitism suit, calling it 'political coercion'

UC asked a federal judge to throw out the DOJ's Title VI lawsuit accusing UCLA of ignoring antisemitism, calling the case political coercion.

latimes.com

Newsom signed this moments ago from the top of the Golden Gate Bridge with Sen. Wiener, the bond bill author. It was Newsom’s last bill signing as governor of California (barring a special session, maybe?). From his press release:

Mikhail Zinshteyn@mzinshteyn.bsky.social · last mo.

NEW: A California science bond measure to counter the Trump administration’s research cuts is back from the dead after state lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom reached a deal last week to place the $7.5 billion request to voters on the March 2028 ballot. Learn more from me here:

What an odd moment in United States history. A U.S. president is running an overtly political camaign advertisement, right before midterm elections, paid for by the U.S. government. Trump appears to believe he is immune from any kind of legal limit. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/27/u...

A Trump 2024 Campaign Ad Returns, Now Brought to You by the Government (Gift Article)

The ad, which ethics experts said could violate federal law, shows Mr. Trump vowing to “expel the warmongers” from the government and fight the “deep state,” even as he wages a war with Iran.

nytimes.com

Meta's platforms have repeatedly been caught running ads for deepfake "nudify" apps that let you virtually undress real people without their consent, but they won't run an a trailer for an upcoming documentary that reflects poorly on Elon Musk. www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/dig...

The Major Social Media Platforms Are All Rejecting Paid Ads for Alex Gibney’s ‘Musk’ (Exclusive)

YouTube, TikTok and Meta have all turned down the trailer for the Oct. 9 doc, citing “political” content. X won't even take Bleecker Street's calls. The distributor is appealing.

hollywoodreporter.com

You should read this story. I lay out how roughly half of unionized workers at Cal State University are underpaid. And even if you factor in the system's benefits, a third remain underpaid. calmatters.org/education/hi...

Are workers at California State University underpaid? Yes and no

Cal State pay is on par with national averages for similar public universities, but below national averages for about a third of workers.

calmatters.org

“In the 2020 election … almost 90 percent of the people with low racial resentment scores voted for Joe Biden; over 90 percent of those at the higher end of the racial resentment scale supported Donald Trump.“ Point: Racial resentment helps explain Trump’s wins. By @thomaszimmer.bsky.social

The Myth of a Rightward Realignment

Let’s discard some stubborn misconceptions about Trump’s support and what happened in the 2024 election that are obscuring our understanding of a profound de-alignment

steady.page

I even made two charts that visualize this!

Mikhail Zinshteyn@mzinshteyn.bsky.social · 3w ago

You should read this story. I lay out how roughly half of unionized workers at Cal State University are underpaid. And even if you factor in the system's benefits, a third remain underpaid. calmatters.org/education/hi...

You should read this story. I lay out how roughly half of unionized workers at Cal State University are underpaid. And even if you factor in the system's benefits, a third remain underpaid. calmatters.org/education/hi...

Are workers at California State University underpaid? Yes and no

Cal State pay is on par with national averages for similar public universities, but below national averages for about a third of workers.

calmatters.org

Cal State University paid $1.1 million for a 27-page report that said unionized workers at the system make about as much overall as workers in other similar universities, but the same data also shows that nearly half of Cal State workers are underpaid. Meanwhile, unions are furious with the system:

Are workers at California State University underpaid? Yes and no

Cal State pay is on par with national averages for similar public universities, but below national averages for about a third of workers.

calmatters.org

NEW California State University pay data: The findings from a new compensation report show two truths: About a third of workers’ total salary and benefits are below national averages even as unionized staff and faculty compensation is on par with national averages for similar public universities.

Are workers at California State University underpaid? Yes and no

Cal State pay is on par with national averages for similar public universities, but below national averages for about a third of workers.

calmatters.org

His "job is a mostly under the radar, but often indispensable, fixture of California’s urban housing market: He helps people get their building projects approved. "So-called land-use consultants and permit expediters are wayfinders of bureaucracy, sherpas of red tape." By @frombenc.bsky.social

How do you get a housing permit in California? He can hook you up, for a fee

There are some people for whom their whole job is guiding others through California's housing permitting bureaucracy.

calmatters.org

TFW you need to write 1,500 words for story 1 and 800 for story 2 and mindlessly wrote 300 words for one and 200 for the other in 30 min. that magically dropped the stress by 90%.

"More than half of the degrees awarded to Latino students in the state of California are earned right here in the @calstate.bsky.social," said CSU chair Diego Arambula at today's trustees meeting.

Dozens of union members shut down the Cal State trustees meeting after breaking into chants for higher pay. Theystarted their chants during public comment; all the CSU trustees and presidents walked out. “No contract, no peace.” The chants lasted about 10 min. No unlawful assembly was called.

This is $2933 per ejected person. Meanwhile, tax evasion by millionaires and billionaires tops $150 billion a year, IRS chief said in 2024. www.cnbc.com/2024/02/22/t... Trump Officials Eject 750,000 From Obamacare Markets, Claiming Fraud www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/h...

Trump Officials Eject 750,000 From Obamacare Markets, Claiming Fraud

Vice President JD Vance said the measure would save the government $2.2 billion.

nytimes.com

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two laws that determine when community colleges can create bachelor’s degrees and how many they can offer. And though the colleges championed earlier versions of the bills, last-minute changes moved to oppose the laws. Newsom wasn’t persuaded.

California community colleges can offer up to 12 new bachelor's degrees under laws Newsom signed

The laws encourage community colleges to create degree programs that would support local workforce needs.

calmatters.org

BREAKING: In a pivot, Gov. Newsom SIGNS two bills that overhaul how community colleges in CA form new bachelor's degrees. Newsom previously vetoed bills that sought to widen the colleges' ability to offer them. He wanted a more systematic approach. Comm. colleges OPPOSED the two bills. Context:

Why community colleges no longer back this effort to help them offer more bachelor’s degrees

California community colleges initially backed two bills to help them issue more bachelor’s degrees. Last-minute changes killed their support.

calmatters.org

Stephanie Valadez, president of @ucgpc.bsky.social, tells the UC regents that her kids (one beside her here) should be “learning, growing, playing” and not be “in grown-up spaces learning to be silent.” She is referring to UCLA’s decision to close its remaining childcare centers for staff in 2027.

California’s High-Speed Rail Authority paid nearly $600,000 in ***unallowable*** travel reimbursements to outside consultants while keeping a poor record to justify them, a state investigation found. By @bystellayu.bsky.social and @jwilliamsjourno.bsky.social

California’s high-speed rail authority paid for consultants’ trips to a nightclub, bars and gyms

California’s high-speed rail authority spent $600,000 reimbursing outside consultants for questionable trips to gyms, a nightclub, a cigar lounge and more.

calmatters.org

New UC regent @profgalloway.com at his first meeting. He nodded at me as I took this. University of California President James Milliken said “we are grateful for your willingness to serve the university” at Milliken’s opening remarks.

Stephen Schwartzman, CEO of Blackstone, is presenting his views on the future of investment at UC Regents’ investments committee. The media desk has a few copies of his book here.