No surprise I think Paul is mostly right throughout the post, though here I am on social media (even as I find it an incredibly frustrating medium through which to attempt to say anything serious).

Orin Kerr@orinkerr.bsky.social · 5d ago

"Free Should Be the Strong Default Setting for Academics’ Substacks and Other Online Work," an interesting post from Paul Horwitz over at Prawfs. Long post, but the basic idea is in the screenshot. prawfsblawg.com/free-should-...

A lot of law schools wonder how they can create faculty community and encourage faculty gathering in a world where it's so easy to work from home or just work in offices with doors closed. /1

The best part of teaching at two law schools this coming semester is two sets of emails from associate deans.

Came across this just now in an old book. Possibly the last game I went to at Fenway before starting law school. Six entire dollars for a front row bleacher seat.

We’ve recently moved to downtown Milwaukee and I’m here to tell you there’s not much better than an early morning walk through the city on a perfect summer day.

Area Professor Clears Throat As Prelude To Yelling At Cloud

I can only assume these relate to the same thing.

I don't know who needs to hear this, and there's a very good chance you don't either. But it's probably a useful reminder for all of us.

Q. Have I been toting around a napkin from Phillips Exeter Academy since that one time I visited with one of my college roommates? A. Apparently so. Q. Why? A. 🤷‍♂️

Yes, I study courts. But I was also an actor, minor-league pitcher, and NBA player.

Kieran Healy@kjhealy.co · 2mo ago

Today’s gadget, with a nice dose of ordinalization. intheweights.com

I know that in many ways the window on what I imagine as "back to normal" has closed, but I still hope for a "back to normal" that means boring bureaucracies do boring professional comms and not partisan Dear-Leader-worshipping shitposting.

I have posted a revised version of my forthcoming article on “The General Law and the Local Law of Interpretation.” I hope it may be of value to people interested in: (1) the early American history of statutory interpretation, (2) state statutory interpretation (where the action was), and …

On the other hand, what if I enjoy daydreaming about the day, a hundred or so years from now, when, my work finally having received its due, people say of me “the great tragedy is that he died penniless and alone, thinking himself a total failure”?

NERV IRB Coordinator@professormusgrave.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Yes, self promotion sucks, academics, but if you don’t do it nobody will find out about your work. The point is to publish and be read, not publish and hope you are discovered by fate, lifted out of a humble and pure obscurity so that you may be both famous and retiring

I don’t have a strong opinion on multiple clerkships. But I do recall a moment a couple years after my clerkship when I jokingly asked Judge Roth if I could come back. She told me it was time for me to grow up.

Sean Marotta@smmarotta.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This study reinforces my currently held view that the endless adolesence of multiple clerkships is bad for the profession, so it must be very well done. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

As someone who could not find his book on the shelves in the Strand despite the website saying it was there, I tip my cap in honor of this very relatable moment. (Did I ask the staff to help me find my book? Of course not. That would be way too embarrassing.)

Gregory Crosby@monostich.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Finally made it to the poetry section of the Strand Bookstore; I’ve only been imagining this moment for twenty-two years.

As good a day as any to flag this hopeful, timely, and surprisingly enjoyable film for those who haven’t seen it. sliceoflifedoc.com

Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts. [OFFICIAL WEBSITE]

Available to rent/buy May 27, 2025

sliceoflifedoc.com

i have been obsessed with this for years. allowing manufacturers to sell direct to consumers would be good for consumers and also destroying the car dealership would be an existential crisis for republicans

Vituperative Erb@vituperativeerb.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I feel it’s sort of underrated the extent to which a Dem Congress and/or states could (1) absolutely destroy car dealerships as a business, and (2) this would cripple a lot of GOP state and local parties

Interesting read. “Rural” surely captures a wide range of vibes, as do “urban” and “suburban.” The M-S Matrix (see the screenshot) gets at it a bit. The nearest McD’s and Subway were at least 25 miles away from my hometown both when I was a kid and now. More telling, I think … 1/2

What Does ‘Rural’ Even Mean?

Politicians, surveys, and the Census all use the word. Are they all talking about the same thing?

thedispatch.com

Dylan, on life in your 80’s, is incredible. @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/06/14/o...

Battlebots Or maybe, on account of my farm kid heritage, an antique tractor pull. The farmer gene mostly skipped me, but I still find something soothing in the sound of a two-cylinder John Deere straining against a heavy load.

Erik Hane@erikhane.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Okay but What would YOUR totally gratuitous White House lawn event be, if YOU were the mad king of a dying superpower

As someone who grew up conditioned to be scared of cities, I can (still) very much relate to the joy of discovering that American cities are, in fact, amazing. Amen to all of this.

rich traditions@helldude.bsky.social · 2mo ago

seeing the posts about visitors discovering that you can walk around most of our cities and just be yourself in a multicultural setting, discovering tailgating, starting impromptu block parties, my muslim mayor, etc. etc. it's corny to say it but that's our secret sauce. and it means something

We in WI are a bit numb to it by now, but outsiders might still find the tone of the dissents shocking (these are *relatively* restrained). Egregious examples of what Thomas Bennett calls breaking kayfabe. Or maybe they’re examples of a different type of kayfabe, for a different sort of audience.

Breaking Kayfabe

The membership of the Supreme Court affects how it decides cases. This maxim is well accepted among the public. But it is exceedingly rare for Supreme Court opinions to acknowledge this fact, even whe...

scholarship.law.missouri.edu

Bryna Godar@bgodar.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The WI Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal in a second case involving the state's congressional map. This one argues that it is an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. The other case argues the map is an unconstitutional anti-competitive gerrymander. wisconsinexaminer.com/briefs/wisco...

Not a lot of dull moments in Wisconsin state constitutional law these days.

Bryna Godar@bgodar.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The WI Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal in a second case involving the state's congressional map. This one argues that it is an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. The other case argues the map is an unconstitutional anti-competitive gerrymander. wisconsinexaminer.com/briefs/wisco...

Worth another share, because the world needs more people like him.

Chad Oldfather@oldfatherc.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A talk I gave last week got me thinking about my important early role models. One was a lawyer who grew up in a small town on Minnesota's Iron Range, went to Dartmouth and UMN law, then clerked on the DC Circuit before returning to Mpls. This morning I remembered a story he told about himself. 1/x

Just stumbled onto this wonderful piece by @jakecline.bsky.social and how can anybody not love Beth Orton?

ALBUMS OF OUR LIVES: BETH ORTON’S CENTRAL RESERVATION - The Rumpus

A few years ago, a friend was attempting to explain why he was divorcing his wife. He said they had grown apart. That they argued all the time. That she

therumpus.net

Starting to read the “Report on the State of Scholarship …” and idly wondering how much of higher ed’s PR problem is a function of the fact that many/most people don’t understand that “liberal” in “liberal arts” doesn’t mean “politically liberal.” Certainly not everything, but also not nothing.

Shoutout to the very resilient spider who’s lived in my side view mirror for the last month or so. Rain, wind, highway speeds, it’s all just another reason to rebuild a web.

I heard a doctor say “Ebola is a terrible disease because you often catch it while caring for someone you love,” and while you can get sick from caring for those you love, so many of the sicknesses of this moment are the result of people caring only for themselves.

A talk I gave last week got me thinking about my important early role models. One was a lawyer who grew up in a small town on Minnesota's Iron Range, went to Dartmouth and UMN law, then clerked on the DC Circuit before returning to Mpls. This morning I remembered a story he told about himself. 1/x

That the longest way is the most efficient way, The one that looped around islands, and You always seemed to be traveling in a circle. John Ashbery poetryarchive.org/poem/just-wa...