My piece today in the NYT Sunday Review:

The New York Times@nytimes.com · 4mo ago

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com “We are the first college class of the A.I. era — ChatGPT arrived on campus about two months after we did,” writes Theo Baker, a graduating senior at Stanford. “For all of us, A.I. has permanently changed how we think and behave.”

My debut HOW TO RULE THE WORLD (out 5/19) is on the @nytimes.com books to read this month list! "His book is a scorching portrait of a university infiltrated by venture capital and tech firms and a dweebocracy that 'sets the agenda for the planet.'" www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/b...

26 Books Coming in May

nytimes.com

Thank you @anneapplebaum.bsky.social! So excited to share this excerpt of HOW TO RULE THE WORLD (out 5/19) with everyone.

Anne Applebaum@anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 5mo ago

Appalling story, beautifully written. On the Stanford students being courted by billionaires. From Theo Baker www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

The teens identified as future trillion-dollar startup founders live in a hush-hush world. VCs pay for exclusive clubs like "No Filter" and perks including "pre-idea funding." There's even a secret class: "How to Rule the World." My book (out 5/19) excerpted in @theatlantic.com. (Link below)

The news is out! HOW TO RULE THE WORLD will be published by Penguin Press on 5/19—about 3 weeks before my graduation. From slush funds to yacht parties to fraud, the book captures Silicon Valley’s training ground as never seen before. Meet the kids learning to rule the world.

“Admired and envied, lionized and attacked, Dr. Baltimore spent most of his life in the scientific limelight, a towering figure of modern biology.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/s...

David Baltimore, Nobel-Winning Molecular Biologist, Dies at 87

nytimes.com

Hard to think of a Stanford figure considered more beloved… Andrew Luck “learned there were no shortcuts in turning around a program that was 1-11 when he committed and 11-2 when he left.” Now he has to do it again. www.nytimes.com/athletic/654...

Pain took football away from Andrew Luck; what brought him back to Stanford?

Luck walked out on one locker room that needed him. He wasn't ready to walk away from another.

nytimes.com

The Stanford Daily and @thefireorg.bsky.social have filed a lawsuit alleging the Trump administration's actions have unconstitutionally chilled free speech. www.thefire.org/research-lea...

Complaint - Stanford Daily Publishing Corporation et al. v. Rubio et al.

FIRE sues to challenge unconstitutional provisions Secretary of State Marco Rubio uses to deport legal immigrants over their speech

thefire.org

The Trump administration opened four investigations into George Mason University, targeting its president over diversity programs. The faculty senate put out a statement in his defense, reaffirming, "Diversity is our strength." Now the DOJ is investigating them, too.

Stanford has joined an amicus brief in support of Harvard, emphasizing the importance of university research.

Essential and utterly damning reporting from Anna Yang in The Stanford Daily today. "A student reported her rapist to the University. Two years later, the perpetrator was suspended." This case is harrowing and the process at Stanford remains incredibly broken. stanforddaily.com/2025/05/20/s...

Stanford's Title IX office took two years to suspend rapist

Amid a 20-month Title IX process, the reporting student navigated trauma, reviewed hundreds of pages of documents and lost access to educational opportunities.

stanforddaily.com

Everyone is Cheating Their Way Through College. This article is 1000% accurate to my experience of Stanford. Since Gen Z is already the least media literate generation by several metrics, I do think the fear of reduced critical thinking is quite real. nymag.com/intelligence...

Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College

ChatGPT has unraveled the entire academic project.

nymag.com

The Internet, far from the utopian ideal technologists envisioned, is really, truly the ultimate cesspool. Yay humanity! Example 80000000: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/n...

‘I Have Cancer,’ the TikTok Star Said. Then Came the Torrent of Hate.

Sydney Towle’s videos have drawn an enormous audience on TikTok, where her followers praise and support her. On Reddit, an army of skeptics was determined to paint her as a fraud.

nytimes.com

Stanford is a notable holdout from this statement condemning Trump’s “political interference” and “overreach.” The letter was signed by the presidents of more than 185 universities, including peers like Princeton, Yale, MIT, UPenn, etc. www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-c...

In the rush to publish, something may have been overlooked...

Trump—in exploiting his power to force opponents to bend to his will or be effectively barred from practicing law in federal court—claims the firms “have affirmed their strong commitment to ending the Weaponization of the Justice System and the Legal Profession.”

Theo Baker@tab-delete.bsky.social · last yr.

More top law firms, including #1 Kirkland Ellis ($7.2bn in revenue last year) and #2 Latham Watkins ($5.6bn in revenue), have caved to Trump demands. Trump has now extracted nearly $1bn from law firms, blackmailing some for effectively no reason apart from the fact that he can.

More top law firms, including #1 Kirkland Ellis ($7.2bn in revenue last year) and #2 Latham Watkins ($5.6bn in revenue), have caved to Trump demands. Trump has now extracted nearly $1bn from law firms, blackmailing some for effectively no reason apart from the fact that he can.

On his first day as NIH Director, Stanford prof Jay Bhattacharya oversees an immense bloodletting. This comes as last month alone the NIH canceled 700+ grants, began eliminating thousands of staff, scrapped its scientific integrity policy, etc. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

‘One of the darkest days’: NIH purges agency leadership amid mass layoffs

In shock move, four institute directors at the US biomedical agency are removed from their posts.

nature.com

Reich, a veteran of the sport, became the first NFL head coach since 1970 to be fired in *two* back-to-back seasons—first from the Colts in 2022, and then from the Panthers in 2023 after a 1-10 start to the season.

Theo Baker@tab-delete.bsky.social · last yr.

Stanford has hired Andrew Luck’s former coach, Frank Reich, as interim head football coach in the wake of Troy Taylor’s firing. With the team already underwater (3-9 the last two years), and several players entering the draft portal this week, Reich’s year may not be fun.

Stanford has hired Andrew Luck’s former coach, Frank Reich, as interim head football coach in the wake of Troy Taylor’s firing. With the team already underwater (3-9 the last two years), and several players entering the draft portal this week, Reich’s year may not be fun.

Post-WWII, the US public-private-university partnership has been one of our great strengths. Now it's under threat. "Research has found that every $1 invested in r&d returns about $5 in economic gains, a figure that likely understates the true return." www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/b...

Trump Science Funding Cuts May Hurt Economy, Experts Say

Since World War II, U.S. research funding has led to discoveries that fueled economic gains. Now cutbacks are seen as putting that legacy in jeopardy.

nytimes.com

Stanford’s head football coach was found to have engaged in “inappropriate, discriminatory” ways in TWO separate investigations into his “hostile and aggressive behavior.” He remains on the job. www.espn.com/college-foot...

Reports: Stanford coach bullied athletics staff

Troy Taylor remains on the job. In a statement released by Stanford, he said he had received counseling on "how I interact with others."

espn.com

So I was on a flight into DCA tonight when we had to abruptly abort our landing because, the captain said, another smaller, slower craft had been routed directly in our path. Flight logs show we were just 200 feet above the ground.

Earlier today the LA Times had AI-generated counterpoints to a column from @gustavoarellano.bsky.social. His piece argued that Anaheim, the city he grew up in, should not forget its KKK past. The AI "well, actually"-ed the KKK. It has since been taken off the piece. www.latimes.com/california/s...

Notable: Stanford follows MIT in adopting a hiring freeze for nonfaculty employees, further emphasizing the uncertainty major universities are facing at the moment.

Under Muir, Stanford won dozens of national championships...BUT he also oversaw - a disastrous attempt to cut 11 sports - the Varsity Blues scandal (he was implicated but denies participation) - failure on NIL - AND catastrophe with Stanford cut out of conference realignment

Larry Diamond is arguably the world’s foremost expert on democracy and one of the most well-respected members of the Stanford faculty. Larry is not prone to hysterics; here he brings a sober (and damning) analysis of the state of American democracy. www.persuasion.community/p/the-crisis...

The Crisis of Democracy Is Here

And it’s going to get a lot worse.

persuasion.community

In 2023, I wrote an @nytimes.com essay about how journals, institutions, scientists, and journalists have been slow to confront research integrity. With everything now, I want to reshare it. Honest investigation can’t fall by the wayside even as bad-faith actors attack. It has to be the opposite.

In an editorial this week, Science editor-in-chief @holdenthorp.bsky.social urges transparency in the face of increasing outside pressure. “As difficult and scary as it is to talk to tough reporters and critics, the alternative can be far worse,” writes Thorp. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Breaking the silence

Research on science communication has largely focused on teaching scientists how to describe their studies in ways that interest the public while deepening their understanding of scientific exploratio...

science.org

A sober and much-needed piece from Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus. Science is in for a real reckoning and those who have been working tirelessly to improve, correct, and defend the integrity of this field—people like Adam and Ivan—understand the risks best. www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

The Scientific Literature Can’t Save You Now

You can cite peer-reviewed research in support of almost any claim, no matter how absurd.

theatlantic.com