Robby Murphy

If I had to sum up what I’ve learned from analyzing mountains of election data—and what Mamdani’s campaign exemplified perfectly—it’s this:

Stop moderating. Start energizing.

Very proud @cuny.edu and my beloved alma mater @reed.edu are prominently featured (though of course signing a letter only scratches the surface of what institutions should do to protect students)

The last words of 23-year old journalist Hassan Shabbat. A haunting call to action

If you’re at CUNY, check out the Grad Center’s political science student conference in the department lounge 3/28! I’ll be presenting in the American Politics section (as an undercover Sociologist)

Israel has launched a new ground invasion into Gaza after breaking ceasefire Israel's military launched a new ground offensive in Gaza, sending troops into areas they retreated from during a two-month ceasefire. This comes a day after airstrikes killed more than 400 people.

www.npr.org/2025/03/19/n...

Spread the word! The organizers select a smaller (but not too small!) of a group which is great for more sustained interaction

Gaza is being heavily bombed. All Eyes On Palestine. @thegingarab

It is being reported that hundreds have been killed and injured. People targeted in their homes, tents, and displacement centers, which are being bombed at this very moment in Gaza. WAKE UP!

Fav place to get work done

The issue isn’t free speech *per se* — one has to consider the degree to which the speech reflects the priorities of those in power versus opposition to injustice, hegemonic vs. anti-hegemonic speech. The frames we adopt in our movements and micro-interactions matter a lot for material outcomes.

The institutional Democratic Party is guided by an almost pathological level of conflict avoidance in almost every direction. “What can we do to make the least number of people mad?” is just a bankrupt way to operate.

Data request: Does anyone know of any campaign contribution data available through relatively recently (at least ~2018) that aggregates spending by donor sector or industry? I am trying to use finance aggregates for robustness checks and have searched far and wide, but can’t find anything. Thanks!

A graphic designer has joined the inequality group I coordinate at @stone-lis.bsky.social and I’m very happy about it:

The Age of Unpredictable and Precarious Work, featuring Jake Rosenfeld and Daniel Schneider Podcast Episode · The Inequality Podcast · 03/10/2025 · 1h 6m

The Inequality Podcast from @ucstonecenter.bsky.social has become my go-to sociology listen. In the most recent episode, @gtwodtke.bsky.social interviews @jakerosenfeld.bsky.social and Daniel Schneider about precarious work.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

the-inequality-podcast.captivate.fm

BREAKING: DHS Detains Palestinian Student from Columbia Encampment, Advocates Say Agents told him his student visa was revoked. But he had a green card. Agents then said that was revoked too.

Breaking: ICE arrests a Palestinian student at Columbia, Mahmoud Khalil, whose wife is 8 months pregnant. They revoked his student visa and his green card.

BOYCOTT COLUMBIA. WRITE & Demand answers.

This is fucking sickening.

zeteo.com/p/breaking-d...

New York Times, 2003

The Democratic Party is not “broken”; it has long been a party out of touch with most voters, over-representing the interests of (certain types of) elites. There’s no “saving” a party embedded in interlocking unequal systems.

Come check out the “Replicating Inequalities” session at #ESS2025! At 2pm this Saturday, I’ll be presenting “Business, Finance, and the Politics of US Income Concentration.” #EasternSociologicalSociety

A poster for the economic blackout on February 28. It is a big red Jack rabbit on an aqua blue back ground. It says economic blackout in hand done black type. There are two black speech bubbles. One says “don’t buy stuff Friday February 28th. The other says we have power. Below it says No Amazon, Walmart, target, gas food, gas. Below that it says OK small business, use cash. Designed by Martha Rich.

I made this the other night while procrastinating, mainly because I thought all the posts about the blackout were boring. It feels like there is momentum bringing people together!

A new McCarthy era is upon us. Stupid, depressing, and dangerous as ever. I wonder whose name will carry the dunce cap in the history books. Too many are complicit. I’ll need to find upset and action, but for now I’m feeling grief at the dehumanization inherent to all this.

Educators Sue to Challenge Trump Administration's Efforts to Weaponize Civil Rights Laws, Attack Educational Programs and Student Opportunities - Democracy Forward

The ASA, American Federation of Teachers @AFT, and AFT-Maryland, facilitated by @DemocracyForward, have filed a complaint today in federal court in Maryland challenging the “Dear Colleague Letter” published by the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

Wealth gap 2022 (it’s gotten worse)

There is no way for for “democracy” to function in a world that looks like this

No surprises here!

Love this recent short segment from @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social gives an accessible class-race analysis contextualizing the recent dismantling of DEI (also recommend reading “elite capture” if you haven’t).

Steve Bannon is out here doing a Nazi salute and nodding to an applauding audience after Elon did it and it is honestly chilling how white supremacy here, like in the Germany they’re mimicking, has taken all these forms over the centuries but will not die.

Scatterplot titled “Empirical Evidence of Ideological Targeting in Federal Layoffs: Agencies seen as liberal are significantly more likely to face DOGE layoffs.” • The x-axis represents Perceived Ideological Leaning of federal agencies, ranging from -2 (Most Liberal) to +2 (Most Conservative), based on survey responses from over 1,500 federal executives. • The y-axis shows Agency Size (Number of Staff) on a logarithmic scale from 1,000 to 1,000,000. Each point represents a federal agency: • Red dots indicate agencies that experienced DOGE layoffs. • Gray dots indicate agencies with no layoffs. Key Observations: • Liberal-leaning agencies (left side of the plot) are disproportionately represented among red dots, indicating higher layoff rates. • Notable targeted agencies include: • HHS (Health & Human Services) • EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) • NIH (National Institutes of Health) • CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) • Dept. of Education • USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) • The National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE), despite its conservative leaning (+1 on the scale), is an exception among targeted agencies. • A notable outlier: the Department of Veterans Affairs (moderately conservative) also faced layoffs despite its size. Takeaway: The figure visually demonstrates that DOGE layoffs disproportionately targeted liberal-leaning agencies, supporting claims of ideological bias. The pattern reveals that layoffs were not driven by agency size or budget alone but were strongly associated with perceived ideology. Source: Richardson, Clinton, & Lewis (2018). Elite Perceptions of Agency Ideology and Workforce Skill. The Journal of Politics, 80(1).

The DOGE firings have nothing to do with “efficiency” or “cutting waste.” They’re a direct push to weaken federal agencies perceived as liberal. This was evident from the start, and now the data confirms it: targeted agencies overwhelmingly those seen as more left-leaning. 🧵⬇️

…and the always-inspiring mayoral candidate @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social

@aoc.bsky.social today in NYC for the #SaveOurServices Day of Action. But it’s about more than public services, about more than one oligarch, one party, the current moment. Systemoverhauls are needed. Get organized. Already organized? Get more organized @demsocialists.bsky.social @socialists.nyc