Alexander Kustov

Screenshot of claude just writing a design no trouble

Writing simulations in DeclareDesign just went from "I should do that, but it's kind of a lot of work" to extremely easy

Migration, But Better: February 2026 1,000+ subscribers, the Alysa Liu argument for immigration, and the first readers' census

February roundup is out:

—How DHS lost to Chase Sapphire Americans in less than 24 hours

—Why Trump's immigration mess isn't about nationalism but botched execution

—90% of Trump voters think controlled immigration can be good

—New papers on enforcement and integration

Yeah, I've been looking forward to reading it--should arrive in a couple of days!

Thrilled to be joining the @scmrjems.bsky.social editorial team as an associate editor!

It's been my favorite academic journal out there, so I'm looking forward to joining such a great group of migration folks, alongside Floris, and contributing from the other side of the submission portal :)

Really important new evidence that American attitudes are much more inclusive than conventional debates suggest, though this support is conditional on policy design. People are more supportive of integration when it includes social support and clear eligibility criteria, which they view as fair.

I wonder how much of the distaste for AI telltale signs is basically a new version of grammar nazi policing: people enforcing status markers through linguistic gatekeeping.

🚨 Please share widely! 🚨

I'm hiring a postdoc (from Aug 1) to help build a new research program on politically sustainable immigration policies at Notre Dame.

Looking for a social scientist with strong quant skills, familiarity with new computational tools, and interest in public-facing research.

The irony is that obsessing over AI tells makes people worse readers and editors. You start pattern-matching for specific constructions instead of asking the only question that matters: does this communicate the useful information the person intended?

Of course, using AI as a mindless shortcut is a problem. But AI can genuinely help you write more clearly, especially if you are a non-native speaker like myself. Assuming you engage with the output instead of just hitting send.

Formulaic writing long predates AI. Nobody was calling you names for writing "let's delve into this more" in 2019. The difference is that this formula marks you as low-status now, and the people most eager to police it are often the same ones who used to correct your grammar at parties.

I wonder how much of the distaste for AI telltale signs is basically a new version of grammar nazi policing: people enforcing status markers through linguistic gatekeeping.

Really important new evidence that American attitudes are much more inclusive than conventional debates suggest, though this support is conditional on policy design. People are more supportive of integration when it includes social support and clear eligibility criteria, which they view as fair.

Come join an amazing academic community as a postdoc with Alex!

The position has good pay, no teaching, and can be renewed for a second year. You'll have time for your own research.

We need your CV, cover letter, writing sample, and two letters. Review begins March 20.

Details & apply here: apply.interfolio.com/182135

🚨 Please share widely! 🚨

I'm hiring a postdoc (from Aug 1) to help build a new research program on politically sustainable immigration policies at Notre Dame.

Looking for a social scientist with strong quant skills, familiarity with new computational tools, and interest in public-facing research.

Acquiescence Bias and Criterion Validity: Problems and Potential Solutions for Agree-Disagree Scales - Political Behavior Political Behavior - Scholars frequently measure dispositions like populism, conspiracism, racism, and sexism by asking survey respondents whether they agree or disagree with statements...

New w/@scottclifford.bsky.social.

Lots of work uses agree-disagree scales, and a lit review shows these are 1) frequently just measured in one direction (agree = higher trait) and 2) correlated with each other.

This has potentially big issues for conclusions.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The Slow Death of American Cool American hegemony rested on cultural reach. That is ending.

people born in america probably don’t realize how cool america used to be. how many random people around the world built their identity around US signifiers. the decline of American cultural hegemony is going to have long term consequences we're only beginning to see. new post

Besides, scholars furious about reviewers uploading manuscripts to AI, but fine with Elsevier paywalling them for $50 so 12 people can read them, have a very interesting definition of "consent."

Weren't we supposed to be using taxpayer money to make publicly funded research actually read and used?

Good catch. I'd still argue though that my point is rather that private individuals and companies may really need immigrants, but not necessarily countries if this distinction makes sense :)

OK, I'll bite. Perhaps it'd be a good thing if AI finally pushes us to move on from an already unworkable system—where universities spend taxpayer money to pay commercial publishers to very slowly produce paywalled PDFs with outdated, p-hacked results of publicly funded research.

I'm still processing the fact that "In what way does an Olympic gold medal in figure skating make America stronger?" is a real comment someone left on my post.

But OK, let's spell it out. First of all, there are obvious things like national prestige, soft power, and cultural pride...

"The academic paper is a dead format walking."

More and more senior researchers are now saying such things out loud, so it's probably worth paying attention after all.

Is it just me or do journalists have some kind of unwritten rule against citing Substack? I've now had multiple experiences where articles clearly draw from my posts but frame it as if they interviewed me personally?!

This is not cool, folks. If you're using someone's published stuff, link it.

More importantly, though, we see an American daughter of a Chinese dissident draped in the flag on the Olympic podium while the authoritarian government that persecuted her father watches. That's basically a recruitment ad for every talented person in the world deciding where to build their life.

I'm still processing the fact that "In what way does an Olympic gold medal in figure skating make America stronger?" is a real comment someone left on my post.

But OK, let's spell it out. First of all, there are obvious things like national prestige, soft power, and cultural pride...

Liberal folks here think MAGA celebrating Alysa Liu is a gotcha. It's actually a concession, and one I'm happy to accept. The US didn't need to take her family in and had no enforceable obligation to do so.

But, as a country smart enough to welcome them, we got an Olympic gold medalist.

‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, i...

Totally appalling way to treat anyone but in this case this woman had not broken any immigration rule at all. And the British consulate were completely and inexcusably useless. Awful and I think deserves some response from the Foreign Office.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Western Countries Do Not "Need" Immigration But it may still be a good idea to have it

That's the whole argument: no country needs immigration, but the countries that choose it wisely end up stronger.

alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/western-co...

Liberal folks here think MAGA celebrating Alysa Liu is a gotcha. It's actually a concession, and one I'm happy to accept. The US didn't need to take her family in and had no enforceable obligation to do so.

But, as a country smart enough to welcome them, we got an Olympic gold medalist.

Popular by Design just hit 1,000 subscribers! Thank you for reading, sharing, and arguing with me in the comments. I started this Substack because I think the immigration debate deserves more honesty and less tribalism, and it turns out at least 1,000 of you agree (or at least enjoy disagreeing).