Burcu Baykurt

Who loses from the Anthropic fight? Maybe Elon Musk and Alex Karp. Arbitrary state power can cut in many directions

"... the specifics of the relationship between Anthropic and the Department of Defense... highlight more general contradictions in the Trump coalition between executive-authority enthusiasts and Silicon Valley oligarch-wannabes" -- @himself.bsky.social

www.programmablemutter.com/p/who-loses-...

UNC-CH Will ‘Scrap’ New Recording Policy, Chancellor Says The move comes less than three weeks after the controversial rules were enacted.

Congrats to @ncaaup.bsky.social & all who fought against this surveillance policy that would've allowed admin to hijack microphones in the classroom for secret recordings.

This move would've chilled classroom discussion & suppressed students' willingness to ask questions & take intellectual risks.

The new Ellison-controlled media combine will check the boxes for all three types of capture: capitalistic, oligarchic, and authoritarian.
lpeproject.org/blog/the-ame...

Cass Sunstein was pushing prediction markets as a fairer alternative to deliberation (e.g. committees, juries) back in 2008. (This and "nudging" in lieu of policy.) The quant asshole revolution of the Obama era laid the groundwork for the gambling, scams, and bullshit vibes paradigm of today.

The goal *is* the wasteland-ification of much of MENA so that Israel and the Emirates can rule over rubble.

What the genocide in Gaza reinforced is that there are no "civilians" when it comes to Israel and the United States. The rest of the world learned the same lesson and the consequences are going to be felt across the world.

BREAKING — 51 Iranian children are dead after a strike hits Minab girls elementary school in Iran.

Justice Department Sues University of California Over Antisemitism

Well, the DOJ has done it: they have filed a lawsuit against the University of California over antisemitism.

The complaint contains some falsehoods. But as someone who teaches and writes about Title VII, I'm equally struck by what the complaint doesn't say.

A few thoughts— 🧵

I'll be speaking at the New Civic Terrains Speaker Series at Northeastern on Feb 26th and give a preview of my forthcoming book, Smart as a City. If you're in the Boston area and interested, please join! It's open to the public. www.eventbrite.com/e/new-civic-...

Screenshot of article which reads: To defeat an authoritarian project, people — in courts, legislatures, the military, business, civil society, and the mass public — must choose to fight rather than collaborate in democratic decline or ignore it altogether. These different social groupings make decisions for diverse, often contradictory, reasons. But I think the government’s success at building and maintaining a democratic facade is one of the most important factors, simply because many people genuinely care about preserving democracy.

There's an evidence-based reason I call authoritarianism authoritarianism. But also, I do it because it's reality and I'm not playing this epistemology of ignorance game.

".... governments helped create the AI market. They do not need to accept whatever model that market offers. The real question is whether public institutions will exercise their leverage — insisting on affordability, auditability, and measurable public value..."

Just did this -- super easy -- you can do it too!

I'm getting too old for the rollercoaster cycles of dread and excitement that come with writing up new projects.

Subscription’s entanglements Scholars cite subscription paywalls and recurring fees as evidence of a wider political-economic shift from commodification to assetization by digital enclosure, but the mechanics of the subscripti...

Now available in Latest Articles
@bricolageyumyum.bsky.social interrogates 'subscription', a taken-for-granted economic bedrock of digital capitalism
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Taking page from Adams, Mayor Mamdani proposes NYC library cuts Library advocates called the mayor’s proposed budget “terrible.”

Don't appreciate the most prominent socialist mayor in the country's spokesperson using the phrase "achieving efficiencies and cutting waste" when it comes to THE PUBLIC LIBRARIES that his budget did not even fund sufficiently to keep up with inflation.
gothamist.com/news/taking-...

I assume there’s a Harper’s letter about this on the way?

Looking forward to this talk next week at Northeastern. Join us if you’re in Boston! I’ll be sharing parts of my forthcoming book, Smart as a City, which is coming out in May and is open for pre-orders www.ucpress.edu/books/smart-...

thank you, Aaron!!

Looking forward to this talk next week at Northeastern. Join us if you’re in Boston! I’ll be sharing parts of my forthcoming book, Smart as a City, which is coming out in May and is open for pre-orders www.ucpress.edu/books/smart-...

Tan colored square with red and brown text on top that reads “We need the NYC council to stabilize and properly fund NYC public libraries in the city budget” and then in smaller text below there is text that reads “send your council person a letter today!” With arrows pointing to a website located at “bit.ly/nyccouncil2026”

City Council will negotiate and approve this budget, and NYC PLAN is working to convince each and every member that our public libraries deserve more.

Join us in calling our council members to demand 0.5% funding for libraries & hold the mayor accountable to his word:

nycplan.org/actions/call...

Libraries Are for Everyone: Invest in Libraries New York City's public libraries offer vital support to all, regardless of background, income, birthplace, or beliefs.

This funding increase to 0.5% is a core demand of NYC PLAN - one which has been amplified by our library systems to help ensure that every branch has the staffing and resources to provide robust services to their communities.

Help us get NYC libraries the raise they deserve

investinlibraries.org

Image showing Mayor Mamdani looking frustrated, with a text overlaid that reads “NYC Public Library Action Network” at the top, and in large bold letters text that reads “Mayor Mamdani did not honor his commitment to allocate 0.5% of the city expense budget to NYC public libraries in his preliminary budget” and then in smaller font below, there is text that reads “visit NYCPLAN.ORG for more information”

While a candidate, @mayor.nyc.gov pledged to commit 0.5% of the city’s budget to public libraries.

Unfortunately, Mayor Mamdani has broken this promise in his preliminary FY27 budget, released yesterday, where he allocated 0.39% to libraries.

This amount is well below the promised 0.5%

I received over 90% of the votes at the department and college levels, yet the provost denied me tenure. I met and exceeded the promotion and tenure guidelines and expectations as well as my annual and mid-tenure reviews.

UMass Amherst likely violated suspended student’s First Amendment rights, Massachusetts judge rules Boston Herald

UMass Amherst likely violated suspended student’s First Amendment rights, Massachusetts judge rules #news
https://www.bostonherald.com/2026/02/16/umass-amherst-likely-violated-suspended-students-first-amendment-rights-massachusetts-judge-rules/

Liner Note 47. Did The Atlantic’s Anti-Woke Bias Spoil its Analysis of Humanities Funding Death? East Village on October 31, 2022    Looks like it.     There’s some good stuff in Tyler Austin Harper’s  Atlantic  article,  “The Multibil...

“The real issue with the humanities’ national leadership isn’t that they politicize scholarship, but that they don’t fight openly and systematically to fund a great deal more of it.” @cnewf.bsky.social on the recent Atlantic piece on Mellon utotherescue.blogspot.com/2026/02/line...

New York folks! I’m launching my book at @ipk.bsky.social next month, in conversation with the wonderful @paulachak.bsky.social and @reecepeck.bsky.social.

I hope you can join us!

ipk.nyu.edu/events/book-...

❗❗ PALANTIR IS SUING US❗❗ Because of our reporting on the #SwissPalantirFiles.

More specifically, #Palantir is suing #RepublikMagazine, with whom we (@adfichter.bsky.social, Lorenz Naegeli, Jennifer Steiner,Balz Oertli & me) published our major investigation in collab with #WAVRecherchekollektiv

Mexico is setting up free vaccination stations against measles, and I am encouraging all my friends and relatives under 49 to get one. In the US, I know it's more complicated, but I got an MMR shot in the fall because my doctor tested me and I had no antibodies. I'm 36!