Bijoyetri Samaddar

In these dark times, let’s remember the heroes! @aapor.bsky.social

USAID is shutting its doors today--marking the end of democracy, diplomacy, and decency all in one fell swoop.

The Supermom Myth | On Wisconsin UW professor Jessica Calarco argues for strengthening the social safety net to give stressed-out caregivers a break.

This piece on
@jessicacalarco.bsky.social's book outlines her journey in the archives, in the nursery, and in the labor of caregiving that she navigates as an academic. Very inspiring for those of us who work on institutions and feminist policy analysis!
onwisconsin.uwalumni.com/the-supermom...

Re-reading Aristophanes’ Lysistrata for the social commentary.

The #AirIndia crash is a test of #Boeing 's systemic risk profile. Collings et al. showed how contagion from the 737 MAX affected airline equities. It may not be an outlier, but evidence of cross-model volatility transmission.
Risk moves through markets, trust and memory.

📄 doi.org/10.1016/j.ir...

Yep, that’s the one!

I need to clean my house because it’s beginning to resemble a pig sty…but @alexhanna.bsky.social’s book just arrived.

To read or not to read (right away), that IS the question!

“By lending his Harvard credentials to Aporia, Pinker contributes to the normalisation and spread of dangerous, discredited ideas.”

🧵🪡

#RankedChoiceVoting #Arrow #Sen #Condorcet #CausalInference #MeasurementMatters #BollywoodDemocracy #AcademicSatire #ZohranMamdani #NYC #Mayor #DemocraticParty #DemocraticSocialists

🧵🪡

So, that brings me to my larger question — does mathematical elegance correlate with social change? My mentor thinks it’s unclear (look at Chicago economics, he said).
I, ever the sociologist, offered: “Maybe it’s not a linear relationship then.”

What do you think?

🧵🪡

Naturally, this led us to Condorcet, whose own voting method tries to identify the candidate who would win in every one-on-one matchup. He died in prison during the French Revolution.

🧵🪡
I shared it with a longtime academic mentor, who immediately brought up Arrow’s impossibility theorem and Sen’s liberal paradox. Both show that any voting system trying to balance fairness, consistency, and individual freedom will, eventually, break. Ranked Choice Voting isn’t exempt.

@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social’s Bollywood-style campaign ad and explainer on Ranked Choice Voting has been making the rounds in South Asian WhatsApp groups bringing joy for its affectionate nod to an iconic SRK film (one of my go-to comfort watches when the world feels especially bleak).