Susan Strasser

University Of Southern California Layoffs Now Total More Than 900 Since July, the University of Southern California has laid off more than 900 employees, as it attempts to reduce a deficit that exceeded $200 million in Fiscal Year 2025.

I had somehow missed that USC fired more than 900 (!) people

www.forbes.com/sites/michae...

If you ever wondered what GOP gerrymandering looks like in red states with blue cities, I present:

"I am waiting the hour of my public murder with great composure of mind and cheerfulness, feeling the strong assurance that in no other possible way could I be used to so much advantage to the cause of good and of humanity..." John Brown to his family, Nov. 30, 1859
famous-trials.com/johnbrown/61...

CFP: USIH-IU Community Scholars Program | Society for US Intellectual History In partnership with the Institute for American Thought at Indiana University, the Society for U.S. Intellectual History is pleased to announce the continuation of a new opportunity to support continge...

🔔 We’re honored to open a new round in the @susih.bsky.social -IU Community Scholars Program, which unlocks onsite + remote library access for 3 years for contingent scholars + historians working beyond the academy. Please apply + share! CFP due 2/1. Onward! 🗃️ s-usih.org/2025/12/cfp-...

The Culture Wars Came for Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales Is Staying the Course.

I take Wikipedia for granted. Reading this Jimmy Wales interview reminded me in our Fantasyland age what a remarkable and important creation it is. True pillar of civilization. Runs on only $200 million a year. Requires our support. So I’m finally donating. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...

This ain’t your daddy’s Brookings Institute

Yikes.

(next to an images of striking Starbucks employees) NO CONTRACT NO COFFEE BREW CHANGE NoContractNoCoffee.org (No Kings logo)

Starbucks baristas are on strike and the No Kings Alliance stands with them. Don’t shop at Starbucks while workers fight for fair pay, better staffing, and an end to union-busting: nocontractnocoffee.org/#pledge

Green Card Interviews End in Handcuffs for Spouses of U.S. Citizens

I need everybody to read this and understand what’s going on. These are spouses of US citizens in the country legally. They have entry clearance and green cards, they’ve passed background checks and have no criminal records. ICE is taking them anyway.

Gift link:

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...

Spotify is running ads to recruit for the regime’s secret police. Stop paying for or using Spotify until the ICE ads stop: indivisible.org/cancel-spotify?source=bluesky

(next to a crossed out Home Depot logo) “Home Depot has allowed its parking lots to become ground zero for ICE raids on immigrant day laborers, and its billionaire co-founder Bernie Marcus has funneled millions into Trump's campaigns.” (next to a crossed out Target logo) “Target, which once branded itself as the friendly, inclusive big-box store, has now scrapped its DEl goals and scaled back LGBTQ+ offerings to avoid angering the regime.” (next to a crossed out Amazon logo) “Amazon didn't just shower Trump's inauguration with cash -- Jeff Bezos' company pitched facial-recognition tools to ICE and powers the Palantir systems ICE uses to track and deport immigrants, making Amazon a core contractor for the regime's deportation machine.”

It’s the busiest shopping period of the year, so we’re hitting pause on buying from corporations that enable Trump’s fascist agenda: weaintbuyingit.com/?utm_source=bluesky

Telling a reporter ‘quiet, piggy’ was shocking – even for Trump | Margaret Sullivan We’re supposed to be used to this by now, but getting used to it is dangerous. Her colleagues should have spoken up

As usual, @sulliview.bsky.social nails it.

@theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Judge halts Trump’s deployment of national guard in Washington, DC | CNN Politics President Donald Trump and the Defense Department illegally deployed the National Guard in Washington, DC, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

Today, U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb ordered a halt to the president’s unlawful deployment of National Guard troops to D.C.

This ruling provides an important check on presidential power and makes it clear that when we defend D.C., we defend democracy.
https://cnn.it/483j8VW

A two-year LABOR HISTORY postdoc @brownhist.bsky.social and @watsonschoolbrown.bsky.social

Possible foci: migration/displacement/ human trafficking; automation/technology/processes of global integration; or gender/sexuality/politics of reproductive labor

Please apply!

trump with pig nose and ears, text: QUIET PIGGY

there may well be more citizens showing up here in Charlotte to learn how to peacefully resist Trump’s indiscriminate mass deportation effort than federal agents on the ground here, as we saw firsthand last night.

Selling a Defective Dream | Zephyr Teachout How did multilevel marketing schemes come to be legal, let alone so widespread? The answer has to do with how we think of workers and how we think of consumers.

OK, I'm a historian of consumer culture; it stands to reason I'd find this compelling. But I find it compelling as a citizen, too. www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.

It's a surreal--and troubling--read.

drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...

Every month for the last 77 years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has estimated Americans' unemployment rate

This streak dies tomorrow

Govt staff could not survey Americans about whether they're working or looking for work in Oct, the 1st time in 934 months

This blind spot will remain forever

There’s still time to call senators. Let me explain. Sorry not sorry about the cat. He’s also really upset about this deal.

Senators look at Trump's shameless corruption and say "give us some of that"

"We’re done waiting for Dems to find their spine. We can’t afford a weak & cowardly Democratic Party while the authoritarians invade our cities, terrorize our communities, & threaten our democracy. We get the party we demand, & we intend to demand a Democratic Party that fights.” — @indivisible.org

Italian Pasta Is Poised to Disappear From American Grocery Shelves The Trump administration is set to impose duties of 107% on Italian pasta imports, among most punitive of the tariffs it has levied.

Not only is Trump making war on the past, but now he is making war on the pasta.
www.wsj.com/world/europe...

Call them:

Jeanne Shaheen (202) 224-2841
Gary Peters (202) 224-6221
Jon Ossoff 202-224-3521
Mark Kelly (202) 224-2235
Peter Welch 202-224-4242
Tammy Baldwin (202) 224-5653
Elissa Slotkin 202-224-4822
John Fetterman (202) 224-4254
Catherine Cortez Masto (202) 224-3542
Angus King (202) 224-5344

A year on from Trump’s victory, resistance is everywhere | Rebecca Solnit Americans have shown a tremendous amount and variety of opposition – more than some may realize

Cross-posted at the Guardian.

Don’t Stream Fascism: Cancel Spotify

Join our #CancelSpotify boycott until they end the ICE recruiting ads.

indivisible.org/cancel-spotify
Don’t Stream Fascism: Cancel Spotify
indivisible.org

Daniel Biss talks with detained ICE protestor Jennifer Moriarty In this recording from our live conversation, I spoke with Evanston resident Jennifer Moriarty, who was "grabbed by the neck" and then detained while peacefully protesting against ICE.

Mayor of Evanston talks with woman abducted by ICE.
danielbiss.substack.com/p/daniel-bis...

I need to emphasize what I say down-thread: this is a temporary, procedural move known as an administrative stay issued in haste by Justice Jackson.

Little to nothing should be read into this ruling for how SCOTUS might ultimately rule on SNAP—either way.

Last night, the National Guard chased children who were out enjoying Halloween in Navy Yard.

There is no valid reason for armed soldiers to terrorize children like this. End Trump’s occupation of DC. National Guard out NOW.

The Dems who voted to confirm Brooke Rollins:

Baldwin (WI)
Bennet (CO)
Booker (NJ)
Cortez Masto (NV)
Durbin (IL)
Fetterman (PA)
Gallego (AZ)
Hassan (NH)
Heinrich (NM)
Hickenlooper (CO)
Klobuchar (MN)
Ossoff (GA)
Peters (MI)
Rosen (NV)
Schiff (CA)
Shaheen (NH)
Slotkin (MI)
Warnock (GA)
Welch (VT)