Max Coleman

This has been the time eternal argument about new technologies. It’s not the technology. It’s a policy choice. It’s why places like Belgium are reducing their workweek, while American tech gods want us to sleep on pullouts in our offices.

“For decades, meritocratic elites intoned the mantra that those who work hard and play by the rules can rise as far as their talents will take them. They did not notice that for those stuck at the bottom or struggling to stay afloat, [this rhetoric] was less a promise than a taunt.”
—Michael Sandel

—From "The Scholar Denied: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology" by Aldon Morris.

"There is an intriguing, well-kept secret regarding the founding of scientific sociology in America. The first school of scientific sociology in the US was founded by a black professor located in a historically black university in the South. This reality flatly contradicts the accepted wisdom."

Do you know someone who is LGBTQ+ and between the ages of 13 and 24? If so, you can encourage them to participate in The Trevor Project’s 2025 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People:

trevorredcap.trvr.org/surveys/?s=A...

The survey is only open for two more weeks!

“Since the mainstream discourse stipulates that extremism must be ‘fringe’ in these United States, anything that has broad support is reflexively sanitized as not extremism. “

“Russell Vought wanted to go after the sociology departments, but they don’t make much money for the university. So he went after the scientists.” —David Brooks

How very Utahn.

"Ideas come when we do not expect them, and not when we are brooding and searching at our desks. Yet ideas would certainly not come to mind had we not brooded at our desks and searched for answers with passionate devotion."

—Max Weber, "Science as a Vocation"

Supporting public media with our coffee mugs this morning :)

@kuer.org @pbs.org

(with @robrankin.bsky.social)

Weber: "The idea of a calling and the devotion to labor in the calling ... [is] so irrational from the standpoint of purely eudaimonistic self-interest, but [it] has been and still is one of the most characteristic elements of our capitalistic culture."

Texas Tech chancellor limits academic mentions of transgender and nonbinary identities at five universities Advocacy groups say the new state law, presidential executive order and gubernatorial letter Tedd Mitchell cited do not prohibit classroom discussions of particular LGBTQ+ identities.

First they came for the trans kids…

www.texastribune.org/2025/09/26/t...

Charlie Kirk was a divisive far-right podcaster. Why is he being rebranded as a national hero? | Saida Grundy Celebrating a bigoted rage-baiter sends a clear message to people of color, LGBTQ+ folks and women

Those “on the left who stress calls for unity … are reminiscent of the kid-gloved white northerners who sought to rebrand a war fought expressly over human trafficking & bondage into a national moment for celebration of duty, honor and … service on both sides.”

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Weber: “Charismatic authority is indeed one of the great revolutionary powers of history, but in its pure form it has a thoroughly authoritarian and dominating character.”

Just finished uploading my syllabi to our university's new searchable platform, in compliance with Utah House Bill 261.

We've been assured that our academic freedom prohibits any restrictions on our teaching, including our choice of readings.

Watch this space...

Weber: "The extent of the individual servant's 'legitimate' power to command depends on the particular whim of the lord. ... In place of official duty or office discipline, the personal loyalty of the servant prevails within the relational organization of the administrative staff."

Sound familiar?

Max Weber: "The modern judge is a vending machine into which the pleadings are inserted together with the fee and which then disgorges the judgment together with the reasons mechanically derived from the Code."

I find this fascinating, because it’s such a contrast with what politicians focus on. If you looked at political campaigns, you’d think everyone was a farmer, coal miner, or factory worker.

There’s probably a large dose of sexism here, too — none of the jobs politicians talk about are female-coded.

Opinion | Democrats, Your Job Is to Defend Democracy Voters care about the economy. But that’s not all Democrats should talk about.

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com

The Democrats’ priority “now must be to show that the threat of authoritarian rule is real and unfolding every day,” E. J. Dionne Jr. says in his first piece as a contributing writer for Times Opinion. “The economy will always be with us. Our free institutions might not.”

YouTube video by PBS NewsHour Woman wrongfully detained in immigration raid describes what she endured

Everyone should watch this interview with a Latina woman who was detained by ICE.

She is a U.S. citizen. Even if she weren’t, this would be just as horrible. But the willingness to kidnap citizens gives the lie to any claim that this is about legal status. It’s about race.

youtu.be/AmfpngmLIzQ

So heartbreaking.

Let ABC know how you feel about their bowing to the thugs in power and cancelling Jimmy Kimmel's show: support.abc.com/hc/en-us/req...

Nice pull, Carl.

Seriously, read this statement they launched on day one of the administration and see how long you can make it before you feel like you're going insane.

ABC Suspends ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ “Indefinitely” Over Charlie Kirk Comments The network’s decision comes after affiliate group Nexstar said it would pull the late-night show, and the chairman of the FCC suggested he might take action against ABC.

“The decision by Nexstar comes as the broadcast station is seeking FCC approval for its $6.2 billion mega deal to acquire TEGNA, a deal that would make Nexstar by far the largest owner of local TV stations in the country.”

www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/a...

Marx: "Let us suppose, however, that those directly driven out of their jobs by machinery ... find a new occupation. Does any one imagine that it will be as highly paid as that which has been lost? That would contradict all the laws of economics.”

Sounds fascinating — do you have a link? The included one didn’t work for me.

“How you die does not redeem how you lived.”

Pay attention. Something dark might be coming.

The murder of Charlie Kirk could have united Americans to confront political violence. Instead, Trump and his anti-democratic radicals look to be readying a campaign to destroy dissent.

1/ Here's what's happening.

Opinion | Charlie Kirk Didn’t Shy Away From Who He Was. We Shouldn’t Either.

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com

“We can mourn Charlie Kirk. We can send prayers to his friends and family,” writes our columnist Jamelle Bouie. “We can — and should — do all of this and more without pretending he was something, as a public figure, that he was not.”

You can write this only if, by virtue of your income, identity, or both, you are utterly removed from the consequences of politics. To pretend that the racist, misogynistic, anti-gay vileness that Kirk spent his life spreading is secondary to the fact that he spread it "the right way" is appalling.