Omar Wasow

They’re good, people! Give them some support!

How Slavery Changed the DNA of African Americans Widespread sexual exploitation before the Civil War strongly influenced the genetic make-up of essentially all African Americans alive today.

“Widespread sexual exploitation before the Civil War strongly influenced the genetic make-up of essentially all African Americans alive today.” psmag.com/news/how-sla...

Black Irish Identities: The complex relationship between Irish and African Americans African-American Lenwood Sloan was in his 20s before he learned why his father insisted he is nice to the lone elderly white man that lived at the end of their block. Little was he expecting to discov...

“Thirty-eight percent of African-Americans have some percentage of Irish DNA,” www.irishcentral.com/roots/geneal...

Open-ended responses that illustrate a shift away from racial essentialism among treated respondents. Table 7: Reduced Racial Essentialism “I was actually very surprised, it’s a much larger percentage than I realized. I guess I’ve been raised that white people are much more likely to be Irish.” “I was really surprised. I honestly had no idea and just thought, like me, Irish is basically white.” “I am surprised, as I think of typical Irish Americans to be very white.” “I was surprised - I had no idea. Usually when I think “Irish” I think of very fair skin, red hair, and blue eyes (like my mom)” “I was surprised! The term African American makes me think their lineage would be purely African, but I suppose no one really has ancestry tied to one place and one place only.” “I was surprised as I believed that Irish people were overwhelmingly White. It makes me more course to know about how such a high percentage of African Americans came to have Irish ancestry.” “That is surprising to me. I always picture people with more fair skin being Irish.” “I was surprised, but once I thought about it made sense. Eventually all of us will have a little bit of all ancestries in us.”

Surprise!
www.jasmineenglish.net/uploads/1/4/...

Title page) Title page with centered serif text reading “Close Race: Harnessing Multiracialism to Reduce Racial Prejudice*”. Below is the author name “Jasmine English†” and below that the date “October 31, 2025”, all centered with white background.

Screenshot of the paper’s abstract in serif font. The text explains that multiracial populations are the fastest growing in the U.S., and the paper examines how learning about African Americans with Irish ancestry influences racial attitudes among white Irish Americans. It reports experimental findings showing that such information reduces racial prejudice, especially among Republicans and those with higher baseline prejudice, and suggests multiracialism may reduce perceived racial distance.

Figure 1: Racial Resentment) Coefficient plot titled “Treatment Effects: Racial Resentment.” The x-axis is Coefficient Estimate with a dashed vertical zero line. Four rows correspond to Treat, TreatLinked, TreatClose, and Treat*Important. The interaction terms show larger negative estimates (around −0.05 to −0.18) than in Figure 2, indicating stronger reductions in racial resentment. Model estimates are color-coded and labeled in a legend at bottom left.

Table 7: Reduced Racial Essentialism “I was actually very surprised, it’s a much larger percentage than I realized. I guess I’ve been raised that white people are much more likely to be Irish.” “I was really surprised. I honestly had no idea and just thought, like me, Irish is basically white.” “I am surprised, as I think of typical Irish Americans to be very white.” “I was surprised - I had no idea. Usually when I think “Irish” I think of very fair skin, red hair, and blue eyes (like my mom)” “I was surprised! The term African American makes me think their lineage would be purely African, but I suppose no one really has ancestry tied to one place and one place only.” “I was surprised as I believed that Irish people were overwhelmingly White. It makes me more course to know about how such a high percentage of African Americans came to have Irish ancestry.” “That is surprising to me. I always picture people with more fair skin being Irish.” “I was surprised, but once I thought about it made sense. Eventually all of us will have a little bit of all ancestries in us.” Notes: Open-ended responses that illustrate a shift away from racial essentialism among treated respondents.

“Experimental data from largest online survey of Irish Americans reveal learning about African Americans with Irish ancestry reduces prejudice among white Irish Americans who identify with Irish American identity, and effects are mostly driven by Republicans…” www.jasmineenglish.net/uploads/1/4/...

Testing for racial bias using inconsistent perceptions of race A proposed test for racial bias assesses whether the same person is treated differently when their race is perceived differently.

Clever study assesses “whether same person is treated differently when their race is perceived differently.” Finds “same driver is likelier to be searched or arrested by police when they are perceived as Hispanic than when they are perceived as white.” www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Sorry, article is actually unclear if elevators are optional. My guess is many will still have elevators but you’re right that it’s possible they also mean, NY “walk-up” style apartments where people do mostly take the stairs.

bsky.app/profile/owas...

Interior which is why it’s so costly in terms of space and design constraints.

bsky.app/profile/owas...

You're right to be puzzled. “In New York City, which has allowed modest single-stair buildings up to six stories for its entire history, such buildings are commonplace.” bsky.app/profile/owas...

One California city’s idea to tackle the housing crisis: Take the stairs Culver City becomes first California city to allow six-story apartment buildings with just one staircase, a bold move to ease housing construction and affordability.

A lot of replies seem to struggle with idea of trade-offs: excessive zoning raises costs of housing—often with little return in safety—and increases driving. As @stephenjacobsmith.com notes, “That’s a life and safety risk and it’s one that never gets accounted for in developing building codes.”

Looks more restrictive? “This summer, state lawmakers passed a bill to freeze local building code changes in place for the next six years. The city passed its ordinance before the freeze went into effect, but others exploring the change, including San Jose and San Francisco, didn’t make the cut.”

bsky.app/profile/owas...

bsky.app/profile/owas...

One California city’s idea to tackle the housing crisis: Take the stairs Culver City becomes first California city to allow six-story apartment buildings with just one staircase, a bold move to ease housing construction and affordability.

What’s this about?

“Culver City is the first in CA to join this small club but also likely to be the last—for now. This summer, state lawmakers passed a bill to freeze local building code changes in place for the next six years. The city passed its ordinance before the freeze went into effect…”

“Take the stairs” here is a play on words. They don’t literally mean climb stairs, they mean take away one of two required fire safety staircases. These buildings will still have elevators.

No. It's a standard design in much of the world and parts of US without issue. bsky.app/profile/owas...

Also, see: bsky.app/profile/owas...

One California city’s idea to tackle the housing crisis: Take the stairs Culver City becomes first California city to allow six-story apartment buildings with just one staircase, a bold move to ease housing construction and affordability.

Fire officials oppose the design but a “Pew study pored over residential fire deaths across NYC in 2012-24 and found the fatality rate in single-stair buildings was both low and equal to other residences…likewise no deaths in Seattle over same time period could be blamed on a missing staircase.”

One California city’s idea to tackle the housing crisis: Take the stairs Culver City becomes first California city to allow six-story apartment buildings with just one staircase, a bold move to ease housing construction and affordability.

“But it’s not just a numbers game. Single-stair apartment buildings are vibe enhancers, say supporters. Allowing architects to design apartment buildings that wrap around a central staircase makes it easier for them to include units with windows on multiple sides, meaning more light and more air.”

One California city’s idea to tackle the housing crisis: Take the stairs Culver City becomes first California city to allow six-story apartment buildings with just one staircase, a bold move to ease housing construction and affordability.

“Culver City becomes first California city to allow six-story apartment buildings with just one staircase, a move to ease housing construction and affordability. Single staircases reclaim 7% of space for actual homes while creating wider units with better light—and fitting on smaller urban parcels.”

Washington D.C. Masala

New odd couple buddy film: Crush Hour

Thread

We spent a year investigating billionaires for @washingtonpost.com.

We found: the wealthiest 100 Americans gave $1.1 billion to influence the 2024 elections — 140x more than they did in 2000. And almost all of that giving boosted Republicans.

washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

brief description of my experience and a joke xkcd about selection bias

my hit rate on the job market in 2012 (low)

my hit rate on the job market in 2013 (low, but got a TT job)

my hit rate on the job market as an AP (3/7 offers)

A student recently asked me for academic job market advice and I pulled up a slideshow from a few years ago. I don't think I've shared it, but it might be broadly useful. I think the advice almost entirely holds up.

First part is about my time on the job market
1/3

You say Mamdani is a socialist, then explain to me why he's flaunting his ownership of Donald Trump

“Without 14th Amendment, various figures would not have gained U.S. citizenship…
— “Second lady *Usha Vance*, born to Indian immigrants”
— Marco Rubio, Cuban parents
— Kash Patel, Indian parents
— Mehmet Oz, Turkish parents
— Nikki Haley, Indian parents
www.newsweek.com/donald-trump...

Haven't seen 'em. Will watch. Danke!