Pavel Bačovský, PhD

👇👇👇

And here's the link, if you need it

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

At last, my JEPS paper has been awarded a full citation. Here it is (APSA style):

Bačovský, Pavel. 2025. “Level Up! Priming Hobbyist Political Identity Using Survey Experiment.” Journal of Experimental Political Science 12(3): 237–53. doi: 10.1017/XPS.2024.9.

Statement on the Academic Freedom and Independence of U.S. Institutions of Higher Education The American Political Science Association (APSA) is deeply concerned by recent attacks on the independence of colleges and universities in the United States. Over the past few weeks, there have been instances of hundreds of millions of dollars of federal grants and contracts for colleges and universities being cancelled or suspended, paired with promises of reinstating funding in return for compliance with a list of demands for institutional overhaul.

Statement on the Academic Freedom and Independence of U.S. Institutions of Higher Education

The American Political Science Association (APSA) is deeply concerned by recent attacks on the independence of colleges and universities in the United States. Over the past few weeks, there have been…

This feels like the defining image from this year’s Midwest Political Science Association annual meeting.

The National Science Foundatipn paid for a booth in the exhibit hall. But the booth sits empty, because NSF has been DOGE’d, and there is no one left to send.

Oh, and if you want to talk to me about this, I will be presenting a paper this afternoon at #MPSA2025!

Nintendo Delays Switch 2 Pre-Order Date in the U.S. to Assess Impact of Trump's Tariffs - IGN Nintendo has taken the unprecedented decision to delay Switch 2 pre-orders, blaming the impact of Trump's tariff war and "evolving market conditions."

My research suggests that seeing coverage like this will impact hobbyists' interest in politics. My previous work was done on mostly hypothetical statements. This will likely have a more profound impact.

I don't often toot my own horn, but I didn't realize that my paper will become so immediately relevant. With the tariffs firmly in place, I wonder how the US hobbyists will react to the price of their pastimes getting noticeably higher.

My paper is now on FirstView. It's bittersweet to see my work recognized just as the world burns around us.

Still, please read and share widely!

Are you an early-stage game designer looking to scale and launch? Want to level up? Apply to be part of our newest program, the @gdfl.bsky.social
#NYUTandonMade https://buff.ly/3DkwAcl

YouTube video by MegaLag Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam

If you still have Honey (and possibly other similar coupon app), now's a REALLY good time to kick it to the curb.

youtu.be/vc4yL3YTwWk?...

Media is media-ing again.

Blaming video games, music, or media offers simple answers but ignores deeper systemic issues like inequality, mental health, and violence. It's lazy, unsupported by evidence, and distracts from real solutions that require accountability and change. #moralpanic

I love the idea of mixing a metal music festival and a nerdy convention.

These preteen go-kart drivers are spending millions for a shot at F1 racing Parents are spending millions on karting for their kids, hoping it will eventually catapult them into F1 racing. It’s a mad, mad world. And we go inside.

“The sport is now unrecognizable. The surge in interest in Formula One has transformed karting into a kind of oligarchy. It is now crowded with the sons and daughters of multimillionaires (and actual oligarchs) who crisscross Europe every weekend for mini-Grand Prix.” Gift link: wapo.st/3ZwvQYZ

Interesting read. I really hope that projects like F1Academy, Mission44, Dare to Be Different, and the Formula E's efforts will increase diversity in the pinnacle of motorsport.

I have seen a boom in new followers from PSCI circles in the past 24 hours, suggesting that my name made it to some kind of a starter pack. Welcome, new followers! I am still finding my way back to social media, so sorry if I'm a bit slow in posting.

It's the end of the semester. Hopefully, no students will make me tap the sign.

Why we need F**k You Optimism. 🧵

The world is on fire – sometimes literally, sometimes metaphorically. Every day we wake up to headlines that feel like dystopian plot points: climate collapse, political rot, algorithmic overlords harvesting our attention for profit.

The man who helped roll back abortion rights now wants to "crush liberal dominance" Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society helped overturn abortion rights. He spoke to Morning Edition about his plans to disrupt Hollywood, Silicon Valley and other perceived centers of liberal thinking through the Teneo Network.

This shouldn't surprise us. However, given the conservative movement's track record of building parallel institutions (e.g., conservative law schools), folks shouldn't dismiss this effort as wacky.

www.npr.org/2024/11/24/n...

Very interesting read and a great insight into how leisure/entertainment and politics interact.

I hope federally funded scientists are preparing for large scale, bad faith attacks by Musk and his troll army.

It’s pretty clear the DOGE operation is going to take snippets of grant proposals and papers, present them out of context, and direct weaponized harassment of individual people.

im honestly happy to know that neurosurgery on saturn is almost identical to here - always a little nervous on those long trips where i have to pay out of pocket already

A multi-colored chart of the 5 major techniques of science denial -- the acronym is FLICC -- or Fake experts, Logical fallacies, Impossible expectations, Cherry Picking, and Conspiracy theories. Please consult the whole handbook for more detail: https://skepticalscience.com/debunking-handbook-2020-downloads-translations.html

Science denial has been gaining ground in public discourse for quite a while now.

econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1027/...

There's even a handbook.

skepticalscience.com/debunking-ha...

The key authors are @johnfocook.bsky.social and @lewan.bsky.social

Side-note: As a habitual TCG (mainly Magic) fan, I enjoy pretending that any time I "open" a Bluesky starter pack, I am adding valuable cards to my growing collection of voices.

Starter packs (and their blocking counterparts) are, in my opinion, the real "killer app" that any platform that aims to compete with the former bird site needs. Making it easy for folks to recreate and curate their network is clutch

Three cheers for "random" calls to secondary. I had this happen to me the first time I was flying back to the US to begin my PhD at CU-Boulder and it was so damn scary. I also expect these to start mounting when the new admin takes over in January.

A lot of folks are giving up in advance. Capitulating before a single skirmish.

Well, not this old warrior. I’ve seen much worse from the U.S. government in my day. I’m concerned for our country, but not a bit scared of these miscreants. I’m ready to do my part.

Who’s with me?

Yep, this place is really resembling the academic twitter circa 2019. I think I'll like it here.

August 21, 1968. Never forget.

I am not following the Missouri Senate race too closely, but Lucas Kunce, the Democratic candidate, is interviewing in front of Magic the Gathering card sheets. That certainly caught my attention.

Games/Hobbies and Politics strike again!

#polisky, if you see other examples, please let me know.