Ryan LaRochelle

I've read five Louise Penny novels and two Tana French novels this year. So I should probably get a Nobel Prize or something, right?

The New Deal Masterpieces Threatened by Trump’s D.C. Downsizing Your great-grandparents paid Ben Shahn and Philip Guston to create gorgeous public murals. Next year they could be rubble.

This weekend is a good time to catch up on my stories about Trump’s imminent sale and likely destruction of a 1940 government building that one expert calls “the Sistine Chapel of New Deal art.”

Part one:

newrepublic.com/article/2010...

Part two:

newrepublic.com/article/2012...

Opinion: LBJ’s Great Society is being unraveled "Johnson’s ambitious programs generated significant backlash. Ever since the 1970s, Republicans have tried to roll back many elements of his Great Society."

Maine SSN's @rlarochelle.bsky.social argues that the Trump administration is actively unraveling LBJ’s Great Society — cutting back on popular health, education, and social safety net programs built over decades.
Read his full op-ed in the BDN ⬇️
www.bangordailynews.com/2025/09/26/o...

Research shows Question 1 would harm Maine voters | Opinion There's a lot more to the Nov. 4 referendum question than simply presenting identification to vote.

Political science research clearly shows that Question 1 would make voting harder. Why would we want to do that? (gift link) #mepolitics www.pressherald.com?p=7506109&uu...

The Constitutional Foundations of White Supremacy: Evidence from the States Abstract. The United States federal system reserved most powers regarding race and rights to the states, and the states constructed and maintained the lega

Social media luddites Paul Herron and Dan Kryder have a brilliant and bracing new article in Publius about white supremacy in state constitutional development. academic.oup.com/publius/adva...

Director of Eisenhower Library in Kansas ousted after refusing to give Trump administration a sword The director of the presidential library and museum in Abilene, Kansas, said he was suddenly told to resign or be fired. He refused to give the Trump administration a historic

My author, Todd Arrington, was forced to resign as director of the Eisenhower Library and Museum because he wouldn’t give Eisenhower’s personal sword to Trump to use as a gift to King Charles.
www.kake.com/home/directo...

I've been using Christian Miller's book The Character Gap to teach about this in my ethics courses for several years. global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Rather than ignore our difficult past, they conclude with a call for more research: "Scholars’ efforts to unearth, examine, and teach such truths must be celebrated for what they are—a patriotic enterprise that seeks to provide all Americans with a factual, inescapable, and usable past."

The Constitutional Foundations of White Supremacy: Evidence from the States Abstract. The United States federal system reserved most powers regarding race and rights to the states, and the states constructed and maintained the lega

Social media luddites Paul Herron and Dan Kryder have a brilliant and bracing new article in Publius about white supremacy in state constitutional development. academic.oup.com/publius/adva...

Is this the first Dem MC to say this explicitly? That the reason this is the GOP’s shutdown isn’t because they “refuse to negotiate” or whatever but because they in fact have the power at any moment to nuke the filibuster and pass whatever they want to keep the govt operating?

Civil Society Institutions Under Authoritarian Encroachment A broad range of views on democracy to help break the stalemate caused by partisan conflict.

“Authoritarianism succeeds by making dissent costly. When the authoritarian gale sends citizens running for cover, civil society organizations must anchor democratic principles.”

A must-read from my colleague and amazing writer Turkuler Isiksel.

democracyproject.org/posts/civil-...

A fireplace with candles on the mantel.

Playoff baseball and the first fire of the season.

I know Reviewer #2 gets a lot of grief, but based on my latest submission, I’m directing my rage at Reviewer #3.

Censorship campaigns can have a way of backfiring – look no further than the fate of America’s most prolific censor Anthony Comstock’s decades-long censorship campaign ended up turning him into a laughingstock.

My former professor Amy Werbel has a great piece in the Conversation about how censorship campaigns often sow the seeds of their own demise, based on her extensive research on Anthony Comstock's efforts to censor "vice" in the early 20th century. theconversation.com/censorship-c...

If you think about politics in these times as fundamentally about building a new kind of social order, rather than rejiggering institutions or party platforms in order to deliver someone’s more favored policy outcomes, contemporary politics makes a lot more sense.

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Opinion | How Did My Fellow Baristas End Up on the Front Lines of a Culture War?

Cassie Pritchard's notion of "effigy politics" is brilliant: "This is a manifestation of what I call effigy politics. It eschews the work of democracy in favor of highly visible moments of symbolic dominance. It builds nothing. It only burns down."

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/o...

This is maddening but not at all surprising. And we'd be foolish to chalk it all up to cognitive decline/advanced age. He doesn't care about governance!

A bracelet with the letters WWJRD

Teaching Rawls in my ethics class today, which means I get to wear the WWJRD bracelet a student made for me a few years ago after I kept repeating the acronym all semester.

Tough to think of a better line than “something as simple as a crack pipe.”

The true Conservatives would be protecting the Constitution. They would oppose the usurpation of Congress's power, the use of the military in cities, the invocation of fake emergencies, the abuse of tariffs and the pardon, the corruption, etc.

I started listening but stopped after she mentioned Markle the second time. Just…why??

Had a great (and surreal) time speaking to classes at St Mike’s and giving this talk today. Then I got a LinkedIn message from a student I taught at Brandeis in 2016 saying she was thinking about something we read back then. Wonderful reminders all day about the power of educational connections.

I think there is something that is unique to Trump--his own brand of charisma grounded in his (fictitious) personal story--that no one will be able to replicate. Not that our problems end when Trump leaves the stage, but he is a uniquely dangerous actor because of hold over people.

Also, how has it been 15 years since I graduated undergrad?!

A flyer with the title “Courageous Leadership during democratic crises: lessons from William S Cohen.”

Giving a talk about my research on Bill Cohen for the history department at my alma mater today. This projects blends political science and history—my two undergrad majors—to show why leadership matters for democracy. Pretty excited!

Uncivil Democracy How the civil legal system undermines the political lives of marginalized communities

My book w/@profsorelle.bsky.social will be out in January! These ideas have brewed since I interned at Queens Legal Services 20 years ago. The book is for anyone who cares about people, justice, power & democracy. Much more to share more in the coming months!

press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Congrats to you both! Cannot wait to read and assign this!

Pictures of Dr. Rob Glover and Dr. Jordan LaBouff on an orange and yellow background. Maine Scholars Strategy Network logo in corner. 2025 Best Chapter Award in bold black letters at bottom of graphic.

The Maine Scholars Strategy Network has been named the 2025 “Best Chapter” Award winner by the national organization, chosen from 38 chapters nationwide. 🏆

Thanks to all our amazing members who make this work possible! 👏

I figured as much. I just love that his name is in quotation marks!