🌶 David Gray Widder

Across the federal government, Germany spent half a billion euros on Microsoft licenses last year. 🤯

That does not include state and local spending. A lot of taxpayer money for (mainly) software equal or inferior to already available open source alternatives...

Warren, allegedly leading a cultural studies program, pretends TT PhD hires *to R1 universities* is some kind of indicator of the health of the program rather than condition of *the historical conjuncture*. Also, I didn't get a R1 job & despite my 'failure' I have 2 books from OUP. He has 1 💅

screenshot of entirely empty monday, entirely full Tuesday weekly calendar

omg same! and I'm excited to see all of the people tomorrow!!!

A rectangular Northwestern University flyer titled “Call for Study Participants.” The top banner is pink with bold black text reading “CALL FOR STUDY PARTICIPANTS.” Below it, highlighted in yellow, is the question: “Are you a journalist writing about technology and/or computing?” The flyer explains that researchers at Northwestern University are seeking professional journalists who cover technology or related topics, write news in English, and are based in the U.S. to participate in an online study. The study involves using a tool for two weeks, providing feedback, and receiving $100 compensation (IRB Study #STU00224608). It includes a yellow box that says “Fill out our eligibility form if you’re interested!” with the link https://tinyurl.com/newscompass and contact emails: Nick Diakopoulos (nad@northwestern.edu) and Sachita Nishal (nishal@u.northwestern.edu). The Northwestern University seal appears in the top-right corner.

📣 Attention science + tech journalists!

Trying to keep up with the flood of research papers that come out every day? Attempting to track what research has already been covered by others, and what may benefit from deeper exploration?

You are invited to participate in our research study!

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Google Search options that say: AI Mode, All, Short video, Shopping

I just realized that Google Search options is a nice “how epistemically cooked are you” scale

Canada’s new AI strategy is off to a bad start | BetaKit Canadians already have low trust in AI. Exclusionary and unclear public engagement methods aren’t helping.

My new article on Canada's recent AI strategy consultation. Lightning-fast engagement, dubious data protection measures, black box analysis, & AI-generated summaries from made-in-USA LLMs are not a winning strategy for building public trust

betakit.com/canadas-new-...

Oh, the paper is here btw: davidwidder.me/cloud.pdf

and I was presenting this at the Association of Law and Political Economy's first conference, quite literally the coolest conference I've been to in a while

AI is not real, it is just data compute labor

Oh, the paper is here btw: davidwidder.me/cloud.pdf

and I was presenting this at the Association of Law and Political Economy's first conference, quite literally the coolest conference I've been to in a while

funny letter, from a frustrated scientist reacting to the University of Michigan seeking to distance itself from the defense industry, 1972. From an ongoing project on UMich's relationship to national security since WWII

I presented @nathanckim.bsky.social and my "How Big Cloud gets Bigger" paper analyzing crunchbase to show how:

*Google/Microsoft/Amazon invest at rates rivaling the largest VCs.*

Big Cloud = Critical Infrastructure *AND* Venture Capital.

here are the slides:

synonyms:
talk art
shock
chocolate
chalk

i donno but i’ve been feel like i am incapable of working on anything that doesn’t end with burn it all down to the ground

"Horseshoe Theory" is the theory that horses need shoes. It's controversial because most animals don't wear shoes.

Prof. McCoul Fired; Sues Texas A&M Over Free Speech FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The AAUP hired a high-powered attorney for Dr. Melissa McCoul after she was attacked then fired for talking about gender in her Texas A&M class.

Union dues protect you and your colleagues - join!

College students deserve to be trusted to have difficult conversations with respect and maturity.

Seth Harp @sethharpesq X.com Ross Douthat @DouthatNYT challenged me to a debate on foreign policy. We recorded a 90-minute segment for his show, Interesting Times, on 1/15/26. But I defeated him so decisively that he refuses to air the footage. What an absolute coward. Today 11:41 AM Hi Is the NYT still planning to publish the interview I did with Ross three weeks ago? Today 1:01 PM Hey Seth, we've been working through the edit and it's looking like we aren't going to be able to make it work. We were kind of pummeled by the news cycle in the last 6 weeks and are going to pivot away from this story. Thanks for the time you put into it and for your expertise. Unbelievable cowardice on Ross's part and a giant waste of my time. I'm going to make it known what actually happened: Ross challenged me to a debate on foreign policy, got crushed, and doesn't have the intellectual or journalistic integrity to air the footage. Delivered

Seth Harp @sethharpesq. •6h Five days after we recorded, an editor of mine asked me how it went. I told her that @DouthatNYT was surprisingly unprepared to defend his point of view, and I suspected even then that they would spike it. From To seth.harp@protonmail.com * T Jan 20 凹 了 介 → It seemed to go just fine from my perspective although it did get a little heated towards the end when we debated foreign policy. I was somewhat surprised that Ross wasn't better prepared defend his point of view. They may still decide to spike it, we'll see. SH Sent with Proton Mail secure email. ••• On Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 at 11:41 AM, wrote: That's great —how did the interview go? {7 54 • 1.3K ill 38K

Seth Harp @sethharpesq. 5h I also told an editor at Harper's, on 1/30/26, that I suspected the NYT would spike the interview rather than publish video of me dog-walking @DouthatNYT and making a mockery of his defense of US regime-change wars ... Friday 12:35 PM It's been more than 2 weeks since I was interviewed for Ross Douthat's show. I murdered him in our debate over foreign policy and was genuinely surprised that he wasn't better prepared to defend his point of view. Now I'm concerned that he will spike the episode. Do you have a sense of how far ahead they usually record? Also I really hope I get to hear this My sense was that it was about a week Suspicious 4 17 44 • 1K thl 32K 贝 企 Seth Harp @sethharpesq. •5h Ross @DouthatNYT was unprepared to take on a subject matter expert, floundered around, and became irritable and sarcastic towards the end. But spiking the episode is ten times worse for his journalistic credibility than simply losing a debate, which happens to us all.

Seth Harp @sethharpesq. 5h ... Ross @DouthatNYT's producer blames their decision to spike our foreign policy debate on the crazy news cycle. But the last three episodes they've aired have been on Roe v. Wade, Covid-19, and young men's church attendance. OPINION Interesting Latest Feb. 5, 2026 Interesting Times with Ross Douthat The first draft of our future. Mapping the new world order through interviews and conversations. Every Thursday, from New York Times Opinion. Q Search Why Ending Roe Wasn't Enough for the Pro-Life Movement Activists won the legal battle. Are they losing the culture war? By ROSS DOUTHAT Jan. 29.2026 A Plan to Restore Trust in Science From a 'Fringe Epidemiologist' Jay Bhattacharya, the N.I.H. director, says authorities broke the public's trust in the Covid era. Now it's up to outsiders to restore it. By ROSS DOUTHAT and SOPHIA ALVAREZ BOYD Jan. 22,2026 No, Young Men Are Not Returning to Church All the religious trends you're wrong about. By ROSS DOUTHAT and ANDREA BETANZOS 18 17 75 1.5K ill 38K Seth Harp @sethharpesq. 1h I'm hearing that prominent guests are cancelling scheduled appearances on @DouthatNYT's show due to his lack of journalistic integrity. Why would you spend hours, days, or weeks prepping for an interview when you know the show is rigged to ensure that you don't show up the host? 3 223 ill 4.4K 贝

👀 Apparently, Ross Douthat invited Seth Harp to debate him on Douthat's "Interesting Times" NYT podcast. Harp says that the episode was recorded, Douthat got crushed, and RD/NYT decided not to publish it.

What? x.com/sethharpesq/...

(what world am I living in?)

What is the proper academic etiquette for letting a colleague know that the name of their chair turned up in the Epistein files

PhD admissions visits/open houses are starting to happen, and I got a comment on an old Reddit post where I was offering advice, and realized that it's actually really good advice. So here it is! (And this applies whether you've already been admitted to the program or not.) 🧵

✨I’m on the academic job market ✨

I’m a PhD candidate at @hcii.cmu.edu studying tech, labor, and resistance 👩🏻‍💻💪🏽💥

I research how workers and communities contest harmful sociotechnical systems and shape alternative futures through everyday resistance and collective action

More info: cella.io

Google Maps Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

hah, I wish you were too! you're one short 5 hr train ride away…  www.google.com/maps/dir/Phi...

I'm particularly excited to discuss how to make Big Tech smaller, how to interrupt the AI->war pipeline, and make fun of lawyers (the boring kind).

a screencap of the LPE logo - white text on background of crowd of people from above with a few umbrellas

Howdy! If you're attending the Law and Political Economy Conference in Richmond VA this week, drink with us at the reception and then:

‼️ 📣 join us for the bluesky of ALPE group dinner at 6:30pm on Friday, leaving from the reception to a nearby restaurant. All welcome 📣‼️

tag your ALPE friends, if you feel so inclined :) @annmlipton.bsky.social @lucastosborne.bsky.social @kendraserra.bsky.social

I'm particularly excited to discuss how to make Big Tech smaller, how to interrupt the AI->war pipeline, and make fun of lawyers (the boring kind).

a screencap of the LPE logo - white text on background of crowd of people from above with a few umbrellas

Howdy! If you're attending the Law and Political Economy Conference in Richmond VA this week, drink with us at the reception and then:

‼️ 📣 join us for the bluesky of ALPE group dinner at 6:30pm on Friday, leaving from the reception to a nearby restaurant. All welcome 📣‼️

okay. what time would work for you for dinner then? Is it a 7:30 dinner after the reception thing, or is it a skip the reception halfway for dinner thing?