Christopher Petsko

After a brief, injury-induced hiatus from libraries, I’m pleased to report that I am BACK IN THE MIX.

Hello from the reading room of DuPont Circle’s Masonic Temple! 👋

Corporation for Public Broadcasting says it's shutting down The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funnels federal money to public media stations, says it's winding down operations after President Trump signed a law rescinding all funding.

"CPB informed employees that the majority of staff positions will be eliminated with the close of the fiscal year on September 30, 2025."

www.npr.org/2025/08/01/n...

Trump removes official overseeing jobs data after dismal employment report President Donald Trump on Friday had his team remove the head of the agency that produces the monthly jobs figures, after a weak report showed hiring slowed and was much weaker in April and May than p...

Look, it's like I always tell my students. If you don't like the data, just fire the person who told you about them!

Bada bing, bada boom.

apnews.com/article/trum...

A D.O.J. Whistleblower Speaks Out The Daily · Episode

I can’t imagine the courage it takes to be whistleblower, but I’m so grateful for those working to shed light on government corruption.

If you want a credible snapshot of what’s happening in the DOJ right now, I highly recommend listening to this interview.

open.spotify.com/episode/3eO0...

UNC Board of Governors Demands New DEI Compliance Committees The campus-level committees will scrutinize whether schools have complied with policies targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

Oh goodness.

The UNC Board of Governors is now requiring every campus to form “compliance committees” to audit whether hiring, training, and departmental practices are sufficiently ideologically neutral.

www.theassemblync.com/education/hi...

On Data and Democracy (Mid-Year Roundup): Charting the Assault on American Democracy and A Path Forward A narrative of a democracy in the balance, told through 29 data visualizations.

Been a busy year in the data mines.📊 Just published my mid-year roundup: 29 data visualizations on the state of US democracy, tracking everything from judicial resistance to billionaire influence to why Dems have a mobilization crisis, not a moderation problem.

All charts free to use:

I’m so grateful for this life. ❤️

❤️❤️❤️

It’s official!

Thanks to my lovely colleagues, I now hold an adjunct faculty appointment in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience on top of my primary academic appointment in the Kenan-Flagler Business School.

It feels good to get to be a bridge between departments. 🩵

Day 136 request(s):

Please (1) oppose the nomination of Emile Bove, who openly encouraged members of the justice department to break the law, and (2) stop the Trump admin from engaging in unlawful deportation practices.

Day 135 request(s):

Please (1) oppose the nomination of Emile Bove, and (2) demand that the government bring back (and provide a real day in court) to anyone deported without due process.

Day 134 request(s):

Please (1) oppose the nomination of Emile Bove as a federal judge; (2) restore funding for weather forecasting; and (3) demand that the government return anyone who’s been unlawfully deported.

Day 133 request(s):

Please call upon the Trump administration to facilitate the return of anyone who’s been unlawfully deported to El Salvador.

Day 132 request:

Please oppose the nomination of Emile Bove as a federal judge.

DOJ Records Back Claim That Trump Judicial Nominee Urged Court Defiance Read more here.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee released a trove of documents Thursday that back up a whistleblower’s claim that Emil Bove, a senior Department of Justice (DOJ) official, crudely told subordinates to defy court orders. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Elizabeth Page-Gould recognized with Career Trajectory Award from the Society for Experimental Social Psychology The Society for Experimental Social Psychology has recognized Elizabeth Page-Gould with a Career Trajectory Award in recognition of uniquely creative and influential scholarly productivity.

She is far too un-self-promoting to do this herself, so I'm shouting out *THE* Elizabeth Page-Gould (@page-gould.bsky.social) for winning the SESP Career Trajectory Award!

Liz is the reason they had to invent the high-warmth/high competence quadrant. She is such a gem and so damn deserving of this.

Day 131 request(s):

Please (1) demand that the government afford due process to anyone who’s been unlawfully deported, (2) oppose the nomination of Emile Bove as a federal judge, and (3) restore funding for weather forecasting.

Day 130 request(s):

Please (1) oppose the nomination of Emile Bove as a federal judge, and (2) call upon the government to facilitate the return of anyone who’s been unlawfully deported from the United States.

Day 129 request:

Please oppose the nomination of Emil Bove as a federal judge.

The people who lost children and other loved ones in the Texas floods are owed honest answers from officials. They should be told why flash flood warnings issued hours earlier were not conveyed to people in the path of the water. They don’t need more prayers from politicians. They need answers.

Day 128 request:

Please vote against the spending bill in its current form. We shouldn’t be cutting services for the poorest Americans all so we can afford extended tax cuts to the exorbitantly wealthy.

Also, raising the debt limit by 5 trillion is insane.

Day 127 request:

Please vote against the One Big Beautiful Bill.

Why being a parent could give your career a boost A new study found a "parenthood boost" — a tendency to evaluate people with children more favorably than their childfree peers, regardless of gender.

This is so exciting!

Last week a journalist from Business Insider interviewed me about a recent publication of mine—and the article officially came out today!

www.businessinsider.com/parents-pote...

Day 126 request(s):

Please (1) take a stand against the one big beautiful bill act, which will cut taxes for the wealthy and take away healthcare from millions, and (2) oppose the nomination of Emil Bove as a federal judge.

Day 125 request(s):

Please (1) vote against any bill that cuts Medicaid, (2) oppose the nomination of Emil Bove, and (3) call upon the Trump administration to return anyone who’s been unlawfully deported.

^^ Even if this causal chain is just in my imagination, it’s motivating!

I plan to keep calling my senators about issues I care about, and I hope others consider joining me.

I obviously don’t think *my calls* specifically changed his mind, haha. But it’s possible that my calls made a collective voice a little louder, and that this collective voice, in turn, helped shape his thinking.

Tillis becomes third GOP senator to oppose Trump’ s big, beautiful bill North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis (R) announced after a meeting with Senate GOP leaders and colleagues Saturday afternoon that he will vote “no” on both the motion to proceed and final passage of the…

I’ve called Thom Tillis just about every day for the last month to ask him to oppose this bill—and it looks like he’s officially taking a stand against it and the damage it would cause to North Carolinians!

thehill.com/homenews/sen...

Day 124 request(s):

Please (1) oppose the nomination of Emile Bove, (2) refrain from increasing taxes on university endowments, and (3) publicly condemn Donald Trump’s attempts to undermine the constitution (e.g., rights to birthright citizenship).

Day 123 request(s):

Please (1) do not sign any bill that cuts Medicaid, Medicare, or food stamps, (2) oppose the nomination of Emile Bove to become a federal judge, and (3) bring back and afford due process to anyone who was deported to El Salvador without it.