Shannon McGregor, PhD

Texas once feared a phantom federal occupation. Now Gov. Abbott’s troops are helping carry it out under Trump. And Houston may be next, writes the Houston Chronicle editorial board. bit.ly/48Q3D5C

Danielle Allen fails the Lando test / lives out the Arrested Development meme: "A deal on the core principles in a compact could then become a framework for negotiating on legislation." Come ON. With this administration and this Congress?
therenovator.substack.com/p/why-im-exc...

Tweet from the VP: Joy Reid has had such a good life in this country. It's been overwhelmingly kind and gracious to her. She is far wealthier than most. Yet she oozes with contempt. My honest, non-trolling advice to Joy Reid is that you'd be a much happier person if you showed a little gratitude

Weaponized gratitude is a key tool in the abuser's toolkit. The goal is to convince the victim that they owe the abuser so much, they should feel guilty for wanting to complain.

These people do not get it — much of the public does. This belies not only a self protectionism but also a disconnect from the public.

Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion

Here's the assignment folks. Write op-eds for your local papers and campus newspapers too. Just. Say. No. This is a classic authoritarian move and risks the future of higher education and science and innovation in the US. Speak out today. No time to lose. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...

Not yet! Book workshop this morning, fly back tomorrow morning! But at least here in Illinois, I’ve had edible, even good, food! Plus I’ve been snuggling my friend’s new baby

Bingo

Glad you made it home!

I appreciate the clarity of this statement on Trump's attempt to further strongarm 9 universities, including my employer, from Penn faculty:
"When an invitation is accompanied by consequences for not accepting it, it is in fact a threat, not an invitation." aaup-penn.org/statement-by...

And it's not a one-time capitulation. If DOJ ever says you violated the vague and unconstitutional terms, they will take back ALL federal funds from that year and you have to return ALL private funding from donors who want their gifts back from that year. It's a never-ending protection racket.

It’s a 1️⃣-2️⃣punch: The State of Texas, the Regents, & the President dissolve the Faculty Council. Then Trump offers a compact that will affect academic freedom, curriculum, student recruitment, research priorities, the future of academic programs. Once faculty had a voice in such decisions. No longer.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Took Money Directly From Chinese Investors, Company Insider Testifies The newly unsealed testimony marks the first time direct Chinese investment in the company has been disclosed, raising new questions about foreign ownership interests in one of America’s most importan...

NEW: In newly unsealed testimony, a SpaceX insider revealed that Elon Musk’s company had directly received money from Chinese investors, raising questions about foreign ownership interests in one of the United States’ most important military contractors.

Radical ties get you suspended at #UNC Chapel Hill—unless they’re to the Confederacy, in which case they get you $2.5 million to build a shrine to a secessionist monument.
🤔
#academicsky

For at least the past 15 years, my colleagues in academia have grappled with angry letters to university officials for doing their jobs. They have weathered campaigns for their firing. They have contended with an internet army obsessed with doxxing them, their parents, their kids. I’ve been contacted by the F.B.I. more than once in my career. Not because I hold any important state secrets or know a biker gang but because one of my colleagues has lived with so much sustained harassment from right-wing “activists” that it has become a matter of federal concern. Watch lists (one of which was constructed by Kirk’s organization) do not distinguish between public intellectuals at wealthy enclaves and hoi polloi who teach popular classes at cash-strapped schools. In either case, an army of trained provocateurs stands ready to destroy their lives to prove their bona fides as conservative activists.

This new column by @tressiemcphd.bsky.social makes me think about when I recently had to talk to the police for yet another safety plan, I tried to “lighten” the mood by saying that we all knew this wasn’t my first rodeo. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...

From Kreiss & McGregor (2023): “Normatively, we argue that we cannot sacrifice equality and justice on the altar of social cohesion. Any consideration of the harmful democratic effects of polarization must address the fact that political inequality, especially in the context of White racial supremacy in the United States, has historically had far greater and more lasting de-stabilizing and anti-democratic effects, especially for non-White and non-dominant groups in society (Mulrooney, 2018).”

This is one of my favorite articles, by @dkreiss.bsky.social & @shannimcg.bsky.social, on why “polarization” is the wrong framing of the problem to begin with.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

That’s amazing! I wish more flights — and other public places — did that. I suspect most people don’t know how startling and/or rude it can seem.

“Fuck you, make me” — a fitting response for fascism and a silk press

as far as i can tell, people are having substantive conversations about ezra’s interview with ta-nehisi, but then i’m not thomas chatterton williams, professional dilettante and, apparently, liar

Biggest baby. And liar. No thank you 🙅🏼‍♀️

I mean, this is a user problem — but it’s also a design problem. Unless we’re talking TikTok, ALL sound should be opt in if you don’t have headphones connected. My passion is UX — thank you for coming to my Ted talk

For more on that perspective

bsky.app/profile/shan...

The boomer nana sitting next to me on this flight is scrolling thru her fb with auto-play for reels and the sound up to one million. There’s periods of silence, so each burst of sound is a jump scare. My cortisol is thru the roof. Pray for me

2020: Biden, 51.3% popular vote, 306 EV; Trump, 46.8%, 232 EV
2024: Trump, 49.7% popular vote, 312 EV; Harris, 48.2%, 226 EV

It is quite simply dishonest to describe TPUSA as a “free speech” organization and not even mention the “Professor Watchlist,” as NPR just did. Reporting on a crime does not entail adopting the victim’s views.

it may feel a little like homework, but i genuinely think people should read the lincoln-douglas debates to see what the practical politics of anti-slavery looked like in an environment where the public was neutral to hostile to the question of emancipation

@shannimcg.bsky.social Here's the Congressional District results of Colorado's 2024 Amendment 79, putting abortion rights w/out gestational limits in the state constitution, which got 62% statewide.
It won a majority in *every district*, including Republicans - CDs 3, 4, 5, & 8.

Trump is building a personalist regime where every university must bend the knee or lose funding and every business must bend the knee or face tariffs, H-1B fees, and regulatory blackmail. You can't cover each domain in isolation; they are all the same story.

In 2022, Kansas voters *overwhelmingly* defeated an anti-abortion ballot measure.

Ohio voters passed an abortion rights amendment in 2023.

And Missouri? You guessed it! Voters passed Amendment 3 this past November.

So no, we don't need 'pro-life Democrats' to win.