Lida Maxwell

State mulls end-of-course tests, but officials insist they won’t be another high-stakes graduation exam - The Boston Globe State officials said the recommendations are not final and the tests would not necessarily be high stakes.

Infuriating. MA voters said we don’t want a standardized test to determine whether students graduate, and now they want more standardized tests? Do we need some kind of constitutional amendment banning high stakes standardized testing, to prevent this chicanery? www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/16/m...

"Lia Smith was a student-athlete, but she wasn’t allowed to participate this year because of a hostile government and the cowardice of the NCAA. Two years ago, Lia was a talented young swimmer at Middlebury; now, her name is almost entirely absent from the college’s athletics website..."

Why Is Trump Autocracy Rising? These Dems Have an Unnerving Answer. A new Biden administration autopsy, based on internal assessments from many government insiders, has crystal clear lessons for the future.

newrepublic.com/article/2023...

Why Is Trump Autocracy Rising? These Dems Have an Unnerving Answer. A new Biden administration autopsy, based on internal assessments from many government insiders, has crystal clear lessons for the future.

newrepublic.com/article/2023...

Deva Woodly's work on the BLM movement @devawo.bsky.social, Erin Piñeda's work on the civil rights movement @erinrpineda.bsky.social. There's just a whole lot out there.

Wendy Brown's work, like in _Undoing the Demos_, is very accessible. My students always resonate with her.

And my latest book, which is weirdly being bought by ordinary people, also has a pretty accessible view of how we can do democracy in a time of climate change. If you look at women doing democratic theory, instead of men doing political philosophy, there's a lot out there!

I think @astra.bsky.social 's book, _Democracy May Not Exist But We'll Miss It When It's Gone_, does a great job bringing together the view of democracy that I think is most important for ordinary people

lol Ben

Political theorists have lots of explanations for this

Trump pardons convicted Binance founder Zhao, White House says U.S. President Donald Trump has pardoned convicted Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, a White House official said on Thursday.

Trump pardons convicted Binance founder Zhao, White House says reut.rs/49eixmn

I got completely off Blackboard this year for my big intro class. The students seem to be okay.

square concrete slab on the ground with “OLD DYKES AGAINST TECH BROS” stenciled onto it

here is my favorite sign from today

Facing federal pressure, Fenway Health halts gender-affirming care for patients under 19 Facing federal pressure, the Boston clinic's decision has prompted backlash from LGBTQ+ community members.

Fenway Health, founded to give queer people the health care they were denied elsewhere, ceases offering gender affirming care for minors.
www.boston.com/news/local-n...

Them: I used ChapGPT to find a dinner recipe.

Me: Oh, wow, so you like poisoning black neighborhoods so you can cook… *lowers reading glasses*…a roast chicken that’s still too dry. Wow.

Very straightforwardly detained by secret police for speech. I honestly don't know what establishment figures are telling themselves any more to avoid cognitive dissonance over this shit.

That’s $5 billion more than the entire annual USAID budget. All to one country. To rescue one friend of the president’s.

Trump Administration Authorizes Covert C.I.A. Action in Venezuela

I thought Trump wanted to stop US military action abroad and keep American resources in America; but instead they are interfering like crazy: bailing out right wing Argentinian government, and trying to do regime change in Venezuela...very Nixon/Reagan/Bush
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...

I used to live in Roger’s Park ❤️

BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador.

Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.

This is the whole thing right here. All these tired fights about whether Dems should moderate are ways of dancing around the real problem, which is the that political parties no longer have any mass constituency.

A top 50 US university yesterday fired an instructor, a department chair, and a dean because a course made some reference to transgender people without the brief official course description in the catalog saying “trigger warning: gender.”

In conclusion, those intolerant lefty kids, cancel culture.

Lisa Cook Says She Will Not Step Down From the Fed Board

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/u...

Last week, Boston received a letter from AG Bondi threatening to prosecute officials and withhold funds unless we cooperate with carrying out mass deportations.

The US Attorney General asked for a response by today, so here it is: stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures.

Exactly right; we need a plan and strategy to build it back *better*.

Not fleeing: New report shows more wealthy residents in Mass., 2 years into 'millionaire's tax' Despite previous concerns, Massachusetts' "millionaire's tax" hasn't seemed to deter high-earners from continuing to live here, according to a new study from the Institute for Policy Studies.

MA put in a 4% millionaires tax 2 years ago, & the GOP said we'd miss revenue targets & millionaires would flee. MA collected TWICE the projected revenues, & the number of millionaires went UP 40%.
www.wbur.org/news/2025/04...

Faculty Support of George Mason’s President Draws Federal Investigation

“When the Department of Justice recently opened an investigation into George Mason University…. Professors quickly published a resolution supporting their president and the university’s efforts around diversity. Now, Justice Department officials say they will investigate the faculty, too”

Looking for a good love story this weekend? Vox’s This is Love did a beautiful podcast on my work on Carson and Freeman’s relationship…https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-is-love/id1337100398?i=1000716218534

Excited to have this piece on Carson and Freeman up in lithub ❤️