Matthew Sheffield

Listening now and really great. Wanted to pause and comment here. They're pondering a distinction between scientific method and literary method as means for getting at truth. This is kind of an old schism between science and humanities, and while real, it also converges in many ways. One is 1/7

A inspiring hour talking to Matthew about the end of (20th century) economics and the start of (21st century) philosophy. Among other things.

In an age of fictionalized reality, we need literary criticism more than ever Author and critic Virginia Heffernan on how hermeneutics took over everything

I recorded a great Theory of Change episode with @virginiaheffernan.bsky.social about how we need literary criticism more than ever during a time in which so many people believe in fictionalized reality plus.flux.community/p/in-an-age-...

They don’t care if you call them hypocrites.

They don’t care if you call them racist.

They have no principles, other than obtaining and maintaining power.

If democrats keep imagining this will go away if they do nothing until the next election, there will be a permanent MAGA regime.

Epstein and the Swanky Leftist Compromise We get to the bottom of it.

The great political scientist Judith Shklar proposed that liberals must oppose an ultimate evil: cruelty.

Jeffrey Epstein is a good name for cruelty. He's a formidable common enemy. He puts the rest of us on the same side.

virginiaheffernan.substack.com/p/epstein-an...

Project 2025 leader urges state Republicans to seize control of blue cities like Austin and Nashville In address to ALEC conference, Heritage Foundation makes a mockery of right-wing pretenses of favoring local governance

After powering DOGE behind the scenes, Project 2025 has a new plan: Seizing control over blue cities in red states by revoking their charters

With each accommodation this administration makes for Ghislaine Maxwell, it retraumatizes the victims and minimizes the harm she caused. And we're supposed to believe that these are the people who are super concerned with pedophelia and sex trafficking? Are MAGA supporters still buying this shit?

Non-Indians who engage in cafeteria Hinduism often have so many other awful beliefs.

He certainly was. Never wrote anything that took any effort.

Strong beliefs in "one weird tricks" and the desire to offer them are right wing.

The real answers take time and care for others and oneself. Not a quick fix.

But nonetheless, it's true that there isn't enough normal lifestyle content for straight men.

Project 2025 leader urges state Republicans to seize control of blue cities like Austin and Nashville In address to ALEC conference, Heritage Foundation makes a mockery of right-wing pretenses of favoring local governance

Project 2025 leader urges state Republicans to seize control of blue cities like Austin and Nashville
In address to ALEC conference, Heritage Foundation makes a mockery of right-wing pretenses of favoring local governance
plus.flux.community/p/project-20...

They did this with Scalia as well, often describing him as "cranky" rather than what he was, a Catholic reactionary opposed to secular pluralism.

The Baldwin/Buckley Debate Of 1965, And How Baldwin Won It | USAPP In this account, Joss Harrison looks back at one of the most powerful yet overlooked victories of the American civil rights movement. On Thursday 30 January 2020 at 6:30pm, the LSE US Centre is hostin...

The tendency of certain lefty intellectuals to regard authoritarians who use a salad fork as deserving of respect is so damaging.

People like William Buckley or Rene Girard were advocates for repression. Their ideas are incoherent and authoritarian.

Engage them to oppose, like James Baldwin did.

No surprise. The stats show that Republican politicians commit far more crimes against children than Democrats.

QAnon is projection bsky.app/profile/matt...

RFK Jr. warned about giving the government your data. Now he wants it. The Health and Human Services secretary's pivot on wearables is a case study in how conspiracy extremists rebrand themselves once in positions of power.

RFK Jr. used to warn about a government takeover of our data. He said wearables and their tech were part of a plot to surveil us, enabled tyranny, caused cancer, and turned users into “permanent consumers” to Big Tech.

Now, he'd like your data, please.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...

I get why some folks are disappointed Kamala Harris isn’t running for governor—she’s a fighter, and Dem govs are on the front lines. That’s why the governor's races in 2025 & 2026 matter—governors are our last line of defense. I spoke with Ofirah Yheskel of @demgovs.org about these races.

Throwing trans people under the bus was never the answer. Advocating better was.

Some people are naturally uncomfortable with change. We need to help them realize that trans rights are no threat to them, and in fact probably would have zero effect on them.

July 2025 Poll on Latinos, Trump and the Economy | Equis Research This memo summarizes key findings from a national poll of 1,614 registered Hispanic voters, conducted with Data for Progress from July 7 to 17, 2025. This poll has a margin of error of ± 2 pp.

Some 50% of Latino Biden defectors still see Trump as a good businessman, but another 30% say they used to think he’s a good businessman and don’t anymore.
www.weareequis.us/research/202...

They want reactionary asshole to be the only protected class.

I believe that. Democratic leaders generally really don't think that responding to the right matters

While

"Nearly half of white students admitted to Harvard between 2009 and 2014 were legacy students" "or Dean’s Interest List—a list of applicants whose relatives have donated to Harvard, the existence of which only became public knowledge in 2018

75% of them would not have been admitted otherwise

I shared the full study which is 41 pages. There's a lot of detail. The images are to get people to focus on this very important topic which is much less enticing than the latest Trump outrage (though obviously such coverage can definitely matter).

These guys are describing a real thing but it’s not the thing they think it is: they’re actually describing the absolutely enormous right-wing media ecosystem’s ability to blow up huge cultural outrages out of absolutely nothing, milking them to radicalize young men into racial and gender extremism

I think it’s crazy to defend the Dem establishment by saying Republicans never criticize their own when the current head of the Republican Party got to his position by engaging in a full on public destruction of the Bush family while also slagging McCain.

Predictably, the conservative fringe of Jews who are so far right that they stopped working for the New York Post and joined the Washington Free Beacon think that the 43% of Jewish New Yorkers who support Mamdani are only “Jews” in scare quotes and that their Jewishness is “tenuous”.

I think it's best not to quibble with particular fields that are listed. A massive change in white collar jobs is going to happen regardless of what people think of that. Best to focus public policy so that it addresses needs and places country for the future.

The same way that web search and interns replaced many journalists.

Many new types of jobs will be created that are not on either column. But people should be aware of what is likely to be gone.

A lot of stuff is going to change. And this is really why people need to pay attention and get involved.

We're going to need UBI. And we need your help.

I'd like to see which jobs on the left chart you think are particularly female- and male-coded. The case for UBI wil be absolutely a lot stronger now though, no question.

New Microsoft study reveals the 40 most-likely professions to be impacted by AI growth and 40 least-likely.

White-collar work is going to be radically transformed. Please share this information with teens you know. They really need it.

Source: arxiv.org/abs/2507.07935

Via Poonam Soni at bad place