Director of political studies at @NiskanenCenter. On Twitter, I speak for myself.
Joined November 2015
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Defining deviousness down — I talk with John Guida about Nixonmaxxing
nytimes.com/2026/10/19/opini…
1. As an alumnus of Cambridge and Jesus College, I followed the Jason Arday scandal with interest and unhappiness over what it revealed about the hollowness of the academy. I wish Jason was still
alive to give a more honest account of his side of it.
theatlantic.com/culture/2026…
Has there been a statement from @FIFAWorldCup on the horrendous refereeing in the France-Paraguay game?
The English translation of Schadenfreude: Watching Germany lose on penalty kicks
nytimes.com/athletic/7400918…
"America always was a balance between great good and persistent, minor chords of evil." -- Joe Klein
josephklein.substack.com/p/t…
@TheNewPornos at @930Club last night. This line lands differently in DC now: “It was crime at the time but the laws we changed ‘em…”
“Form a line to the throne!”
washingtonpost.com/politics/…
Will our tech overlords follow the pattern of past elites? My essay responding to a provocative New Right view of American history: hypertext.niskanencenter.org…
@mattyglesias makes a useful corrective against the vulgar Broockmanite contention that self-described moderates don’t want moderation; they are eclectic but have coherent views on distinct issues
The New York Times is here to tell you that pop and rap are the only kinds of music that ever mattered
How I feel about the current political situation: 1) There isn’t anything I can do about it, so I may as well watch and take notes; 2) Despite the chaos it’s not wrong to enjoy what aesthetic pleasure you can while you can, including the delicious burrata salad in front of you
This is a terrific post, full of hard-won insight about American culture -- and also a warning about the dangers of a society polarized by education
You can’t have a functioning county unless citizens share a thick cultural identity — for the US that’s the American Dream — a prosperity theology built from Western European ideas
open.substack.com/pub/walkin…
Say what you will about this Supreme Court, it’s the one branch of government that still affirms compromise and bipartisanship as constitutional necessities
1. My colleague @lindsey_brink identifies another "intellectual fault line" dividing the center: disagreement over the severity of the problems confronting contemporary liberal societies and the connection between those problems and the political crisis
brinklindsey.substack.com/p/…
4. This division arguably appeared at @MunSecConf with brokenist Mark Carney seeing an age of "rupture" vs. anti-brokenist Keir Starmer insisting "we must not disregard everything that has sustained us for the last 80 years" -- many such examples!
gov.uk/government/speeches/p…
5. I lean toward the brokenists in this debate, but Damon Linker offers useful caution against the kind of cultural despair that can become "a breeding ground for excessive, almost utopian hopes for the future" that would a better world on the rubble
damonlinker.substack.com/p/r…