Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D.
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brianckeegan.com
Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D.
@brianckeegan.com
4.4K followers 2.1K following 2.7K posts

{Social, Data, Network, Information} Scientist, @cuboulder.info

Visiting Scientist, @harvardpopcenter.bsky.social AY25-26

High-tempo collaboration, information commons, public interest data science

https://www.brianckeegan.com/

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brianckeegan.com
Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D. @brianckeegan.com · Sep 2
ICYMI, I’m on sabbatical this AY at @harvardpopcenter.bsky.social:

popcenter.harvard.edu/blog/directo...

I’ll be working on a STS-flavored book project about ecofascist data science that combines critical demography and data studies.

Let me know if you’re in Boston this year and want to meet up!
Brian Keegan – Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies
A Harvard University cross-school, interfaculty initiative administered by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
popcenter.harvard.edu

brianckeegan.com
Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D. @brianckeegan.com · 6h
“Yes, but Oberlin undergrads were mean to Milo in 2016, so it’s basically a wash.”

Reposted by Jamie Morgan, Andrew Brown, Brian Keegan , and 1 more

whitehouse.senate.gov
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse @whitehouse.senate.gov · 9h
The sooner we get past internal recriminations and back to fighting united, the better off we all are — the likelier our victory next November.

brianckeegan.com
Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D. @brianckeegan.com · 10h
What do you even know about the history of American political institutions?

Reposted by Steve Peers, Rosemary A. Joyce, Bonnie Honig , and 5 more

marisakabas.bsky.social
Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 16h
I received this email about Democrats caving to end the shutdown from one of the SNAP recipients I spoke to:
I'm sorry, I know this is not your problem, but I just felt like screaming into a void seeing that now Dems may cave and end the shutdown without getting anything they were supposedly fighting for. We've been put through hell for weeks, constantly having our ability to simply feed ourselves dangled in front of our faces, our survival used as a bargaining chip, told it was for a reason. Our suffering would prevent even more suffering and that it would be temporary and worth it to save healthcare for millions. And now it's all for nothing. They stood for nothing. They caused suffering for no reason. They'll cause even more suffering for no reason. It wasn't 40 million people starving that made them cave. They were willing to put up with that. But the threat of holiday traveling being disrupted seems to be the thing to push them to give in. They have failed everyone. I'm so angry.

brianckeegan.com
Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D. @brianckeegan.com · 16h
A data-driven post-mortem on Boulder’s election results.

A statistical model predicting city council races reveals a consistent pattern in how Boulder’s ballots are cast and counted — and why progressives keep coming from behind.

boulderreportinglab.org/2025/11/09/b...
Opinion | Brian Keegan: What Boulder’s 2025 election results reveal about how we vote
Why do progressive candidates in Boulder always seem to come from behind on election night only to surge ahead? A data model offers clues.
boulderreportinglab.org

brianckeegan.com
Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D. @brianckeegan.com · 1d
It'll be lost in the din of a thousand other controversies by next November, but the Dems voting with Republicans to end the shutdown tonight has everything to do with protecting the fucking filibuster and nothing to do with protecting Americans from exploding healthcare costs or fascist ICE raids.

Reposted by Philip Nel, David R. Miller, Brian Keegan

pattymo.com
Patrick Monahan @pattymo.com · 1d
They caved in March so they could get a better deal now. They’re caving now so they can get a better deal in some indeterminate future. The better deal is always just beyond their reach, but continuing to cave will get them there. And if you don’t agree with that, you don’t understand Politics,

brianckeegan.com
Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D. @brianckeegan.com · 1d
More evidence that faculty should stop speaking with NYTimes reporters that are actively hostile to their profession and institutions.
thatoneguy43.bsky.social ------ @thatoneguy43.bsky.social · Mar 20
He responded to a comment with a nakedly biased take on what's been occurring for the past decade or so on college campuses!

brianckeegan.com
Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D. @brianckeegan.com · 1d
at me next time

brianckeegan.com
Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D. @brianckeegan.com · 1d
Make them count tokens manually!

brianckeegan.com
Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D. @brianckeegan.com · 1d
Never forget that a Democratic US Attorney’s decision to prosecute Aaron Swartz for downloading JSTOR PDFs contributed to his suicide but AI firms’ decision to download everything ever will be a justification for hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer bailouts and legal exemptions.
histoftech.bsky.social Gales of November ReMar-mbered @histoftech.bsky.social · 4d
“authors & publishers who filed a lawsuit against the Sam Altman-led firm have secured access to internal Slack messages… discussing the mass deletion of a pirated books dataset… A NY district court ordered OpenAI to hand over the communications regarding data deletion”
futurism.com/artificial-i...
OpenAI in Danger After Authors Suing It Gain Access to Its Internal Slack Messages
Authors and publishers, who are suing OpenAI, secured access to internal Slack messages and emails discussing the deletion of pirated books.
futurism.com

Reposted by Brian Keegan

jeffjarvis.bsky.social
Jeff (Gutenberg Parenthesis) Jarvis @jeffjarvis.bsky.social · 1d
Brewster Kahle says that in the aftermath of the copyright attacks on the Archive, “the world became stupider.” I agree.
Internet Archive’s legal fights are over, but its founder mourns what was lost
arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...
Internet Archive’s legal fights are over, but its founder mourns what was lost
“We survived, but it wiped out the library,” Internet Archive’s founder says.
arstechnica.com

Reposted by Brian Keegan

mariaa.bsky.social
Maria Antoniak @mariaa.bsky.social · 1d
I'm teaching "Intro to NLP" for our grad students next semester, and I'm curious how others are teaching such courses, in our current "era of AI." I've seen ideas (no tech in class, commonplace books) for smaller seminars, but how to do this in large, structured CS classes? Any success stories?

Reposted by Brian Keegan

eff.org
Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 1d
Funneling scholars into a few major platforms isn’t just annoying, it’s corrosive to intellectual freedom. Institutions should support researchers moving to more democratic and decentralized alternatives. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
Science Must Decentralize
Knowledge production doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Every great scientific breakthrough is built on prior work, and an ongoing exchange with peers in the field. That’s why we need to address the threat
www.eff.org

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Brian Keegan

atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d
Sean Duffy: "We have a number of people who want to get home for the holidays, they want to see their family. Listen, many of them are not going to be able to get on an airplane."

Reposted by Gavin A. Schmidt, Bonnie Honig, Brian Keegan

juliusgoat.bsky.social
A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 1d
Today I wrote about Zohran Mamdani's historic win, the energizing power of holding to shared principles of decency, and a taxonomy of the endlessly intertwined relationship between shame and vision. www.the-reframe.com/the-extraord...
The Extraordinary Power of Standing For Something
Winning by creating vision in the positive space of shared standards, and expertly negotiating the negative space of shame.
www.the-reframe.com

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Anna O. Law, Kim L. Scheppele , and 40 more

chriso-wiki.bsky.social
ChrisO_wiki @chriso-wiki.bsky.social · 1d
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️

brianckeegan.com
Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D. @brianckeegan.com · 2d
If Congressional Democrats actually cared about their constituents or winning elections, they could repackage Medicare for All as “Trumpcare” and dare the GOP to vote against it.
paleofuture.bsky.social Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 2d
The people can buy their own……. policy? From who, Don?
Trump: NO MORE MONEY, HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, TO THE DEMOCRAT SUPPORTED INSURANCE COMPANIES FOR REALLY BAD OBAMACARE. THE MONEY MUST NOW GO DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE, TAKING THE "FAT CAT" INSURANCE COMPANIES OUT OF THE CORRUPT SYSTEM OF HEALTHCARE. THE PEOPLE CAN BUY THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER POLICY, FOR MUCH LESS MONEY, SAVING, FOR THEMSELVES, AN ABSOLUTE FORTUNE!!! PRESIDENT DJT 837 ReTruths 2.59k Likes 11/8/25, 2:33 PM

Reposted by Alan Richardson, Brian Keegan

attackerman.bsky.social
Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 2d
“Biden officials worried that attaching their names to a recommendation to limit American support for Tel Aviv would hinder their future career prospects, the former senior official said, ‘which is in itself appalling.’”
akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · 3d
NEW: Inside the Biden administration debates in late 2024 that could have changed the course of the Gaza war

-top intel official sought to cut support for Israel but Brett McGurk pushed back
-talk of "very likely" US liability
-Blinken spoke of "ethnic cleansing"

www.huffpost.com/entry/biden-...
Biden Discussed Potential Israeli War Crimes In Gaza. He Kicked The Can To Trump.
New intelligence shocked officials in late 2024, spurring heightened fear of U.S. liability, HuffPost has learned. The period saw Secretary of State Antony Blinken ask if Israel’s actions constituted ...
www.huffpost.com

Reposted by Brian Keegan, Simon Lester

paleofuture.bsky.social
Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 2d
The people can buy their own……. policy? From who, Don?
Trump: NO MORE MONEY, HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, TO THE DEMOCRAT SUPPORTED INSURANCE COMPANIES FOR REALLY BAD OBAMACARE. THE MONEY MUST NOW GO DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE, TAKING THE "FAT CAT" INSURANCE COMPANIES OUT OF THE CORRUPT SYSTEM OF HEALTHCARE. THE PEOPLE CAN BUY THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER POLICY, FOR MUCH LESS MONEY, SAVING, FOR THEMSELVES, AN ABSOLUTE FORTUNE!!! PRESIDENT DJT 837 ReTruths 2.59k Likes 11/8/25, 2:33 PM

Reposted by Axel Bruns, Juan Cole, Brian Keegan

dreamweasel.bsky.social
Dreamweasel @dreamweasel.bsky.social · 2d
CNN: The guy worth half a trillion dollars has just been awarded a trillion-dollar bonus

NYT: The president took a break from building a giant golden White House ballroom to eliminate SNAP benefits

CBS: It remains baffling that so many voters are willing to consider socialism

Reposted by Brian Keegan

miriamposner.com
Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 2d
Our students are just stunning. Their bravery and integrity put our leaders to shame.
Student organization coalition files amicus brief supporting lawsuit against Trump - Daily Bruin
This post was updated Nov. 5 at 1:02 a.m. A coalition of 25 student organizations filed an amicus brief Thursday in support of a lawsuit against President Donald Trump that alleged research funding su...
dailybruin.com

Reposted by Brian Keegan

riogranderift.bsky.social
Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 2d
This article contends that the Sierra Club's effort to integrate social justice into its mission was the cause of turmoil. My perspective suggests a simpler reason: Poor leadership.
The Sierra Club Embraced Social Justice. Then It Tore Itself Apart.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Jason Mittell, Michael Barnett, Michael S. Rosenberg , and 30 more

brittanytrang.com
Brittany Trang @brittanytrang.com · 2d
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.

Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."

Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com

Reposted by Philip Nel, Trevon D. Logan, Brian Keegan

solomonmissouri.bsky.social
Solomon @solomonmissouri.bsky.social · 2d

Reposted by Jonathan A. Eisen, James M. Bullock, Brian Keegan

lpachter.bsky.social
Lior Pachter @lpachter.bsky.social · 3d
Scientific breakthroughs are rarely unique; someone else would’ve made them soon enough. But when prominent scientists cause harm, that harm isn’t inevitable; the world might simply have been better had the harm not been inflicted.
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
James Watson in his own words
“Some anti-Semitism is justified” “Whenever you interview fat people, you feel bad, because you know you’re not going to hire them” “Japan should be bombed for d…
liorpachter.wordpress.com

brianckeegan.com
Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D. @brianckeegan.com · 3d
Honestly, repeal the ACA replace it with Medicare for All but call it “Trumpcare”

brianckeegan.com
Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D. @brianckeegan.com · 3d
Is everyone still having fun owning the libs?

brianckeegan.com
Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D. @brianckeegan.com · 3d
John Roberts looking at who is in the White House.

brianckeegan.com
Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D. @brianckeegan.com · 3d
d) all the promises you AI and finance geeks were making about hyper scaling can’t actually be implemented in the real world of power grids and water resources and land rights