John Fabian Witt
LightNews LightNews
banner
johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt
@johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
2.7K followers 550 following 110 posts

Duffy Prof @YaleLawSch, legal history. Germantown born and bred. Fisherman, orchardist, baseball. Profile photo sitdowners park in Flint. The Radical Fund is out from Simon & Schuster.

Videos

John Fabian Witt is Allen H. Duffy Class of 1960 Professor of Law at Yale Law School. He is the author of Lincoln’s Code: The Laws of War in American History, which won the 2013 Bancroft Prize in history of the Americas and, in 2020, American Contagions: Epidemics and the Law from Smallpox to COVID-19. .. more

Political science 44%
Law 25%
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · Oct 1

Reposted by Julian E. Zelizer

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 3d
Smart questions from @zelizer.bsky.social in this conversation earlier today. Did the right co-opt progressives’ most generative 20th c tactics? #TheRadicalFund

open.substack.com/pub/johnfabi...
Interview with John Fabian Witt, author of The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America
A recording from John Fabian Witt and Julian Zelizer's live video
open.substack.com

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 4d
I'm at the Warren Center @harvard.edu today at 4 pm in Robinson Hall's lower library to talk about The Radical Fund. Come on out. I promise good pictures!

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 4d
Lookong back to look ahead—thoughtful and revelatory by @nickperkins.bsky.social on Mamdani and Walter Lippmann.
jacobin.com/2025/11/lunn...

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 6d
Harlem Congressman Vito Marcantonio is Mamdani’s closing message—and practiced at the Garland Fund’s law firm. Of course. #TheRadicalFund is all around us. @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
zohrankmamdani.bsky.social Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 7d
UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 5: Vito Marcantonio

There are many who dismiss our vision for New York as impossible. To them, I say we need look only to our past for proof of how we can shape the future.

Tomorrow is Election Day. And this is the final Until It's Done of our campaign.

Reposted by Cas Mudde, Naomi Klein, Colin F. Camerer , and 7 more

zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 7d
UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 5: Vito Marcantonio

There are many who dismiss our vision for New York as impossible. To them, I say we need look only to our past for proof of how we can shape the future.

Tomorrow is Election Day. And this is the final Until It's Done of our campaign.

Reposted by John Fabian Witt

samuelmoyn.bsky.social
Samuel Moyn @samuelmoyn.bsky.social · 7d
TOC, "Gerontocracy in America" (June 2026)
us.macmillan.com/books/978037...

Reposted by John Fabian Witt

bensoskis.bsky.social
Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 7d
New HistPhil post: David Pozen continues our book forum on @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social' s The Radical Fund, questioning whether, given evolution in nonprofit law since the fund's heydey, it can serve as a model for contemporary philanthropy seeing to "upend America."

histphil.org/2025/11/03/c...
Could a Garland Fund 2.0 Upend the United States Today?
Editors’ Note: David Pozen continues HistPhil’s book forum on John Witt’s The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America (Simon & Schuster, …
histphil.org

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 7d
Two biggies: the famous Brown v. Board of Ed (1954) and the lesser-known but huge Steele v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad (1944). Also Moore v. Dempsey, Ossian Sweet, the Scottsboro Nine, Missouri ex rel Gaines, and more . . . .

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 9d
Oh my, the 2020s bidding hard to look like the 1920s. First Billie Eilish, now Gatsby and the Roaring 20s at Mar-a-Lago #TheRadicalFund @simonandschuster.bsky.social

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 9d
Radicalism (in its Latin sense at least?) is fast becoming a keyword for the age. @fotoole.bsky.social is lucid in the @nybooks.com www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 10d
chapter 1 tried to bring an end to periodic Wilson rehabilitation efforts, once and for all. But the professor class loves the most professorial of the founders . . . . 🤷
www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...
Patriots and Cosmopolitans — Harvard University Press
Ranging widely from the founding era to Reconstruction, from the making of the modern state to its post-New Deal limits, John Fabian Witt illuminates the legal and constitutional foundations of Americ...
www.hup.harvard.edu

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 10d
Wilson is not your guy. A narcissist & a windbag! Philly lawyers rolled their eyes and called him "given to repellant learning." JQA called him "ridiculous." Not to mention his astonishing conflict of interest (and failed opinion) in Chisholm v. Georgia. Find another costume. 😘

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 10d
Radical constitutional change is in the air; now Sai Prakash &
@casssunstein.bsky.social are in the mix with a fascinating account of social movements and elites. But what if elites are also a social movement to be explained? #TheRadicalFund
virginialawreview.org/articles/rad...
Radical Constitutional Change - Virginia Law Review
At defining points in American history, there have been radical constitutional changes, defined as massive shifts in constitutional understandings, doctrines, and practices. Apparently settled princip...
virginialawreview.org

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 13d
A new pod episode! Come for the nudist beach scenes from the 1920s—stay for fights over the material foundations of 20th-c liberalisms.

Reposted by Samuel Moyn, John Fabian Witt

profschleich.bsky.social
David Schleicher @profschleich.bsky.social · 13d
🚨🚨New Pod!! 🚨🚨 We have @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social on the pod!!! @samuelmoyn.bsky.social and I talk with John about his amazing and must read new book, The Radical Fund podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
Digging a Hole: The Legal Theory Podcast
Social Sciences Podcast · Yale Law School professors Samuel Moyn and David Schleicher interview legal scholars and dig into the debates heard inside law school halls.
podcasts.apple.com

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 14d
Over at HistPhil by @bensoskis.bsky.social a forum on The Radical Fund starts with an essay / post by yours truly on political nonviolence and the tax code, 2020s and 1920s. @simonandschuster.bsky.social histphil.org/2025/10/27/w...
When the Tax Code (and Private Foundations) Nudged Americans Toward Nonviolence
Editors’ Note: This post, from John Witt, inaugurates HistPhil’s book forum on Witt’s recently published The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended …
histphil.org

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 16d
Laura Weinrib @harvard.edu gets it better than I did! The Radical Fund's internal battles in the 1920s presaged New Deal-era fights over the power to decide in collective bargaining, in civil rights, and elsewhere. Power, not rights. @jackbalkin.bsky.social balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...
Balkinization: The Power to Decide
A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics
balkin.blogspot.com

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 18d
Now fists are flying! Larry Kramer at LSE says The Radical Fund is "beautifully written, deeply engrossing," and a "tour de force"--but also that it's "not really about the Garland Fund"! Has Larry seen to the secret soul of the book? balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/wher...
Balkinization: Wherefore Art Thou Philanthropy
A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics
balkin.blogspot.com

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Mary L. Dudziak

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 18d
My friend @marydudziak.bsky.social calls The Radical Fund a compelling salve for chaotic times—but has doubts! Is money the way out? balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/what...
What Money Can Do: John Witt’s The Radical Fund
For the Balkinization symposium on John Witt,  The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America  (Simon and...
balkin.blogspot.com

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 18d
David Pozen @columbiauniversity.bsky.social offers a shot across the bow: does 21st c nonprofit tax law make a Garland Fund 2.0 impossible? balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/coul...
Could the Garland Fund Upend America Today?
For the Balkinization symposium on John Witt,  The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America  (Simon and...
balkin.blogspot.com

Reposted by John Fabian Witt

lincolnsquare.media
Lincoln Square @lincolnsquare.media · 19d
Yale Professor @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social went back a century and found our present

The Radical Fund tells the story of Charles Garland who refused his inheritance to see it fuel resistance

Subscribe free to watch First Draft with @sjdemas.bsky.social now

www.lincolnsquare.media/p/a-1920s-ro...
A 1920s Roadmap for Today's Resistance | First Draft with Susan Demas and author John Fabian Witt
Author and Yale Law Professor John Fabian Witt wanted distance from the chaos of the present, so he went back a century — and found its mirror image.
www.lincolnsquare.media

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 19d
Looking forward to this one, in just a few minutes live on substack at 11!
lincolnsquare.media Lincoln Square @lincolnsquare.media · 19d
LIVE at 11 AM ET: This week’s edition of First Draft with @sjdemas.bsky.social and guest @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social Prof. of Law at Yale Law and a Prof. of History at Yale to discuss his new book The Radical Fund!

Subscribe for free to watch! See you there!

open.substack.com/live-stream/...

Reposted by John Fabian Witt

lincolnsquare.media
Lincoln Square @lincolnsquare.media · 19d
LIVE at 11 AM ET: This week’s edition of First Draft with @sjdemas.bsky.social and guest @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social Prof. of Law at Yale Law and a Prof. of History at Yale to discuss his new book The Radical Fund!

Subscribe for free to watch! See you there!

open.substack.com/live-stream/...

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 20d
Over at Balkinization @jackbalkin.bsky.social, my old dean at Columbia Law David Schizer sees the Garland Fund as a quintessential philanthropic incubator of new ideas. He also notes it was riddled with conflicts of interest. Flaw? Or secret sauce! balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/less...
Balkinization: Lessons for Nonprofits in The Radical Fund: The Perils of Self Dealing and the Promise of Incubating Novel Ideas
A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics
balkin.blogspot.com

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 21d
Talked with @emilybazelon on @Slate.com Gabfest Reads about The Radical Fund. Don't miss the turn to Lippmann near the end -- and the fund's prophetic insight that censorship is only a one piece of a free democratic discourse. @Simonandschuster.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdVk...
Gabfest Reads | The Radical Fund That Rewired American Progress | Political Gabfest
Emily Bazelon talks with Yale law professor John Witt about his new book The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America…
www.youtube.com

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 22d
Oh wow, I hope you like it!

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 22d
Read wise @jamalgreene.bsky.social on how to make change from the rubble of a failing state—and on an abiding question: “whether to pursue social change through corrupted existing institutions or whether to try, at great risk, to build new ones.” balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/warl...
Warlord for a Day
For the Balkinization symposium on John Witt,  The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America  (Simon and...
balkin.blogspot.com

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 22d
Thanks! New Mexico connections—the mother of the donor in my book lived out in Santa Fe and played host to Georgia O’Keefe. The donor’s youngest son lived out there until passing away just a few years ago.

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 22d
The @wsj.com calls The Radical Fund “fascinating”—and says it would be at the center of the fight between liberal funders and the Trump administration were it around today.
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
‘The Radical Fund’ Review: A Million for the Masses
Charles Garland was entitled to a large inheritance. He instead chose to give the money to a fund for left-wing causes.
www.wsj.com

johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 23d
Gorgeous on Pennsylvania Ave in DC this afternoon.