Zander Furnas
@alexanderfurnas.com
Research Assistant Professor | Politics & Computational Social Science | Northwestern University, Center for Science of Science and Innovation | Dad & Wife Guy | Not Ok | Sorry for the Swears | #goblue
who was president in 2020 remains a question that neither republicans nor much of the chattering class seem capable of answering
OK, but Trump was president when the 2020 election happened, so isn't the notion that Venezuela interfered an indictment of his national security apparatus?
So I just listened to @ariberman.bsky.social articulate the same theory @jvl.bsky.social has: that there’s a real chance the Trump admin is going to lean on Maduro or offer him some sort of deal to say Venezuela did interfere in the 2020 elections.
open.spotify.com/episode/1cPG...
open.spotify.com/episode/1cPG...
February 9, 2026 at 9:41 PM
who was president in 2020 remains a question that neither republicans nor much of the chattering class seem capable of answering
Reposted by Zander Furnas
do you think frankenstein’s monster ever took an arm off so he could sleep more comfortably on his side
February 7, 2026 at 5:10 PM
do you think frankenstein’s monster ever took an arm off so he could sleep more comfortably on his side
Hi
These are going to be concentration camps
These are going to be concentration camps
In the last month ICE has bought warehouses in:
- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown
This is unprecedented.
- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown
This is unprecedented.
February 9, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Hi
These are going to be concentration camps
These are going to be concentration camps
Reposted by Zander Furnas
You know what they’re going to store in those warehouses?
People
People
In the last month ICE has bought warehouses in:
- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown
This is unprecedented.
- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown
This is unprecedented.
February 9, 2026 at 6:46 PM
You know what they’re going to store in those warehouses?
People
People
Reposted by Zander Furnas
small crab eating a grape (important)
February 8, 2026 at 6:16 AM
small crab eating a grape (important)
Reposted by Zander Furnas
wrote a bit this week about how my take on backlash presidential politics intersects with @adambonica.bsky.social and @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social's "How Not to Defeat Authoritarianism" open.substack.com/pub/goodpoli...
We can't appease the politics of racial backlash, and we shouldn't try
Some thoughts on "How Not to Defeat Authoritarianism," presidential power, and my conversation last week with the New York Times
open.substack.com
February 9, 2026 at 1:50 PM
wrote a bit this week about how my take on backlash presidential politics intersects with @adambonica.bsky.social and @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social's "How Not to Defeat Authoritarianism" open.substack.com/pub/goodpoli...
rip vine
All things must pass... except perhaps Reddit.
(by @chartrdaily)
(by @chartrdaily)
February 9, 2026 at 5:57 PM
rip vine
Reposted by Zander Furnas
this and other (correct) reactions to this piece really underscore the distinction between ideologies as political philosophies and ideologies as coalitions of policy demanders
Yes, some of us did, but the libertarians at Reason were not prominent among them, except for the one who got fired for it.
February 9, 2026 at 5:55 PM
this and other (correct) reactions to this piece really underscore the distinction between ideologies as political philosophies and ideologies as coalitions of policy demanders
Reposted by Zander Furnas
Feels like the US has spent the last 5+ years on the verge of some kind of secular moral revival that keeps getting channeled into weirdo lifestyle puritanism
Cafes across the U.S. are embracing the low- and no-caffeine lifestyle, with options that are a far cry from dusty tea bags and rewarmed decaf. nyti.ms/3XKlqoj
December 10, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Feels like the US has spent the last 5+ years on the verge of some kind of secular moral revival that keeps getting channeled into weirdo lifestyle puritanism
Reposted by Zander Furnas
Is there some sort of award for perfectly missing the point?
February 9, 2026 at 3:57 PM
Is there some sort of award for perfectly missing the point?
Reposted by Zander Furnas
I say this regularly. People use performative as a substitute for 'inauthentic' and we could all just say the words we mean to say. Erving Goffman helps us to understand that we perform all of the time in real life. Life itself is often a performance of self.
People have worn out "performative." We often perform things that are real, you know. Posting is a kind of performance of one's politics. Performative doesn't actually mean "fake" or "empty," it just gets deployed that way. We actually need performance. Case in point: last night's performance.
February 9, 2026 at 3:57 PM
I say this regularly. People use performative as a substitute for 'inauthentic' and we could all just say the words we mean to say. Erving Goffman helps us to understand that we perform all of the time in real life. Life itself is often a performance of self.
Reposted by Zander Furnas
An incredible turn of events here. 10/10, no notes. 😂
February 9, 2026 at 3:27 PM
An incredible turn of events here. 10/10, no notes. 😂
Reposted by Zander Furnas
Bad Bunny's historical advisor is an assistant professor at UW-Madison.
Hell of a flex for your tenure file.
Hell of a flex for your tenure file.
Not at all surprised to learn that Bad Bunny has a historical adviser. His halftime show was a reminder that our history and culture are deeply intertwined with the rest of the western hemisphere. We should think of his performance as part of #America250. #SuperBowl
news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...
news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...
Pop star Bad Bunny needed a Puerto Rican history scholar. UW–Madison had just the one.
Bad Bunny collaborated with UW–Madison history professor Jorell Meléndez-Badillo on Puerto Rican narratives that accompany the new album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.”
news.wisc.edu
February 9, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Bad Bunny's historical advisor is an assistant professor at UW-Madison.
Hell of a flex for your tenure file.
Hell of a flex for your tenure file.
Reposted by Zander Furnas
Weird. I tried to warn libertarians about Trump
February 9, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Weird. I tried to warn libertarians about Trump
Reposted by Zander Furnas
I feel like I'm losing my goddamnned mind.
This op-ed was written by Kathrine Mangu-Ward. Katherine is editor-in-chief of Reason magazine.
Reason fired @shikhadalmia.bsky.social for being too anti-Trump.
This op-ed was written by Kathrine Mangu-Ward. Katherine is editor-in-chief of Reason magazine.
Reason fired @shikhadalmia.bsky.social for being too anti-Trump.
Opinion | Libertarians Tried to Warn You About Trump
www.nytimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:09 PM
I feel like I'm losing my goddamnned mind.
This op-ed was written by Kathrine Mangu-Ward. Katherine is editor-in-chief of Reason magazine.
Reason fired @shikhadalmia.bsky.social for being too anti-Trump.
This op-ed was written by Kathrine Mangu-Ward. Katherine is editor-in-chief of Reason magazine.
Reason fired @shikhadalmia.bsky.social for being too anti-Trump.
Reposted by Zander Furnas
Major news outlets: Please consider prominently reporting what this all-star team of researchers has found.
www.nber.org/papers/w34791
www.nber.org/papers/w34791
February 9, 2026 at 12:22 PM
Major news outlets: Please consider prominently reporting what this all-star team of researchers has found.
www.nber.org/papers/w34791
www.nber.org/papers/w34791
Reposted by Zander Furnas
Haha that means he didn't watch kid rock
February 9, 2026 at 2:07 AM
Haha that means he didn't watch kid rock
Because what they actually care about is whiteness
Just had a Super Bowl halftime where the singer:
1) boasts about the poor place he’s from;
2) boosts the value of agriculture;
3) celebrates small town life;
4) highlights the joy of inter-generational celebrations; and
5) promotes marriage.
And tomorrow, the MAGA movement will attack it.
1) boasts about the poor place he’s from;
2) boosts the value of agriculture;
3) celebrates small town life;
4) highlights the joy of inter-generational celebrations; and
5) promotes marriage.
And tomorrow, the MAGA movement will attack it.
February 9, 2026 at 2:07 AM
Because what they actually care about is whiteness
Reposted by Zander Furnas
WOKE 2 IS HERE
February 9, 2026 at 1:32 AM
WOKE 2 IS HERE
Reposted by Zander Furnas
Now that was America.
February 9, 2026 at 1:33 AM
Now that was America.
Sure did!
We all saw the fellas grindin right? That may be a first for the super bowl.
February 9, 2026 at 1:33 AM
Sure did!
Reposted by Zander Furnas
Pats offensive line looking like the US' checks and balances
February 9, 2026 at 12:47 AM
Pats offensive line looking like the US' checks and balances
Reposted by Zander Furnas
VC, founder, dumbass
February 8, 2026 at 9:37 PM
VC, founder, dumbass
Yes
Those Harbaugh Michigan staffs were really a mix of complete freaks (not in the good way) and generational coaching talents
February 9, 2026 at 1:12 AM
Yes
Good will dunkin suuuucked
Coinbase karaoke was real good
Coinbase karaoke was real good
February 9, 2026 at 1:02 AM
Good will dunkin suuuucked
Coinbase karaoke was real good
Coinbase karaoke was real good