Charlie Hunt
@charlesrhunt.com
Polisci Prof at Boise State and RI native. Congress, elections, and representation are my things. Dogs are my actual things. I co-host the podcast "Scandalized" on the NPR Network: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/1259047598/scandalized
Pinned
Charlie Hunt
@charlesrhunt.com
· Jan 6
This is my favorite slide to open up my U.S. Congress courses with to quantitatively prove to my students how much I unironically care about Congress. It's my daily average heart rate from my Apple Watch over a 5-yr period. The #1 highest day in that period is circled in red.
Indescribable meaninglessness, bottomless pits of emptiness
Decades of the white nationalist movement evolving to adapt to current political trends has brought them to this moment.
December 30, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Indescribable meaninglessness, bottomless pits of emptiness
If they want to name the category "Most Technically Listened-To Podcast", that's totally fine but they should call it that!
Some totally a-okay podcasts on this list, but surely we don't need to pretend this is the 2025 Podcast Criterion Collection
Some totally a-okay podcasts on this list, but surely we don't need to pretend this is the 2025 Podcast Criterion Collection
Golden Globes has a podcast award this year and the list of nominees is weird.
December 30, 2025 at 3:20 PM
If they want to name the category "Most Technically Listened-To Podcast", that's totally fine but they should call it that!
Some totally a-okay podcasts on this list, but surely we don't need to pretend this is the 2025 Podcast Criterion Collection
Some totally a-okay podcasts on this list, but surely we don't need to pretend this is the 2025 Podcast Criterion Collection
Some quick thoughts on GOP retirements and what drives them — as always, thanks to @the-downballot.com for their public service on the historical retirement data. Will be keeping that chart updated on a weekly basis thru the beginning of next year to compare cycles/parties since 2006.
When even Republicans think Republicans are in trouble…
A wave of GOP members are retiring or resigning ahead of #2026, hinting at a rough midterm map. buff.ly/4d0IVDM
#polisky #election
A wave of GOP members are retiring or resigning ahead of #2026, hinting at a rough midterm map. buff.ly/4d0IVDM
#polisky #election
Who thinks Republicans will suffer in the 2026 midterms? Republican members of Congress
The president’s party almost always loses seats in the midterms. More than two dozen Republican House members have already decided to retire.
buff.ly
December 28, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Some quick thoughts on GOP retirements and what drives them — as always, thanks to @the-downballot.com for their public service on the historical retirement data. Will be keeping that chart updated on a weekly basis thru the beginning of next year to compare cycles/parties since 2006.
Construction has begun in earnest
December 24, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Construction has begun in earnest
Reposted by Charlie Hunt
personally I believe that King Moonracer from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is NOT a toy himself but IS a fantasy being who’s just really into being the photogenic figure-head of a humanitarian aid organization for sentient toys
Is King Moonracer from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer a toy, or not?
Debate.
www.reddit.com/r/themiddle/...
Debate.
www.reddit.com/r/themiddle/...
December 24, 2025 at 4:25 PM
personally I believe that King Moonracer from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is NOT a toy himself but IS a fantasy being who’s just really into being the photogenic figure-head of a humanitarian aid organization for sentient toys
Very surreal bucket list item checked off today: @jaclynkettler.bsky.social and I were on All Things Considered @npr.org to talk about Scandalized! www.npr.org/2025/12/21/n...
'Scandalized' podcast argues political scandals are more than gossip
NPR's Miles Parks talks with political scientists Charlie Hunt and Jaci Kettler about their podcast "Scandalized" which unpacks political scandals from American history.
www.npr.org
December 22, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Very surreal bucket list item checked off today: @jaclynkettler.bsky.social and I were on All Things Considered @npr.org to talk about Scandalized! www.npr.org/2025/12/21/n...
Reposted by Charlie Hunt
2. What he says about climate is patently false (more on that later) but to the extent he's saying "politicians shouldn't do the right thing unless it's popular", I'd note only that that is a toddlers view of leadership. If the popular kids are mean, should you be mean?
December 20, 2025 at 3:03 PM
2. What he says about climate is patently false (more on that later) but to the extent he's saying "politicians shouldn't do the right thing unless it's popular", I'd note only that that is a toddlers view of leadership. If the popular kids are mean, should you be mean?
"The State Board of Elections determined Thursday that those voters should have been given provisional ballots, but poll workers instead told them they weren't eligible to participate at all."
December 17, 2025 at 10:15 PM
"The State Board of Elections determined Thursday that those voters should have been given provisional ballots, but poll workers instead told them they weren't eligible to participate at all."
Yes. I have to imagine there's a version of the "Jackie (and Jill) Robinson Effect" at work here — essentially, that members of underrepresented groups elected as "firsts" are by necessity better legislators than others thanks to the higher bar they had to clear to get there in the first place.
the full speech is something to see & is one of the reasons it is good to have a trans member of congress
youtu.be/5LqVMCW4e0c?...
youtu.be/5LqVMCW4e0c?...
Rep Sarah McBride on the steps of the Capitol
YouTube video by David Steinglass
youtu.be
December 17, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Yes. I have to imagine there's a version of the "Jackie (and Jill) Robinson Effect" at work here — essentially, that members of underrepresented groups elected as "firsts" are by necessity better legislators than others thanks to the higher bar they had to clear to get there in the first place.
GOP departures up to 27, the 3rd-most of either party since 2006. 1 and 2 are the GOP in 2018 and 2020. "Trump is president" really seems to be the highest-powered explanatory variable of the modern era.
As always, the loudest of shout-outs to @the-downballot.com for the invaluable departure data.
As always, the loudest of shout-outs to @the-downballot.com for the invaluable departure data.
December 17, 2025 at 4:11 PM
GOP departures up to 27, the 3rd-most of either party since 2006. 1 and 2 are the GOP in 2018 and 2020. "Trump is president" really seems to be the highest-powered explanatory variable of the modern era.
As always, the loudest of shout-outs to @the-downballot.com for the invaluable departure data.
As always, the loudest of shout-outs to @the-downballot.com for the invaluable departure data.
I wasn't sure I'd see a speaker less effective than McCarthy in my lifetime but Johnson is really giving him a run for his money
4 House Republicans have signed the discharge petition for a 3-year extension of health insurance subsidies offered by Democrats. That gives it 218 signatures - and will force a vote probably in January.
December 17, 2025 at 3:57 PM
I wasn't sure I'd see a speaker less effective than McCarthy in my lifetime but Johnson is really giving him a run for his money
Taps sign
I might be wrong but I think these folks might be underestimating how deeply offensive this is to a not insignificant subset of Republican state legislators, not just in Indiana but anywhere (including Idaho). These people have localized constituencies and are not (always) partisan automatons.
One of the most blatantly authoritarian threats in a Trump term full of them
December 11, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Taps sign
To wit bsky.app/profile/arib...
I might be wrong but I think these folks might be underestimating how deeply offensive this is to a not insignificant subset of Republican state legislators, not just in Indiana but anywhere (including Idaho). These people have localized constituencies and are not (always) partisan automatons.
One of the most blatantly authoritarian threats in a Trump term full of them
December 11, 2025 at 9:26 PM
To wit bsky.app/profile/arib...
Bro
MAGAZINER: How many veterans have you deported?
NOEM: We haven't deported veterans
MAGAZINER: We are now joined on Zoom by a combat veteran you deported to Korea
NOEM: We haven't deported veterans
MAGAZINER: We are now joined on Zoom by a combat veteran you deported to Korea
December 11, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Bro
I might be wrong but I think these folks might be underestimating how deeply offensive this is to a not insignificant subset of Republican state legislators, not just in Indiana but anywhere (including Idaho). These people have localized constituencies and are not (always) partisan automatons.
One of the most blatantly authoritarian threats in a Trump term full of them
December 11, 2025 at 6:34 PM
I might be wrong but I think these folks might be underestimating how deeply offensive this is to a not insignificant subset of Republican state legislators, not just in Indiana but anywhere (including Idaho). These people have localized constituencies and are not (always) partisan automatons.
Reposted by Charlie Hunt
immigrants score the lowest on tests, but they also take all our jobs, while at the same time taking all the welfare and buying all the homes
Stephen Miller: "If you subtract immigration out of test scores, all of the sudden our test scores skyrocket"
December 9, 2025 at 10:59 PM
immigrants score the lowest on tests, but they also take all our jobs, while at the same time taking all the welfare and buying all the homes
no wait don't go
Incredible:
"Nancy Mace of South Carolina has told people she is so frustrated... that she is planning to huddle with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia next week to discuss following her lead and retiring early from Congress."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/u...
"Nancy Mace of South Carolina has told people she is so frustrated... that she is planning to huddle with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia next week to discuss following her lead and retiring early from Congress."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/u...
December 4, 2025 at 12:03 AM
no wait don't go
Reposted by Charlie Hunt
This is honestly a pretty Bluesky-specific problem. It is deathly serious in here at all times and I'll be honest, looking at Bluesky regularly is making me a worse, more hysterical writer, causing my non-Bluesky readers to tune out, and it's just making me an unhappier person.
And it may not just be limited to Bluesky, it seems like this is taking over much of online. Feels like @maxread.info or @ryanhatesthis.bsky.social could go long on the problem.
December 3, 2025 at 7:25 PM
This is honestly a pretty Bluesky-specific problem. It is deathly serious in here at all times and I'll be honest, looking at Bluesky regularly is making me a worse, more hysterical writer, causing my non-Bluesky readers to tune out, and it's just making me an unhappier person.
What an embarrassment
Jeffries claims the charges against Cueller were "very thin" and says Trump's pardon was "exactly the right outcome"
December 3, 2025 at 5:42 PM
What an embarrassment
Rick Scott (net worth: $200m) makes this same argument constantly. It really speaks to how their personal life experience informs their policymaking (see @bcburden.bsky.social's classic book). They — not the very few lower-income members — are the most threatened by legislation like this.
December 3, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Rick Scott (net worth: $200m) makes this same argument constantly. It really speaks to how their personal life experience informs their policymaking (see @bcburden.bsky.social's classic book). They — not the very few lower-income members — are the most threatened by legislation like this.
Reposted by Charlie Hunt
If you think your job is not to tell the truth but to "challenge your audience's assumptions" if the latter is in tension with the former then you're going to end up lying. bsky.app/profile/larr...
For my part, I would say that questioning the framing of some Times stories—for example, the highlighting of Trump’s putative emotions or the foregrounding of what he says (even when, as is often the case, what he says is false)—is not an indication that I want my “views validated.”
December 2, 2025 at 4:03 PM
If you think your job is not to tell the truth but to "challenge your audience's assumptions" if the latter is in tension with the former then you're going to end up lying. bsky.app/profile/larr...
Reposted by Charlie Hunt
What time do you get in?
Officially moving to Chicago tomorrow. I assume JB Pritzker will be waiting for me at the airport
November 25, 2025 at 1:13 PM
What time do you get in?
Reposted by Charlie Hunt
After you help your boss convert a doc to PDF
November 22, 2025 at 4:55 PM
After you help your boss convert a doc to PDF