Daniel Laurison
@daniellaurison.bsky.social
Sociologist at Swarthmore College, trans man. Wrote Producing Politics & The Class Ceiling & a bunch of articles on class & race & inequality &/or political participation.
DanielLaurison.com = me
WeAreHigherEd.org = standing up for education and democracy
DanielLaurison.com = me
WeAreHigherEd.org = standing up for education and democracy
Pinned
We've compiled all the instances we can find of academics standing up for higher education and democracy, as well as attacks, at WeAreHigherEd.org. Please visit, and sign our letter and/or others (bit.ly/DemocracyAndHigherEd - 13k people have signed one or more statements).
Hello this is a picture of the best mountain, I took it myself, I grew up with this view (I lived in a lot of different houses growing up in Seattle but they were usually within a mile or two of Seward Park where this was taken) and you should get to see it too.
January 6, 2026 at 3:08 AM
Hello this is a picture of the best mountain, I took it myself, I grew up with this view (I lived in a lot of different houses growing up in Seattle but they were usually within a mile or two of Seward Park where this was taken) and you should get to see it too.
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
amazing how the entire machine can pivot within 24 hours. no need to slowly upsell the argument; just issue new marching orders
January 5, 2026 at 6:50 AM
amazing how the entire machine can pivot within 24 hours. no need to slowly upsell the argument; just issue new marching orders
I just finished this and it's a little outside my preferred reading zone but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I especially appreciated the parents' story, they're queer moms about 8-12 years older than me (and the protagonist is ~8-12 years older than my older kid) and the recent queer history was lovely.
I especially appreciated the parents' story, they're queer moms about 8-12 years older than me (and the protagonist is ~8-12 years older than my older kid) and the recent queer history was lovely.
I'm so grateful for recent responses to Lessons in Magic and Disaster!!!
First, bookseller Rowan Julian with @novelneighbor.bsky.social in St Louis calls Lessons "a firecracker of a book" and "one of my favorites of 2025" in an utterly wonderful shelf-talker.
🧵
First, bookseller Rowan Julian with @novelneighbor.bsky.social in St Louis calls Lessons "a firecracker of a book" and "one of my favorites of 2025" in an utterly wonderful shelf-talker.
🧵
January 4, 2026 at 9:12 PM
I just finished this and it's a little outside my preferred reading zone but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I especially appreciated the parents' story, they're queer moms about 8-12 years older than me (and the protagonist is ~8-12 years older than my older kid) and the recent queer history was lovely.
I especially appreciated the parents' story, they're queer moms about 8-12 years older than me (and the protagonist is ~8-12 years older than my older kid) and the recent queer history was lovely.
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
I'm boosting myself to say this:
You're going to see people On Here tell you calling electeds doesn't matter. That's not true.
Some are bots. Some are people who like being contrary to be edgy.
But calling moves the needle, especially against a blatantly illegal act by Trump and Co. ACT.
You're going to see people On Here tell you calling electeds doesn't matter. That's not true.
Some are bots. Some are people who like being contrary to be edgy.
But calling moves the needle, especially against a blatantly illegal act by Trump and Co. ACT.
Candid answer - as someone who handled constituent affairs calls for years - while they’re not checking the phone right now, the urgency of the moment is important.
Show them you care enough to make the weekend call, and be counted that way. Staffers will clock and report this upstream.
Show them you care enough to make the weekend call, and be counted that way. Staffers will clock and report this upstream.
Is there actually a benefit to leaving a VM now vs getting a staffer on Monday? Can do both but just curious
January 3, 2026 at 10:48 PM
I'm boosting myself to say this:
You're going to see people On Here tell you calling electeds doesn't matter. That's not true.
Some are bots. Some are people who like being contrary to be edgy.
But calling moves the needle, especially against a blatantly illegal act by Trump and Co. ACT.
You're going to see people On Here tell you calling electeds doesn't matter. That's not true.
Some are bots. Some are people who like being contrary to be edgy.
But calling moves the needle, especially against a blatantly illegal act by Trump and Co. ACT.
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
How else can professors prove "merit" besides SAT scores? Wrong answers only. I'll go first: ability to do sixth-grade geometry homework (two professors in my house fail)
January 2, 2026 at 6:45 PM
How else can professors prove "merit" besides SAT scores? Wrong answers only. I'll go first: ability to do sixth-grade geometry homework (two professors in my house fail)
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
if you don't care about sex workers or sellers of kinky porn getting arbitrarily banned from using money then maybe you will care about the International Criminal Court being banned from using money
this shit needs to be dismantled yesterday
this shit needs to be dismantled yesterday
Why do I have to read an Irish paper for a feature about this?
‘It’s surreal’: US sanctions lock International Criminal Court judge out of daily life
Canadian judge Kimberly Prost is unable to use credit cards, transfer money or book everyday services in what she calls an attack on the independence of the judiciary
www.irishtimes.com
January 2, 2026 at 8:45 PM
if you don't care about sex workers or sellers of kinky porn getting arbitrarily banned from using money then maybe you will care about the International Criminal Court being banned from using money
this shit needs to be dismantled yesterday
this shit needs to be dismantled yesterday
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
Cover reveal. It's about how & why colonies/states controlled international & domestic migration until 1888, why in the late 19th c the feds took over, & what it was like for politically disfavored groups to live under that arrangement of power. You can't understand voluntary migration history 1/
January 2, 2026 at 1:01 PM
Cover reveal. It's about how & why colonies/states controlled international & domestic migration until 1888, why in the late 19th c the feds took over, & what it was like for politically disfavored groups to live under that arrangement of power. You can't understand voluntary migration history 1/
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
"51% of the vote in one election does not empower you to destroy a city or culture or society" -- Mark Levin after Mamdani won 50.8% of the popular vote
"We have rejected, completely, utterly, undeniably, the Democrat Party" -- Mark Levin after Trump won 49.8% of the popular vote
"We have rejected, completely, utterly, undeniably, the Democrat Party" -- Mark Levin after Trump won 49.8% of the popular vote
January 2, 2026 at 6:07 PM
"51% of the vote in one election does not empower you to destroy a city or culture or society" -- Mark Levin after Mamdani won 50.8% of the popular vote
"We have rejected, completely, utterly, undeniably, the Democrat Party" -- Mark Levin after Trump won 49.8% of the popular vote
"We have rejected, completely, utterly, undeniably, the Democrat Party" -- Mark Levin after Trump won 49.8% of the popular vote
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
Mayor Zohran Mandami’s crime reduction strategy notches early win.
January 2, 2026 at 6:47 AM
Mayor Zohran Mandami’s crime reduction strategy notches early win.
So many people in politics - in the US and the UK - have been in politics or adjacent their whole lives, and are not like most people. Not just the politicians, but also (even more so!) their staff and advisors.
(I know this more about the US than the UK - daniellaurison.com/research/pol...)
(I know this more about the US than the UK - daniellaurison.com/research/pol...)
January 2, 2026 at 4:41 PM
So many people in politics - in the US and the UK - have been in politics or adjacent their whole lives, and are not like most people. Not just the politicians, but also (even more so!) their staff and advisors.
(I know this more about the US than the UK - daniellaurison.com/research/pol...)
(I know this more about the US than the UK - daniellaurison.com/research/pol...)
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
This is a strange way of saying “we’re complying with court orders now that we failed to get #SCOTUS to stay them.”
Trump announces he’s pulling the National Guard from Portland, LA, and Chicago but threatens that “We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again - Only a question of time!”
December 31, 2025 at 9:31 PM
This is a strange way of saying “we’re complying with court orders now that we failed to get #SCOTUS to stay them.”
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
Trump just announced that he's pulling the National Guard out of Chicago, LA and Portland while pretending he won some kind of big victory. Here's the reality: Their authoritarian designs have faced massive civil and popular resistance:
Trump and Stephen Miller are actually failing in crucial ways. Deportations are lagging behind their goals, courts are mostly functioning, and their fascist, ethnonationalist cruelties have unleashed a countermobilization of unexpected scope and power.
New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2046...
New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2046...
December 31, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Trump just announced that he's pulling the National Guard out of Chicago, LA and Portland while pretending he won some kind of big victory. Here's the reality: Their authoritarian designs have faced massive civil and popular resistance:
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
This one. This is the piece I hope I'm remembered for. www.jezebel.com/when-surgeon...
December 30, 2025 at 1:52 AM
This one. This is the piece I hope I'm remembered for. www.jezebel.com/when-surgeon...
Cloud is weird but more importantly, look at this gorgeous mountain.
December 30, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Cloud is weird but more importantly, look at this gorgeous mountain.
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
“Good jobs” are a matter of political economy not an inherent feature of tasks. Factory work was miserable (“Satanic mills”!) before unions, OSHA, and the like (temporarily) turned it into a safer, middle class form of employment in the US. Home health aide is no more or less inherently a bad job.
US citizens don't want home healthcare jobs. Not because they don't care about the elderly. But because the jobs are underpaid, overworked, and exploitative.
Take Sylvia, a mom I interviewed who took a home healthcare job because it was her only option, then left it as soon as she could. 1/🧵
Take Sylvia, a mom I interviewed who took a home healthcare job because it was her only option, then left it as soon as she could. 1/🧵
The largest generation in U.S. history is in their 70s now. And Stephen Miller’s podcaster wife thinks it’s suspicious that there’s a huge surge in home health aides.
December 29, 2025 at 5:06 PM
“Good jobs” are a matter of political economy not an inherent feature of tasks. Factory work was miserable (“Satanic mills”!) before unions, OSHA, and the like (temporarily) turned it into a safer, middle class form of employment in the US. Home health aide is no more or less inherently a bad job.
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
I feel like @nkjemisin.bsky.social is involved in this decision somehow
if I were elected mayor of a city I too would insist that every ceremony took place in an abandoned tunnel or secret passage of some kind
EXCLUSIVE: Mamdani Will Be Sworn In At Abandoned Original City Hall Subway Station - Streetsblog New York City
Zohran Mamdani will be sworn in as mayor of New York City at midnight on Jan. 1 inside the old abandoned City Hall subway station.
nyc.streetsblog.org
December 29, 2025 at 2:14 PM
I feel like @nkjemisin.bsky.social is involved in this decision somehow
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
I will say with love that it would be very wise for a whole lot of us to take a breath and think twice about playing Document Dump Deep Diver on social media.
There are folks who actually have experience parsing this stuff and doing Lib QAnon is not a good look.
There are folks who actually have experience parsing this stuff and doing Lib QAnon is not a good look.
December 25, 2025 at 12:28 PM
I will say with love that it would be very wise for a whole lot of us to take a breath and think twice about playing Document Dump Deep Diver on social media.
There are folks who actually have experience parsing this stuff and doing Lib QAnon is not a good look.
There are folks who actually have experience parsing this stuff and doing Lib QAnon is not a good look.
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
And as several folks are saying in the comments: curiosity about the Epstein files is understandable, but just for yourself personally, think carefully about what you want in your head forever.
It will come to you later in upsetting ways that you may not expect.
bsky.app/profile/sass...
It will come to you later in upsetting ways that you may not expect.
bsky.app/profile/sass...
I promise you- people think they want to know the lurid details- they don't. I spent 30 years reading accounts of CA/SA and that shit never leaves your head.
I'm interested in knowing who was on public payroll and didn't do their jobs. And I'm happy to wait for the truth so it sticks.
I'm interested in knowing who was on public payroll and didn't do their jobs. And I'm happy to wait for the truth so it sticks.
December 25, 2025 at 1:39 PM
And as several folks are saying in the comments: curiosity about the Epstein files is understandable, but just for yourself personally, think carefully about what you want in your head forever.
It will come to you later in upsetting ways that you may not expect.
bsky.app/profile/sass...
It will come to you later in upsetting ways that you may not expect.
bsky.app/profile/sass...
I'm so confused.
Indiana State Senator wishes you a Merry Christmas by… posting images of himself assaulting Santa Claus.
Are the fascists okay?
Are the fascists okay?
December 26, 2025 at 3:02 PM
I'm so confused.
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
Yes, this!: "this isn't a crisis in teaching; it's an attack on learning"
I'm finding that I don't have just to change assignments. I have to **abandon my entire teaching strategy**, which has always been built around scaffolded independent projects across the semester.
I'm finding that I don't have just to change assignments. I have to **abandon my entire teaching strategy**, which has always been built around scaffolded independent projects across the semester.
It is EXHAUSTING not only being made responsible for coming up with new kinds of assignments for our students; it's also tedious reading op-eds that suggest the core problem is a crisis in teaching. But, as Chris and I lay out here, this isn't a crisis in teaching; it's an attack on learning.
"We envision a resistance that is...a repudiation of the efficiencies that automated algorithmic education falsely promises: a resistance comprising the collective force of small acts of friction."
"How to Resist AI in Education" by me & @cnygren.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
"How to Resist AI in Education" by me & @cnygren.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
December 26, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Yes, this!: "this isn't a crisis in teaching; it's an attack on learning"
I'm finding that I don't have just to change assignments. I have to **abandon my entire teaching strategy**, which has always been built around scaffolded independent projects across the semester.
I'm finding that I don't have just to change assignments. I have to **abandon my entire teaching strategy**, which has always been built around scaffolded independent projects across the semester.
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
I love my two blackout drunk Minnesota sons
December 18, 2025 at 2:17 PM
I love my two blackout drunk Minnesota sons
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
Really appreciate the justified anger in this piece by @ryanlcooper.com.
The GOP's narrative about trans people "is and always has been a lie. What these people actually have is a seething, obsessive hatred of trans people. They want them either back in the closet or dead."
The GOP's narrative about trans people "is and always has been a lie. What these people actually have is a seething, obsessive hatred of trans people. They want them either back in the closet or dead."
The Transphobic Mask Is Off - The American Prospect
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene drew up a bill making it a federal felony to provide pediatric transition care of any kind. The ultimate goal is a ban on all trans health care and the end of civil rights ...
prospect.org
December 19, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Really appreciate the justified anger in this piece by @ryanlcooper.com.
The GOP's narrative about trans people "is and always has been a lie. What these people actually have is a seething, obsessive hatred of trans people. They want them either back in the closet or dead."
The GOP's narrative about trans people "is and always has been a lie. What these people actually have is a seething, obsessive hatred of trans people. They want them either back in the closet or dead."
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
NB: When I, a professor of law, profess that an act is unlawful, I am not doing it to inform the lawbreaker, but rather to inform you, the reader.
So the question “what, like you think he cares?” is inapposite. The question is whether *you* care. I think you should, which is why I bother.
So the question “what, like you think he cares?” is inapposite. The question is whether *you* care. I think you should, which is why I bother.
December 18, 2025 at 9:01 PM
NB: When I, a professor of law, profess that an act is unlawful, I am not doing it to inform the lawbreaker, but rather to inform you, the reader.
So the question “what, like you think he cares?” is inapposite. The question is whether *you* care. I think you should, which is why I bother.
So the question “what, like you think he cares?” is inapposite. The question is whether *you* care. I think you should, which is why I bother.
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
"My transgender patients are trying to get by, day by day. They’re trying to survive."
ICYMI my interview with John Weiser, a former CDC official who resigned after refusing to comply with orders.
@assignedmedia.org via @kffhealthnews.org
www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...
ICYMI my interview with John Weiser, a former CDC official who resigned after refusing to comply with orders.
@assignedmedia.org via @kffhealthnews.org
www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...
This HIV Expert Refused To Censor Data on Trans Patients, Then Quit the CDC — Assigned
John Weiser, a doctor and researcher, has treated people with HIV since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.
www.assignedmedia.org
December 18, 2025 at 6:39 PM
"My transgender patients are trying to get by, day by day. They’re trying to survive."
ICYMI my interview with John Weiser, a former CDC official who resigned after refusing to comply with orders.
@assignedmedia.org via @kffhealthnews.org
www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...
ICYMI my interview with John Weiser, a former CDC official who resigned after refusing to comply with orders.
@assignedmedia.org via @kffhealthnews.org
www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...
Reposted by Daniel Laurison
"the out of touch trump administration is busy policing the genitals of children when he's made it more expensive to buy groceries and go to the doctor"
is an easy ass message
is an easy ass message
December 18, 2025 at 5:18 PM
"the out of touch trump administration is busy policing the genitals of children when he's made it more expensive to buy groceries and go to the doctor"
is an easy ass message
is an easy ass message