Kevin Elliott
@kjephd.bsky.social
Political theorist studying democracy, ethics, & institutions. Author of Democracy for Busy People (https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/D/bo194847654.html); more at kevinjelliott.net. Generally poasting my way through this thing
Pinned
Kevin Elliott
@kjephd.bsky.social
· Jun 24
New article out from me, in which I consider: what if I'm wrong about everything re: what's important for a flourishing democracy?
I use a recent book attacking institutions & advocating disintermediated localism to explore the limits of my view.
Get it free here: academic.oup.com/psq/advance-...
I use a recent book attacking institutions & advocating disintermediated localism to explore the limits of my view.
Get it free here: academic.oup.com/psq/advance-...
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
With no algorithm here, I'm especially grateful to all who reposted this & also to those of you who pre-ordered (info is in the thread)!
Since I am not Stephen King, unlikely bookstores will stock my academic book in physical form. Can you please ask your public or academic library to order? Thx.
Since I am not Stephen King, unlikely bookstores will stock my academic book in physical form. Can you please ask your public or academic library to order? Thx.
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 7:25 PM
With no algorithm here, I'm especially grateful to all who reposted this & also to those of you who pre-ordered (info is in the thread)!
Since I am not Stephen King, unlikely bookstores will stock my academic book in physical form. Can you please ask your public or academic library to order? Thx.
Since I am not Stephen King, unlikely bookstores will stock my academic book in physical form. Can you please ask your public or academic library to order? Thx.
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
All of these news articles repeating the Grok “apology” aren’t just bad framing—they aren’t even news stories as much as technology fantasy speculative fiction stories that imagine a reality in which no human can be held responsible for creating and operating a CSAM-generating computer program.
This is a thread of major media outlets falsely anthropomorphising the "Grok" chatbot program and in doing so, actively and directly removing responsibility and accountability from individual people working at X who created a child pornography generator (Elon Musk, Nikita Bier etc)
#1: Reuters
#1: Reuters
January 2, 2026 at 8:18 PM
All of these news articles repeating the Grok “apology” aren’t just bad framing—they aren’t even news stories as much as technology fantasy speculative fiction stories that imagine a reality in which no human can be held responsible for creating and operating a CSAM-generating computer program.
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Is doing everything you can to alienate your core potential consumer base a good idea? www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2026/01/is-d...
Is doing everything you can to alienate your core potential consumer base a good idea? - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Oddly enough, perhaps not: Tesla has lost its status as the world’s biggest seller of electric vehicles after Congress and President Trump eliminated the federal tax credits that had encouraged Americ...
www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com
January 2, 2026 at 8:30 PM
Is doing everything you can to alienate your core potential consumer base a good idea? www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2026/01/is-d...
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Includes The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie and Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon.
Please join me in welcoming to the public domain such works as the 1930 Best Picture All Quiet on the Western Front, Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, several Nancy Drew books, some songs you've heard of (Dream a Little Dream of Me; Georgia on My Mind), and more:
blog.archive.org/2026/01/01/w...
blog.archive.org/2026/01/01/w...
Welcome to the Public Domain in 2026 | Internet Archive Blogs
blog.archive.org
January 2, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Includes The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie and Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon.
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Happy New Year!
Start 2026 the right way: With almost 6,000 words on where the country stands, how much damage has been done, and what might come next.
Where Are You Going, America?
Start 2026 the right way: With almost 6,000 words on where the country stands, how much damage has been done, and what might come next.
Where Are You Going, America?
Where Are You Going, America?
America is no longer a democracy. Authoritarianism has not won. But merely restoring the pre-Trump status quo won’t work. The country needs a democratic transformation.
steady.page
January 1, 2026 at 10:13 PM
Happy New Year!
Start 2026 the right way: With almost 6,000 words on where the country stands, how much damage has been done, and what might come next.
Where Are You Going, America?
Start 2026 the right way: With almost 6,000 words on where the country stands, how much damage has been done, and what might come next.
Where Are You Going, America?
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Such an important article about the NYT's coverage of transgender issues and why it's so reactionary. transnews.network/p/a-directiv...
'A directive from above': Former NYT editor lays out how the paper pushes anti-trans bigotry
In this in-depth interview, former New York Times editor Billie Jean Sweeney details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, how some staff tried to stop it, how it's directe...
transnews.network
January 2, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Such an important article about the NYT's coverage of transgender issues and why it's so reactionary. transnews.network/p/a-directiv...
It means polite people have allowed the strictures of civility to prevent them from telling the truth about the obvious cruelty abroad in the world, and especially in my own land. Some have even used them to attack those telling that important truth as gauche & hysterical
But can anyone tell me what this bit means? “For too long, those fluent in the good grammar of civility have deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty.”
January 2, 2026 at 2:16 PM
It means polite people have allowed the strictures of civility to prevent them from telling the truth about the obvious cruelty abroad in the world, and especially in my own land. Some have even used them to attack those telling that important truth as gauche & hysterical
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
In August, the WHO and UNICEF released data showing that over the last decade 961 million people gained access to safe drinking water, 1.2 billion gained safe sanitation, and 1.5 billion gained basic hygiene services. buff.ly/2Jeoldi
#ShareGoodNewsToo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
Fix The News | Angus Hervey | Substack
Fix The News is the world's leading solutions journalism newsletter. We share hidden stories of progress with readers from 195 countries. Steven Pinker calls us "the best source for positive news on…
buff.ly
January 2, 2026 at 1:50 PM
In August, the WHO and UNICEF released data showing that over the last decade 961 million people gained access to safe drinking water, 1.2 billion gained safe sanitation, and 1.5 billion gained basic hygiene services. buff.ly/2Jeoldi
#ShareGoodNewsToo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
Please join me in welcoming to the public domain such works as the 1930 Best Picture All Quiet on the Western Front, Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, several Nancy Drew books, some songs you've heard of (Dream a Little Dream of Me; Georgia on My Mind), and more:
blog.archive.org/2026/01/01/w...
blog.archive.org/2026/01/01/w...
Welcome to the Public Domain in 2026 | Internet Archive Blogs
blog.archive.org
January 2, 2026 at 1:33 PM
Please join me in welcoming to the public domain such works as the 1930 Best Picture All Quiet on the Western Front, Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, several Nancy Drew books, some songs you've heard of (Dream a Little Dream of Me; Georgia on My Mind), and more:
blog.archive.org/2026/01/01/w...
blog.archive.org/2026/01/01/w...
GREAT cover, for what will no doubt be a major book
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 1:21 PM
GREAT cover, for what will no doubt be a major book
Mayor Mamdani already delivering results to his city
January 2, 2026 at 1:20 PM
Mayor Mamdani already delivering results to his city
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Grok becoming a mass mainstream nudify app with baked-in viral distribution was entirely predictable; the only surprise is how long it took.
So much of the risk scenario for this assumed mainstream AI model creators would limit its output and this would be a targeted harassment/niche model issue.
So much of the risk scenario for this assumed mainstream AI model creators would limit its output and this would be a targeted harassment/niche model issue.
January 2, 2026 at 5:32 AM
Grok becoming a mass mainstream nudify app with baked-in viral distribution was entirely predictable; the only surprise is how long it took.
So much of the risk scenario for this assumed mainstream AI model creators would limit its output and this would be a targeted harassment/niche model issue.
So much of the risk scenario for this assumed mainstream AI model creators would limit its output and this would be a targeted harassment/niche model issue.
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
“I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration,” the North Carolina Republican Party's communications director wrote in an email response to us. “I would strongly suggest dropping this story.”
We didn't. #ICYMI, read the story that he wanted dropped:
We didn't. #ICYMI, read the story that he wanted dropped:
“Biblical Justice, Equal Justice, for All”: How North Carolina’s Chief Justice Transformed His State and America
Paul Newby, a born-again Christian, has turned his perch atop North Carolina’s Supreme Court into an instrument of political power. Over two decades, he’s driven changes that have reverberated well be...
www.propublica.org
January 2, 2026 at 4:00 AM
“I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration,” the North Carolina Republican Party's communications director wrote in an email response to us. “I would strongly suggest dropping this story.”
We didn't. #ICYMI, read the story that he wanted dropped:
We didn't. #ICYMI, read the story that he wanted dropped:
Can we take a minute to appreciate the transformation in the discourse that's elevated "affordability" into the preeminent issue in American politics?
It's a version of 'the economy,' but without favoring Republicans & conservative economics. It's also the kind of thing govt can do something about
It's a version of 'the economy,' but without favoring Republicans & conservative economics. It's also the kind of thing govt can do something about
January 2, 2026 at 3:48 AM
Can we take a minute to appreciate the transformation in the discourse that's elevated "affordability" into the preeminent issue in American politics?
It's a version of 'the economy,' but without favoring Republicans & conservative economics. It's also the kind of thing govt can do something about
It's a version of 'the economy,' but without favoring Republicans & conservative economics. It's also the kind of thing govt can do something about
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
As should social democratic and other left parties in Europe…
And I think liberals should stop taking the bait and ceding ground on immigration.
Immigration is good. Multiculturalism is good. Free trade is good. Stop being embarrassed to say so.
Immigration is good. Multiculturalism is good. Free trade is good. Stop being embarrassed to say so.
January 1, 2026 at 6:00 PM
As should social democratic and other left parties in Europe…
January 2, 2026 at 3:39 AM
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
i am losing my mind over this listing that staged a condemned philly trap house with AI
December 31, 2025 at 2:40 PM
i am losing my mind over this listing that staged a condemned philly trap house with AI
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
If you are a resident of California, the state now has a portal where you can demand deletion of your personal data from 500+ registered data brokers with a single request form, for free.
consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov
consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov
consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov
January 2, 2026 at 2:26 AM
If you are a resident of California, the state now has a portal where you can demand deletion of your personal data from 500+ registered data brokers with a single request form, for free.
consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov
consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov
To be specific: W Bush was so world-historically terrible as president he discredited the entire Republican Party as it had existed since its ideological transformation between Goldwater & Reagan, weakening its leadership elite so badly the party could be taken over by a malevolent clown like Trump
W was better than Trump but also essential to getting us here, so that’s not a compliment at least not when I say it
Hundreds of thousands of dead people in Afghanistan and Iraq, Gen Z is struggling with reading comprehension, and we live in a surveillance state started by Bush, who also created ICE, but hey at least he’s not Donald Trump
January 2, 2026 at 3:29 AM
To be specific: W Bush was so world-historically terrible as president he discredited the entire Republican Party as it had existed since its ideological transformation between Goldwater & Reagan, weakening its leadership elite so badly the party could be taken over by a malevolent clown like Trump
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
“it is illegal for you not to like me”
This is the logical and inevitable conclusion of the last decade of elite media "free speech" discourse.
December 28, 2025 at 1:54 AM
“it is illegal for you not to like me”
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Start Bondi impeachment hearings immediately
Gill on Epstein Files: I reached out to sources and they say that not only did New York send over everything they had in March, but that the entire review process—using roughly a thousand analysts from the FBI’s Information Management Division—was specifically to review the files from New York
January 2, 2026 at 1:17 AM
Start Bondi impeachment hearings immediately
Look, I resisted being attracted to any of the blue cat people in Avatars 1 & 2, but then in the new one they went ahead and made one goth
January 2, 2026 at 12:36 AM
Look, I resisted being attracted to any of the blue cat people in Avatars 1 & 2, but then in the new one they went ahead and made one goth
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
Tinpot Dome
DHS reportedly fast-tracked a contract worth almost $1 billion to a company led by a donor to a pro-Trump nonprofit group where one of the officials overseeing the deal previously worked.
That raises serious ethics concerns.
That raises serious ethics concerns.
DHS fast-tracked $1 billion contract to pro-Trump donor’s company
A DHS official leading the process previously worked at the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump nonprofit where the contractor’s CEO was a donor.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 2, 2026 at 12:19 AM
Tinpot Dome
Y'know what's a terrible time to shop for discounts on running shoes? Around the New Year. These sellers know exactly what they're doing
January 2, 2026 at 12:17 AM
Y'know what's a terrible time to shop for discounts on running shoes? Around the New Year. These sellers know exactly what they're doing
Reposted by Kevin Elliott
This maniac is trying to turn us into the best parts of Europe!
“I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist.”
— New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in his inaugural address
— New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in his inaugural address
Zohran Mamdani on Welcoming Bernie Sanders for a “Bread and Roses” Inaugural Celebration
In an exclusive interview with The Nation, the incoming democratic socialist mayor discusses making New York a “showcase of light” through the political darkness.
www.thenation.com
January 2, 2026 at 12:14 AM
This maniac is trying to turn us into the best parts of Europe!