Kyle Saunders
@kylesaunders.bsky.social
Professor of Political Science working at the nexus of a lot of things (but currently fascinated by the dreaded bitcoin/crypto politics) & NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative at Colorado State University; #firstgen; R(whatever)≠E
I thought I'd better re-up this piece today--the number of reads and the level of engagement on this post has been really heartening. Thanks for your time.
I’m a first-gen college grad. The old higher ed model worked for me.
That’s why it hurts to say: the value proposition is breaking & we gotta fix it.
I argue universities are being unbundled & AI accelerates this process leading to further bifurcation.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-collap...
That’s why it hurts to say: the value proposition is breaking & we gotta fix it.
I argue universities are being unbundled & AI accelerates this process leading to further bifurcation.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-collap...
January 26, 2026 at 3:46 PM
I thought I'd better re-up this piece today--the number of reads and the level of engagement on this post has been really heartening. Thanks for your time.
Colorado is testing what happens when party competition weakens asymmetrically. When opposition collapses, politics moves inside the dominant party. My piece (after @smotus.bsky.social's excellent piece) CO's progressive primaries, Trump & accountability: kylesaunders.substack.com/p/colorado-a...
January 25, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Colorado is testing what happens when party competition weakens asymmetrically. When opposition collapses, politics moves inside the dominant party. My piece (after @smotus.bsky.social's excellent piece) CO's progressive primaries, Trump & accountability: kylesaunders.substack.com/p/colorado-a...
Reposted by Kyle Saunders
You don't want to watch. All caveats about what we don't know during a breaking news event, but it looks very very very bad.
January 24, 2026 at 3:52 PM
You don't want to watch. All caveats about what we don't know during a breaking news event, but it looks very very very bad.
I’m a first-gen college grad. The old higher ed model worked for me.
That’s why it hurts to say: the value proposition is breaking & we gotta fix it.
I argue universities are being unbundled & AI accelerates this process leading to further bifurcation.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-collap...
That’s why it hurts to say: the value proposition is breaking & we gotta fix it.
I argue universities are being unbundled & AI accelerates this process leading to further bifurcation.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-collap...
January 24, 2026 at 3:40 PM
I’m a first-gen college grad. The old higher ed model worked for me.
That’s why it hurts to say: the value proposition is breaking & we gotta fix it.
I argue universities are being unbundled & AI accelerates this process leading to further bifurcation.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-collap...
That’s why it hurts to say: the value proposition is breaking & we gotta fix it.
I argue universities are being unbundled & AI accelerates this process leading to further bifurcation.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-collap...
Reposted by Kyle Saunders
Higher ed is being unbundled: knowledge is cheap, credentials proliferate, networks are positional, and four years of “time to mature” is now a luxury good. Universities must explain what they uniquely sell-and if they don't-the value proposition collapses.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-collap...
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-collap...
January 23, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Higher ed is being unbundled: knowledge is cheap, credentials proliferate, networks are positional, and four years of “time to mature” is now a luxury good. Universities must explain what they uniquely sell-and if they don't-the value proposition collapses.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-collap...
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-collap...
Reposted by Kyle Saunders
Best thing I've read on higher ed in years. Years. Rarely do you see systems thinking and institutional analysis this sharp.
Higher ed is being unbundled: knowledge is cheap, credentials proliferate, networks are positional, and four years of “time to mature” is now a luxury good. Universities must explain what they uniquely sell-and if they don't-the value proposition collapses.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-collap...
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-collap...
January 23, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Best thing I've read on higher ed in years. Years. Rarely do you see systems thinking and institutional analysis this sharp.
Higher ed is being unbundled: knowledge is cheap, credentials proliferate, networks are positional, and four years of “time to mature” is now a luxury good. Universities must explain what they uniquely sell-and if they don't-the value proposition collapses.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-collap...
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-collap...
January 23, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Higher ed is being unbundled: knowledge is cheap, credentials proliferate, networks are positional, and four years of “time to mature” is now a luxury good. Universities must explain what they uniquely sell-and if they don't-the value proposition collapses.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-collap...
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-collap...
Everyone in college athletics wants rules.
No one wants to enforce them first.
The real problem isn’t chaos. It’s a first-mover problem under legal risk.
A game-theoretic look at NIL, the transfer portal, and why enforcement keeps getting deferred.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/enforcemen...
No one wants to enforce them first.
The real problem isn’t chaos. It’s a first-mover problem under legal risk.
A game-theoretic look at NIL, the transfer portal, and why enforcement keeps getting deferred.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/enforcemen...
January 20, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Everyone in college athletics wants rules.
No one wants to enforce them first.
The real problem isn’t chaos. It’s a first-mover problem under legal risk.
A game-theoretic look at NIL, the transfer portal, and why enforcement keeps getting deferred.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/enforcemen...
No one wants to enforce them first.
The real problem isn’t chaos. It’s a first-mover problem under legal risk.
A game-theoretic look at NIL, the transfer portal, and why enforcement keeps getting deferred.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/enforcemen...
Identity and motivated reasoning are the “weak” nuclear force of politics.
Easy to overlook. Operating at small scales.
But under the right conditions, they quietly shape belief, evidence, and why disagreement hardens instead of resolving.
New piece 👇
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-weak-n...
Easy to overlook. Operating at small scales.
But under the right conditions, they quietly shape belief, evidence, and why disagreement hardens instead of resolving.
New piece 👇
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-weak-n...
January 17, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Identity and motivated reasoning are the “weak” nuclear force of politics.
Easy to overlook. Operating at small scales.
But under the right conditions, they quietly shape belief, evidence, and why disagreement hardens instead of resolving.
New piece 👇
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-weak-n...
Easy to overlook. Operating at small scales.
But under the right conditions, they quietly shape belief, evidence, and why disagreement hardens instead of resolving.
New piece 👇
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-weak-n...
New essay up this morning. Here's a thread about it if you care, which you probably won't!
The piece is about why we argue constantly but resolve nothing—and why trust keeps collapsing even when everyone thinks they’re “right.”
The piece is about why we argue constantly but resolve nothing—and why trust keeps collapsing even when everyone thinks they’re “right.”
January 14, 2026 at 4:30 PM
New essay up this morning. Here's a thread about it if you care, which you probably won't!
The piece is about why we argue constantly but resolve nothing—and why trust keeps collapsing even when everyone thinks they’re “right.”
The piece is about why we argue constantly but resolve nothing—and why trust keeps collapsing even when everyone thinks they’re “right.”
Reposted by Kyle Saunders
We live inside the experiment now. From Skinner's Walden Two to today.
Under the hood, we’re constantly A/B tested—how to spike outrage, how to soothe it, how fast we respond, how predictable we become.
That’s behavioral optimization, not persuasion.
New essay ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
Under the hood, we’re constantly A/B tested—how to spike outrage, how to soothe it, how fast we respond, how predictable we become.
That’s behavioral optimization, not persuasion.
New essay ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
We Live Inside the Experiment Now
From the behavioral conditioning of Skinner’s Walden Two to today’s algorithmic governance
open.substack.com
January 11, 2026 at 5:06 PM
We live inside the experiment now. From Skinner's Walden Two to today.
Under the hood, we’re constantly A/B tested—how to spike outrage, how to soothe it, how fast we respond, how predictable we become.
That’s behavioral optimization, not persuasion.
New essay ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
Under the hood, we’re constantly A/B tested—how to spike outrage, how to soothe it, how fast we respond, how predictable we become.
That’s behavioral optimization, not persuasion.
New essay ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
We live inside the experiment now. From Skinner's Walden Two to today.
Under the hood, we’re constantly A/B tested—how to spike outrage, how to soothe it, how fast we respond, how predictable we become.
That’s behavioral optimization, not persuasion.
New essay ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
Under the hood, we’re constantly A/B tested—how to spike outrage, how to soothe it, how fast we respond, how predictable we become.
That’s behavioral optimization, not persuasion.
New essay ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
We Live Inside the Experiment Now
From the behavioral conditioning of Skinner’s Walden Two to today’s algorithmic governance
open.substack.com
January 11, 2026 at 5:06 PM
We live inside the experiment now. From Skinner's Walden Two to today.
Under the hood, we’re constantly A/B tested—how to spike outrage, how to soothe it, how fast we respond, how predictable we become.
That’s behavioral optimization, not persuasion.
New essay ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
Under the hood, we’re constantly A/B tested—how to spike outrage, how to soothe it, how fast we respond, how predictable we become.
That’s behavioral optimization, not persuasion.
New essay ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
The transfer portal isn’t chaos—it’s governance adapting to legal risk.
When enforcement becomes dangerous, systems default to exit, discretion, and after-the-fact adjustment.
Why that matters for college athletics: open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
When enforcement becomes dangerous, systems default to exit, discretion, and after-the-fact adjustment.
Why that matters for college athletics: open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
January 10, 2026 at 5:54 PM
The transfer portal isn’t chaos—it’s governance adapting to legal risk.
When enforcement becomes dangerous, systems default to exit, discretion, and after-the-fact adjustment.
Why that matters for college athletics: open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
When enforcement becomes dangerous, systems default to exit, discretion, and after-the-fact adjustment.
Why that matters for college athletics: open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
This is merely the beginning of the middle.
January 9, 2026 at 5:48 PM
This is merely the beginning of the middle.
Media systems shape politics long before messages do. New essay on Marshall McLuhan, systems thinking, and why so many political failures are really environment problems.
open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
Marshall McLuhan and the Political Systems We Forgot to Model
On Systems and Democratic Strain
open.substack.com
January 8, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Media systems shape politics long before messages do. New essay on Marshall McLuhan, systems thinking, and why so many political failures are really environment problems.
open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
Why does college athletics feel broken—and why does collective bargaining, despite its appeal, remain so elusive?
A political economy of incentives, power, NIL, and the transfer portal: kylesaunders.substack.com/p/how-collec...
A political economy of incentives, power, NIL, and the transfer portal: kylesaunders.substack.com/p/how-collec...
January 5, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Why does college athletics feel broken—and why does collective bargaining, despite its appeal, remain so elusive?
A political economy of incentives, power, NIL, and the transfer portal: kylesaunders.substack.com/p/how-collec...
A political economy of incentives, power, NIL, and the transfer portal: kylesaunders.substack.com/p/how-collec...
January 4, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Welcome to 2026.
January 3, 2026 at 5:19 PM
Welcome to 2026.
Today begins a now 19 year habit/tradition of beginning to listen to or read two books on New Year’s Day.
The first is the Tao Te Ching.
The second is The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant.
I continue to find in them great insight and counsel and comfort.
The first is the Tao Te Ching.
The second is The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant.
I continue to find in them great insight and counsel and comfort.
January 1, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Today begins a now 19 year habit/tradition of beginning to listen to or read two books on New Year’s Day.
The first is the Tao Te Ching.
The second is The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant.
I continue to find in them great insight and counsel and comfort.
The first is the Tao Te Ching.
The second is The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant.
I continue to find in them great insight and counsel and comfort.
A sympathetic response to Ryan Briggs on trust in social science.
My argument: the deepest problem isn’t error, but epistemic incommensurability-when fields lose shared standards for weighing evidence, experience, and interpretation.
Trust depends on commensuration.
open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
My argument: the deepest problem isn’t error, but epistemic incommensurability-when fields lose shared standards for weighing evidence, experience, and interpretation.
Trust depends on commensuration.
open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
Trust, Incommensurability, and the Limits of Intersubjectivity
A response to “Can We Trust Social Science Yet?” by Ryan Briggs
open.substack.com
January 1, 2026 at 4:41 PM
A sympathetic response to Ryan Briggs on trust in social science.
My argument: the deepest problem isn’t error, but epistemic incommensurability-when fields lose shared standards for weighing evidence, experience, and interpretation.
Trust depends on commensuration.
open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
My argument: the deepest problem isn’t error, but epistemic incommensurability-when fields lose shared standards for weighing evidence, experience, and interpretation.
Trust depends on commensuration.
open.substack.com/pub/kylesaun...
December 31, 2025 at 3:29 PM
December 30, 2025 at 3:45 PM
The U.S. has become a low-trust society—and that changes everything.
When trust collapses, politics shifts from outcomes to motives, compromise looks naïve, and gridlock becomes rational.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-united...
When trust collapses, politics shifts from outcomes to motives, compromise looks naïve, and gridlock becomes rational.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-united...
December 29, 2025 at 2:56 PM
The U.S. has become a low-trust society—and that changes everything.
When trust collapses, politics shifts from outcomes to motives, compromise looks naïve, and gridlock becomes rational.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-united...
When trust collapses, politics shifts from outcomes to motives, compromise looks naïve, and gridlock becomes rational.
kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-united...