Laura Morris
@lhmorris.bsky.social
usually posting about global development, current events, evidence in policy, health economics, and misc nerd stuff. (she/her) https://scholar.harvard.edu/lauramorris
Pinned
Laura Morris
@lhmorris.bsky.social
· Nov 22
Will get a paper copy eventually, but this was nice to see in a very cold week (albeit not Boston-cold)
Reposted by Laura Morris
Reposted by Laura Morris
I met an absolutely lovely academic who asked whether my department back home is affected by ICE -- a question dramatizing how little info is getting out.
For the record, the small example I chose:
My dept has a carpool to pick up grad students of color who can't safely commute to campus alone.
For the record, the small example I chose:
My dept has a carpool to pick up grad students of color who can't safely commute to campus alone.
January 22, 2026 at 7:52 PM
I met an absolutely lovely academic who asked whether my department back home is affected by ICE -- a question dramatizing how little info is getting out.
For the record, the small example I chose:
My dept has a carpool to pick up grad students of color who can't safely commute to campus alone.
For the record, the small example I chose:
My dept has a carpool to pick up grad students of color who can't safely commute to campus alone.
Reposted by Laura Morris
I just thought everyone should see this
January 22, 2026 at 11:02 PM
I just thought everyone should see this
Reposted by Laura Morris
A new, comprehensive measure of well-being shows that standard indicators, like wealth and consumption, may substantially understate the extent of racial inequality in the US, say researchers at @hec.ca and Stanford. #econsky www.aeaweb.org/research/cha...
Measuring welfare
A comprehensive measure of well-being shows that the gap between Black and White Americans is larger than traditional metrics suggest.
www.aeaweb.org
January 8, 2026 at 2:19 PM
A new, comprehensive measure of well-being shows that standard indicators, like wealth and consumption, may substantially understate the extent of racial inequality in the US, say researchers at @hec.ca and Stanford. #econsky www.aeaweb.org/research/cha...
Reposted by Laura Morris
A reminder for anyone new to Bluesky (or who just wants to follow more policy wonks here) that I've made a starter pack of all the think tanks I've spotted on the platform and the researchers working at them (if you're missing and want adding in let me know!) - go.bsky.app/Geu9Jd8
UK think tanks - research edition
Join the conversation
go.bsky.app
January 6, 2026 at 1:03 PM
A reminder for anyone new to Bluesky (or who just wants to follow more policy wonks here) that I've made a starter pack of all the think tanks I've spotted on the platform and the researchers working at them (if you're missing and want adding in let me know!) - go.bsky.app/Geu9Jd8
Reposted by Laura Morris
There is a threat to Minneapolis so extreme that *every child in the city* has been forced to stay home from school.
That threat does not come from immigrants.
There has only been one murder in Minneapolis in 2026. It was federal agents' killing of a 37 year-old US citizen/mother in her minivan.
That threat does not come from immigrants.
There has only been one murder in Minneapolis in 2026. It was federal agents' killing of a 37 year-old US citizen/mother in her minivan.
Minneapolis Public Schools announces that out of an abundance of caution classes are canceled today and tomorrow due to safety concerns in the aftermath of the ICE shooting. kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/a...
No school for MPS rest of the week; Apparent ICE presence at Roosevelt High School causes chaotic scene
Minneapolis Public Schools said that out of an abundance of caution, there will be no school on Thursday or Friday due to safety concerns related to the woman who was fatally shot by an ICE agent.
kstp.com
January 8, 2026 at 12:12 PM
There is a threat to Minneapolis so extreme that *every child in the city* has been forced to stay home from school.
That threat does not come from immigrants.
There has only been one murder in Minneapolis in 2026. It was federal agents' killing of a 37 year-old US citizen/mother in her minivan.
That threat does not come from immigrants.
There has only been one murder in Minneapolis in 2026. It was federal agents' killing of a 37 year-old US citizen/mother in her minivan.
Reposted by Laura Morris
“The tell isn’t that fake citations look wrong. It’s that they look too right. Too convenient. Too perfectly aligned with whatever point the AI is making“
open.substack.com/pub/cardcata...
open.substack.com/pub/cardcata...
How to Spot AI Hallucinations Like a Reference Librarian
The verification tricks that would make fact-checkers weep with joy.
open.substack.com
December 30, 2025 at 6:08 PM
“The tell isn’t that fake citations look wrong. It’s that they look too right. Too convenient. Too perfectly aligned with whatever point the AI is making“
open.substack.com/pub/cardcata...
open.substack.com/pub/cardcata...
Reposted by Laura Morris
holiday academic Bluesky (US version): here is a list of everything I accomplished this year plus I had some Thoughts about the humanities
holiday academic Bluesky (UK version): I’m 80% brandy butter, 12% brussels sprouts, 8% brisk walk, what’s a university again, also I’ve forgotten how to write
holiday academic Bluesky (UK version): I’m 80% brandy butter, 12% brussels sprouts, 8% brisk walk, what’s a university again, also I’ve forgotten how to write
December 29, 2025 at 8:59 PM
holiday academic Bluesky (US version): here is a list of everything I accomplished this year plus I had some Thoughts about the humanities
holiday academic Bluesky (UK version): I’m 80% brandy butter, 12% brussels sprouts, 8% brisk walk, what’s a university again, also I’ve forgotten how to write
holiday academic Bluesky (UK version): I’m 80% brandy butter, 12% brussels sprouts, 8% brisk walk, what’s a university again, also I’ve forgotten how to write
Reposted by Laura Morris
Reposted by Laura Morris
Trump bombed Nigeria on Christmas Day claiming he’s “fighting ISIS and stopping Christian genocide.”
Nigerian Christians attest that the violence seen is real but not based on religious discrimination, & Trump’s framing as such makes Nigerian Christians less safe
www.qasimrashid.com/p/nigeria-ch...
Nigerian Christians attest that the violence seen is real but not based on religious discrimination, & Trump’s framing as such makes Nigerian Christians less safe
www.qasimrashid.com/p/nigeria-ch...
Nigeria, "Christian Genocide" and the Right Wing Attempt To Create More War
Addressing the MAGA claim that Christians are suffering genocide in Nigeria
www.qasimrashid.com
December 26, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Trump bombed Nigeria on Christmas Day claiming he’s “fighting ISIS and stopping Christian genocide.”
Nigerian Christians attest that the violence seen is real but not based on religious discrimination, & Trump’s framing as such makes Nigerian Christians less safe
www.qasimrashid.com/p/nigeria-ch...
Nigerian Christians attest that the violence seen is real but not based on religious discrimination, & Trump’s framing as such makes Nigerian Christians less safe
www.qasimrashid.com/p/nigeria-ch...
Reposted by Laura Morris
Worth noting that Nigeria makes a point in its statement to debunk Trump’s comments that this violence is specifically directed at Christians, acknowledging that it impacts everyone.
December 26, 2025 at 4:25 AM
Worth noting that Nigeria makes a point in its statement to debunk Trump’s comments that this violence is specifically directed at Christians, acknowledging that it impacts everyone.
Reposted by Laura Morris
This is a guidebook on running the government incompetently. Total chaos, the opposite of efficiency (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...
December 23, 2025 at 6:54 PM
This is a guidebook on running the government incompetently. Total chaos, the opposite of efficiency (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...
Reposted by Laura Morris
look at how little effort it takes for someone on the conservative grievance circuit to destroy a life
millions of college kids have half assed an assignment at the last minute, you eat the F and move on
but the effort to push trans people out of public life will use whatever it can get
millions of college kids have half assed an assignment at the last minute, you eat the F and move on
but the effort to push trans people out of public life will use whatever it can get
Worth noting that the student admits that she just threw the thing together in 30 minutes without reading the paper she was supposed to be responding to.
December 23, 2025 at 5:53 PM
look at how little effort it takes for someone on the conservative grievance circuit to destroy a life
millions of college kids have half assed an assignment at the last minute, you eat the F and move on
but the effort to push trans people out of public life will use whatever it can get
millions of college kids have half assed an assignment at the last minute, you eat the F and move on
but the effort to push trans people out of public life will use whatever it can get
Reposted by Laura Morris
“If a reference cannot be found, this does not mean that the ICRC is withholding information. Various situations may explain this, including incomplete citations, documents preserved in other institutions, or— increasingly—AI-generated hallucinations.”
I wish a notice like this wasn't necessary.
www.icrc.org/en/article/i...
www.icrc.org/en/article/i...
Important notice: AI-generated archival references
www.icrc.org
December 10, 2025 at 12:45 PM
“If a reference cannot be found, this does not mean that the ICRC is withholding information. Various situations may explain this, including incomplete citations, documents preserved in other institutions, or— increasingly—AI-generated hallucinations.”
Reposted by Laura Morris
This is actually a good example of why the customer model is wrong.
I wouldn't have chosen poetry writing, but UNC made me take a class. And it absolutely made me become a much better writer, with an eye to concision and an ear now trained to the rhythm of words. I'm a better historian as a result.
I wouldn't have chosen poetry writing, but UNC made me take a class. And it absolutely made me become a much better writer, with an eye to concision and an ear now trained to the rhythm of words. I'm a better historian as a result.
December 9, 2025 at 7:17 PM
This is actually a good example of why the customer model is wrong.
I wouldn't have chosen poetry writing, but UNC made me take a class. And it absolutely made me become a much better writer, with an eye to concision and an ear now trained to the rhythm of words. I'm a better historian as a result.
I wouldn't have chosen poetry writing, but UNC made me take a class. And it absolutely made me become a much better writer, with an eye to concision and an ear now trained to the rhythm of words. I'm a better historian as a result.
Reposted by Laura Morris
Today was World AIDS Day and I didn't post the most gutting piece of AIDS-related art, Keith Haring's Unfinished Painting. You all deserved better from me.
Unfinished Painting - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 2, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Today was World AIDS Day and I didn't post the most gutting piece of AIDS-related art, Keith Haring's Unfinished Painting. You all deserved better from me.
Reposted by Laura Morris
I'm really glad to see someone like Kelly finally saying this. bsky.app/profile/atru...
Mark Kelly: "This president, when he says things like 'third world countries,' what is he really saying? I think what he's saying is he doesn't want brown people in our country. And that's disturbing. It's un-American."
November 30, 2025 at 4:29 PM
I'm really glad to see someone like Kelly finally saying this. bsky.app/profile/atru...
Reposted by Laura Morris
"the essay sucks ass" is no doubt true, couldn't be bothered to read it, but consider that the essay may have been written to receive an F in order to instigate a campaign against the trans TA. in any case it's not a great dunk because this isn't about the essay, it's about purging trans ppl
December 1, 2025 at 12:11 AM
"the essay sucks ass" is no doubt true, couldn't be bothered to read it, but consider that the essay may have been written to receive an F in order to instigate a campaign against the trans TA. in any case it's not a great dunk because this isn't about the essay, it's about purging trans ppl
Reposted by Laura Morris
the primary thing that TPUSA provides to young conservatives is a blueprint for weaponizing the abject cowardice of university administrators against individual teachers and instructors, and university admins should take a long look in the mirror and think about what that says about them
OU has put the professor here on administrative leave:
November 30, 2025 at 8:51 PM
the primary thing that TPUSA provides to young conservatives is a blueprint for weaponizing the abject cowardice of university administrators against individual teachers and instructors, and university admins should take a long look in the mirror and think about what that says about them
Reposted by Laura Morris
Fewer workers. Fewer international students. More people leaving.
A "step in the right direction" according to the PM.
Impossible to take PM/govt seriously on growth if they are deliberately reducing it (and making the fiscal position worse) *as a matter of policy*.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
A "step in the right direction" according to the PM.
Impossible to take PM/govt seriously on growth if they are deliberately reducing it (and making the fiscal position worse) *as a matter of policy*.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK net migration falls sharply with drop in arrivals for work and study
Provisional figures for net migration to the UK show levels dropped to 204,000 in the year to June 2025.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Fewer workers. Fewer international students. More people leaving.
A "step in the right direction" according to the PM.
Impossible to take PM/govt seriously on growth if they are deliberately reducing it (and making the fiscal position worse) *as a matter of policy*.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
A "step in the right direction" according to the PM.
Impossible to take PM/govt seriously on growth if they are deliberately reducing it (and making the fiscal position worse) *as a matter of policy*.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Laura Morris
My dad told an apocryphal story about a PhD defense where someone on the committee went off the rails on questioning and the advisor butted in with “Now is neither the time nor the place to get answers to the questions that have been troubling you all your life.”
November 27, 2025 at 7:07 PM
My dad told an apocryphal story about a PhD defense where someone on the committee went off the rails on questioning and the advisor butted in with “Now is neither the time nor the place to get answers to the questions that have been troubling you all your life.”
Reposted by Laura Morris
I heard a story about a female academic giving a paper at the IHR who, after receiving a long and aggressive question from a senior male professor, simply leaned back with her hands behind her head and replied “Oh, do fuck off.”
One of my colleagues went to a seminar at Berkeley and when someone asked a question Derrida brushed it off saying ‘what you ask may be important but it is not interesting’.
This path leads to chaos.
November 27, 2025 at 6:16 PM
I heard a story about a female academic giving a paper at the IHR who, after receiving a long and aggressive question from a senior male professor, simply leaned back with her hands behind her head and replied “Oh, do fuck off.”
Reposted by Laura Morris
If you are U.K. based and angered by Shabana Mahmood's latest efforts to make migrants lives even more difficult (and I know some of you will be), please do take the time to submit a response to the Home Office consultation.
Dan's advice below is excellent as a guide on how to respond.
Dan's advice below is excellent as a guide on how to respond.
I am currently, because I know how to enjoy a Saturday morning, writing some guidance for people on filling this consultation in. As I do several things are highly apparent. Before I go through them though I don't want this to put people off of filling it in. It is important to do so nonetheless. 1/
Government has today published its consultation into "earned settlement", the forward alone contains a hot mess of misrepresentation of the current system by the Home Secretary. I would strongly urge anyone affected by the current system to respond.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/691edd...
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/691edd...
November 22, 2025 at 9:03 AM
If you are U.K. based and angered by Shabana Mahmood's latest efforts to make migrants lives even more difficult (and I know some of you will be), please do take the time to submit a response to the Home Office consultation.
Dan's advice below is excellent as a guide on how to respond.
Dan's advice below is excellent as a guide on how to respond.
Reposted by Laura Morris
RFK Jr. is one of the most evil men on the planet and anyone who has supported or enabled him should never be able to live it down
November 22, 2025 at 7:38 PM
RFK Jr. is one of the most evil men on the planet and anyone who has supported or enabled him should never be able to live it down