Mo Torres
@motorres.bsky.social
sociologist: cities, political economy, race/racism
umich.edu/~motorres
umich.edu/~motorres
Reposted by Mo Torres
We have previously written about how normalized these kinds of horrific and entirely preventable forms of athlete killing are in US football, and also how common it is for players to be compelled to continue in the face of their teammates' suffering and potential death.
‘Play hurt, practice hurt’: How life-threatening injuries became normalized in college football
At many elite programs training is seen as impossible if sessions are stopped to care for injured players
www.theguardian.com
February 13, 2026 at 4:50 PM
We have previously written about how normalized these kinds of horrific and entirely preventable forms of athlete killing are in US football, and also how common it is for players to be compelled to continue in the face of their teammates' suffering and potential death.
Reposted by Mo Torres
“…this is something to keep in mind if you’re using a Google camera. Even if you aren’t paying for storage, every event recorded by the camera is going to Google’s servers, and it’s probably recoverable long past the deletion timeline stipulated in the company’s policy.”
Google recovers "deleted" Nest video in high-profile abduction case
Users only get three hours of free Nest video storage, but Google can retrieve videos much later.
arstechnica.com
February 11, 2026 at 9:53 PM
“…this is something to keep in mind if you’re using a Google camera. Even if you aren’t paying for storage, every event recorded by the camera is going to Google’s servers, and it’s probably recoverable long past the deletion timeline stipulated in the company’s policy.”
Reposted by Mo Torres
This is a huge deal. After years of leading in fundraising, Dem small donors are (rightly) pissed off at the spam texts and emails, as well as at congressional leadership. Meanwhile, GOP billionaire money is hitting record levels. Perfect storm.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
February 11, 2026 at 5:54 PM
This is a huge deal. After years of leading in fundraising, Dem small donors are (rightly) pissed off at the spam texts and emails, as well as at congressional leadership. Meanwhile, GOP billionaire money is hitting record levels. Perfect storm.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
Reposted by Mo Torres
In a new article for 𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘦 & 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴, Marcel Paret & I turn to apartheid South Africa to think strategically about how to confront racial authoritarianism in the US today. This isn’t analogy for its own sake, but what Stuart Hall calls “delicately disinterring” lessons and transplanting them with care.
Confronting racial authoritarianism: lessons from apartheid South Africa - Zachary Levenson, Marcel Paret, 2026
In the face of burgeoning authoritarianism in the United States, this article turns to South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement for lessons in contesting this reg...
journals.sagepub.com
February 11, 2026 at 6:04 PM
In a new article for 𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘦 & 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴, Marcel Paret & I turn to apartheid South Africa to think strategically about how to confront racial authoritarianism in the US today. This isn’t analogy for its own sake, but what Stuart Hall calls “delicately disinterring” lessons and transplanting them with care.
Reposted by Mo Torres
I want people to understand that "can AI replace (teachers, doctors, etc)?" isn't a question of technological capacity, it is a political and social question. Can the technology do X? If you adapt X a bit, yes Do we want it to? Does the good of doing that outweigh the cost? Real questions.
February 11, 2026 at 5:24 PM
I want people to understand that "can AI replace (teachers, doctors, etc)?" isn't a question of technological capacity, it is a political and social question. Can the technology do X? If you adapt X a bit, yes Do we want it to? Does the good of doing that outweigh the cost? Real questions.
Not to psychoanalyze but my colleague down south does not appear to have a very well regulated central nervous system. That's not ideal in this line of work.
Tomorrow on The Rooster: A visit to Ohio State’s Right-Wing Free Speech Centers ends with a vicious assault from an … assistant professor?!?!
February 11, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Not to psychoanalyze but my colleague down south does not appear to have a very well regulated central nervous system. That's not ideal in this line of work.
Impossible to keep up with just how stupid everything is: “Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday he had a ’positive’ conversation with Trump, reminding him Canada paid for the bridge.”
Trump threatens to block opening of US-Canada bridge
The White House has reiterated its demands even after a 'positive' call between Trump and Mark Carney.
www.bbc.com
February 10, 2026 at 10:47 PM
Impossible to keep up with just how stupid everything is: “Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday he had a ’positive’ conversation with Trump, reminding him Canada paid for the bridge.”
Reposted by Mo Torres
“Four of my children just evaporated,” Badran said, holding back tears. “I looked for them a million times. Not a piece was left. Where did they go?”
There are no words to adequately describe the evil here.
There are no words to adequately describe the evil here.
Israel used weapons in Gaza that made thousands of Palestinians evaporate
US-made thermal weapons burning at 3,500C caused 2,842 people to "evaporate" in Gaza, Al Jazeera investigation finds.
www.aljazeera.com
February 10, 2026 at 10:29 PM
“Four of my children just evaporated,” Badran said, holding back tears. “I looked for them a million times. Not a piece was left. Where did they go?”
There are no words to adequately describe the evil here.
There are no words to adequately describe the evil here.
Reposted by Mo Torres
we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad
February 10, 2026 at 8:18 PM
we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad
Reposted by Mo Torres
🧵: We've been talking a lot - rightfully - about police abuse in light of the ICE/CBP madness. But let me share a story about how tensions between police and community in the dark blue university town (err green) East Lansing.
February 10, 2026 at 8:02 PM
🧵: We've been talking a lot - rightfully - about police abuse in light of the ICE/CBP madness. But let me share a story about how tensions between police and community in the dark blue university town (err green) East Lansing.
Reposted by Mo Torres
Today I'm releasing probably the most important scholarly thing I've ever worked on - a report based on talking with 144 people about why they don't vote or only vote regularly, and on what needs to be done to build a democracy that can include everyone.
www.swarthmore.edu/u...
please share!
www.swarthmore.edu/u...
please share!
February 4, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Today I'm releasing probably the most important scholarly thing I've ever worked on - a report based on talking with 144 people about why they don't vote or only vote regularly, and on what needs to be done to build a democracy that can include everyone.
www.swarthmore.edu/u...
please share!
www.swarthmore.edu/u...
please share!
Reposted by Mo Torres
Quit, cancel, never sign up.
A “QuitGPT” campaign is urging people to cancel their ChatGPT subscriptions
Backlash against ICE is fueling a broader movement against AI companies’ ties to President Trump.
www.technologyreview.com
February 10, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Quit, cancel, never sign up.
Reposted by Mo Torres
📣 Updated working paper on teacher strikes
➡️ Strikes have big impacts on compensation and working conditions & no average effect on test scores.
➡️ Strikes are most effective where initial spending is relatively low and where they are illegal. www.nber.org/papers/w32862
➡️ Strikes have big impacts on compensation and working conditions & no average effect on test scores.
➡️ Strikes are most effective where initial spending is relatively low and where they are illegal. www.nber.org/papers/w32862
The Effects of Teacher Strikes on Compensation, Working Conditions, and Productivity
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
February 10, 2026 at 6:01 PM
📣 Updated working paper on teacher strikes
➡️ Strikes have big impacts on compensation and working conditions & no average effect on test scores.
➡️ Strikes are most effective where initial spending is relatively low and where they are illegal. www.nber.org/papers/w32862
➡️ Strikes have big impacts on compensation and working conditions & no average effect on test scores.
➡️ Strikes are most effective where initial spending is relatively low and where they are illegal. www.nber.org/papers/w32862
Reposted by Mo Torres
Clinton's victory in 1992 is the canonical example that supposedly proves Dems win by moving to the center. There's only one problem: The data disagrees. Voters saw Clinton as more liberal than Dukakis, & simulations show even a solid progressive would have won www.gelliottmorris.com/p/what-the-d...
What Democrats can actually learn from the 1992 election
Bill Clinton's victory is supposed to prove that Democrats win by moving to the center. The data disagrees
www.gelliottmorris.com
February 10, 2026 at 1:02 PM
Clinton's victory in 1992 is the canonical example that supposedly proves Dems win by moving to the center. There's only one problem: The data disagrees. Voters saw Clinton as more liberal than Dukakis, & simulations show even a solid progressive would have won www.gelliottmorris.com/p/what-the-d...
Reposted by Mo Torres
Abolish the agency that plans to store our fellow humans in warehouses like they are inventory.
In the last month ICE has bought warehouses in:
- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown
This is unprecedented.
- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown
This is unprecedented.
February 9, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Abolish the agency that plans to store our fellow humans in warehouses like they are inventory.
Reposted by Mo Torres
“Collection of Handwritten Letters from Children in Detention Center” sounds like an exhibit in the Holocaust Museum.
1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
February 9, 2026 at 6:31 PM
“Collection of Handwritten Letters from Children in Detention Center” sounds like an exhibit in the Holocaust Museum.
Reposted by Mo Torres
Our AAUP chapter statement on solidarity with workers and families impacted by ICE, in Minnesota, Michigan, and beyond
umaaup.org/2026/02/09/a...
umaaup.org/2026/02/09/a...
AAUP UM-AA Chapter Expresses Solidarity with Workers and Families in Minnesota
The University of Michigan Ann Arbor Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (UM-AA AAUP) expresses solidarity with workers and families in Minnesota, where the Minneapolis Reg…
umaaup.org
February 9, 2026 at 8:30 PM
Our AAUP chapter statement on solidarity with workers and families impacted by ICE, in Minnesota, Michigan, and beyond
umaaup.org/2026/02/09/a...
umaaup.org/2026/02/09/a...
Reposted by Mo Torres
Socialista vence candidato de extrema-direita por larga margem em Portugal. José António Seguro foi eleito presidente com cerca de 66% dos votos, contra 34% de André Ventura.
Socialista vence candidato de extrema-direita por larga margem em Portugal - Sul 21
José António Seguro foi eleito presidente com mais de 65% dos votos, contra 35% de André Ventura
sul21.com.br
February 8, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Socialista vence candidato de extrema-direita por larga margem em Portugal. José António Seguro foi eleito presidente com cerca de 66% dos votos, contra 34% de André Ventura.
Socialist Party defeats far-right in Portugal 66-34 in run-off election
Portugal elects Socialist Party’s Seguro as president in landslide
With 95 percent of votes counted, 63-year-old Antonio Jose Seguro is on 66 percent.
www.aljazeera.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:41 AM
Socialist Party defeats far-right in Portugal 66-34 in run-off election
Reposted by Mo Torres
Yeah the ad placement right after the high of the halftime show felt just like everything right now — no escape from the grinding disrespect, disdain, and hatred.
The halftime show was the ABSOLUTE PEAK. Inevitably, things are already going back downhill afterwards.
Did…Mike Tyson just call me fat because RFK Jr paid him to? WTF
February 9, 2026 at 1:42 AM
Yeah the ad placement right after the high of the halftime show felt just like everything right now — no escape from the grinding disrespect, disdain, and hatred.
Reposted by Mo Torres
Did…Mike Tyson just call me fat because RFK Jr paid him to? WTF
February 9, 2026 at 1:36 AM
Did…Mike Tyson just call me fat because RFK Jr paid him to? WTF
Reposted by Mo Torres
he went from south to north. a WORD.
"God Bless America:" then he lists most of the countries in the hemisphere starting with Chile I think? this rules
February 9, 2026 at 1:43 AM
he went from south to north. a WORD.
Reposted by Mo Torres
An important point from @tressiemcphd.bsky.social about the dangers of affixing racism to mental conditions. @insurgentprof.bsky.social & I wrote about the these dangers about linking racism strongly to psychopathology
February 6, 2026 at 5:26 PM
An important point from @tressiemcphd.bsky.social about the dangers of affixing racism to mental conditions. @insurgentprof.bsky.social & I wrote about the these dangers about linking racism strongly to psychopathology
Reposted by Mo Torres
The underfunding of social infrastructure has also led the philanthropic/nonprofit sector in the US to grow to fill in the gaps. And while supporting that sector might seem like a way for privileged people to do good with their money, it gives privileged people huge power over that sector, as well.
February 7, 2026 at 5:02 PM
The underfunding of social infrastructure has also led the philanthropic/nonprofit sector in the US to grow to fill in the gaps. And while supporting that sector might seem like a way for privileged people to do good with their money, it gives privileged people huge power over that sector, as well.