Rakesh Bhandari
@postdiscipline.bsky.social
Associate Director of Interdisciplinary Studies and Senior Lecturer at Cal. Have acted as Director for many years. Twisting Marx to make capitalism stronger since I got a mortgage. But don't ask me what my field is, I'm not a donkey.
Reposted by Rakesh Bhandari
It seems we learned nothing from the horror and stupidity of the "Torture Memos," except a lust for extrajudicial violence
Instead of waterboarding supposed 9/11 masterminds, we are deep-siding men in boats that we haven't identified, know nothing about, & send home if they live despite our agency
Instead of waterboarding supposed 9/11 masterminds, we are deep-siding men in boats that we haven't identified, know nothing about, & send home if they live despite our agency
November 14, 2025 at 9:17 AM
It seems we learned nothing from the horror and stupidity of the "Torture Memos," except a lust for extrajudicial violence
Instead of waterboarding supposed 9/11 masterminds, we are deep-siding men in boats that we haven't identified, know nothing about, & send home if they live despite our agency
Instead of waterboarding supposed 9/11 masterminds, we are deep-siding men in boats that we haven't identified, know nothing about, & send home if they live despite our agency
Just a wild guess. What’s in The Epstein Files are threats by the FBI against Trump that they’ll pursue charges of statutory rape of a 15 year old and money laundering unless he cooperates in taking Epstein down. Epstein already hated him for taking that property from underneath him. And then this.
November 14, 2025 at 5:03 AM
Just a wild guess. What’s in The Epstein Files are threats by the FBI against Trump that they’ll pursue charges of statutory rape of a 15 year old and money laundering unless he cooperates in taking Epstein down. Epstein already hated him for taking that property from underneath him. And then this.
My guess is that there are plenty of college-bound kids who though they won’t focus on the study of race, gender or sexuality still don’t want to be at a place where the intuitions and common sense of donors and priests determine what can be said without risk of penalty.
November 14, 2025 at 5:00 AM
My guess is that there are plenty of college-bound kids who though they won’t focus on the study of race, gender or sexuality still don’t want to be at a place where the intuitions and common sense of donors and priests determine what can be said without risk of penalty.
Reposted by Rakesh Bhandari
This is…outstanding. If I may, I urge us to read it carefully, and appreciate the details, the shape, the picture it paints.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:46 AM
This is…outstanding. If I may, I urge us to read it carefully, and appreciate the details, the shape, the picture it paints.
Have you written about Mokyr's Prize yet? Do you see the connection between science and industry qualitatively changing in the late 19th century, and our possibly reading back into early modern Europe the importance science had for capitalist development that it only later had? @delong.social
October 15, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Have you written about Mokyr's Prize yet? Do you see the connection between science and industry qualitatively changing in the late 19th century, and our possibly reading back into early modern Europe the importance science had for capitalist development that it only later had? @delong.social
Reposted by Rakesh Bhandari
In the US there’s no talk even of techno fixes like sequestering carbon or blocking the sun because that‘d be an admission that fossil fuels are creating problems. We can’t even move past climate denialism. In fact to turn attention on an existential climate crisis is said to divert from the border
Just out - another brilliant book by Carton & Malm.
It's a book for our era, in which everything is dying, and yet there's everything to play for.
It's a book for the movement. Invite Wim/Andreas to your local bookshop, trade union or YourParty conference, Green Party gathering, university, etc.
It's a book for our era, in which everything is dying, and yet there's everything to play for.
It's a book for the movement. Invite Wim/Andreas to your local bookshop, trade union or YourParty conference, Green Party gathering, university, etc.
September 29, 2025 at 12:24 PM
In the US there’s no talk even of techno fixes like sequestering carbon or blocking the sun because that‘d be an admission that fossil fuels are creating problems. We can’t even move past climate denialism. In fact to turn attention on an existential climate crisis is said to divert from the border
Make sure he isn’t watching or listening to “War of the Worlds“ on Halloween.
I have been haunted by this statement all day www.kgw.com/article/news...
September 29, 2025 at 6:29 AM
Make sure he isn’t watching or listening to “War of the Worlds“ on Halloween.
Reposted by Rakesh Bhandari
“I’m a climate scientist. Trump’s U.N. address is a fire hose of misinformation” | My new op-ed in the @sfchronicle.com:
www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...
#ScienceUnderSiege
www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...
#ScienceUnderSiege
I’m a climate scientist. Trump’s U.N. address is a fire hose of misinformation
OPINION: “What Trump is really doing is advancing a plan laid down years ago by plutocrats and polluters. And making a mockery of our country as he does so,” Michael E. Mann writes.
www.sfchronicle.com
September 26, 2025 at 1:56 PM
“I’m a climate scientist. Trump’s U.N. address is a fire hose of misinformation” | My new op-ed in the @sfchronicle.com:
www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...
#ScienceUnderSiege
www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...
#ScienceUnderSiege
.@julietschor.bsky.social: What do Europeans do with these extra hours of leisure that Americans do not enjoy? Maybe FOMA could inspire Americans to change the nature of work? conversableeconomist.com/2025/09/01/w...
Why Do Americans Work So Many Hours? - Conversable Economist
Compared to workers in most other high-income countries, Americans tend to work more hours per year. Here's a figure from the OECD, which is based on taking the total number of hours worked in an econ...
conversableeconomist.com
September 3, 2025 at 3:49 AM
.@julietschor.bsky.social: What do Europeans do with these extra hours of leisure that Americans do not enjoy? Maybe FOMA could inspire Americans to change the nature of work? conversableeconomist.com/2025/09/01/w...
Reposted by Rakesh Bhandari
More than 85 scientists say that a recent U.S. Department of Energy report is full of errors and misrepresents climate science.
Dozens of scientists find errors in a new Energy Department climate report
More than 85 scientists say that a recent U.S. Department of Energy report is full of errors and misrepresents climate science.
n.pr
September 2, 2025 at 3:04 PM
More than 85 scientists say that a recent U.S. Department of Energy report is full of errors and misrepresents climate science.
It's more like American voters gaslit themselves during the election.
August 25, 2025 at 5:27 AM
It's more like American voters gaslit themselves during the election.
Such an important argument. Bergstrom reminds me of the similarly important arguments in Naomi Oreskes's Why Trust Science and Philip Kitcher's Science in a Democratic Society (he critiques the poles of denial of expertise and dictatorship by experts). Great class to assign all 3 & probe differences
1. "'Trusting the experts is not a feature of either a science or democracy," Kennedy said."
It's literally a vital feature of both science and of representative democracy.
I've written a fair bit about trust in expertise as a vital mechanism in the collective epistemology of science.
It's literally a vital feature of both science and of representative democracy.
I've written a fair bit about trust in expertise as a vital mechanism in the collective epistemology of science.
RFK Jr. in interview with Scripps News: ‘Trusting the experts is not science’
HHS Secretary RFK Jr. sat down with Scripps News for a wide-ranging interview, discussing mRNA vaccine funding policy changes and a recent shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
www.scrippsnews.com
August 18, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Such an important argument. Bergstrom reminds me of the similarly important arguments in Naomi Oreskes's Why Trust Science and Philip Kitcher's Science in a Democratic Society (he critiques the poles of denial of expertise and dictatorship by experts). Great class to assign all 3 & probe differences
1/2 The dust hasn't settled, and perhaps it will constantly be kicked up for three years. But it seems like we don't have an idea of how radically American science has been reoriented. One suspects that research into diseases that afflict the poor and the aged will suffer as well...
August 16, 2025 at 8:12 PM
1/2 The dust hasn't settled, and perhaps it will constantly be kicked up for three years. But it seems like we don't have an idea of how radically American science has been reoriented. One suspects that research into diseases that afflict the poor and the aged will suffer as well...
Reposted by Rakesh Bhandari
The anti-Marxists of the 70s & 80s claimed to support liberty, free trade & the rule of law & oppose tyranny & the use of murder as a political tool. Which shows how much the right has changed in my lifetime.
August 16, 2025 at 9:55 AM
The anti-Marxists of the 70s & 80s claimed to support liberty, free trade & the rule of law & oppose tyranny & the use of murder as a political tool. Which shows how much the right has changed in my lifetime.
Finishing up the syllabus😜
I. Plato & bell hooks
Must Philosopher Kings be intersectional?
2. Aristotle & Judith Butler
Is trans identity necessary for eudamonia?
3. Newton, Foucault & Said
Were even the laws of physics a knowledge/power nexus for Western imperial control?
I. Plato & bell hooks
Must Philosopher Kings be intersectional?
2. Aristotle & Judith Butler
Is trans identity necessary for eudamonia?
3. Newton, Foucault & Said
Were even the laws of physics a knowledge/power nexus for Western imperial control?
August 15, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Finishing up the syllabus😜
I. Plato & bell hooks
Must Philosopher Kings be intersectional?
2. Aristotle & Judith Butler
Is trans identity necessary for eudamonia?
3. Newton, Foucault & Said
Were even the laws of physics a knowledge/power nexus for Western imperial control?
I. Plato & bell hooks
Must Philosopher Kings be intersectional?
2. Aristotle & Judith Butler
Is trans identity necessary for eudamonia?
3. Newton, Foucault & Said
Were even the laws of physics a knowledge/power nexus for Western imperial control?
Trump suffers most loss with Asian-Americans and without those without a college degree. So he has his sharpest losses with a population that probably has the highest % with a college degree and with those without the degree.
August 14, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Trump suffers most loss with Asian-Americans and without those without a college degree. So he has his sharpest losses with a population that probably has the highest % with a college degree and with those without the degree.
This isn’t what I voted for only because I actively ignored Trump promising that this is what he would do.
“The last person to assert that sort of boundless authority to deploy the military domestically and use it for law enforcement in this country was King George,” said @josephanunn.bsky.social of @brennancenter.org
theintercept.com/2025/08/12/t...
theintercept.com/2025/08/12/t...
Trump’s Use of Troops for Policing Hasn’t Been Seen Since America Was Ruled by a King
“The ability to use the military anywhere, anytime, for any purpose — it’s absolutely unprecedented.”
theintercept.com
August 12, 2025 at 9:26 PM
This isn’t what I voted for only because I actively ignored Trump promising that this is what he would do.
About to get my private tutorial on this.
August 9, 2025 at 5:06 PM
About to get my private tutorial on this.
I've been with my Mom at the hospital as they treat her for signs of congestive heart failure and advancing dementia. Two floors below, our two kids who embody her values were born. The site of indescribable joy is also one of anguish I can't describe.
August 9, 2025 at 5:05 PM
I've been with my Mom at the hospital as they treat her for signs of congestive heart failure and advancing dementia. Two floors below, our two kids who embody her values were born. The site of indescribable joy is also one of anguish I can't describe.
Guess: Musk built the cybertruck monstrosity because he knew Chinese producers had him beat on EV technology and would catch up on self-driving. China invited Tesla in and outcompeted him. Musk needed US government contracts to survive. www.npr.org/2025/02/24/n...
A new document undercuts Trump admin's denials about $400 million Tesla deal
The State Department claimed a plan to buy thousands of armored Teslas was left over from the Biden administration. A document obtained by NPR shows the Biden plan was far smaller.
www.npr.org
August 8, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Guess: Musk built the cybertruck monstrosity because he knew Chinese producers had him beat on EV technology and would catch up on self-driving. China invited Tesla in and outcompeted him. Musk needed US government contracts to survive. www.npr.org/2025/02/24/n...
I read Marx's Capital after many years and made a critical reading guide to help students get through it. Comments welcome. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Marx (Reitter trans.) notes
Study notes for Paul Reitter’s translation of Marx’s Capital, Volume 1 Rakesh Bhandari April 2025 What is Marx’s Capital about? It is a book that offers historical accounts of the struggle over th...
docs.google.com
July 21, 2025 at 7:44 PM
I read Marx's Capital after many years and made a critical reading guide to help students get through it. Comments welcome. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Reposted by Rakesh Bhandari
The accessible American mid-level state school with a 60%+ admissions rate that still is able to go round for round with everything but the absolute best universities that the rest of world has to offer is a world-historic triumph that these fucking clowns are burning down due to their ivy neuroses
Universities, whatever their faults, are one of America's most successful products. A massive exporter, they generate innovation and middle class jobs in places where people like Marc Andreessen never visit.
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Tech billionaire Trump adviser Marc Andreesen says universities will ‘pay the price’ for DEI
Tech investor and Trump adviser Marc Andreessen in a private group chat attacked colleges for promoting diversity, saying they had discriminated against “native born kids.”
www.washingtonpost.com
July 12, 2025 at 4:54 PM
The accessible American mid-level state school with a 60%+ admissions rate that still is able to go round for round with everything but the absolute best universities that the rest of world has to offer is a world-historic triumph that these fucking clowns are burning down due to their ivy neuroses
Reposted by Rakesh Bhandari
If you haven't watched this, you need to. As the bodies are tragically piling up in Texas, we need to remember who is responsible for the climate crisis.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag8r...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag8r...
DENIAL, DISINFORMATION, & DOUBLESPEAK: BIG OIL'S EFFORTS TO AVOID ACCOUNTABILITY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
YouTube video by SenateBudget
www.youtube.com
July 8, 2025 at 10:12 PM
If you haven't watched this, you need to. As the bodies are tragically piling up in Texas, we need to remember who is responsible for the climate crisis.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag8r...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag8r...