Boston Tom Levenson
@tomlevenson.bsky.social
Science writer. New book: A Pox on Fools arrives in May 2026. Preorders https://www.randomhousebooks.com/books/808113/. Professing science writing at MIT. Spouse & dad. Servant to 2 feline overlords...All opinions mine.
Pinned
A Pox on Fools | Random House Publishing Group One Book – Random House Publishing Group
www.randomhousebooks.com
Self promotion alert!
My new book A Pox on Fools, comes out on 5/12 (US), 5/26 (UK).
It's a history of vax opposition, tracing RFK Jr.'s anti-vax grift back to once somewhat plausible fears. The goal: help its readers debunk his BS for the persuadables they know.
ISTM it's my most important work.
My new book A Pox on Fools, comes out on 5/12 (US), 5/26 (UK).
It's a history of vax opposition, tracing RFK Jr.'s anti-vax grift back to once somewhat plausible fears. The goal: help its readers debunk his BS for the persuadables they know.
ISTM it's my most important work.
Reposted by Boston Tom Levenson
MAGA is defined by its total lack of a theory of mind for its enemies, and the fact that DHS and ICE still haven't wrapped their brains around the fact that their opponents also are able to highly effectively use the Internet to message, organize, and communicate really highlights that.
January 26, 2026 at 7:58 PM
MAGA is defined by its total lack of a theory of mind for its enemies, and the fact that DHS and ICE still haven't wrapped their brains around the fact that their opponents also are able to highly effectively use the Internet to message, organize, and communicate really highlights that.
Reposted by Boston Tom Levenson
When you see everyone else as an object to be manipulated, rather than a subject to be interacted with, you make this type of major category error based mistake. Though in this case, it's inherent, they don't see other people as people.
MAGA is defined by its total lack of a theory of mind for its enemies, and the fact that DHS and ICE still haven't wrapped their brains around the fact that their opponents also are able to highly effectively use the Internet to message, organize, and communicate really highlights that.
January 27, 2026 at 2:50 AM
When you see everyone else as an object to be manipulated, rather than a subject to be interacted with, you make this type of major category error based mistake. Though in this case, it's inherent, they don't see other people as people.
Now.
NowNowNowNowNow.
NowNowNowNowNow.
if bovino is out and conservatives are turning on noem then there is a real opportunity to demand that miller resign too.
January 27, 2026 at 2:44 AM
Now.
NowNowNowNowNow.
NowNowNowNowNow.
Yup.
He might also be considered a start.
He might also be considered a start.
Bovino is just the patsy - a noxious and odious fall guy. Stephen Miller is the architect and prime mover of the whole thing. Everything they do is at his direction - often after his threats. As long as he runs policy in the WH, nothing will change no matter how many Bovinos come and go.
January 27, 2026 at 2:10 AM
Yup.
He might also be considered a start.
He might also be considered a start.
Reposted by Boston Tom Levenson
There are more and more stories of ICE/CBP sexually assaulting people, abusing partners, drunk driving etc. While the people they shoot in the face - that they justify doing so i the name of law and order - are guilty of such crimes as ::checks notes:: existing
January 27, 2026 at 1:45 AM
There are more and more stories of ICE/CBP sexually assaulting people, abusing partners, drunk driving etc. While the people they shoot in the face - that they justify doing so i the name of law and order - are guilty of such crimes as ::checks notes:: existing
New post up at Inverse Square. I aim for a Sunday respite post, centered on reading that can help push back on today's evils.
Hard to do this week, wh. is why my post is a day late.
I found beauty...and something else, in a poem by Rupert Brooke. You too might find it worth your time.
Hard to do this week, wh. is why my post is a day late.
I found beauty...and something else, in a poem by Rupert Brooke. You too might find it worth your time.
Sunday (Monday) Respite
More Reading as Resistance
tomlevenson.substack.com
January 27, 2026 at 1:49 AM
New post up at Inverse Square. I aim for a Sunday respite post, centered on reading that can help push back on today's evils.
Hard to do this week, wh. is why my post is a day late.
I found beauty...and something else, in a poem by Rupert Brooke. You too might find it worth your time.
Hard to do this week, wh. is why my post is a day late.
I found beauty...and something else, in a poem by Rupert Brooke. You too might find it worth your time.
This.
But I'll add, w/out any of Adam's grasp of nat security & civil resistance, the sacrifice of a pawn can mark the start but not the end of the throwing bodies to the wolves chasing the back sled phase.
I'm old enough to remember Nixon underbussing Haldeman & Ehrlichman. That ended well.
But I'll add, w/out any of Adam's grasp of nat security & civil resistance, the sacrifice of a pawn can mark the start but not the end of the throwing bodies to the wolves chasing the back sled phase.
I'm old enough to remember Nixon underbussing Haldeman & Ehrlichman. That ended well.
That should be blue city crackdowns aren’t over. They just sacrificed a pawn, a high ranking one, but still a pawn, to protect Trump and Miller. That’s it, that’s all they’ve done.
His command is over. People in a Maine would tell you his blue city crackdowns are over. All they’re doing is turning his into an immediate scapegoat everyone can focus on while they continue these state terror operations.
January 27, 2026 at 1:04 AM
This.
But I'll add, w/out any of Adam's grasp of nat security & civil resistance, the sacrifice of a pawn can mark the start but not the end of the throwing bodies to the wolves chasing the back sled phase.
I'm old enough to remember Nixon underbussing Haldeman & Ehrlichman. That ended well.
But I'll add, w/out any of Adam's grasp of nat security & civil resistance, the sacrifice of a pawn can mark the start but not the end of the throwing bodies to the wolves chasing the back sled phase.
I'm old enough to remember Nixon underbussing Haldeman & Ehrlichman. That ended well.
Reposted by Boston Tom Levenson
TikTok misusing our personal data was bad.
TikTok now being partly controlled by a Trump-aligned billionaire family and one of his biggest political donors who also owns other major media outlets is even worse.
TikTok now being partly controlled by a Trump-aligned billionaire family and one of his biggest political donors who also owns other major media outlets is even worse.
January 26, 2026 at 11:31 PM
TikTok misusing our personal data was bad.
TikTok now being partly controlled by a Trump-aligned billionaire family and one of his biggest political donors who also owns other major media outlets is even worse.
TikTok now being partly controlled by a Trump-aligned billionaire family and one of his biggest political donors who also owns other major media outlets is even worse.
It's snowing again!
Who ordered that?
Who ordered that?
January 27, 2026 at 12:59 AM
It's snowing again!
Who ordered that?
Who ordered that?
Reposted by Boston Tom Levenson
Exactly right.
Bovino's leaving? Great, get Noem to resign.
Noem resigns? Great, defund and dismantle ICE.
Go after Stephen Miller too. Bring charges against ICE thugs at the state and local level. Lawsuits. New state laws restricting them.
Every possible angle.
Bovino's leaving? Great, get Noem to resign.
Noem resigns? Great, defund and dismantle ICE.
Go after Stephen Miller too. Bring charges against ICE thugs at the state and local level. Lawsuits. New state laws restricting them.
Every possible angle.
They are wounded and flailing. Press the advantage.
January 27, 2026 at 12:13 AM
Exactly right.
Bovino's leaving? Great, get Noem to resign.
Noem resigns? Great, defund and dismantle ICE.
Go after Stephen Miller too. Bring charges against ICE thugs at the state and local level. Lawsuits. New state laws restricting them.
Every possible angle.
Bovino's leaving? Great, get Noem to resign.
Noem resigns? Great, defund and dismantle ICE.
Go after Stephen Miller too. Bring charges against ICE thugs at the state and local level. Lawsuits. New state laws restricting them.
Every possible angle.
Reposted by Boston Tom Levenson
the only takeaway for me from Minnesota right now is that every single one of us has to do everything they did. You have to know your neighbors. You have to prepare yourself. You have to find who is going to be doing food deliveries and who can do what.
January 27, 2026 at 12:18 AM
the only takeaway for me from Minnesota right now is that every single one of us has to do everything they did. You have to know your neighbors. You have to prepare yourself. You have to find who is going to be doing food deliveries and who can do what.
Reposted by Boston Tom Levenson
...that there was at least one white person killed or who died before Renee Good, a Ukrainian man last summer. The larger pattern, however, holds: the vast majority have been people of color.
What ICE and Border Patrol is doing is racist and the numbers prove it.
What ICE and Border Patrol is doing is racist and the numbers prove it.
January 25, 2026 at 7:24 PM
...that there was at least one white person killed or who died before Renee Good, a Ukrainian man last summer. The larger pattern, however, holds: the vast majority have been people of color.
What ICE and Border Patrol is doing is racist and the numbers prove it.
What ICE and Border Patrol is doing is racist and the numbers prove it.
Reposted by Boston Tom Levenson
The racial and ethnic background of the 40 people killed by ICE and Border Patrol or who otherwise died in their custody is not entirely clear, but what I found looking over the nationalities and names of those available (with names not being perfect indicators by any means) does reveal...
January 25, 2026 at 7:24 PM
The racial and ethnic background of the 40 people killed by ICE and Border Patrol or who otherwise died in their custody is not entirely clear, but what I found looking over the nationalities and names of those available (with names not being perfect indicators by any means) does reveal...
I love listening to Mark Knopfler because he's, well, great. But I also love watching these videos so I can kvell to the insane beauty of his Gibson Les Paul.
That is one delectable instrument.
That is one delectable instrument.
Mark Knopfler - A Night In London, 1996 (FULL CONCERT)
YouTube video by Mark Knopfler
www.youtube.com
January 26, 2026 at 11:10 PM
I love listening to Mark Knopfler because he's, well, great. But I also love watching these videos so I can kvell to the insane beauty of his Gibson Les Paul.
That is one delectable instrument.
That is one delectable instrument.
Reposted by Boston Tom Levenson
ICE murdered Renée Good in broad daylight. Less than 3 weeks later, they killed Alex Pretti, shooting him 10 times. Every day, we watch as people are ripped from their cars, their homes, their lives.
We can't allow ourselves to look away from this cruelty. Abolish ICE.
We can't allow ourselves to look away from this cruelty. Abolish ICE.
January 26, 2026 at 10:14 PM
ICE murdered Renée Good in broad daylight. Less than 3 weeks later, they killed Alex Pretti, shooting him 10 times. Every day, we watch as people are ripped from their cars, their homes, their lives.
We can't allow ourselves to look away from this cruelty. Abolish ICE.
We can't allow ourselves to look away from this cruelty. Abolish ICE.
Nationalize this out-of-control private panopticon...
...
And then wreck it.
...
And then wreck it.
Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti www.wired.com/story/palant...
Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti
“In my opinion ICE are the bad guys. I am not proud that the company I enjoy so much working for is part of this,” one worker wrote on Slack.
www.wired.com
January 26, 2026 at 10:57 PM
Nationalize this out-of-control private panopticon...
...
And then wreck it.
...
And then wreck it.
I'm reading grad applications and I may need a break.
I take notes in a consistent form on every application, and I include their reported grade average. Only just now instead of typing GPA I seem to have felt a geographical tug and find myself recording the applicant's GPS.
Oh well...
I take notes in a consistent form on every application, and I include their reported grade average. Only just now instead of typing GPA I seem to have felt a geographical tug and find myself recording the applicant's GPS.
Oh well...
January 26, 2026 at 10:56 PM
I'm reading grad applications and I may need a break.
I take notes in a consistent form on every application, and I include their reported grade average. Only just now instead of typing GPA I seem to have felt a geographical tug and find myself recording the applicant's GPS.
Oh well...
I take notes in a consistent form on every application, and I include their reported grade average. Only just now instead of typing GPA I seem to have felt a geographical tug and find myself recording the applicant's GPS.
Oh well...
Reposted by Boston Tom Levenson
Bondi’s letter represents a major assault on Minnesota’s sovereignty, demanding that it forfeit its ability to make and enforce its own laws and maintain its voter rolls without oversight from the executive branch, which does not have authority over elections. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
AG Bondi demands access to Minnesota voter rolls after fatal Border Patrol shooting
Her demand came as Minneapolis was reeling from a second fatal shooting by a federal agent this month.
www.democracydocket.com
January 26, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Bondi’s letter represents a major assault on Minnesota’s sovereignty, demanding that it forfeit its ability to make and enforce its own laws and maintain its voter rolls without oversight from the executive branch, which does not have authority over elections. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
Medicines that work—vaccines, antibiotics, etc—often don't pencil out in for-profit terms, even if the social cost-benefit calculation is hugely in the black.
We cannot depend on a profit model 4 drug development & we can't be surprised if doing so makes us sicker & less equipped for what ails us.
We cannot depend on a profit model 4 drug development & we can't be surprised if doing so makes us sicker & less equipped for what ails us.
Moderna chief: Company won’t invest in new late-stage vaccine trials
Moderna has already been facing declines in sales after a boom during the COVID-19 pandemic.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/m...
Moderna has already been facing declines in sales after a boom during the COVID-19 pandemic.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/m...
January 26, 2026 at 9:24 PM
Medicines that work—vaccines, antibiotics, etc—often don't pencil out in for-profit terms, even if the social cost-benefit calculation is hugely in the black.
We cannot depend on a profit model 4 drug development & we can't be surprised if doing so makes us sicker & less equipped for what ails us.
We cannot depend on a profit model 4 drug development & we can't be surprised if doing so makes us sicker & less equipped for what ails us.
Reposted by Boston Tom Levenson
Spain Dismantles Vast Narco-Fleet in Record Atlantic Drug Bust gcaptain.com/spain-disman... 30 boats seized. Hundreds of people arrested. No one had to bomb fishing boats and then turn around and bomb survivors.
Spain Dismantles Vast Narco-Fleet in Record Atlantic Drug Bust
Spanish authorities have dismantled what they describe as the largest cocaine trafficking network operating in the Atlantic, delivering a major blow to a sprawling maritime smuggling empire that…
gcaptain.com
January 26, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Spain Dismantles Vast Narco-Fleet in Record Atlantic Drug Bust gcaptain.com/spain-disman... 30 boats seized. Hundreds of people arrested. No one had to bomb fishing boats and then turn around and bomb survivors.
Reposted by Boston Tom Levenson
You don't have to know anything about what the Supreme Court says to understand that the federal government has no legal warrant extort through violence what it is not legally entitled to under constitution and law.
January 26, 2026 at 4:28 PM
You don't have to know anything about what the Supreme Court says to understand that the federal government has no legal warrant extort through violence what it is not legally entitled to under constitution and law.
Reposted by Boston Tom Levenson
I am just gonna say it, these guys are completely emasculated by the knowledge that they have been out-organized by a group that is significantly made up of women, and all the bullshit call of duty nonsense is cope for their wounded egos bsky.app/profile/jeet...
MAGA military geniuses are talking about Minnesota protestors like they are the Iraqi insurgency, the Taliban, and the Viet Cong all rolled into one.
January 26, 2026 at 6:12 PM
I am just gonna say it, these guys are completely emasculated by the knowledge that they have been out-organized by a group that is significantly made up of women, and all the bullshit call of duty nonsense is cope for their wounded egos bsky.app/profile/jeet...
Reposted by Boston Tom Levenson
New at The Watch:
I dug into archival witness accounts of the British siege of Boston prior to the American Revolution.
They are remarkably similar to what we're seeing in Minneapolis.
open.substack.com/pub/radleyba...
I dug into archival witness accounts of the British siege of Boston prior to the American Revolution.
They are remarkably similar to what we're seeing in Minneapolis.
open.substack.com/pub/radleyba...
Two cities under siege
Remarkably similar scenes from Boston and Minneapolis, 260 years apart, show a federal government betraying its founding principles.
open.substack.com
January 26, 2026 at 6:44 PM
New at The Watch:
I dug into archival witness accounts of the British siege of Boston prior to the American Revolution.
They are remarkably similar to what we're seeing in Minneapolis.
open.substack.com/pub/radleyba...
I dug into archival witness accounts of the British siege of Boston prior to the American Revolution.
They are remarkably similar to what we're seeing in Minneapolis.
open.substack.com/pub/radleyba...
Reposted by Boston Tom Levenson
Amazon Web Services hosts massive surveillance systems for both ICE and DHS.
Citizens Bank provides nearly $1 trillion in credit & bonds to private prison companies.
AT&T has a $147 million contract to provide communications services to DHS.
Know who is profiting from ICE’s cruelty.
Citizens Bank provides nearly $1 trillion in credit & bonds to private prison companies.
AT&T has a $147 million contract to provide communications services to DHS.
Know who is profiting from ICE’s cruelty.
January 26, 2026 at 5:57 PM
Amazon Web Services hosts massive surveillance systems for both ICE and DHS.
Citizens Bank provides nearly $1 trillion in credit & bonds to private prison companies.
AT&T has a $147 million contract to provide communications services to DHS.
Know who is profiting from ICE’s cruelty.
Citizens Bank provides nearly $1 trillion in credit & bonds to private prison companies.
AT&T has a $147 million contract to provide communications services to DHS.
Know who is profiting from ICE’s cruelty.
George W. (the lesser) Bush...we're waiting.
Two former presidents felt compelled to comment publicly
January 26, 2026 at 8:08 PM
George W. (the lesser) Bush...we're waiting.