Zack Beauchamp
@zackbeauchamp.bsky.social
Senior Correspondent at Vox covering the crisis of global democracy. Author of The Reactionary Spirit, a book on that topic, and a '25-'26 distinguished visiting fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Perry World House.
This is how the anti-anti-Trump right always rationalizes authoritarianism: by making everything about the evils of the liberal elite.
www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-6...
www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-6...
December 23, 2025 at 7:33 PM
This is how the anti-anti-Trump right always rationalizes authoritarianism: by making everything about the evils of the liberal elite.
www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-6...
www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-6...
It turns out* that the secret to understanding Weiss' whole deal was her time as a Columbia undergrad trying to censor pro-Palestine professors
*many of us recognized this years ago
*many of us recognized this years ago
"Why is any of this okay with so many of those who once claimed to be free-speech champions or absolutists? Because, quite obviously, they were not."
I endorse. And admittedly feel some frustration it seems @adamserwer.bsky.social and others do too, having seen through this crowd clearly for years.
I endorse. And admittedly feel some frustration it seems @adamserwer.bsky.social and others do too, having seen through this crowd clearly for years.
The “free speech” and “cancel culture” panics have led to overt state censorship because that was always their purpose. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
December 23, 2025 at 7:04 PM
It turns out* that the secret to understanding Weiss' whole deal was her time as a Columbia undergrad trying to censor pro-Palestine professors
*many of us recognized this years ago
*many of us recognized this years ago
Reposted by Zack Beauchamp
The “free speech” and “cancel culture” panics have led to overt state censorship because that was always their purpose. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
December 23, 2025 at 4:54 PM
The “free speech” and “cancel culture” panics have led to overt state censorship because that was always their purpose. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
I think Bari Weiss is obviously acting as a Trump administration censor. But how she got there is interesting.
She tells herself a story about an elite media out of touch with "ordinary" Americans — which is to say, conservatives. So she thinks restoring trust in media means pleasing them.
She tells herself a story about an elite media out of touch with "ordinary" Americans — which is to say, conservatives. So she thinks restoring trust in media means pleasing them.
December 22, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I think Bari Weiss is obviously acting as a Trump administration censor. But how she got there is interesting.
She tells herself a story about an elite media out of touch with "ordinary" Americans — which is to say, conservatives. So she thinks restoring trust in media means pleasing them.
She tells herself a story about an elite media out of touch with "ordinary" Americans — which is to say, conservatives. So she thinks restoring trust in media means pleasing them.
I’ll be on at 11 for those of you interested in such things
December 21, 2025 at 3:53 PM
I’ll be on at 11 for those of you interested in such things
Like so many young men, this tragic bird thinks making loud pew-pew laser noises is a good reproductive strategy
A real treat to watch a male Lyrebird perform at the Healesville Sanctuary yesterday. Truly magnificent.
December 19, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Like so many young men, this tragic bird thinks making loud pew-pew laser noises is a good reproductive strategy
I don't share all of Matt's views on political strategy, but he's a very smart guy who genuinely thinks his approach is the best way to head off authoritarianism in America.
Reasonable people can disagree on hard questions like this! The way Matt deranges some people on here is not reasonable.
Reasonable people can disagree on hard questions like this! The way Matt deranges some people on here is not reasonable.
I think it's a little odd how people go in for this kind of nuclear-strength rhetoric over a disagreement about what issues it is most advantageous to talk about at the margin.
What you need to understand is @mattyglesias.bsky.social is a moral black hole and even then his depraved indifference brand of advice to democrats does not win elections
December 19, 2025 at 4:31 PM
I don't share all of Matt's views on political strategy, but he's a very smart guy who genuinely thinks his approach is the best way to head off authoritarianism in America.
Reasonable people can disagree on hard questions like this! The way Matt deranges some people on here is not reasonable.
Reasonable people can disagree on hard questions like this! The way Matt deranges some people on here is not reasonable.
The deal would put one of the biggest social media into the hands of an autocratic president's close allies
* ORACLE, SILVER LAKE, ANDREESSEN TO CONTROL TIKOK IN US: WSJ
$ORCL
$ORCL
December 19, 2025 at 12:56 AM
The deal would put one of the biggest social media into the hands of an autocratic president's close allies
Reposted by Zack Beauchamp
The odds, I thought, were slim that any columnist could make sense of it all, not because there was too much in his speech, but because there was almost nothing. Certainly nothing that belonged on TV. But Zack is right. "The fact that they needed to try such a desperate move at all is notable."
Trump's ridiculous primetime address was yet another sign that his presidency is failing www.vox.com/politics/472...
The revealing pointlessness of Trump’s primetime speech
The president is a desperate man.
www.vox.com
December 18, 2025 at 11:10 PM
The odds, I thought, were slim that any columnist could make sense of it all, not because there was too much in his speech, but because there was almost nothing. Certainly nothing that belonged on TV. But Zack is right. "The fact that they needed to try such a desperate move at all is notable."
Reposted by Zack Beauchamp
“[T]he fact that they needed to try such a desperate move at all is notable. It is the latest sign, among many, that the wheels are coming off the Trump train.”
@zackbeauchamp.bsky.social on the 🎯 about Trump’s dumb, “pointless” primetime “speech” www.vox.com/politics/472...
@zackbeauchamp.bsky.social on the 🎯 about Trump’s dumb, “pointless” primetime “speech” www.vox.com/politics/472...
December 18, 2025 at 3:45 PM
“[T]he fact that they needed to try such a desperate move at all is notable. It is the latest sign, among many, that the wheels are coming off the Trump train.”
@zackbeauchamp.bsky.social on the 🎯 about Trump’s dumb, “pointless” primetime “speech” www.vox.com/politics/472...
@zackbeauchamp.bsky.social on the 🎯 about Trump’s dumb, “pointless” primetime “speech” www.vox.com/politics/472...
Reposted by Zack Beauchamp
Other countries have done better... www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/o...
Opinion | Brazil Just Succeeded Where America Failed
www.nytimes.com
December 18, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Other countries have done better... www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/o...
Imagine being the person who wrote this. We all saw the speech! spectator.com/article/trum...
December 18, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Imagine being the person who wrote this. We all saw the speech! spectator.com/article/trum...
Reposted by Zack Beauchamp
Fantastic piece.
December 18, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Fantastic piece.
Trump's ridiculous primetime address was yet another sign that his presidency is failing www.vox.com/politics/472...
The revealing pointlessness of Trump’s primetime speech
The president is a desperate man.
www.vox.com
December 18, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Trump's ridiculous primetime address was yet another sign that his presidency is failing www.vox.com/politics/472...
I don't understand who this speech is for
December 18, 2025 at 2:06 AM
I don't understand who this speech is for
"Transgender for everybody"
December 18, 2025 at 2:03 AM
"Transgender for everybody"
Reposted by Zack Beauchamp
Good essay by @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social on what he calls "haphazardism" - a pattern of behavior resulting from the fact that Trump's authoritarian instincts aren't leavened by any understanding of real-world constraints, and leading to unnecessary and costly reverses.
Recommended.
Recommended.
“A breakdown in state capacity... is very bad. And paradoxically… that may be the thing that is saving democracy”
Pleased to be quoted in this thought-provoking new piece from @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social on the limits of Trump's capacity to erode US democracy
www.vox.com/politics/472...
Pleased to be quoted in this thought-provoking new piece from @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social on the limits of Trump's capacity to erode US democracy
www.vox.com/politics/472...
Trump’s war on democracy is failing
And it’s his own fault.
www.vox.com
December 17, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Good essay by @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social on what he calls "haphazardism" - a pattern of behavior resulting from the fact that Trump's authoritarian instincts aren't leavened by any understanding of real-world constraints, and leading to unnecessary and costly reverses.
Recommended.
Recommended.
Reposted by Zack Beauchamp
As you are mine, comrade! And listen to this smart dude. Sign up :)
@shikhadalmia.bsky.social is one of my most valued collaborators. We started in very ideological places, but came together due to our shared liberal democratic commitments.
Her publication The UnPopulist is doing a new subscription drive. It's great. Sign up.
www.theunpopulist.net/about?utm_so...
Her publication The UnPopulist is doing a new subscription drive. It's great. Sign up.
www.theunpopulist.net/about?utm_so...
About - The UnPopulist
Defending liberal democracy against authoritarianism in the U.S. and around the world. Click to read The UnPopulist, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
www.theunpopulist.net
December 17, 2025 at 9:21 PM
As you are mine, comrade! And listen to this smart dude. Sign up :)
@shikhadalmia.bsky.social is one of my most valued collaborators. We started in very ideological places, but came together due to our shared liberal democratic commitments.
Her publication The UnPopulist is doing a new subscription drive. It's great. Sign up.
www.theunpopulist.net/about?utm_so...
Her publication The UnPopulist is doing a new subscription drive. It's great. Sign up.
www.theunpopulist.net/about?utm_so...
About - The UnPopulist
Defending liberal democracy against authoritarianism in the U.S. and around the world. Click to read The UnPopulist, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
www.theunpopulist.net
December 17, 2025 at 7:22 PM
@shikhadalmia.bsky.social is one of my most valued collaborators. We started in very ideological places, but came together due to our shared liberal democratic commitments.
Her publication The UnPopulist is doing a new subscription drive. It's great. Sign up.
www.theunpopulist.net/about?utm_so...
Her publication The UnPopulist is doing a new subscription drive. It's great. Sign up.
www.theunpopulist.net/about?utm_so...
Reposted by Zack Beauchamp
“A breakdown in state capacity... is very bad. And paradoxically… that may be the thing that is saving democracy”
Pleased to be quoted in this thought-provoking new piece from @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social on the limits of Trump's capacity to erode US democracy
www.vox.com/politics/472...
Pleased to be quoted in this thought-provoking new piece from @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social on the limits of Trump's capacity to erode US democracy
www.vox.com/politics/472...
Trump’s war on democracy is failing
And it’s his own fault.
www.vox.com
December 17, 2025 at 6:43 PM
“A breakdown in state capacity... is very bad. And paradoxically… that may be the thing that is saving democracy”
Pleased to be quoted in this thought-provoking new piece from @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social on the limits of Trump's capacity to erode US democracy
www.vox.com/politics/472...
Pleased to be quoted in this thought-provoking new piece from @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social on the limits of Trump's capacity to erode US democracy
www.vox.com/politics/472...
Reposted by Zack Beauchamp
Rich nations are happier than poor ones. And poor countries tend to get happier as they get richer
Yet wealthy countries have been getting richer - without getting discernibly happier - for decades.
I wrote about one (not totally convincing) explanation: www.vox.com/politics/472...
Yet wealthy countries have been getting richer - without getting discernibly happier - for decades.
I wrote about one (not totally convincing) explanation: www.vox.com/politics/472...
December 17, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Rich nations are happier than poor ones. And poor countries tend to get happier as they get richer
Yet wealthy countries have been getting richer - without getting discernibly happier - for decades.
I wrote about one (not totally convincing) explanation: www.vox.com/politics/472...
Yet wealthy countries have been getting richer - without getting discernibly happier - for decades.
I wrote about one (not totally convincing) explanation: www.vox.com/politics/472...
Come for the deserved dunk on Vance, stay for the statistical analysis that bears out (ahem) the analysis of anti-semitism in this piece www.vox.com/politics/466...
December 17, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Come for the deserved dunk on Vance, stay for the statistical analysis that bears out (ahem) the analysis of anti-semitism in this piece www.vox.com/politics/466...
I'm trying not to leap to conclusions — the manhunt for the Boston bombers took a while too.
But there is a real chance that this shooter is at large because Kash Patel is a moron who gutted the FBI for no reason
But there is a real chance that this shooter is at large because Kash Patel is a moron who gutted the FBI for no reason
Gotta say it's mindblowing to me that the Brown shooter is still at large and they don't even seem to have identified who they're looking for.
December 16, 2025 at 7:42 PM
I'm trying not to leap to conclusions — the manhunt for the Boston bombers took a while too.
But there is a real chance that this shooter is at large because Kash Patel is a moron who gutted the FBI for no reason
But there is a real chance that this shooter is at large because Kash Patel is a moron who gutted the FBI for no reason
Reposted by Zack Beauchamp
