Benjamin Soskis
@bensoskis.bsky.social
History of philanthropy and civil society; Philly sports; Irish trad music. Views my own.
This morning, more convergence btw 2 discourses: recognition of a real appetite for participation in civic & political life as a way to address disconnection; & an appreciation that in investing in infrastructure to support that civic life, prog philanthropy is presented with a real opportunity.
November 5, 2025 at 3:59 PM
This morning, more convergence btw 2 discourses: recognition of a real appetite for participation in civic & political life as a way to address disconnection; & an appreciation that in investing in infrastructure to support that civic life, prog philanthropy is presented with a real opportunity.
Reporting from NYT there were other donors to the WH ballroom not cited by the administration, including several that have business before the admin. The admin's use of a nonprofit as a receptacle for the funds allows them to maintain discretionary anonymity.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/u...
November 2, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Reporting from NYT there were other donors to the WH ballroom not cited by the administration, including several that have business before the admin. The admin's use of a nonprofit as a receptacle for the funds allows them to maintain discretionary anonymity.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/u...
One striking element of lawsuit that coalition of nonprofits filed in RI district court to challenge Trump admin's suspension of SNAP benefits, which highlights damage that will be done to nonprofits bc of massive increase in demand for their services.
www.councilofnonprofits.org/pressrelease...
www.councilofnonprofits.org/pressrelease...
October 31, 2025 at 8:42 PM
One striking element of lawsuit that coalition of nonprofits filed in RI district court to challenge Trump admin's suspension of SNAP benefits, which highlights damage that will be done to nonprofits bc of massive increase in demand for their services.
www.councilofnonprofits.org/pressrelease...
www.councilofnonprofits.org/pressrelease...
For those seeking to promote civil society, good to know who's marching under its banner. NYT reports that Nigel Farage led "Civil Society Round Table" at Westminster, attended by delegation from House Judiciary Comm, to discuss threats to free speech in UK, w/ help from Alliance to Defend Freedom.
October 13, 2025 at 1:41 PM
For those seeking to promote civil society, good to know who's marching under its banner. NYT reports that Nigel Farage led "Civil Society Round Table" at Westminster, attended by delegation from House Judiciary Comm, to discuss threats to free speech in UK, w/ help from Alliance to Defend Freedom.
I think the Capital Research Center should get its story straight--the "aw shucks, we're just doing research on Open Society & had no idea the Justice Dept would weaponize it" argument is laughable. They are a part of the civil society they are working to erode. (Links in comments)
October 10, 2025 at 4:31 PM
I think the Capital Research Center should get its story straight--the "aw shucks, we're just doing research on Open Society & had no idea the Justice Dept would weaponize it" argument is laughable. They are a part of the civil society they are working to erode. (Links in comments)
Is this populism? [Butterfly meme]
October 3, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Is this populism? [Butterfly meme]
I want to flag an exchange in Ross Douthat's recent NYT interview with May Mailman, "the Harvard-Trained Layer Behind Trump's Fight Against Top Universities," as the Times put it, in which Mailman directly discusses the relationship btw govt funding and philanthropy.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/o...
September 26, 2025 at 10:29 PM
I want to flag an exchange in Ross Douthat's recent NYT interview with May Mailman, "the Harvard-Trained Layer Behind Trump's Fight Against Top Universities," as the Times put it, in which Mailman directly discusses the relationship btw govt funding and philanthropy.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/o...
The bar is pretty low for what constitutes an act of political bravery from conservatives now in defending civil society, but still, good to see.
September 14, 2025 at 11:49 AM
The bar is pretty low for what constitutes an act of political bravery from conservatives now in defending civil society, but still, good to see.
@mattyglesias.bsky.social flagged this exchange elsewhere and he's exactly right. The attack on Kirk was obscene. Full stop. There's also a good chance that it will be used as pretext for a massive crackdown on progressive nonprofits and philanthropy.
September 10, 2025 at 7:50 PM
@mattyglesias.bsky.social flagged this exchange elsewhere and he's exactly right. The attack on Kirk was obscene. Full stop. There's also a good chance that it will be used as pretext for a massive crackdown on progressive nonprofits and philanthropy.
Someday, there will be dissertations written (if there are still dissertations written) about the Trump administration's conceptualization and usage of "nonprofit" and "NGO" as tools in political discourse. What does this mean?
[read the whole NYT piece too]
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/u...
[read the whole NYT piece too]
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/u...
June 24, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Someday, there will be dissertations written (if there are still dissertations written) about the Trump administration's conceptualization and usage of "nonprofit" and "NGO" as tools in political discourse. What does this mean?
[read the whole NYT piece too]
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/u...
[read the whole NYT piece too]
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/u...
This is quite a twist at the end of Times piece on Dartmouth pres. Sian Beilock. The alumnus leading a petition praising Beilock as a "free-speech leader" was among those who attacked shanties set up by students protesting A Africa apartheid on campus in the 1980s.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/11/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/11/u...
May 12, 2025 at 1:33 PM
This is quite a twist at the end of Times piece on Dartmouth pres. Sian Beilock. The alumnus leading a petition praising Beilock as a "free-speech leader" was among those who attacked shanties set up by students protesting A Africa apartheid on campus in the 1980s.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/11/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/11/u...
I mean…I guess. (Seen on the Smith College campus).
May 2, 2025 at 10:05 PM
I mean…I guess. (Seen on the Smith College campus).
April 30, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Sorry Saquon. That’s just weak.
April 28, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Sorry Saquon. That’s just weak.
The populist warehousing-$$ endowment critique has been an afterthought in Trump admin's attacks on higher ed & specifically Harvard. But there is is, in the last graph of this Times piece. Worth following whether it gets "rediscovered" anytime soon.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/u...
April 16, 2025 at 8:37 PM
The populist warehousing-$$ endowment critique has been an afterthought in Trump admin's attacks on higher ed & specifically Harvard. But there is is, in the last graph of this Times piece. Worth following whether it gets "rediscovered" anytime soon.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/u...
Interesting point from @mashagessen.bsky.social on why Trump has gone after universities via their research grants, which apply to them singly, as opposed to through an endowment tax, which would apply to all institutions, and could encourage them band together solidaristically.
April 14, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Interesting point from @mashagessen.bsky.social on why Trump has gone after universities via their research grants, which apply to them singly, as opposed to through an endowment tax, which would apply to all institutions, and could encourage them band together solidaristically.
More "settlements" with law firms, this time involving a combined $500m in "pro bono and other free Legal services." Might be worth scrutinizing that last phrase, since before these agreements were described in terms of "pro bono Legal services." Why might that matter? See Trump's remarks yesterday.
April 11, 2025 at 5:11 PM
More "settlements" with law firms, this time involving a combined $500m in "pro bono and other free Legal services." Might be worth scrutinizing that last phrase, since before these agreements were described in terms of "pro bono Legal services." Why might that matter? See Trump's remarks yesterday.
The latest chapter in Trump admin's requirement of targeted parties to contribute to certain charitable causes to avoid facing the admin's wrath--what I think of as a form of "coercive voluntarism."
Skadden, Arps agrees to provide at least $100m to do pro bono work on number of prescribed causes.
Skadden, Arps agrees to provide at least $100m to do pro bono work on number of prescribed causes.
March 29, 2025 at 1:31 PM
The latest chapter in Trump admin's requirement of targeted parties to contribute to certain charitable causes to avoid facing the admin's wrath--what I think of as a form of "coercive voluntarism."
Skadden, Arps agrees to provide at least $100m to do pro bono work on number of prescribed causes.
Skadden, Arps agrees to provide at least $100m to do pro bono work on number of prescribed causes.
I'm not loving this new version of Madlibs (MadatLibs?)
[From today's Times piece on Steve Davis]
[From today's Times piece on Steve Davis]
March 20, 2025 at 1:08 PM
I'm not loving this new version of Madlibs (MadatLibs?)
[From today's Times piece on Steve Davis]
[From today's Times piece on Steve Davis]
Musk has made a war on nonprofits (or NGOS) a central part of his political program.
March 9, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Musk has made a war on nonprofits (or NGOS) a central part of his political program.
There's lots going on, but don't ignore what's happening in a ND courtroom--a trial pitting Greenpeace against a TX energy company, which holds it responsible for damage done during Standing Rock protests, seeking damages that could bankrupt the org.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/c...
February 25, 2025 at 12:24 AM
There's lots going on, but don't ignore what's happening in a ND courtroom--a trial pitting Greenpeace against a TX energy company, which holds it responsible for damage done during Standing Rock protests, seeking damages that could bankrupt the org.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/c...
And the reluctance to speak publicly that we're seeing from many (not all) foundations, bc of a fear of having their charitable status revoked--justified or not--is really striking.
February 22, 2025 at 1:34 PM
And the reluctance to speak publicly that we're seeing from many (not all) foundations, bc of a fear of having their charitable status revoked--justified or not--is really striking.
I recognize it's a complicated decision, but I continue to believe this posture of restraint is a strategic mistake. Of course, the Gates Foundation can't fill in the gap produced by loss of USAID funding, but increasing its own commitment would be an important public gesture, "catalytic" in itself.
February 22, 2025 at 1:31 PM
I recognize it's a complicated decision, but I continue to believe this posture of restraint is a strategic mistake. Of course, the Gates Foundation can't fill in the gap produced by loss of USAID funding, but increasing its own commitment would be an important public gesture, "catalytic" in itself.