John Kaufman
@jfkauf.bsky.social
poet/essayist/adjunct professor, etc. Sometimes photographer. From NY. Currently WI. My opinions are mine alone.
Pinned
A Mysterious Company Came to Town With a $165 Billion Idea
www.nytimes.com
The great AI scam coming to a small town near you…
“For the growing number of people now living near data centers, there are more immediate worries. Many face rising electric bills, strained supplies of water and lots of noise.” 👇🎁
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/b...
“For the growing number of people now living near data centers, there are more immediate worries. Many face rising electric bills, strained supplies of water and lots of noise.” 👇🎁
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/b...
Reposted by John Kaufman
No one before Sam successfully raised a child, which is why the human species went extinct in Mesopotamia. Seriously, the best way to read this is that countless billions of humans did just fine but Sam is not as competent and self-reliant as them, and that's what AI wants us to be: dependent.
Jimmy Fallon: "And do you use ChatGPT when raising your baby?"
Sam Altman: "I cannot imagine figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT."
Sam Altman: "I cannot imagine figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT."
December 9, 2025 at 6:56 PM
No one before Sam successfully raised a child, which is why the human species went extinct in Mesopotamia. Seriously, the best way to read this is that countless billions of humans did just fine but Sam is not as competent and self-reliant as them, and that's what AI wants us to be: dependent.
Harvard women should form the Abigail Adams Society… in which they pen berating letters to the absent, headstrong men…
At Harvard, the John Adams Society is now men-only.
December 9, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Harvard women should form the Abigail Adams Society… in which they pen berating letters to the absent, headstrong men…
“But I certainly think there are pieces in place that are analogous and trends in place that are analogous to crashes in the past, and so it is something that I’m worried about.” 👇👇
apple.news/Ac9tMp6XfQnu...
apple.news/Ac9tMp6XfQnu...
‘I Worry People Are Going to Get Hurt in the Short Term’ — POLITICO
Outgoing SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw lets loose in a new interview.
apple.news
December 9, 2025 at 6:29 PM
“But I certainly think there are pieces in place that are analogous and trends in place that are analogous to crashes in the past, and so it is something that I’m worried about.” 👇👇
apple.news/Ac9tMp6XfQnu...
apple.news/Ac9tMp6XfQnu...
Reposted by John Kaufman
The president doesn’t have the authority to act as judge, jury, and executioner.
Killing civilians is a crime under both domestic and international law. That's why we and our partners are suing the Trump administration to demand they release their legal justifications for these unlawful strikes.
Killing civilians is a crime under both domestic and international law. That's why we and our partners are suing the Trump administration to demand they release their legal justifications for these unlawful strikes.
December 9, 2025 at 4:45 PM
The president doesn’t have the authority to act as judge, jury, and executioner.
Killing civilians is a crime under both domestic and international law. That's why we and our partners are suing the Trump administration to demand they release their legal justifications for these unlawful strikes.
Killing civilians is a crime under both domestic and international law. That's why we and our partners are suing the Trump administration to demand they release their legal justifications for these unlawful strikes.
Reposted by John Kaufman
I finally got around to reading this. You should read it too.
"We are exporting the very labor of teaching and learning—the slow work of wrestling with ideas, the enduring of discomfort, doubt and confusion, the struggle of finding one’s own voice."
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
"We are exporting the very labor of teaching and learning—the slow work of wrestling with ideas, the enduring of discomfort, doubt and confusion, the struggle of finding one’s own voice."
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself
Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 4, 2025 at 1:52 PM
I finally got around to reading this. You should read it too.
"We are exporting the very labor of teaching and learning—the slow work of wrestling with ideas, the enduring of discomfort, doubt and confusion, the struggle of finding one’s own voice."
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
"We are exporting the very labor of teaching and learning—the slow work of wrestling with ideas, the enduring of discomfort, doubt and confusion, the struggle of finding one’s own voice."
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
The great AI scam coming to a small town near you…
“For the growing number of people now living near data centers, there are more immediate worries. Many face rising electric bills, strained supplies of water and lots of noise.” 👇🎁
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/b...
“For the growing number of people now living near data centers, there are more immediate worries. Many face rising electric bills, strained supplies of water and lots of noise.” 👇🎁
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/b...
A Mysterious Company Came to Town With a $165 Billion Idea
www.nytimes.com
December 8, 2025 at 1:09 PM
The great AI scam coming to a small town near you…
“For the growing number of people now living near data centers, there are more immediate worries. Many face rising electric bills, strained supplies of water and lots of noise.” 👇🎁
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/b...
“For the growing number of people now living near data centers, there are more immediate worries. Many face rising electric bills, strained supplies of water and lots of noise.” 👇🎁
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/b...
Reposted by John Kaufman
The Justice Department removed a 212-page report on missing and murdered Indigenous people from its website in February, let’s talk about it.
Read the latest from @theintellectualist.bsky.social for Lincoln Square
www.lincolnsquare.media/p/justice-de...
Read the latest from @theintellectualist.bsky.social for Lincoln Square
www.lincolnsquare.media/p/justice-de...
December 8, 2025 at 10:56 AM
The Justice Department removed a 212-page report on missing and murdered Indigenous people from its website in February, let’s talk about it.
Read the latest from @theintellectualist.bsky.social for Lincoln Square
www.lincolnsquare.media/p/justice-de...
Read the latest from @theintellectualist.bsky.social for Lincoln Square
www.lincolnsquare.media/p/justice-de...
Reposted by John Kaufman
A poem from my forthcoming book in Poetry London today 🤍
November 28, 2025 at 4:46 PM
A poem from my forthcoming book in Poetry London today 🤍
Reposted by John Kaufman
Reposted by John Kaufman
Great Krugman interview with Paul Kedrosky on the AI bubble substack.com/inbox/post/1... The bursting will be great fun. Be there!
Talking With Paul Kedrosky
So, about this AI thing ...
substack.com
December 6, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Great Krugman interview with Paul Kedrosky on the AI bubble substack.com/inbox/post/1... The bursting will be great fun. Be there!
“Private markets have gained in prominence this year after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to allow the investments in retirement plans.”
👇
www.cnbc.com/2025/12/05/y...
👇
www.cnbc.com/2025/12/05/y...
$208 million wiped out: Yieldstreet investors rack up more losses as firm rebrands to Willow Wealth
Yieldstreet is attempting to move past a troubled track record by rebranding to Willow Wealth while customers reel from a still-unfolding collapse of its funds.
www.cnbc.com
December 5, 2025 at 2:01 PM
“Private markets have gained in prominence this year after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to allow the investments in retirement plans.”
👇
www.cnbc.com/2025/12/05/y...
👇
www.cnbc.com/2025/12/05/y...
Reposted by John Kaufman
Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune
December 5, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune
Reposted by John Kaufman
Reposted by John Kaufman
This essay makes the contradictions smash into each other: they renamed the Dept. of Defense the Department of War while Trump got his name smeared (yes, literally) across the gutted Institute of Peace.
December 5, 2025 at 1:42 PM
This essay makes the contradictions smash into each other: they renamed the Dept. of Defense the Department of War while Trump got his name smeared (yes, literally) across the gutted Institute of Peace.
Reposted by John Kaufman
The Trump administration is once again attacking the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a law that has saved 99% of protected species from extinction. Here’s what you need to know:
December 4, 2025 at 4:22 PM
The Trump administration is once again attacking the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a law that has saved 99% of protected species from extinction. Here’s what you need to know:
Reposted by John Kaufman
In the case of the Babson College freshman detained at BOS on her way home to TX for Thxgiving, the govt's own timeline, as laid out by a judge, shows she was removed to Honduras, where she hasn't lived since she was 7, more than 17 hrs AFTER a court order barring her deportation had been issued.
December 4, 2025 at 5:43 PM
In the case of the Babson College freshman detained at BOS on her way home to TX for Thxgiving, the govt's own timeline, as laid out by a judge, shows she was removed to Honduras, where she hasn't lived since she was 7, more than 17 hrs AFTER a court order barring her deportation had been issued.
Reposted by John Kaufman
Brown University accepted nearly equal numbers of male and female students, but got almost twice as many female applicants. That math meant it was easier for men to get in.
Trump's DEI ban may end gender balancing efforts that often benefit men.
Trump's DEI ban may end gender balancing efforts that often benefit men.
Trump’s attack on DEI may hurt college men, particularly White men
The Trump administration’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion also targets gender. The ban may impact gender balancing practices that often benefit college men.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Brown University accepted nearly equal numbers of male and female students, but got almost twice as many female applicants. That math meant it was easier for men to get in.
Trump's DEI ban may end gender balancing efforts that often benefit men.
Trump's DEI ban may end gender balancing efforts that often benefit men.
Reposted by John Kaufman
“An instructor's freedom to teach includes the right to assess student academic performance. We are gravely concerned that a climate of escalating authoritarian assaults on academic freedom is normalizing politicized interference in classroom teaching & learning.” — Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
Oklahoma college student’s failing grade on gender essay dropped amid outcry
A University of Oklahoma student alleged religious discrimination after receiving a zero on an essay that rejected the concept of multiple genders.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:05 AM
“An instructor's freedom to teach includes the right to assess student academic performance. We are gravely concerned that a climate of escalating authoritarian assaults on academic freedom is normalizing politicized interference in classroom teaching & learning.” — Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
Reposted by John Kaufman
And we thought they were smart www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
Harvard’s Big Wager on Bitcoin Came Right Before the Bust
The school reported nearly a half-billion in crypto holdings in its last quarterly report.
www.wsj.com
December 3, 2025 at 1:30 PM
And we thought they were smart www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
Reposted by John Kaufman
Prior to the financial crisis of 2007-09, BIS made itself unpopular with monetary authorities around the world by pointing to the risks being created by accommodative monetary policies, excessive leverage, high asset prices and a lack of transparency.
It’s time to sound the alarm on growing fiscal and financial risk
Rising public debt is one concern — another is how it is being financed
www.ft.com
December 3, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Prior to the financial crisis of 2007-09, BIS made itself unpopular with monetary authorities around the world by pointing to the risks being created by accommodative monetary policies, excessive leverage, high asset prices and a lack of transparency.
Driving a golf cart doesn’t count as running, Roger…
Sen. Roger Marshall on Trump's health: "I'll work 110 hours a week. He outworks me. He's the first person I've ever known that works harder than I do. He runs around that golf course. He's in incredible shape right now. And you talk about sharp! He's playing 4 dimensional chess"
December 3, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Driving a golf cart doesn’t count as running, Roger…
Reposted by John Kaufman
It happened here, and how: my latest Nation print column www.thenation.com/article/soci...
The 1935 Novel That Predicted Trump’s Second Term
Sinclair Lewis imagined an American version of the rise of fascism in Europe. His predictions didn’t come true then, but seem eerily familiar now.
www.thenation.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:15 PM
It happened here, and how: my latest Nation print column www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Reposted by John Kaufman
"Pete Hegseth seems to be a war criminal. Without a war. An interesting achievement. ... The killing of the survivors by this moral slum of an administration should nauseate Americans. A nation incapable of shame is dangerous, not least to itself"
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seems to be a war criminal. Without a war. An interesting achievement.”
The latest from George F. Will:
The latest from George F. Will:
Opinion | This moral slum of an administration should nauseate Americans
Regarding Venezuela, Ukraine and much more, Trump and his acolytes are worse than simply incompetent.
wapo.st
December 3, 2025 at 11:28 AM
"Pete Hegseth seems to be a war criminal. Without a war. An interesting achievement. ... The killing of the survivors by this moral slum of an administration should nauseate Americans. A nation incapable of shame is dangerous, not least to itself"
George Will: the last “conservative” intellectual…
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seems to be a war criminal. Without a war. An interesting achievement.”
The latest from George F. Will:
The latest from George F. Will:
Opinion | This moral slum of an administration should nauseate Americans
Regarding Venezuela, Ukraine and much more, Trump and his acolytes are worse than simply incompetent.
wapo.st
December 3, 2025 at 11:43 AM
George Will: the last “conservative” intellectual…
“Together, the hybrid system of meters and permits could conservatively yield $1.1 billion to $1.6 billion a year in revenue — more than enough to fund free buses and reinvest locally.” 👇
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/o...
Opinion | We Have a Way to Pay for Free Buses. It Means Free Street Parking Is Over.
www.nytimes.com
December 3, 2025 at 11:35 AM
“Together, the hybrid system of meters and permits could conservatively yield $1.1 billion to $1.6 billion a year in revenue — more than enough to fund free buses and reinvest locally.” 👇
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/o...