John Fabian Witt
@johnfabianwitt.bsky.social
Duffy Prof @YaleLawSch, legal history. Germantown born and bred. Fisherman, orchardist, baseball. Profile photo sitdowners park in Flint. The Radical Fund is out from Simon & Schuster.
Pinned
Smart questions from @zelizer.bsky.social in this conversation earlier today. Did the right co-opt progressives’ most generative 20th c tactics? #TheRadicalFund
open.substack.com/pub/johnfabi...
open.substack.com/pub/johnfabi...
Interview with John Fabian Witt, author of The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America
A recording from John Fabian Witt and Julian Zelizer's live video
open.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Smart questions from @zelizer.bsky.social in this conversation earlier today. Did the right co-opt progressives’ most generative 20th c tactics? #TheRadicalFund
open.substack.com/pub/johnfabi...
open.substack.com/pub/johnfabi...
I'm at the Warren Center @harvard.edu today at 4 pm in Robinson Hall's lower library to talk about The Radical Fund. Come on out. I promise good pictures!
November 6, 2025 at 7:54 PM
I'm at the Warren Center @harvard.edu today at 4 pm in Robinson Hall's lower library to talk about The Radical Fund. Come on out. I promise good pictures!
Lookong back to look ahead—thoughtful and revelatory by @nickperkins.bsky.social on Mamdani and Walter Lippmann.
jacobin.com/2025/11/lunn...
jacobin.com/2025/11/lunn...
November 6, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Lookong back to look ahead—thoughtful and revelatory by @nickperkins.bsky.social on Mamdani and Walter Lippmann.
jacobin.com/2025/11/lunn...
jacobin.com/2025/11/lunn...
Harlem Congressman Vito Marcantonio is Mamdani’s closing message—and practiced at the Garland Fund’s law firm. Of course. #TheRadicalFund is all around us. @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 5: Vito Marcantonio
There are many who dismiss our vision for New York as impossible. To them, I say we need look only to our past for proof of how we can shape the future.
Tomorrow is Election Day. And this is the final Until It's Done of our campaign.
There are many who dismiss our vision for New York as impossible. To them, I say we need look only to our past for proof of how we can shape the future.
Tomorrow is Election Day. And this is the final Until It's Done of our campaign.
November 4, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Harlem Congressman Vito Marcantonio is Mamdani’s closing message—and practiced at the Garland Fund’s law firm. Of course. #TheRadicalFund is all around us. @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
Reposted by John Fabian Witt
TOC, "Gerontocracy in America" (June 2026)
us.macmillan.com/books/978037...
us.macmillan.com/books/978037...
November 3, 2025 at 11:00 PM
TOC, "Gerontocracy in America" (June 2026)
us.macmillan.com/books/978037...
us.macmillan.com/books/978037...
Reposted by John Fabian Witt
New HistPhil post: David Pozen continues our book forum on @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social' s The Radical Fund, questioning whether, given evolution in nonprofit law since the fund's heydey, it can serve as a model for contemporary philanthropy seeing to "upend America."
histphil.org/2025/11/03/c...
histphil.org/2025/11/03/c...
Could a Garland Fund 2.0 Upend the United States Today?
Editors’ Note: David Pozen continues HistPhil’s book forum on John Witt’s The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America (Simon & Schuster, …
histphil.org
November 3, 2025 at 7:01 PM
New HistPhil post: David Pozen continues our book forum on @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social' s The Radical Fund, questioning whether, given evolution in nonprofit law since the fund's heydey, it can serve as a model for contemporary philanthropy seeing to "upend America."
histphil.org/2025/11/03/c...
histphil.org/2025/11/03/c...
Oh my, the 2020s bidding hard to look like the 1920s. First Billie Eilish, now Gatsby and the Roaring 20s at Mar-a-Lago #TheRadicalFund @simonandschuster.bsky.social
November 2, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Oh my, the 2020s bidding hard to look like the 1920s. First Billie Eilish, now Gatsby and the Roaring 20s at Mar-a-Lago #TheRadicalFund @simonandschuster.bsky.social
Radicalism (in its Latin sense at least?) is fast becoming a keyword for the age. @fotoole.bsky.social is lucid in the @nybooks.com www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
November 1, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Radicalism (in its Latin sense at least?) is fast becoming a keyword for the age. @fotoole.bsky.social is lucid in the @nybooks.com www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
Radical constitutional change is in the air; now Sai Prakash &
@casssunstein.bsky.social are in the mix with a fascinating account of social movements and elites. But what if elites are also a social movement to be explained? #TheRadicalFund
virginialawreview.org/articles/rad...
@casssunstein.bsky.social are in the mix with a fascinating account of social movements and elites. But what if elites are also a social movement to be explained? #TheRadicalFund
virginialawreview.org/articles/rad...
Radical Constitutional Change - Virginia Law Review
At defining points in American history, there have been radical constitutional changes, defined as massive shifts in constitutional understandings, doctrines, and practices. Apparently settled princip...
virginialawreview.org
October 31, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Radical constitutional change is in the air; now Sai Prakash &
@casssunstein.bsky.social are in the mix with a fascinating account of social movements and elites. But what if elites are also a social movement to be explained? #TheRadicalFund
virginialawreview.org/articles/rad...
@casssunstein.bsky.social are in the mix with a fascinating account of social movements and elites. But what if elites are also a social movement to be explained? #TheRadicalFund
virginialawreview.org/articles/rad...
A new pod episode! Come for the nudist beach scenes from the 1920s—stay for fights over the material foundations of 20th-c liberalisms.
🚨🚨New Pod!! 🚨🚨 We have @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social on the pod!!! @samuelmoyn.bsky.social and I talk with John about his amazing and must read new book, The Radical Fund podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
Digging a Hole: The Legal Theory Podcast
Social Sciences Podcast · Yale Law School professors Samuel Moyn and David Schleicher interview legal scholars and dig into the debates heard inside law school halls.
podcasts.apple.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:46 PM
A new pod episode! Come for the nudist beach scenes from the 1920s—stay for fights over the material foundations of 20th-c liberalisms.
Over at HistPhil by @bensoskis.bsky.social a forum on The Radical Fund starts with an essay / post by yours truly on political nonviolence and the tax code, 2020s and 1920s. @simonandschuster.bsky.social histphil.org/2025/10/27/w...
When the Tax Code (and Private Foundations) Nudged Americans Toward Nonviolence
Editors’ Note: This post, from John Witt, inaugurates HistPhil’s book forum on Witt’s recently published The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended …
histphil.org
October 27, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Over at HistPhil by @bensoskis.bsky.social a forum on The Radical Fund starts with an essay / post by yours truly on political nonviolence and the tax code, 2020s and 1920s. @simonandschuster.bsky.social histphil.org/2025/10/27/w...
Laura Weinrib @harvard.edu gets it better than I did! The Radical Fund's internal battles in the 1920s presaged New Deal-era fights over the power to decide in collective bargaining, in civil rights, and elsewhere. Power, not rights. @jackbalkin.bsky.social balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...
Balkinization: The Power to Decide
A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics
balkin.blogspot.com
October 25, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Laura Weinrib @harvard.edu gets it better than I did! The Radical Fund's internal battles in the 1920s presaged New Deal-era fights over the power to decide in collective bargaining, in civil rights, and elsewhere. Power, not rights. @jackbalkin.bsky.social balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...
Now fists are flying! Larry Kramer at LSE says The Radical Fund is "beautifully written, deeply engrossing," and a "tour de force"--but also that it's "not really about the Garland Fund"! Has Larry seen to the secret soul of the book? balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/wher...
Balkinization: Wherefore Art Thou Philanthropy
A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics
balkin.blogspot.com
October 23, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Now fists are flying! Larry Kramer at LSE says The Radical Fund is "beautifully written, deeply engrossing," and a "tour de force"--but also that it's "not really about the Garland Fund"! Has Larry seen to the secret soul of the book? balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/wher...
My friend @marydudziak.bsky.social calls The Radical Fund a compelling salve for chaotic times—but has doubts! Is money the way out? balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/what...
What Money Can Do: John Witt’s The Radical Fund
For the Balkinization symposium on John Witt, The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America (Simon and...
balkin.blogspot.com
October 23, 2025 at 11:31 AM
My friend @marydudziak.bsky.social calls The Radical Fund a compelling salve for chaotic times—but has doubts! Is money the way out? balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/what...
David Pozen @columbiauniversity.bsky.social offers a shot across the bow: does 21st c nonprofit tax law make a Garland Fund 2.0 impossible? balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/coul...
Could the Garland Fund Upend America Today?
For the Balkinization symposium on John Witt, The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America (Simon and...
balkin.blogspot.com
October 23, 2025 at 11:22 AM
David Pozen @columbiauniversity.bsky.social offers a shot across the bow: does 21st c nonprofit tax law make a Garland Fund 2.0 impossible? balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/coul...
Reposted by John Fabian Witt
Yale Professor @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social went back a century and found our present
The Radical Fund tells the story of Charles Garland who refused his inheritance to see it fuel resistance
Subscribe free to watch First Draft with @sjdemas.bsky.social now
www.lincolnsquare.media/p/a-1920s-ro...
The Radical Fund tells the story of Charles Garland who refused his inheritance to see it fuel resistance
Subscribe free to watch First Draft with @sjdemas.bsky.social now
www.lincolnsquare.media/p/a-1920s-ro...
A 1920s Roadmap for Today's Resistance | First Draft with Susan Demas and author John Fabian Witt
Author and Yale Law Professor John Fabian Witt wanted distance from the chaos of the present, so he went back a century — and found its mirror image.
www.lincolnsquare.media
October 22, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Yale Professor @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social went back a century and found our present
The Radical Fund tells the story of Charles Garland who refused his inheritance to see it fuel resistance
Subscribe free to watch First Draft with @sjdemas.bsky.social now
www.lincolnsquare.media/p/a-1920s-ro...
The Radical Fund tells the story of Charles Garland who refused his inheritance to see it fuel resistance
Subscribe free to watch First Draft with @sjdemas.bsky.social now
www.lincolnsquare.media/p/a-1920s-ro...
Looking forward to this one, in just a few minutes live on substack at 11!
LIVE at 11 AM ET: This week’s edition of First Draft with @sjdemas.bsky.social and guest @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social Prof. of Law at Yale Law and a Prof. of History at Yale to discuss his new book The Radical Fund!
Subscribe for free to watch! See you there!
open.substack.com/live-stream/...
Subscribe for free to watch! See you there!
open.substack.com/live-stream/...
October 22, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Looking forward to this one, in just a few minutes live on substack at 11!
Over at Balkinization @jackbalkin.bsky.social, my old dean at Columbia Law David Schizer sees the Garland Fund as a quintessential philanthropic incubator of new ideas. He also notes it was riddled with conflicts of interest. Flaw? Or secret sauce! balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/less...
Balkinization: Lessons for Nonprofits in The Radical Fund: The Perils of Self Dealing and the Promise of Incubating Novel Ideas
A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics
balkin.blogspot.com
October 21, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Over at Balkinization @jackbalkin.bsky.social, my old dean at Columbia Law David Schizer sees the Garland Fund as a quintessential philanthropic incubator of new ideas. He also notes it was riddled with conflicts of interest. Flaw? Or secret sauce! balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/less...
Talked with @emilybazelon on @Slate.com Gabfest Reads about The Radical Fund. Don't miss the turn to Lippmann near the end -- and the fund's prophetic insight that censorship is only a one piece of a free democratic discourse. @Simonandschuster.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdVk...
Gabfest Reads | The Radical Fund That Rewired American Progress | Political Gabfest
Emily Bazelon talks with Yale law professor John Witt about his new book The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America…
www.youtube.com
October 20, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Talked with @emilybazelon on @Slate.com Gabfest Reads about The Radical Fund. Don't miss the turn to Lippmann near the end -- and the fund's prophetic insight that censorship is only a one piece of a free democratic discourse. @Simonandschuster.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdVk...
Read wise @jamalgreene.bsky.social on how to make change from the rubble of a failing state—and on an abiding question: “whether to pursue social change through corrupted existing institutions or whether to try, at great risk, to build new ones.” balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/warl...
Warlord for a Day
For the Balkinization symposium on John Witt, The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America (Simon and...
balkin.blogspot.com
October 19, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Read wise @jamalgreene.bsky.social on how to make change from the rubble of a failing state—and on an abiding question: “whether to pursue social change through corrupted existing institutions or whether to try, at great risk, to build new ones.” balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/warl...
The @wsj.com calls The Radical Fund “fascinating”—and says it would be at the center of the fight between liberal funders and the Trump administration were it around today.
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
‘The Radical Fund’ Review: A Million for the Masses
Charles Garland was entitled to a large inheritance. He instead chose to give the money to a fund for left-wing causes.
www.wsj.com
October 19, 2025 at 3:52 PM
The @wsj.com calls The Radical Fund “fascinating”—and says it would be at the center of the fight between liberal funders and the Trump administration were it around today.
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
Gorgeous on Pennsylvania Ave in DC this afternoon.
October 18, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Gorgeous on Pennsylvania Ave in DC this afternoon.
Over at @jackbalkin.bsky.social’s Balkinization, David Bernstein proposes that The Radical Fund is a cautionary tale of liberalism’s vulnerability to cooperation by illiberal forces—and takes up the CPUSA’s efforts to capture the fund as a case study. balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...
The Garland Fund and the Perils of Extremist Illiberalism
For the Balkinization symposium on John Witt, The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America (Simon and...
balkin.blogspot.com
October 18, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Over at @jackbalkin.bsky.social’s Balkinization, David Bernstein proposes that The Radical Fund is a cautionary tale of liberalism’s vulnerability to cooperation by illiberal forces—and takes up the CPUSA’s efforts to capture the fund as a case study. balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...
My friend and mentor Willy Forbath asks a big question: were social democracy’s compromises a century ago generative or constraining? The debate is on! balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...
The Radical Fund – An Historian’s Brief For Social Democracy
For the Balkinization symposium on John Witt, The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America (Simon and...
balkin.blogspot.com
October 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
My friend and mentor Willy Forbath asks a big question: were social democracy’s compromises a century ago generative or constraining? The debate is on! balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...
The great Risa Goluboff @uvalaw.bsky.social says The Radical Fund is of a piece with the long civil rights movement literature. Is she right? Or is it a critique of the LCRM’s starting premise? Maybe both! @simonandschuster.bsky.social balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/putt...
Putting labor, civil rights, and civil liberties at the center of the American story
For the Balkinization symposium on John Witt, The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America (Simon and...
balkin.blogspot.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:01 PM
The great Risa Goluboff @uvalaw.bsky.social says The Radical Fund is of a piece with the long civil rights movement literature. Is she right? Or is it a critique of the LCRM’s starting premise? Maybe both! @simonandschuster.bsky.social balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/putt...