Pepper Culpepper
@pculpepper.bsky.social
Professor of Government and Public Policy, University of Oxford; Co-author of Billionaire Backlash; prone to Sisyphean cycling follies
Reposted by Pepper Culpepper
Crypto Leaders Call For Infusion Of 20 Million Dopes To Stabilize Market
Crypto Leaders Call For Infusion Of 20 Million Dopes To Stabilize Market
BOSTON—Stressing that the move would help keep digital currencies liquid through the coming year, crypto leaders called for an infusion of 20 million dopes Thursday to stabilize the market. “We’re cal...
theonion.com
December 1, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Crypto Leaders Call For Infusion Of 20 Million Dopes To Stabilize Market
Ask yourself how bad it’s got to be for conflict of interest in the current administration to be a page one story. Answer below.
Five-byline alert: 🚨
David Sacks “has 708 tech investments .. that could be aided directly or indirectly by his policies, according to a New York Times analysis
“The tech bros are out of control,” said Steve Bannon.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/t...
David Sacks “has 708 tech investments .. that could be aided directly or indirectly by his policies, according to a New York Times analysis
“The tech bros are out of control,” said Steve Bannon.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/t...
November 30, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Ask yourself how bad it’s got to be for conflict of interest in the current administration to be a page one story. Answer below.
Worth reading for its bons mots alone: ‘Oxbridge levels of fake self-deprecation’ and ‘an American tourist rummaging through a European intellectual antiquities store’ 🤣
‘Posner and Vermeule argued that “public opinion” would act as the ultimate constraint on a wayward president. That seemed a tad naïve.’
@jwmueller-pu.bsky.social on post-liberal political theory.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@jwmueller-pu.bsky.social on post-liberal political theory.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Jan-Werner Müller · Caesar wept: Trolling the Libs
All post-liberals have at one point or another declared themselves anti-libertarian. Why is it, then, that once in power...
www.lrb.co.uk
November 30, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Worth reading for its bons mots alone: ‘Oxbridge levels of fake self-deprecation’ and ‘an American tourist rummaging through a European intellectual antiquities store’ 🤣
Reposted by Pepper Culpepper
‘Posner and Vermeule argued that “public opinion” would act as the ultimate constraint on a wayward president. That seemed a tad naïve.’
@jwmueller-pu.bsky.social on post-liberal political theory.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@jwmueller-pu.bsky.social on post-liberal political theory.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Jan-Werner Müller · Caesar wept: Trolling the Libs
All post-liberals have at one point or another declared themselves anti-libertarian. Why is it, then, that once in power...
www.lrb.co.uk
November 30, 2025 at 5:50 PM
‘Posner and Vermeule argued that “public opinion” would act as the ultimate constraint on a wayward president. That seemed a tad naïve.’
@jwmueller-pu.bsky.social on post-liberal political theory.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@jwmueller-pu.bsky.social on post-liberal political theory.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
When big banks worry that something will look like a bribe, you have to ask, why don’t Amazon and the others think about this?
Dimon on why JPMorgan Chase is not funding WH Ballroom:
We have an issue, which is anything we do, since we do a lot of contracts with governments here and around the world, we have to be very careful how anything is perceived, and also how the next DOJ is going to deal with it.
We have an issue, which is anything we do, since we do a lot of contracts with governments here and around the world, we have to be very careful how anything is perceived, and also how the next DOJ is going to deal with it.
November 30, 2025 at 3:31 PM
When big banks worry that something will look like a bribe, you have to ask, why don’t Amazon and the others think about this?
Reposted by Pepper Culpepper
If you're lucky enough to be able to read the @financialtimes.com these evidence-based conversations between @jburnmurdoch.ft.com and @sarahoconnorft.ft.com are particularly fascinating. Here's the latest.
The AI Shift: Is AI about to break polling?
Online surveys are susceptible to bogus respondents and synthetic samples warrant scepticism
www.ft.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:59 AM
If you're lucky enough to be able to read the @financialtimes.com these evidence-based conversations between @jburnmurdoch.ft.com and @sarahoconnorft.ft.com are particularly fascinating. Here's the latest.
Reposted by Pepper Culpepper
I'm sorry but first Nuzzi and Lizza and now Izzy?
Too many Z's man. Too many Z's.
Too many Z's man. Too many Z's.
November 26, 2025 at 11:27 PM
I'm sorry but first Nuzzi and Lizza and now Izzy?
Too many Z's man. Too many Z's.
Too many Z's man. Too many Z's.
@chrismurphyct.bsky.social a one-man band right now trying to drag the quiet politics of the AI industry out into the light. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Please watch this.
The Senate killed a bill to ban state regulation of AI by a vote of 99-1 this spring. Now the industry - eager to stay unregulated - and Trump are scheming to shove the provision in the national defense bill.
You need to know this, so you can help stop it.
The Senate killed a bill to ban state regulation of AI by a vote of 99-1 this spring. Now the industry - eager to stay unregulated - and Trump are scheming to shove the provision in the national defense bill.
You need to know this, so you can help stop it.
November 25, 2025 at 10:21 PM
@chrismurphyct.bsky.social a one-man band right now trying to drag the quiet politics of the AI industry out into the light. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Reposted by Pepper Culpepper
Fun fact: November 28, 2001:
"ENRON, which had been a component of the S&P; 500, was removed at the end of trading Thursday and replaced by NVIDIA Corp., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of computer-graphics chips."
"ENRON, which had been a component of the S&P; 500, was removed at the end of trading Thursday and replaced by NVIDIA Corp., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of computer-graphics chips."
November 22, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Fun fact: November 28, 2001:
"ENRON, which had been a component of the S&P; 500, was removed at the end of trading Thursday and replaced by NVIDIA Corp., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of computer-graphics chips."
"ENRON, which had been a component of the S&P; 500, was removed at the end of trading Thursday and replaced by NVIDIA Corp., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of computer-graphics chips."
Absolutely gross. @anandwrites.bsky.social nails the semiotics of intra-elite back scratching from the Epstein emails. “This is what these powerful people…were thinking and doing —taking care of one another instead of the general welfare — before it got really bad.”
Opinion | How the Elite Behave When No One Is Watching: Inside the Epstein Emails
www.nytimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Absolutely gross. @anandwrites.bsky.social nails the semiotics of intra-elite back scratching from the Epstein emails. “This is what these powerful people…were thinking and doing —taking care of one another instead of the general welfare — before it got really bad.”
Priorities
On Facebook, you could sexually solicit minors 17 times before being kicked out... or you could just post a passage from Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams, describing Zuckerberg's obsequious conduct with Xi Jinping, and then get kicked out instantly. www.thedailybeast.com/lawsuit-alle...
Court Filings Allege Meta ‘Lied To Congress’ About Harms To Kids
New court filings also allege it would take a whopping 17 strikes for solicitation before an account was deleted.
www.thedailybeast.com
November 23, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Priorities
A few vertically integrated giants controlling the AI stack. Think about all the circular AI deals in this context. What could possibly go wrong?
Google is the Apple of AI as they have a complete vertically integrated story. They make their own chips, own data centers, provide AI cloud services, build frontier models, have AI integrated business and consumer apps, a mobile OS platform, a browser and devices.
$1.4T isn’t enough to compete.😬
$1.4T isn’t enough to compete.😬
Altman Memo Forecasts ‘Rough Vibes’ Due to Resurgent Google
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told colleagues last month that Google’s recent progress in artificial intelligence could “create some temporary economic headwinds for our company,” though he added that OpenAI ...
www.theinformation.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:54 AM
A few vertically integrated giants controlling the AI stack. Think about all the circular AI deals in this context. What could possibly go wrong?
Looks like we’ve reached AGI.
Musk's ego was mortally wounded by Joyce Carol Oates and he's been on a narcissistic supply bender since
November 20, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Looks like we’ve reached AGI.
💯
"When private companies [OpenAI] can reach half-trillion-dollar valuations while remaining exempt from disclosure requirements designed to protect systemic stability, the public-private distinction no longer serves its intended function."
substack.com/inbox/post/1...
substack.com/inbox/post/1...
The Auditor Paradox: How OpenAI’s Governance Gap Exposes Silicon Valley’s Circular Capital Machine
A $500 billion company building artificial general intelligence relies on a twelve-person accounting firm.
substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:34 PM
💯
Reposted by Pepper Culpepper
My antitrust attitudes paper with Nick Short and Jacob Brown is out now @poppublicsphere.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1017/S153...
We find:
- voters are skeptical about M&A
- current law marginalizes important public concerns (layoffs, bailout risk, lobbying)
- expert/public cleavage > partisan diffs
doi.org/10.1017/S153...
We find:
- voters are skeptical about M&A
- current law marginalizes important public concerns (layoffs, bailout risk, lobbying)
- expert/public cleavage > partisan diffs
November 18, 2025 at 10:39 AM
My antitrust attitudes paper with Nick Short and Jacob Brown is out now @poppublicsphere.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1017/S153...
We find:
- voters are skeptical about M&A
- current law marginalizes important public concerns (layoffs, bailout risk, lobbying)
- expert/public cleavage > partisan diffs
doi.org/10.1017/S153...
We find:
- voters are skeptical about M&A
- current law marginalizes important public concerns (layoffs, bailout risk, lobbying)
- expert/public cleavage > partisan diffs
Reposted by Pepper Culpepper
new paper by Sean Westwood:
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
November 18, 2025 at 7:16 PM
new paper by Sean Westwood:
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
🤣🤣🤣
November 18, 2025 at 8:19 AM
🤣🤣🤣
Reposted by Pepper Culpepper
There really is no word that says "strategic clarity" more than "smorgasbord".
November 14, 2025 at 7:14 AM
There really is no word that says "strategic clarity" more than "smorgasbord".
@alphaville.ft.com for the win on memes of the AI bubble.
November 12, 2025 at 8:25 PM
@alphaville.ft.com for the win on memes of the AI bubble.
Reposted by Pepper Culpepper
I feel seen.
Paper gets 2 positive reviews & 1 very critical one
Authors work very very hard on R&R
Journal sends it back to critical reviewer (only) and 1 new reviewer
Critical reviewer is quite positive about revision
New reviewer is negative
Editor sits on reviews for 1 month, then rejects
Authors sad
Authors work very very hard on R&R
Journal sends it back to critical reviewer (only) and 1 new reviewer
Critical reviewer is quite positive about revision
New reviewer is negative
Editor sits on reviews for 1 month, then rejects
Authors sad
November 11, 2025 at 7:34 PM
I feel seen.
Reposted by Pepper Culpepper
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
November 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
New role playing game by Microsoft — Microsoft! — warns that ‘any similarities to real-world dystopian corporate branded hellscapes are purely coincidental.’
Crushed by capitalism? There’s a video game for that
‘The Outer Worlds 2’ is set in a galaxy ruled by greedy corporations — but can a game made by a Microsoft-owned studio critique the system effectively?
www.ft.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:22 AM
New role playing game by Microsoft — Microsoft! — warns that ‘any similarities to real-world dystopian corporate branded hellscapes are purely coincidental.’
Profound political economy insight from the Daily Show: observe behavior rather than cheap talk.
New York millionaires: threatening to flee the city since 2009
November 7, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Profound political economy insight from the Daily Show: observe behavior rather than cheap talk.
Reposted by Pepper Culpepper
The Nuffield PPRF is an amazing postdoc - a brilliant community, lovely college, and yes, great food. And, usually, also with a family of ducks.
We have just published the call for the Nuffield Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellowships in Politics. These are 3-year fully-funded postdocs that will allow you to focus on your research in a great academic environment. (And with excellent food)
www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/the-college/...
www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/the-college/...
Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellowships in Politics - Nuffield College Oxford University
www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk
November 6, 2025 at 7:39 PM
The Nuffield PPRF is an amazing postdoc - a brilliant community, lovely college, and yes, great food. And, usually, also with a family of ducks.