Tess Wise
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tesswise.bsky.social
Tess Wise
@tesswise.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Politics Wake Forest -- Racial Political Economy -- Everton FC fan -- she/they
Tressie McMillan Cottom nails it:

"There was not a college degree or a political donor among them, and yet, somehow, actual poor people figured out how to handle racist iconography without scapegoating minorities or making excuses for a white man’s mistakes."

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...
Opinion | A Nazi Tattoo Exposes Democrats’ Greatest Weakness
www.nytimes.com
October 29, 2025 at 11:34 AM
This is the best article I've read about the Amsterdam parakeets, which captured my wonder when I saw them during @sasemeeting.bsky.social's Amsterdam conference in 2022! www.sapiens.org/culture/amst...
Living With Parakeets and Other Migrants
Amsterdam hosts growing populations of non-native parakeets. What do shifting attitudes toward these birds reveal about humans?
www.sapiens.org
August 22, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Many of my students from my Politics of Consumer Finance class opted to do podcasts for their final projects. I cannot express how fun it is to hear my students have interesting, informed, thoughtful conversations about what they learned in our class! Highly recommend!
May 11, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Lower than usual enrollment for my Harvard Summer School course "Race and U.S. Politics." Current enrollment is also predominantly grad students (vs. high school & college). I wonder if students are worried about having a class about race on their transcript...
April 24, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Reposted by Tess Wise
A US citizen with a learning disability who has just suffered a medical emergency asks a CBP officer for directions outside the emergency room. He ends up detained in an icebox for ten days and has the assistant secretary of DHS lying about him to the public at large. popular.info/p/us-citizen...
April 23, 2025 at 2:55 PM
I'd be annoyed if it were my car, but I am definitely rooting for the woodpecker! www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/u...
A Coastal New England Town’s ‘Ornery’ Vandal: A Woodpecker
More than 20 vehicles in a town on Cape Ann, Mass., have been damaged by a woodpecker in mating season. “You still see him out here,” one resident said. “Peck, peck, peck, peck.”
www.nytimes.com
April 23, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Tess Wise
Enos & Levitsky: “If Columbia or another university confronts the administration on its own, it will lose. If America’s nearly 6,000 universities and colleges launch a campaign in defense of higher education, odds are that Trump will lose.”

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
First They Came for Columbia | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson
We must learn from the past. We cannot remain silent in the face of authoritarian attacks on our peers, even if they have not yet come for us.
www.thecrimson.com
March 22, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Super cool that there is an article about East campus dorm rush activities at MIT! This was one of my favorite parts of living at EC. It also contains an interview with absolute legend Mark Feldmeier! www.technologyreview.com/2024/12/23/1...
Building adventure
At East Campus, ambitious construction projects draw first-year students to the dorm each fall.
www.technologyreview.com
January 18, 2025 at 2:07 AM
First day of classes in the books! 🎉 This semester, I’m teaching Politics of Consumer Finance and Race in America. I use live syllabi, so I’d love your input—are there any standout pieces you’ve read on these topics that my undergrads and I should explore this semester?
January 14, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Reposted by Tess Wise
I don’t know how to create a quantitative measure of this but it basically happens all the time now, a geographically efficient legislature (usually elected by a minority of state electorate) takes power away from an incoming governor (by definition elected by a majority of state electorate)
The North Carolina General Assembly’s GOP supermajority just approved a hugely corrupt power grab, seizing authority from the governor and the courts to prevent any meaningful check on legislative abuses. Authoritarian stuff. A very dark day for democracy in NC. amp.newsobserver.com/news/politic...
December 3, 2024 at 6:18 PM
www.wsj.com/us-news/fdic... hmmm better regulation might also require better regulators…
Strip Clubs, Lewd Photos and a Boozy Hotel: The Toxic Atmosphere at Bank Regulator FDIC
Employees say sexual harassment, misogyny pervade federal agency tasked with ensuring stability of nation’s banks, driving women to leave
www.wsj.com
November 14, 2023 at 2:44 AM
Chief lobbyist for Independent Community Bankers of America, saying banks should “litigate public policy” because regulators asking for race and location data for loans is an “extraordinary” demand makes me pretty sure that data would show that the banks are racist AF…https://shorturl.at/dhwPW
November 2, 2023 at 6:25 PM
Reposted by Tess Wise
Republicans in North Carolina approved a heavily gerrymandered congressional map on Wednesday that is likely to knock out about half of the Democrats representing the state in the House of Representatives, ensuring GOP dominance in a closely divided state.
North Carolina Republicans Approve House Map That Flips at Least Three Seats
The gerrymandered congressional map, made possible by a new G.O.P. majority on the state Supreme Court, ensures Republican dominance in a closely divided state.
www.nytimes.com
October 26, 2023 at 8:05 PM
Reposted by Tess Wise
The year is 2323. In the 267th Congress (the 50th Congress of the New Union of American Republics), the neo-Republican Party dutifully chooses and then executes its nominee for Speaker of the House. This ritual has been held each October for a 100 years to mark the beginning of a new session.
October 24, 2023 at 8:52 PM