Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alfie Kohn

@alfiekohn.bsky.social

2.9K followers 21 following 1.4K posts

author and lecturer on topics in #education, #parenting, and human #behavior.... (Personal messages more likely to be read if left on http://alfiekohn.org) He/him

Videos

Alfie Kohn is an American author and lecturer in the areas of education, parenting, and human behavior. He is a proponent of progressive education and has offered critiques of many traditional aspects of parenting, managing, and American society more generally, drawing in each case from social science research. .. more

Education 68%

Psychology 10%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · Aug 12

"Podcast" comes from the Latin "paudus" (meaning "to half-listen to") and "casteratum" (meaning "while preparing food"). Mine is called "KOHN'S ZONE: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom About Education & Kids." New episodes are posted on the 1st & 15th of each month: www.alfiekohn.org/podcasts/

1 2 16

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 7h

Not for nothing. For the purpose of frightening other people from coming to the aid of immigrants being terrorized by the MAGAgestapo.

Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 9h

These guys hogtied a journalist who is probably their mom’s age for nothing.

Jacqueline Sweet @jsweetli.bsky.social · 10h

WGN, this woman’s employer, is now reporting she was not charged with any crimes and was released.

DHS said earlier she was arrested for assault for throwing objects at agents.

1 3

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 9h

Maybe the daughter will keep a diary

Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 10h

aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage

Sophie Sherry @sophiesherry.bsky.social · 13h

During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door.   It wasn’t the feds — it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help.

He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Reposted by Rosemary A. Joyce, Michael D. McDonald, Alfie Kohn

Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 9h

These guys hogtied a journalist who is probably their mom’s age for nothing.

Jacqueline Sweet @jsweetli.bsky.social · 10h

WGN, this woman’s employer, is now reporting she was not charged with any crimes and was released.

DHS said earlier she was arrested for assault for throwing objects at agents.

52 300 990

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Richard S.J. Tol, Naomi Priest , and 8 more Lisa W. Fazio, Richard S.J. Tol, Naomi Priest, W. Andy Knight, Julia Lynch, Adrian Daub, Erin O’Donnell, Alfie Kohn, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Peter Bergman

Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 10h

aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage

Sophie Sherry @sophiesherry.bsky.social · 13h

Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’

During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...

chicago.suntimes.com

250 6.5K 16K

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 12h

Is Lina Wertmüller still available?

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 16h

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...

Harvard officials have since discussed internally the possibility of seeking additional assurances from the administration that the university will not be subject to further demands once an agreement has been signed, according to two people briefed on the matter.

Lucy snatching the football away from Charlie Brown...again.

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 18h

Scholars refer to this as "collective narcissism": research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/96...

research.gold.ac.uk

Reposted by John Horgan, Rosemary A. Joyce, Eric Goldman , and 5 more John Horgan, Rosemary A. Joyce, Eric Goldman, Valerie Mueller, David R. Miller, Robert B. Reich, Alfie Kohn, David Darmofal

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 20h

Mike Johnson: "We're so angry about it. I mean, I'm a very patient guy, but I've had it with these people. The theory we have right now -- they have a hate America rally that's scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It's the pro-Hamas wing and antifa people ... "

1.2K 410 1.9K

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 21h

When it's not working to require patriotism indoctrination, target trans students, and destroy any programs that benefit minorities, Trump's Dept. of Education is committed to uprooting public education in favor of private, religious schooling. Horrifying update from ProPublica: tinyurl.com/bddekpjz

These Activists Want to Dismantle Public Schools. Now They Run the Education Department.

Under Trump, the Department of Education has been bringing in activists hostile to public schools. It could mean a new era of private and religious schools boosted by tax dollars — and the end of publ...

tinyurl.com

2 5

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 1d

Nearly 300 just in the year *before* Oct. 7, for example (source: www.ochaopt.org/data/casualt...)

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Gavin A. Schmidt, Alfie Kohn , and 2 more Jonathan Portes, Gavin A. Schmidt, Alfie Kohn, Simon Lester, Dan Immergluck

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 1d

It really can't be said enough: the goal of the "anti-woke" movement was always to destroy social norms against bigotry. And it worked. And there's a whole lot of purportedly "left" thinkers & commentators who helped it -- indeed, it couldn't have been done without them.

They should feel bad.

60 1.3K 5.1K

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Eric Goldman, Philip Nel , and 4 more Brendan Nyhan, Eric Goldman, Philip Nel, Joseph Schafer, Alfie Kohn, Simon Lester, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 1d

Nothing remotely resembling an insurrection is happening anywhere in the country. Any violence associated with protest has been isolated, mild, and, in nearly every case, instigated by federal law enforcement. If we let Trump get away with calling dissent an insurrection, our republic is over.

BREAKING: Trump Admin 'Seriously' Considering Using the Insurrection Act, Reports NBC

President Trump is "seriously" considering invoking the Insurrection Act in order to more easily deploy National Guard troops to major cities as part of crime crackdown, NBC reported on Wednesday

www.mediaite.com

120 1.3K 3.4K

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 1d

It's the time of year when tech publications supposedly committed to offering readers how-to guidance and objective product reviews become full-time shills for Jeff Bezos ("Best Prime Day deals!").
What's worse than that? Education publications shilling for AI companies.

OpenAl has published Chats for High School Teachers, a new resource from ChatGPT for Education designed to show how teachers across multiple subjects use ChatGPT in daily classroom practice.

The release was shared in a LinkedIn post from ChatGPT for Education, which described the collection as “practical examples of how teachers are using ChatGPT every day”

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 2d

Plus, these complaints are, um, not exactly new...

Report of the Committee on Raising the Standard, Harvard Univ., 1894 about alleged grade inflation

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 2d

Plus ça change...

[first few paragraphs of 10-8-25 NYT article: Harvard Finds Skipping Class Part of Culture - for more, see https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/us/harvard-students-absenteeism.html]

Grades A and B are sometimes given too readily — Grade A for work of no very high merit, and Grade B for work not far above mediocrity. ... One of the chief obstacles to raising the standards of the degree is the readiness with which insincere students gain passable grades by sham work.

- Report of the Committee on Raising the Standard, Harvard University, 1894

1 4

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 2d

Right-wing terrorism is down from its historic highs, says Paul Krugman, but this may be because the Trump regime is doing their dirty work for them. In fact, he adds, "some people who might have engaged in terrorist assaults may well be working for ICE instead": is.gd/qyR7QC

State Terror, American Style

Forget about “soft autocracy”

is.gd

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 2d

I guess if I were a Christian (or an adherent of any religion), I'd be deeply offended by what MAGA folks say and do in the name of that faith. Similarly, if I were a conservative, I'd be outraged by how the media routinely uses that label to describe fascists, racists, and conspiracy theorists.

1 1 5

Reposted by Cas Mudde, Alfie Kohn

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 3d

It isn’t surprising that this would be happening with a 79-year-old man. The crazy and dangerous part is that there’s an entire political movement and media ecosystem that rationalizes, justifies, and tries to retroactively validate every synapse misfire that escapes his mouth.

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 3d

I know invoking Latin terms can be a bit esoteric, and "dementia" is fine and accurate, but I think there's real merit in zeroing in on the relevant legal concept: he is non compos mentis. Not just that he's a batty old man, he is debilitated in a concrete legal sense, fit for conservatorship.

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 3d

Ruben Gallego on whether Trump is talking to Democrats:

“Look, the President clearly has some kind of dementia, so I think there's a he's probably talking to himself, or think he's talking to a Democrat, but I sincerely doubt that that's actually he's actually physically talking to a Democrat.“

11 80 480

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 3d

Terrorizing immigrants is the cake; the grossly inappropriate invocation of religion by government representatives is the icing

David S. Bernstein @dbernstein.bsky.social · 3d

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is in Portland meeting with ICE, Border Patrol and DHS officials; Nick Sortor posted video of Noem saying a prayer for the safety of their officers at the start of the meeting.

Reposted by Stacy D. VanDeveer, Alfie Kohn

David S. Bernstein @dbernstein.bsky.social · 3d

110 18 85

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 3d

... and have virtually all Congressional Republicans and 6/9 of the Supreme Court in his corner when he did so.

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 3d

NY Times headline writers are suffering from a crippling addiction to the passive voice. Won't you please help?

(After decades of telling us that Palestinians "died in clashes," they're now eliding the GOP Speaker's refusal to swear in Grijalva to protect Trump from releasing the Epstein files.)

NYT headline: "A Newly Elected Representative is Left in Limbo During the Funding Impasse"

2 8

Reposted by Iikka Korhonen, Alfie Kohn, Christina Pagel

Dr. Jonathan N. Stea @jonathanstea.bsky.social · 4d

This guy is in charge of US health care.