Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 22h

You have to read this article to its (literally) jaw-dropping end. Just quote after quote from Marc Benioff, pledging fealty to Trump, in highlight what rivals Zuckerberg as most intense shift in *public* political identity of major philanthropist in recent years.

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

Marc Benioff Says Trump Should Send Guard Troops to San Francisco

www.nytimes.com

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 1d

New HistPhil post: Nicole Marwell and Jennifer Mosley chronicle the rise of the randomized controlled trial to the top of the hierarchy of program evaluation, while also highlighting the significant ambivalence nonprofit & foundation staff have to that ascension.

histphil.org/2025/10/10/r...

Resisting the Hierarchy of Evidence: Philanthropic Foundations and the Rise of RCTs

Editors’ Note: Nicole P. Marwell and Jennifer E. Mosley discuss their new book, Mismeasuring Impact: How Randomized Controlled Trials Threaten the Nonprofit Sector (Stanford University Press,…

histphil.org

2 5

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 1d

Screenshots from the Times and Inside Philanthropy
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...
and
www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/the-phi...

Report on Soros Cited by Justice Dept. Does Not Show Funding for Terrorism

www.nytimes.com

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 1d

I think the Capital Research Center should get its story straight--the "aw shucks, we're just doing research on Open Society & had no idea the Justice Dept would weaponize it" argument is laughable. They are a part of the civil society they are working to erode. (Links in comments)

1 1

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 1d

"My Canadian girlfriend nominated me for the Nobel Peace Prize"...

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 2d

With a little bit of perspective I think it’s fair to say: that was one of the more miserable, draining nights of Philadelphia sports fandom I’ve experienced in my lifetime.

When does the Sixers season start!!

2

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 2d

Among the 9 groups cited by WH to Reuters as examples of orgs it said helped finance or plan protests where violent incidents occurred are *Indivisible*--which really does make clear how admin's anti domestic terror campaign is being used to go after pol opposition.
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

www.reuters.com

Reposted by Benjamin Soskis

Brian Galle @bdgesq.bsky.social · 6d

Just to develop the tax / nonprofit angle a bit more, the last sentence (allowing donors to claw back donations) would violate every 501(c)(3) organization's governing documents, and make them ineligible for deductible contributions. State orgs a little more complicated but likely same result.

3 4

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 8d

That rare initiative in which excessive philanthropic power and state power are exquisitely intertwined.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/u...

The Billionaire Behind Trump’s Deal for Universities

www.nytimes.com

2 5

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 9d

Is this populism? [Butterfly meme]

1

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 12d

CEO of DonorsTrust, the conservative DAF supporting org, warns Free Press against "weaponiz[ing] philanthropy in a way that is antithetical to philanthropic freedom.” Key to stress that defense of civil society extends across ideological & partisan spectrum.
www.thefp.com/p/conservati...

Conservative Philanthropy CEO to Trump: Don’t Attack Liberal Nonprofits

Any revenge by the Trump administration against liberal foundations and other groups “is going to come back to haunt us,” Lawson Bader of DonorsTrust tells @gekaminsky.

www.thefp.com

12

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 15d

I want to flag an exchange in Ross Douthat's recent NYT interview with May Mailman, "the Harvard-Trained Layer Behind Trump's Fight Against Top Universities," as the Times put it, in which Mailman directly discusses the relationship btw govt funding and philanthropy.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/o...

2

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 16d

New HistPhil post: I gave close watch to two cong. hearings this summer on fed funding of nonprofits to get a better sense of scope of the right's antagonism to nonprofits. One striking dimension: stirrings of MAGA voluntarism premised on split btw good & bad nonprofits.
histphil.org/2025/09/25/n...

NGO Attacks Gone Wild and the Stirrings of MAGA Voluntarism

Editors’ Note: HistPhil co-editor Benjamin Soskis reflects on two Congressional hearings held this summer scrutinizing federal funding of nonprofits and on the ways they helped to delineate r…

histphil.org

1

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 16d

This is very bad.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/u...

Justice Dept. Official Pushes Prosecutors to Investigate George Soros’s Foundation

www.nytimes.com

1 1 3

Reposted by Benjamin Soskis

Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 20d

Coming to a US near you soon.

Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 @marikamikiashvili.bsky.social · 20d

JUST IN: The Anti-Corruption Bureau has begun repressive proceedings against 30 more NGOs in Georgia, including an animal shelter.

8 70 290

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 24d

In one sense, Searchlight is the institutional embodiment of the "Groups" critique that Jentleson has championed. But it's the popularist variety of critique & not the more powerful Skocpolian one, since it seems to rely on a funding model dependent on big donors.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/u...

A New Democratic Think Tank Wants to Curb the Influence of Liberal Groups

www.nytimes.com

1

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 26d

"They praised Mr. Kirk’s commitment to free speech while threatening to exact a price against the “far left” that they accused of fomenting political violence in America."

A crack down on civil society & associational rights under the banner of free speech...

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/u...

White House Plans Broad Crackdown on Liberal Groups

www.nytimes.com

4

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 28d

The bar is pretty low for what constitutes an act of political bravery from conservatives now in defending civil society, but still, good to see.

2

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · 29d

Mr. Twitter Philanthropy, no less.

1

Reposted by Benjamin Soskis

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · Sep 11

Here we go. Trump just made it unmistakably clear that it will now be absolutely open season on whoever they decide to label "the left," and that this will be pursued with the full force of the government. This could get very, very bad.

90 220 670

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · Sep 10

@mattyglesias.bsky.social flagged this exchange elsewhere and he's exactly right. The attack on Kirk was obscene. Full stop. There's also a good chance that it will be used as pretext for a massive crackdown on progressive nonprofits and philanthropy.

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · Sep 10

This seems like a case that could have some definite implications for philanthropy and the politics of naming rights, abt the 1st Amend rights of students at schools that have been turned into "mobile billboards" for messages they do not endorse.
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Confederate school name violates Virginia students' First Amendment rights, judge rules

The judge said naming the high school after Stonewall Jackson turned students into “mobile billboards” for a message they may not support.

www.nbcnews.com

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · Sep 8

New HistPhil post: Nancy Um & Matthew Westerby introduce findings from Scholars Data Project, hosted by the Association of Research Institutes in Art History, on residential fellowships sponsored by 4 leading research institutions in art history over last six decades.
histphil.org/2025/09/08/t...

Taking the Long View: Gauging the Impact of Residential Fellowships in Art History over the Decades

Editors’ Note: Nancy Um and Matthew Westerby introduce findings from the Scholars Data Project, hosted by the Association of Research Institutes in Art History, on residential fellowships spo…

histphil.org

1

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · Sep 7

What?

Benjamin Soskis @bensoskis.bsky.social · Sep 7

I do agree on the red lines.

1