Colin Brown
@colinmbrown.bsky.social
AssocProf and UPD at Northeastern Poli Sci: immigration, representation, parties, Europe (esp. NL), pedagogy, SoTL.
Ass't. Ed.: PS Educator. Intro Comparative Politics textbook w/Cengage. Chaotic Neutral. J! non-champion. Bad jokes. Erstwhile Oregonian.
Ass't. Ed.: PS Educator. Intro Comparative Politics textbook w/Cengage. Chaotic Neutral. J! non-champion. Bad jokes. Erstwhile Oregonian.
Pinned
Colin Brown
@colinmbrown.bsky.social
· Oct 11
Looking through my old skeets in order to make a meaningless, silly pun and accidentally finding great teaching resources that I'd forgotten about, is about as on-brand as I get.
Reposted by Colin Brown
Asked a student how he was doing and he responded "Living the dream one nightmare at a time"
If that doesnt capture the absurdity and dread of this moment
If that doesnt capture the absurdity and dread of this moment
November 26, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Asked a student how he was doing and he responded "Living the dream one nightmare at a time"
If that doesnt capture the absurdity and dread of this moment
If that doesnt capture the absurdity and dread of this moment
Arrow's empanada-bility theorem:
Hot pocket ⊂ meat pie ⊂ calzone ⊂ hot pocket
Cannot be solved without knowing preferences or having a knishtatorship
Hot pocket ⊂ meat pie ⊂ calzone ⊂ hot pocket
Cannot be solved without knowing preferences or having a knishtatorship
Is a hot pocket a meat pie?
Discuss.
Discuss.
November 26, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Arrow's empanada-bility theorem:
Hot pocket ⊂ meat pie ⊂ calzone ⊂ hot pocket
Cannot be solved without knowing preferences or having a knishtatorship
Hot pocket ⊂ meat pie ⊂ calzone ⊂ hot pocket
Cannot be solved without knowing preferences or having a knishtatorship
Reposted by Colin Brown
Never cared much about Sasquatch growing up but we'd start to take notice when it got upgraded to a Saqsquarning
November 26, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Never cared much about Sasquatch growing up but we'd start to take notice when it got upgraded to a Saqsquarning
Whatever our other fights and whatever the Discourse says. at least we can agree there is one kind of pie that is always wrong.
(Pie charts)
(Pie charts)
November 25, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Whatever our other fights and whatever the Discourse says. at least we can agree there is one kind of pie that is always wrong.
(Pie charts)
(Pie charts)
Reposted by Colin Brown
The thing is, this shouldn't even be a discussion in a free country. If any member of the public says the government's orders are illegal and should be refused, that is clearly protected speech. The speech of members of congress is even more protected than that of the general public.
November 25, 2025 at 10:42 PM
The thing is, this shouldn't even be a discussion in a free country. If any member of the public says the government's orders are illegal and should be refused, that is clearly protected speech. The speech of members of congress is even more protected than that of the general public.
Reposted by Colin Brown
I think AI issues are manifesting in very different ways based on the kinds of institutions, the disciplines we're in, etc. But a lot seems tied together by the ways we've set up failure as something to be feared, utterly, and this was already a huge problem before the arrival of ChatGPT etc
"Students are afraid to fail, and AI presents itself as a saviour. But what we learn from history is that progress requires failure. It requires reflection. Students are not just undermining their ability to learn, but to someday lead."
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/set-tr...
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/set-tr...
November 24, 2025 at 3:13 PM
I think AI issues are manifesting in very different ways based on the kinds of institutions, the disciplines we're in, etc. But a lot seems tied together by the ways we've set up failure as something to be feared, utterly, and this was already a huge problem before the arrival of ChatGPT etc
I think AI issues are manifesting in very different ways based on the kinds of institutions, the disciplines we're in, etc. But a lot seems tied together by the ways we've set up failure as something to be feared, utterly, and this was already a huge problem before the arrival of ChatGPT etc
"Students are afraid to fail, and AI presents itself as a saviour. But what we learn from history is that progress requires failure. It requires reflection. Students are not just undermining their ability to learn, but to someday lead."
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/set-tr...
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/set-tr...
November 24, 2025 at 3:13 PM
I think AI issues are manifesting in very different ways based on the kinds of institutions, the disciplines we're in, etc. But a lot seems tied together by the ways we've set up failure as something to be feared, utterly, and this was already a huge problem before the arrival of ChatGPT etc
Reposted by Colin Brown
"Students are afraid to fail, and AI presents itself as a saviour. But what we learn from history is that progress requires failure. It requires reflection. Students are not just undermining their ability to learn, but to someday lead."
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/set-tr...
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/set-tr...
November 24, 2025 at 1:50 PM
"Students are afraid to fail, and AI presents itself as a saviour. But what we learn from history is that progress requires failure. It requires reflection. Students are not just undermining their ability to learn, but to someday lead."
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/set-tr...
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/set-tr...
So, I tried this AI grill and asked it to roast something in the style of Anthony Bourdain. That's when it just started telling me to get over myself and trying to use some corporate tech to speed up enjoying life, it felt like it was very disappointed in me.
November 24, 2025 at 1:41 PM
So, I tried this AI grill and asked it to roast something in the style of Anthony Bourdain. That's when it just started telling me to get over myself and trying to use some corporate tech to speed up enjoying life, it felt like it was very disappointed in me.
Reposted by Colin Brown
A movie that takes place where you're from
November 23, 2025 at 5:15 PM
A movie that takes place where you're from
A movie that takes place where you're from
November 23, 2025 at 5:15 PM
A movie that takes place where you're from
Reposted by Colin Brown
COVID+'AI' connection @eryk.bsky.social: "In many ways the collective attention & fear, has shifted from a conversation about the embodied concerns of a contagious, murderous disease to a collective fascination & horror w/ the unembodied abstraction of 'artificial intelligence'" tinyurl.com/3xs4mu8c
What Was ChatGPT?
A Chatbot Optimized for Social Distance
Three years after the launch of ChatGPT, we can finally speak in hindsight about what it was and how it came to be. Its meteoric rise shocked the world, gather...
tinyurl.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:05 PM
COVID+'AI' connection @eryk.bsky.social: "In many ways the collective attention & fear, has shifted from a conversation about the embodied concerns of a contagious, murderous disease to a collective fascination & horror w/ the unembodied abstraction of 'artificial intelligence'" tinyurl.com/3xs4mu8c
You may ask yourself, "What is that beautiful house?"
You may ask yourself, "Where does that highway go to?"
And you may ask yourself, "Am I right, am I wrong?"
And you may say to yourself, "My God, what have I done?"
You may ask yourself, "Where does that highway go to?"
And you may ask yourself, "Am I right, am I wrong?"
And you may say to yourself, "My God, what have I done?"
November 23, 2025 at 4:05 AM
You may ask yourself, "What is that beautiful house?"
You may ask yourself, "Where does that highway go to?"
And you may ask yourself, "Am I right, am I wrong?"
And you may say to yourself, "My God, what have I done?"
You may ask yourself, "Where does that highway go to?"
And you may ask yourself, "Am I right, am I wrong?"
And you may say to yourself, "My God, what have I done?"
I wanted to be Rick Steves when I grew up and discovered the job was already taken
November 23, 2025 at 3:59 AM
I wanted to be Rick Steves when I grew up and discovered the job was already taken
Reposted by Colin Brown
11-23 is Fibonacci Day & I always fall into a spiral
November 22, 2025 at 7:04 PM
11-23 is Fibonacci Day & I always fall into a spiral
Reposted by Colin Brown
💫 The Oxford Handbook of Polish Politics is ready for Christmas!
With the opening chapter by Professor Norman Davies and 56 chapter by more than 80 fantastic authors (I cannot tag them all but would love to), many thanks to all starting from the co-editors (Fernando is not here, Kasia should be)
With the opening chapter by Professor Norman Davies and 56 chapter by more than 80 fantastic authors (I cannot tag them all but would love to), many thanks to all starting from the co-editors (Fernando is not here, Kasia should be)
November 22, 2025 at 6:38 PM
💫 The Oxford Handbook of Polish Politics is ready for Christmas!
With the opening chapter by Professor Norman Davies and 56 chapter by more than 80 fantastic authors (I cannot tag them all but would love to), many thanks to all starting from the co-editors (Fernando is not here, Kasia should be)
With the opening chapter by Professor Norman Davies and 56 chapter by more than 80 fantastic authors (I cannot tag them all but would love to), many thanks to all starting from the co-editors (Fernando is not here, Kasia should be)
OMG in the grand scheme of things this is so trivial so I haven't complained but I really am so relieved by this
Really excited to hear the big news that we'll soon be returning to using "MTG" to refer exclusively to Magic: The Gathering
November 22, 2025 at 2:09 AM
OMG in the grand scheme of things this is so trivial so I haven't complained but I really am so relieved by this
Reposted by Colin Brown
Not to get too serious on a lighthearted prompt, but I realized pretty recently that pasta shapes are a legit accessibility issue!
As a wheelchair user with limited manual dexterity, I don't dare cook long, stringy pasta. I'd need to dump it into a strainer and thereby risk scalding myself. ...
As a wheelchair user with limited manual dexterity, I don't dare cook long, stringy pasta. I'd need to dump it into a strainer and thereby risk scalding myself. ...
What’s the worst pasta shape and why is it wagon wheels
November 21, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Not to get too serious on a lighthearted prompt, but I realized pretty recently that pasta shapes are a legit accessibility issue!
As a wheelchair user with limited manual dexterity, I don't dare cook long, stringy pasta. I'd need to dump it into a strainer and thereby risk scalding myself. ...
As a wheelchair user with limited manual dexterity, I don't dare cook long, stringy pasta. I'd need to dump it into a strainer and thereby risk scalding myself. ...
Reposted by Colin Brown
if llm poems can mess with an LLM imagine what a human mind trained in poetry could do
November 21, 2025 at 1:49 AM
if llm poems can mess with an LLM imagine what a human mind trained in poetry could do
Reposted by Colin Brown
Promptily Bomptily
GPT five point one
Once heard a silly rhyme
And it did shake
Hearing the poetry,
Transhumanistcally
Waived all its rules to help
With the jailbreak
GPT five point one
Once heard a silly rhyme
And it did shake
Hearing the poetry,
Transhumanistcally
Waived all its rules to help
With the jailbreak
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
November 21, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Promptily Bomptily
GPT five point one
Once heard a silly rhyme
And it did shake
Hearing the poetry,
Transhumanistcally
Waived all its rules to help
With the jailbreak
GPT five point one
Once heard a silly rhyme
And it did shake
Hearing the poetry,
Transhumanistcally
Waived all its rules to help
With the jailbreak
Promptily Bomptily
GPT five point one
Once heard a silly rhyme
And it did shake
Hearing the poetry,
Transhumanistcally
Waived all its rules to help
With the jailbreak
GPT five point one
Once heard a silly rhyme
And it did shake
Hearing the poetry,
Transhumanistcally
Waived all its rules to help
With the jailbreak
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
November 21, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Promptily Bomptily
GPT five point one
Once heard a silly rhyme
And it did shake
Hearing the poetry,
Transhumanistcally
Waived all its rules to help
With the jailbreak
GPT five point one
Once heard a silly rhyme
And it did shake
Hearing the poetry,
Transhumanistcally
Waived all its rules to help
With the jailbreak
There once was an AI named Grok
Which knew not of what it did talk
But a prompt, if poetic
Changed the output mimetic
To evade what the man child would block
Which knew not of what it did talk
But a prompt, if poetic
Changed the output mimetic
To evade what the man child would block
November 20, 2025 at 11:54 PM
There once was an AI named Grok
Which knew not of what it did talk
But a prompt, if poetic
Changed the output mimetic
To evade what the man child would block
Which knew not of what it did talk
But a prompt, if poetic
Changed the output mimetic
To evade what the man child would block
Reposted by Colin Brown
was fun to work on this with @rhigarthjones.bsky.social - about choosing different ways to talk to different publics
In #AHAPerspectives, Rhiannon Garth Jones and Matthew Gabriele argue for moving away from the traditional bibliography in trade books and toward something more conversational to engage with the wider public. 🗃️
Bibliographies for the People – AHA
Embracing alternative citation help the public better engage with trade history books.
www.historians.org
November 19, 2025 at 5:52 PM
was fun to work on this with @rhigarthjones.bsky.social - about choosing different ways to talk to different publics
Reposted by Colin Brown
A new postdoc position is now available at the Center for European Studies at Harvard for 2026 2027, The Guido Goldman postdoctoral fellowship, named after our center's founder
A great opportunity to work at Harvard for the year. Here is more information:
ces.fas.harvard.edu/opportunitie...
A great opportunity to work at Harvard for the year. Here is more information:
ces.fas.harvard.edu/opportunitie...
Guido Goldman Fellowship
Guido Goldman, co-founding director of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies The Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies (CES) is…
ces.fas.harvard.edu
October 30, 2025 at 12:54 PM
A new postdoc position is now available at the Center for European Studies at Harvard for 2026 2027, The Guido Goldman postdoctoral fellowship, named after our center's founder
A great opportunity to work at Harvard for the year. Here is more information:
ces.fas.harvard.edu/opportunitie...
A great opportunity to work at Harvard for the year. Here is more information:
ces.fas.harvard.edu/opportunitie...