Alex Madva
@madva.bsky.social
Professor of Philosophy @ Cal Poly Pomona | Director of CA Center for Ethics & Policy | Co-Director of the Digital Humanities Consortium | Co-Author of Somebody Should Do Something
Pinned
Alex Madva
@madva.bsky.social
· Aug 11
So grateful to Frank Augugliaro for designing the cover of our new book!
Available everywhere on Sep 16 but never too early to preorder: somebody-book.com
@dryan149.bsky.social @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
#SocialChange
Available everywhere on Sep 16 but never too early to preorder: somebody-book.com
@dryan149.bsky.social @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
#SocialChange
The California Center for Ethics and Policy at Cal Poly Pomona just launched its newest podcast season: "Insert AI-Generated Title"! It's about artificial intelligence and how it impacts our lives.
In Episode 1, Tone It Down, CCEP Student Fellow Jon Carrigan interviews linguist Sylvan Jesien
In Episode 1, Tone It Down, CCEP Student Fellow Jon Carrigan interviews linguist Sylvan Jesien
The wait is over. 🎧
The new season of the CCEP Podcast is here!
Episode 1: "Tone It Down"—our deep dive into AI ethics and racial profiling—is live.
Scan the QR code at the end so we can talk about what justice looks like in a digital age and how AI might be reproducing social issues.
The new season of the CCEP Podcast is here!
Episode 1: "Tone It Down"—our deep dive into AI ethics and racial profiling—is live.
Scan the QR code at the end so we can talk about what justice looks like in a digital age and how AI might be reproducing social issues.
November 24, 2025 at 6:16 PM
The California Center for Ethics and Policy at Cal Poly Pomona just launched its newest podcast season: "Insert AI-Generated Title"! It's about artificial intelligence and how it impacts our lives.
In Episode 1, Tone It Down, CCEP Student Fellow Jon Carrigan interviews linguist Sylvan Jesien
In Episode 1, Tone It Down, CCEP Student Fellow Jon Carrigan interviews linguist Sylvan Jesien
Reposted by Alex Madva
I was happy for the opportunity to shout out a couple of my favorite books in the terrific Tyler Collection at Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences - and to get a shout out of our own recent addition to it
@michaelbrownstein.bsky.social
@madva.bsky.social
bit.ly/3JUl5vV
@michaelbrownstein.bsky.social
@madva.bsky.social
bit.ly/3JUl5vV
The Tyler Collection: CASBS's Gift to the Social Sciences
The renowned book collection celebrates 70 years and 2,000 volumes. Discover its gems and fellows' favorites.
bit.ly
November 20, 2025 at 1:31 PM
I was happy for the opportunity to shout out a couple of my favorite books in the terrific Tyler Collection at Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences - and to get a shout out of our own recent addition to it
@michaelbrownstein.bsky.social
@madva.bsky.social
bit.ly/3JUl5vV
@michaelbrownstein.bsky.social
@madva.bsky.social
bit.ly/3JUl5vV
Reposted by Alex Madva
Somebody Should Do Something and a bunch of other cool looking MIT Press books are 40% off today through the end of the week!
mitpress.mit.edu/collections/...
mitpress.mit.edu/collections/...
Gifts for the intellectually curious
For three days only — November 19th, 20th, and 21st — enjoy 40% off a selection of books that exemplify the spirit of curiosity and inquiry at the heart of the MIT Press.
mitpress.mit.edu
November 19, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Somebody Should Do Something and a bunch of other cool looking MIT Press books are 40% off today through the end of the week!
mitpress.mit.edu/collections/...
mitpress.mit.edu/collections/...
Reposted by Alex Madva
Mark Thompson Show visit with @madva.bsky.social, first comment: "I am almost 89 years old. I am so worried about what kind of world my great grandchildren are going to grow up in. There has to be a solution to change all this." Feeling this, some ideas. @mitpress.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social
Trump Melts Down Over Reagan Ad & Kneecaps His Own Trade Deal with Canada 10/24/25
YouTube video by The Mark Thompson Show
www.youtube.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Mark Thompson Show visit with @madva.bsky.social, first comment: "I am almost 89 years old. I am so worried about what kind of world my great grandchildren are going to grow up in. There has to be a solution to change all this." Feeling this, some ideas. @mitpress.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social
Reposted by Alex Madva
Tired of wacky socks and artisanal pickles for holiday gifts? Know anyone desperate to make social change but feeling like they don't know how? Welllll . . . you could consider buying them Somebody Should Do Something. 40% off if you order Nov 19-21. @madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social
2025 Holiday Gift Guide
To help you uncover your next big idea, we've crafted a guide for reading and gifting that's bursting with titles that exemplify the MIT Press: intellectually daring content, rigorous scholarly standa...
mitpress.mit.edu
November 18, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Tired of wacky socks and artisanal pickles for holiday gifts? Know anyone desperate to make social change but feeling like they don't know how? Welllll . . . you could consider buying them Somebody Should Do Something. 40% off if you order Nov 19-21. @madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social
Join us in person or on Zoom on Thursday 12/4 as we host @hiphination.bsky.social for 2 back-to-back events!
1) Humanities Podcasting hiphination.org
2) Delegating Decisions to Machines? The Case for Human Discretion
dhc-lam.eventbrite.com
1) Humanities Podcasting hiphination.org
2) Delegating Decisions to Machines? The Case for Human Discretion
dhc-lam.eventbrite.com
Humanities Podcasting & Delegating Decisions to Machines
Join us for a special double event with Barry Lam on December 4th, in building 7, room 235.
dhc-lam.eventbrite.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Join us in person or on Zoom on Thursday 12/4 as we host @hiphination.bsky.social for 2 back-to-back events!
1) Humanities Podcasting hiphination.org
2) Delegating Decisions to Machines? The Case for Human Discretion
dhc-lam.eventbrite.com
1) Humanities Podcasting hiphination.org
2) Delegating Decisions to Machines? The Case for Human Discretion
dhc-lam.eventbrite.com
Reposted by Alex Madva
Somebody Should Do Something on Publishers Weekly "Higher Learning 2025" @madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
PW Studio: Higher Learning 2025
Influential university press titles of the season.
www.publishersweekly.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Somebody Should Do Something on Publishers Weekly "Higher Learning 2025" @madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
Reposted by Alex Madva
I'm looking forward to discussing "Somebody Should Do Something" by @dryan149.bsky.social @madva.bsky.social and @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social today at PPE Society. (It's so accessible and well-written I plan to gift it to socially engaged friends for Christmas!)
#philsky #philosophy
#philsky #philosophy
November 15, 2025 at 2:13 PM
I'm looking forward to discussing "Somebody Should Do Something" by @dryan149.bsky.social @madva.bsky.social and @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social today at PPE Society. (It's so accessible and well-written I plan to gift it to socially engaged friends for Christmas!)
#philsky #philosophy
#philsky #philosophy
Reposted by Alex Madva
The great @saraprotasi.bsky.social giving excellent comments--with feeling!--on Somebody Should Do Something at the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics annual conference. @madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
November 16, 2025 at 5:25 PM
The great @saraprotasi.bsky.social giving excellent comments--with feeling!--on Somebody Should Do Something at the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics annual conference. @madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
Reposted by Alex Madva
For those who hate how generative AI is being rolled out (blindly, uncritically), here's my advice:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Is AI being shoved down your throat at work? Here’s how to fight back.
Resistance to exploitative AI starts with building a movement.
www.vox.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:03 PM
For those who hate how generative AI is being rolled out (blindly, uncritically), here's my advice:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Reposted by Alex Madva
"We all know the boiling point of water, but we don’t know the tipping point for changes in the social world."
@vox.com's Future Perfect newsletter is one of the best. Thanks for the shout out in it, @sigalsamuel.bsky.social!
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
@vox.com's Future Perfect newsletter is one of the best. Thanks for the shout out in it, @sigalsamuel.bsky.social!
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
I'm back with another edition of Your Mileage May Vary, my advice column offering you a different framework for thinking through your ethical dilemmas. If you have a question you'd like me to answer, hit reply to this email!
link.vox.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:31 PM
"We all know the boiling point of water, but we don’t know the tipping point for changes in the social world."
@vox.com's Future Perfect newsletter is one of the best. Thanks for the shout out in it, @sigalsamuel.bsky.social!
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
@vox.com's Future Perfect newsletter is one of the best. Thanks for the shout out in it, @sigalsamuel.bsky.social!
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
Reposted by Alex Madva
Social Change, like AI Resistance, is a Team Sport!
🙏🏼
@sigalsamuel.bsky.social
@vox.com
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
🙏🏼
@sigalsamuel.bsky.social
@vox.com
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
November 16, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Social Change, like AI Resistance, is a Team Sport!
🙏🏼
@sigalsamuel.bsky.social
@vox.com
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
🙏🏼
@sigalsamuel.bsky.social
@vox.com
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
Reposted by Alex Madva
Actions can set off cascades that lead to major structural outcomes. Causal effects in such systems don’t always build on each other in a smooth or continuous way. Sometimes they build nonlinearly, allowing seemingly small events to produce disproportionately large changes.
November 16, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Actions can set off cascades that lead to major structural outcomes. Causal effects in such systems don’t always build on each other in a smooth or continuous way. Sometimes they build nonlinearly, allowing seemingly small events to produce disproportionately large changes.
All credit to Dan for this metaphor!
The authors explain that, because society is a complex system, your actions aren’t a meaningless “drop in the bucket.” … Complex systems behave more like heating water: Not every degree has the same effect, and the shift from 99°C to 100°C crosses a tipping point that triggers a phase change.
November 16, 2025 at 7:49 PM
All credit to Dan for this metaphor!
Reposted by Alex Madva
“In Somebody Should Do Something three philosophers show how anyone can help create social change. The key, they argue, is to realize that when we join forces with others, our actions can lead to butterfly effects”
link.vox.com/view/608adc6...
link.vox.com/view/608adc6...
I'm back with another edition of Your Mileage May Vary, my advice column offering you a different framework for thinking through your ethical dilemmas. If you have a question you'd like me to answer, hit reply to this email!
link.vox.com
November 16, 2025 at 7:06 PM
“In Somebody Should Do Something three philosophers show how anyone can help create social change. The key, they argue, is to realize that when we join forces with others, our actions can lead to butterfly effects”
link.vox.com/view/608adc6...
link.vox.com/view/608adc6...
Reposted by Alex Madva
@samuel-bagg.bsky.social is right that teaching skills like media literacy and critical thinking alone is not going to fix democracy’s epistemic problems. But this essay makes a common either/or mistake that derails discussion of solutions for the political crisis it seeks to help solve. 🧵
This is the smartest thing I've read in ages. By the end I was practically cheering. Every word.
Misinformation *is* central to democratic problems today, but the solution is *not* to correct such epistemic failures directly. Instead, we must address them at their roots, in social identity.
Or so I argue in a new post for @apaphilosophy.bsky.social.
blog.apaonline.org/2025/11/12/t...
Or so I argue in a new post for @apaphilosophy.bsky.social.
blog.apaonline.org/2025/11/12/t...
November 14, 2025 at 10:04 PM
@samuel-bagg.bsky.social is right that teaching skills like media literacy and critical thinking alone is not going to fix democracy’s epistemic problems. But this essay makes a common either/or mistake that derails discussion of solutions for the political crisis it seeks to help solve. 🧵
Reposted by Alex Madva
Reposted by Alex Madva
Reposted by Alex Madva
First interview that @madva.bsky.social, @dryan149.bsky.social, and I have done that comes in three parts. Many thanks to Dr. Anotida Chikumbu for having us! Parts 2&3 below. @mitpress.bsky.social
Somebody Should Do Something (Part 1) New book by Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva and Dan Kelly)
YouTube video by The Dr. Anotida Chikumbu - BOOK SERIES
www.youtube.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:05 PM
First interview that @madva.bsky.social, @dryan149.bsky.social, and I have done that comes in three parts. Many thanks to Dr. Anotida Chikumbu for having us! Parts 2&3 below. @mitpress.bsky.social
Reposted by Alex Madva
The votes to end the shutdown reflect the divide among Dems that @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social pointed out at the beginning: Rather than left vs. moderate, the party's direction is being fought over by a “team normal” faction and a “team abnormal” one. www.vox.com/on-the-right...
The Democrats’ shutdown debate is about something much bigger
Is the best way to fight Trump “normal” politics — or something else?
www.vox.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:17 PM
The votes to end the shutdown reflect the divide among Dems that @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social pointed out at the beginning: Rather than left vs. moderate, the party's direction is being fought over by a “team normal” faction and a “team abnormal” one. www.vox.com/on-the-right...
Reposted by Alex Madva
@dryan149.bsky.social and I have published a paper on how we should all be a little less like Holden Caufield (i.e. obsessed with the idea of authenticity) and a bit more like María Lugones (i.e. celebrating our multiple facets)
🚨New Paper!🚨
Do you love authenticity? @ledaberio.bsky.social and I argue that maybe you shouldn't!
We think that everything would be better if we all just got over the idea of true selves and were cooler with the fact that we all contain multitudes.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Do you love authenticity? @ledaberio.bsky.social and I argue that maybe you shouldn't!
We think that everything would be better if we all just got over the idea of true selves and were cooler with the fact that we all contain multitudes.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Challenges to Narrating a Multitudinous Self: Towards a Better Ethics of Code-switching - Topoi
We motivate and lay out the broad contours of a research program, namely that of developing a systematic ethics of code-switching. Such an ethics will articulate the values and norms that should gover...
link.springer.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:23 PM
@dryan149.bsky.social and I have published a paper on how we should all be a little less like Holden Caufield (i.e. obsessed with the idea of authenticity) and a bit more like María Lugones (i.e. celebrating our multiple facets)
Reposted by Alex Madva
🚨New Paper!🚨
Do you love authenticity? @ledaberio.bsky.social and I argue that maybe you shouldn't!
We think that everything would be better if we all just got over the idea of true selves and were cooler with the fact that we all contain multitudes.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Do you love authenticity? @ledaberio.bsky.social and I argue that maybe you shouldn't!
We think that everything would be better if we all just got over the idea of true selves and were cooler with the fact that we all contain multitudes.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Challenges to Narrating a Multitudinous Self: Towards a Better Ethics of Code-switching - Topoi
We motivate and lay out the broad contours of a research program, namely that of developing a systematic ethics of code-switching. Such an ethics will articulate the values and norms that should gover...
link.springer.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:55 PM
🚨New Paper!🚨
Do you love authenticity? @ledaberio.bsky.social and I argue that maybe you shouldn't!
We think that everything would be better if we all just got over the idea of true selves and were cooler with the fact that we all contain multitudes.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Do you love authenticity? @ledaberio.bsky.social and I argue that maybe you shouldn't!
We think that everything would be better if we all just got over the idea of true selves and were cooler with the fact that we all contain multitudes.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Alex Madva
I read the news today, oh boy
(Use whenever applicable)
(Use whenever applicable)
November 7, 2025 at 3:36 PM
I read the news today, oh boy
(Use whenever applicable)
(Use whenever applicable)
Book excerpt published by the Association of MBAs today! Most case studies in our book were drawn from the US but here we assembled insights from Latin American feminism and the success of the "Green Tide"
@mitpress.bsky.social @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social #booksky #feminism #GreenTide
@mitpress.bsky.social @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social #booksky #feminism #GreenTide
Discover how greater gender parity and the growth of female leadership across Latin America created the conditions for a successful social movement, in this illuminating case study from Somebody Should Do Something
www.amba-bga.com/insights/voi...
www.amba-bga.com/insights/voi...
Voices of change: Leadership’s role in the rise of social movements
Many sparks fail to start fires where conditions seem right, while others flare up into fires where nobody would have expected. Few movements in recent history provide as good an example of this as t…
www.amba-bga.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Book excerpt published by the Association of MBAs today! Most case studies in our book were drawn from the US but here we assembled insights from Latin American feminism and the success of the "Green Tide"
@mitpress.bsky.social @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social #booksky #feminism #GreenTide
@mitpress.bsky.social @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social #booksky #feminism #GreenTide
gift link for when the prophecy was foretold: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/o...
November 6, 2025 at 6:06 PM
gift link for when the prophecy was foretold: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/o...