Gautam Mukunda
@gmukunda.bsky.social
Lecturer @YaleSOM.bsky.social, Columnist @opinion.bloomberg.com, author Indispensable and Picking Presidents
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
America's tech elites have always operated under the notion that they were entitled to a long and loose regulatory leash. They may not realize times are changing.
Silicon Valley's Social License Is In Jeopardy
Two stories last week, on opposite sides of the Atlantic, point to the same uncomfortable truth: Silicon Valley is running headlong into a legitimacy crisis of its own making.
bloom.bg
January 27, 2026 at 10:45 AM
America's tech elites have always operated under the notion that they were entitled to a long and loose regulatory leash. They may not realize times are changing.
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
So I watched the shooting video frame by frame and it looks like:
1) They were beating a struggling man with batons
2) His jacket opened revealing a gun in his waistband or lower back
3) The agent in gray grabbed the gun and was walking away
4) THEN the other agents shot the man in the back
1) They were beating a struggling man with batons
2) His jacket opened revealing a gun in his waistband or lower back
3) The agent in gray grabbed the gun and was walking away
4) THEN the other agents shot the man in the back
January 24, 2026 at 5:35 PM
So I watched the shooting video frame by frame and it looks like:
1) They were beating a struggling man with batons
2) His jacket opened revealing a gun in his waistband or lower back
3) The agent in gray grabbed the gun and was walking away
4) THEN the other agents shot the man in the back
1) They were beating a struggling man with batons
2) His jacket opened revealing a gun in his waistband or lower back
3) The agent in gray grabbed the gun and was walking away
4) THEN the other agents shot the man in the back
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
Oh, great… now YOU want to join the moffia?
So where do I apply to be the Grand Moff of Greenland? Is it on USAJOBS? And does Greenland rate a full Grand Moff in our new Empire or just a simple Moff?
January 20, 2026 at 1:53 AM
Oh, great… now YOU want to join the moffia?
So where do I apply to be the Grand Moff of Greenland? Is it on USAJOBS? And does Greenland rate a full Grand Moff in our new Empire or just a simple Moff?
January 19, 2026 at 11:20 PM
So where do I apply to be the Grand Moff of Greenland? Is it on USAJOBS? And does Greenland rate a full Grand Moff in our new Empire or just a simple Moff?
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
The more I think about this, the angrier I get. It takes a particularly virulent strain of sociopathy to sit and let hard-working people serve you a meal knowing that you plan to arrest them and send them off for deportation once they're off of work.
Really depraved shit.
Really depraved shit.
A few days ago, Fox News was whining about ICE agents getting heckled at a Mexican restaurant in Minneapolis.
Meanwhile, in the town of Willmar, ICE agents had lunch at a Mexican restaurant, waited until it closed, then confronted and arrested three workers as they left.
Meanwhile, in the town of Willmar, ICE agents had lunch at a Mexican restaurant, waited until it closed, then confronted and arrested three workers as they left.
ICE agents ate at a Minnesota Mexican restaurant before arresting staff
Immigration law enforcement agents reportedly followed employees out of the restaurant after they closed for the evening
www.independent.co.uk
January 18, 2026 at 12:13 AM
The more I think about this, the angrier I get. It takes a particularly virulent strain of sociopathy to sit and let hard-working people serve you a meal knowing that you plan to arrest them and send them off for deportation once they're off of work.
Really depraved shit.
Really depraved shit.
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
Bills - Broncos go OT.
a man in a suit is eating popcorn from a box
ALT: a man in a suit is eating popcorn from a box
media.tenor.com
January 18, 2026 at 12:50 AM
Bills - Broncos go OT.
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
Leaders are judged by what they do when a system is under threat. Now is that time for America's CEOs
CEOs Staying Silent Is No Longer an Option
This week the Trump administration threatened a two-front war, with one against America’s allies and another against its own central bank. The White House’s threats to use force to seize Greenland from Denmark and the launch of a Justice Department criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell are profound and needless assaults on two of the most important pillars of American power and prosperity - NATO and central bank independence.
bloom.bg
January 14, 2026 at 10:15 AM
Leaders are judged by what they do when a system is under threat. Now is that time for America's CEOs
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
Predictable that something like this with some news organization would eventually happen with Trump's White House at the helm. But it's unlikely to be a one-off, and a free press, free speech, the free flow of information and government accountability are at stake: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/u...
F.B.I. Searches Home of Washington Post Journalist in a Leak Investigation
www.nytimes.com
January 14, 2026 at 5:58 PM
Predictable that something like this with some news organization would eventually happen with Trump's White House at the helm. But it's unlikely to be a one-off, and a free press, free speech, the free flow of information and government accountability are at stake: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/u...
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
Trump's big makeover: gone is a state that renders support and services to its citizens. In its place is a still larger state, to be more specific, a police state that exists to threaten and intimidate its citizens. www.emptywheel.net/2026/01/11/s...
Stephen Miller's Big Shift: Mother-Shooting Goons Replace VA Nurses and Psychologists - emptywheel
Donald Trump is taking services away from veterans, and then hiring them to invade blue cities as if they were Fallujah.
www.emptywheel.net
January 11, 2026 at 12:12 PM
Trump's big makeover: gone is a state that renders support and services to its citizens. In its place is a still larger state, to be more specific, a police state that exists to threaten and intimidate its citizens. www.emptywheel.net/2026/01/11/s...
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
Leaders trapped in the past don’t become cautious; they become brittle. They mistake decisiveness for wisdom and blindness to risk for courage.
The Venezuela Raid Is a Lesson in Intellectual Regression
If you were dropped into the White House of the 1890s, much of Donald Trump’s presidency would look entirely unremarkable. Tariffs as a primary economic weapon? Routine. Casual threats of force against weaker neighbors? Common. Immigration restrictions framed in explicitly racial or cultural terms? Standard practice. Even the episodic flirtation with imperial intervention — such as the raid by US forces in Venezuela that seized President Nicolas Maduro — would have fit comfortably into the menta
bloom.bg
January 9, 2026 at 10:45 AM
Leaders trapped in the past don’t become cautious; they become brittle. They mistake decisiveness for wisdom and blindness to risk for courage.
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
People who fancy quoting the Melian Dialogue ("the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must") ignore the fact that Thucydides was clearly portraying this as the kind of hubris that squandered Athens' primacy and paved the way for a devastating peer war that it ultimately lost.
January 7, 2026 at 3:36 AM
People who fancy quoting the Melian Dialogue ("the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must") ignore the fact that Thucydides was clearly portraying this as the kind of hubris that squandered Athens' primacy and paved the way for a devastating peer war that it ultimately lost.
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
i asked chat gpt to fact check an article for me
December 8, 2025 at 9:33 PM
i asked chat gpt to fact check an article for me
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
This is Cole. He is a deaf service dog at Dr. William Mennies Elementary School. He just turned 9, and all of his students learned sign language to sing him happy birthday at a massive party. 14/10 for all (IG: colethedeafdog)
November 20, 2025 at 9:16 PM
This is Cole. He is a deaf service dog at Dr. William Mennies Elementary School. He just turned 9, and all of his students learned sign language to sing him happy birthday at a massive party. 14/10 for all (IG: colethedeafdog)
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
The dissent of Judge Jerry Smith
To read it, have a drink with!
In reasoning, scant,
It’s really a rant,
A swing and embarrassing mith!
To read it, have a drink with!
In reasoning, scant,
It’s really a rant,
A swing and embarrassing mith!
To recap: My law firm represented Black and Latino voters in striking down Texas' new congressional map.
The dissenting opinion mentions George Soros 17 times and me and my law firm 3 times (all about how connected to Soros I allegedly am). I have never seen anything like it.
The dissenting opinion mentions George Soros 17 times and me and my law firm 3 times (all about how connected to Soros I allegedly am). I have never seen anything like it.
In a remarkable and deeply unconventional dissent, U.S. Circuit Judge Jerry E. Smith unleashed a blistering and bizarre attack on his fellow judges after a federal court struck down Texas’ unconstitutional racial gerrymander. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
November 20, 2025 at 12:31 AM
The dissent of Judge Jerry Smith
To read it, have a drink with!
In reasoning, scant,
It’s really a rant,
A swing and embarrassing mith!
To read it, have a drink with!
In reasoning, scant,
It’s really a rant,
A swing and embarrassing mith!
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
a lot of people regretting the 'this shoulda been an email' advice rn lol
November 13, 2025 at 3:57 AM
a lot of people regretting the 'this shoulda been an email' advice rn lol
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
Joyce Carol Oates sitting across a desk from Kendrick Lamar:
"So I'm putting a team together..."
Isaac Chotiner knocks on the open door.
"So I'm putting a team together..."
Isaac Chotiner knocks on the open door.
Personally, I will be trying to avoid the notice of Joyce Carol Oates and Kendrick Lamar for the rest of my natural life
I need Joyce Carol Oates to be mean to me online so I can get my life together
November 11, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Joyce Carol Oates sitting across a desk from Kendrick Lamar:
"So I'm putting a team together..."
Isaac Chotiner knocks on the open door.
"So I'm putting a team together..."
Isaac Chotiner knocks on the open door.
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
Can’t be wry or cool about what Ohtani did tonight.
No one like him in baseball. Never has been. And tonight he was incandescent.
No one like him in baseball. Never has been. And tonight he was incandescent.
October 18, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Can’t be wry or cool about what Ohtani did tonight.
No one like him in baseball. Never has been. And tonight he was incandescent.
No one like him in baseball. Never has been. And tonight he was incandescent.
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
For Tolkien fans, a timely passage for No Kings Eve, from WH Auden’s review of Lord of the Rings.
October 18, 2025 at 4:13 AM
For Tolkien fans, a timely passage for No Kings Eve, from WH Auden’s review of Lord of the Rings.
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
It was bad enough when Meta didn't prioritize safety with social media. The stakes with AI are even higher
Meta’s Chatbot Scandal Is Really a Culture Problem
It was bad enough when the company didn’t prioritize safety with social media. The stakes with AI are even higher.
bloom.bg
September 27, 2025 at 12:30 PM
It was bad enough when Meta didn't prioritize safety with social media. The stakes with AI are even higher
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
Trump: Jimmy Kimmel is next
Trump admin: We will definitely exploit this murder to censor our critics
Carr: ABC must fire Jimmy Kimmel
ABC, minutes later: We have suspended Jimmy Kimmel
Anti-cancel culture crusader: I sure wish this clear business decision didn’t look so much like censorship!
Trump admin: We will definitely exploit this murder to censor our critics
Carr: ABC must fire Jimmy Kimmel
ABC, minutes later: We have suspended Jimmy Kimmel
Anti-cancel culture crusader: I sure wish this clear business decision didn’t look so much like censorship!
September 18, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Trump: Jimmy Kimmel is next
Trump admin: We will definitely exploit this murder to censor our critics
Carr: ABC must fire Jimmy Kimmel
ABC, minutes later: We have suspended Jimmy Kimmel
Anti-cancel culture crusader: I sure wish this clear business decision didn’t look so much like censorship!
Trump admin: We will definitely exploit this murder to censor our critics
Carr: ABC must fire Jimmy Kimmel
ABC, minutes later: We have suspended Jimmy Kimmel
Anti-cancel culture crusader: I sure wish this clear business decision didn’t look so much like censorship!
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
I’m afraid to comment on what Chotiner did to Cass Sunstein lest said Chotiner learn my name and for some reason wish to interview me. (About the Yankees?)
As my friend @gmukunda.bsky.social said awhile back, if Isaac Chotiner called to interview him he’d change his name and leave the country.
As my friend @gmukunda.bsky.social said awhile back, if Isaac Chotiner called to interview him he’d change his name and leave the country.
September 23, 2025 at 10:29 PM
I’m afraid to comment on what Chotiner did to Cass Sunstein lest said Chotiner learn my name and for some reason wish to interview me. (About the Yankees?)
As my friend @gmukunda.bsky.social said awhile back, if Isaac Chotiner called to interview him he’d change his name and leave the country.
As my friend @gmukunda.bsky.social said awhile back, if Isaac Chotiner called to interview him he’d change his name and leave the country.
I continue to fail to understand why people Isaac Chotiner wants to interview don’t take the simple expedient of faking their own deaths and moving to a different country.
September 23, 2025 at 9:54 PM
I continue to fail to understand why people Isaac Chotiner wants to interview don’t take the simple expedient of faking their own deaths and moving to a different country.
Reposted by Gautam Mukunda
