Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 15h

🤔

Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 18h

twice a year the entire U.S. press becomes a marketing extension of a single billionaire-owned retailer, and nobody in any position of editorial power thinks it's weird or gross

photo of Google News search results for Amazon Prime Day (the second this year)

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 2d

Daring reportage from the hellscape

Nick Kristof @nickkristof.bsky.social · 3d

Portland is a “war-ravaged” city that is “on fire,” President Trump warns. But I braved the artillery fire and militia checkpoints to bring you this video report from the front lines.

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Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 3d

Excellent thread by @abenewman.bsky.social . This particular point shows the dark side of Keck and Sikkink’s boomerang theory: transnational networks of democratic subversion. Coming soon to a polarized democracy near you!

Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 3d

6/It is not just US government and the Valley that has shifted. Third parties -- the Bolsonaros/Farages of the world. They see that they can plead their case in DC and get pressure on their home governments. US coercion deployed to remake home information spaces.
legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2025/09/2...

«Enshittification» : la nouvelle doctrine de l'Empire américain | Le Grand Continent

Le plan de l’administration Trump pour faire du reste du monde un vassal d’extrême droite — et les moyens pour le déjouer. Une pièce de doctrine signée Henry Farrell et Abraham Newman.

legrandcontinent.eu

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Reposted by Pepper Culpepper

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 7d

Scholars of American Political Economy should be writing up the whole dark economy that is emerging around coercion and corruption.

Truthout @truthout.org · 7d

State-run extrajudicial immigration black sites like Alligator Alcatraz allows politically connected individuals to make hundreds of millions of dollars off Florida’s taxpayers at the expense of jailed migrants, while those held are stripped of their access to legal counsel and due process.

DHS Plans More State-Run Extrajudicial Black Sites Like “Alligator Alcatraz”

Homeland Security’s Kristi Noem mentioned plans to build similar immigration jails in Arizona, Nebraska, and Louisiana.

truthout.org

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Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 7d

And I thought I was losing my mind…

Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 8d

"Google appears to have blocked AI search results for the query “does trump show signs of dementia” as well as other questions about his mental acuity, even though it will show AI results for similar searches about other presidents."

Google is blocking AI searches for Trump and dementia

With Biden, AI Mode will provide a summarized answer.

www.theverge.com

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Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 7d

Interesting that other peaks of usage of the word are at times of great division in the US: pre-civil war, gilded age, and red scare. But how many of these are down to @mcopelov.bsky.social 😉.

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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 8d

This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important

Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 9d

⚠️ Chinese researchers have invented bone glue that mimics how oysters stick to surfaces underwater.

The adhesive can reportedly repair orthopedic fractures in 2-3 minutes, even in blood-rich environments, and is bioabsorbable.

interestingengineering.com/science/chin...

China's oyster-inspired 'bone glue' bonds fractures in minutes

A new oyster-inspired Bone-02 adhesive can revolutionize bone repair without metal fasteners.

interestingengineering.com

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Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 8d

Think I’ll read this after I finish my wine.

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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 9d

On the morning of Keir Starmer's conference speech here's a new post on an odd psychopathology in British politics - our main parties don't like the people who vote for them - the dreaded Professional Managerial Class. And so they are acting out like a divorced dad seeking cooler voters. 1/n

British Politics' Midlife Crisis

Why British Parties Can't Make Peace with Their Actual Voters

benansell.substack.com

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Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 9d

There’s a nice article on this by @erikbleich.bsky.social @amauritsvdv.bsky.social et al in Political Studies.

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Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 9d

Great to see the Blavatnik School’s new neighbour, the Schwarzmann Centre for the Humanities, just about ready for the new academic year. Welcome!

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Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 10d

What could possibly go wrong?

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 11d

Larry Ellison envisions a surveillance state in which techbros rule. '“Citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on,” Ellison said in an hour-long Q&A during Oracle’s Financial Analyst Meeting last week.'

Larry Ellison predicts rise of the modern surveillance state where ‘citizens will be on their best behavior’ | Fortune

Oracle's Larry Ellison believes citizens and police alike will be under constant surveillance of each other.

fortune.com

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Jesse Felder @jessefelder.bsky.social · 11d

‘Renowned roboticist Rodney Brooks has a wake-up call for investors funneling billions into humanoid robot startups: you’re wasting your money.’
techcrunch.com/2025/09/26/f...

Famed roboticist says humanoid robot bubble is doomed to burst | TechCrunch

Brooks, who co-founded iRobot and spent decades at MIT, is particularly skeptical of companies like Tesla and Figure trying to teach robots dexterity by showing them videos of humans doing tasks. In a...

techcrunch.com

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Reposted by Pepper Culpepper

Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 13d

I’m starting to notice a trend in the polling data…

—Top Public Worry: Corruption

—Biggest problem in Fed Gov: Corruption

—Top fear: Corruption

—What one word would you use to describe American government?: “Corrupt”

It’s almost like voters are trying to tell us something.

Top 10 American Fears of 2024 (Chapman Survey)
Horizontal bar chart ranking the top fears of Americans (percentage “afraid” or “very afraid”):
1. Corrupt government officials (65.2%, top fear for years).
2. Loved ones becoming seriously ill (58.4%).
3. Cyberterrorism (58.3%).
4. Loved ones dying (57.8%).
5. Russia using nuclear weapons (55.8%).
6. Not having enough money for the future (55.7%).
7. U.S. becoming involved in another world war (55.0%).
8. North Korea using nuclear weapons (55.0%).
9. Terrorist attack (52.7%).
10. Biological warfare (52.5%).
Red bars display percentages; small arrows indicate change from 2023 rankings.

Top Public Worries in the U.S. (Yale & GMU poll, May 2025)
Stacked bar chart of worries among U.S. adults. Categories ranked by share “very worried”:
• Government corruption (54% very worried, top issue).
• Other leading concerns: cost of living (48%), the economy (47%), state of democracy (44%), disruption of federal services (44%), cultural/social divisions (36%), treatment of immigrants (35%), global warming (29%), crime (26%).
• Lower worries include job security (17%), health (16%), and being targeted because of identity/beliefs (15%).
Green shades show “very/somewhat worried,” yellow/orange shades show “not very/not at all worried.

Perceptions of Federal Government Problems (AP-NORC poll)
Bar chart showing the percentage of U.S. adults who consider various issues in the federal government to be a major problem, minor problem, or not a problem.
• Corruption: Overall 70% major, 22% minor, 7% not a problem. Higher among Republicans (78%) than Democrats (63%).
• Inefficiency: 65% major overall, with Republicans (81%) much higher than Democrats (55%).
• Red tape (bureaucracy): 59% major overall, with Republicans (73%) higher than Democrats (47%).
• Civil servants unwilling to implement president’s agenda: More partisan split—Republicans 56% major problem, Democrats 20% major problem; overall 34% major, 36% minor, 28% not a problem.
Title: “Majority of the public believe corruption, inefficiency, and red tape are major problems in the federal government.

Word Cloud of How People Describe American Government (Berkeley Democracy Policy Lab)
Large central word: “Corrupt.” Other prominent words: Broken, Chaotic, Dysfunctional, Shit, Clueless, Divided, Inefficient, Crooked, Hijacked, Justice, Woke, Bloated, Untrustworthy, Hopeless, Frustrated, Disastrous, Messy, Sneaky, Turmoil, Delusional. Smaller scattered words include both negative and neutral terms such as Crap, Important, Poder, Resilient, Unfocused, Needs Help. Visual emphasizes “Corrupt” as the dominant public perception.

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Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 13d

I think you have not got to the test sections dealing with Boudicca, heroine of the resistance against the Romans. Possibly a bit dated, I will grant you that.

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Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 13d

Ezra Klein-haters, hold your fire. This great interview with Corey Robin on the red scare and today is worth your time. Ht to @jacobedenhofer.bsky.social for spotting it.

Trump Is Building the Blue Scare

Podcast-Folge · The Ezra Klein Show · 24.09.2025 · 1 Std. 27 Min.

podcasts.apple.com

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Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 15d

A big challenge for all of us who rely on web surveys.

Matt DiGiuseppe @mdigiuseppe.bsky.social · 15d

Yesterday I posted about how I used comet browser to take a Qualtrics survey almost undetected. Last night, I ran a pilot (N=400) on @joinprolific.bsky.social . I found that almost 10% of "respondents" identified as AI when directly asked.

Matt DiGiuseppe @mdigiuseppe.bsky.social · 16d

I added a question in the survey to identify itself as an AI if instructed to be a human. That seemed to work. Though, I imagine I could jailbreak it eventually.

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Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 16d

This post reminds us that big corporations like Disney will stand up for at least one principle: more money better.

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 16d

SCOOP — Part of the reason Disney/ABC may have rushed to sort things out with Kimmel is because tomorrow they have a planned price increase for Disney+ streaming, a Disney source tells me. With subscriptions hemorrhaging since last week, they couldn’t risk losing more users with this announcement.

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Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 17d

@adambonica.bsky.social has a great piece today arguing that the right way forward is creating a new axis around corruption and the rigged system. The fine picture he leads with is in chapter 1 of my forthcoming book with Taeku Lee. Truth lies at the confluence of independent streams of evidence!

The Democrats' Path Forward: Become the Anti-Corruption Party

But to reform the system they first need to reform the Democratic Party.

data4democracy.substack.com

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Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 19d

Change to “EU’s de facto data protection regulator” and you begin to see the scope of the problem here.

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Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · Sep 8

Want to understand the long term drivers of why big business is so unpopular now? (And it’s not just in the US—we trace this phenomenon around the world). Check out our new book coming in January. Too late for Xmas, but what everyone is secretly hoping they get for Valentine’s Day 2026.

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Reposted by Pepper Culpepper

Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · Aug 9

*bloody* hell, this entire story www.ft.com/content/0e24...

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Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · Jul 18

Houston, we have a problem. @niemanlab.org’s Sophie Culpepper on the challenges that even well funded local news nonprofits face. A sobering deep dive. “We tried to be too much, too fast, for too many people.”

What went wrong at the Houston Landing?

“We tried to be too much, too fast, for too many people.”

www.niemanlab.org

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Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · Jul 17

“We need to politicise technology. Not in the partisan sense, but in the democratic one.” @marietjeschaake.bsky.social in the FT.

Why politicians need to get over their tech insecurity

Those in the political sphere should not be ridiculed for asking important questions — even if they do lack technical expertise

www.ft.com

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Reposted by Pepper Culpepper

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · Jul 15

As per this morning, I'd put it just a little differently. The reason @abenewman.bsky.social and I wanted our hegemonic enshittification piece in Wired is that its model fits the journalism we need right now - how our politics is shaped by the power politics of technically complex systems.

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · Jul 15

I'd just like to point out how weird it is that places with hundreds or even thousands of reporters — the NYT, WaPo, CBS, NBC, AP, etc. — are all getting pummeled on every major story by the dozen computerboys at Wired. To fumble the bag this consistently is, at some point, cowardice and a choice.

WIRED @wired.com · Jul 15

NEW: Metadata from the “raw” Epstein prison video shows approximately 2 minutes and 53 seconds were removed from one of two stitched-together clips. The cut starts right at the “missing minute.”

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