emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Flashing back to several trips to DC ago when I heard someone refer to "the Golden Dome community" in at a panel 010
Reposted by @emmaclairefoley.bsky.socialFilm Forum @filmforumnyc.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Read @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social on our indispensable ANDRZEJ WAJDA 100 series (running thru October 22) for Screen Slate: www.screenslate.com/articles/and...screenslate.comAndrzej WajdaThe Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda, subject of an ongoing retrospective at Film Forum organized on the occasion of his centennial, made nearly 50 features over almost seven decades. 022
Reposted by @emmaclairefoley.bsky.socialThe Baffler @thebaffler.com · 18/09/2026Carlo Ginzburg’s 1979 book “The Cheese and the Worms” compiles the testimony of a sixteenth-century miller and amateur theologian accused of heresy by the Inquisition. As @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social writes, it reconfigured our idea of what gets to be historical.thebaffler.comCarlo Ginzburg, 1939–2026 | Emma Claire FoleyCarlo Ginzburg’s work centered and subverted the very idea of insignificance. 01811
Reposted by @emmaclairefoley.bsky.socialemmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 18/09/2026And a little addendum, up on Substack: emmaclairefoley.substack.com/p/the-cheese...emmaclairefoley.substack.comThe Cheese and the Worms and the Wolves and the WitchesA note on Carlo Ginzburg and the collective unconscious 001
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 18/09/2026And a little addendum, up on Substack: emmaclairefoley.substack.com/p/the-cheese...emmaclairefoley.substack.comThe Cheese and the Worms and the Wolves and the WitchesA note on Carlo Ginzburg and the collective unconscious 001
Reposted by @emmaclairefoley.bsky.socialThe Baffler @thebaffler.com · 15/09/2026The Italian leftist historian Carlo Ginzburg died this year at the age of eighty-seven. @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social remembers how the champion of lone nonconformists challenged the notion that history is made by great men.thebaffler.comCarlo Ginzburg, 1939–2026 | Emma Claire FoleyCarlo Ginzburg’s work centered and subverted the very idea of insignificance. 1143
Reposted by @emmaclairefoley.bsky.socialInnsmouth Looksmaxxing @gonebabygone.bsky.social · 18/06/2026The Ivy League-educated vice president of the United States talking about the "elites" always reminds me of that Soviet joke where Brezhnev shows his mom his cars and his estate and his summer dacha and she goes "It's beautiful, but if the Communists knew you had this they'd be so angry!" 133664
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 19/05/2026Wrote a long thing about the shallow roots of the "Thucydides Trap" concept: emmaclairefoley.substack.com/p/the-thucyd...emmaclairefoley.substack.comThe Thucydides Trap Is A Cold War IdeaThat doesn't have much to do at all with Thucydides. 000
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 14/05/2026There's an easy, restful dunk available here: Trump almost certainly has no idea who Thucydides is but this ignores the deeper, more necessary dunk on the "Thucydides trap" concept itself, which attempts to universalize Cold War dynamics through thousands of years of history 040
Reposted by @emmaclairefoley.bsky.socialSam Feldman @srfeld.bsky.social · 13/05/2026It's no mystery why Rudy Giuliani, who's disgraced, bankrupt, & looking for government help with his medical bills, would want the @nytimes.com to print a story about how he once helped a former mayor in need. What I'm curious about is why the Times went along with this PR scheme.nytimes.comGiuliani Once Helped a Predecessor Get Health Care 162
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 29/04/2026Some thoughts on how AI as an industry is mostly writing its own history (at least for now): emmaclairefoley.substack.com/p/ais-histor...emmaclairefoley.substack.comAI's History of ItselfI was putting together readings on AI for my history of science class last week, and it struck me how many books about it are either by people actively working on developing the technology, or from ge... 020
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 17/04/2026I'm like a single-issue "less nuclear dust" voter at this point 051
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 13/04/2026The NYT should bring back eldritch illustrations of relatively mundane articles 130
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 13/04/2026Legally Blonde but for a spunky and indefatigable student of the philosophy of history: The Battle of Jenna 010
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 07/04/2026I'm about to teach a three-hour seminar after which I will perhaps update this or at least fiddle with the color settings 010
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 07/04/2026I wrote up some very quick, very sketchy thoughts on the possibility of the U.S. using nuclear weapons in Iran: emmaclairefoley.substack.com/p/quick-thou...emmaclairefoley.substack.comQuick thoughts on the possibility of U.S. nuclear use in IranBased purely on the number of anxious text messages and follows I’ve received already today, I’m writing up my thoughts about whether the U.S. 110
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 02/04/2026Briskly clicking back and forth between my "Iran nuclear" tab and the tab where I type "in solidarity" at the end of emails over and over 010
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 29/03/2026I'm trying to read more popular opining on AI, and it really does feel like decades of genteel punch-pulling have trained real human writers out of the critical thinking and writing skills that might help them interpret what's going on here www.nytimes.com/2026/03/29/o... 010
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Not my title, but: I tried to draw some connections between the role of Iran's nuclear program in justifying the attacks on Iran and how France and Europe are talking about new French nukes and "forward deterrence" jacobin.com/2026/03/iran...jacobin.comThe Iran War Will Probably Increase Nuclear Weapons GloballyDonald Trump justified his war on Iran under the pretext of preventing nuclear proliferation. But as the US’s allies consider developing nuclear arsenals, he’s set a dangerous precedent for their enem... 010
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 11/03/2026Someone should invent a technology where I can subscribe to a single, omnibus substack that pays all the authors I read for their work 000
Reposted by @emmaclairefoley.bsky.socialDaniel Larison @daniellarison.bsky.social · 11/03/2026Democratic members of Congress need to attack this war as a crime, because that’s what it is. “The president did not plan out his war of aggression as well as he could have” is a foolish and self-defeating position to take. 1134
Reposted by @emmaclairefoley.bsky.socialElizabeth Beavers @elizabethrb.bsky.social · 11/03/2026destroying Iran's what? (they don't have a nuclear weapons program) 053
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 04/03/2026I'm not going to make this about me 020
Reposted by @emmaclairefoley.bsky.socialKelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 25/02/2026Broadly: the danger of nuclear risk and escalation with AI is not concentrated in giving presidents a bad machine advisor urging escalation. Instead, that risk is in automating any Stanislav Petrovs out of the chain of launch, as you need *restrain* to respond to sensor error indicating odd launch. 310432
Reposted by @emmaclairefoley.bsky.socialKelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 25/02/2026You're telling me that word association tools trained on internet comments don't know how to deescalate? www.newscientist.com/article/2516...newscientist.comAIs can’t stop recommending nuclear strikes in war game simulationsLeading AIs from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google opted to use nuclear weapons in simulated war games in 95 per cent of cases 9641173
Reposted by @emmaclairefoley.bsky.socialAndrew Facini @andrewfacini.com · 19/02/202620 years of GWOT has left a sense that uncontested air power is how wars work. But it's not war. These are all launchers. It's bombardment for bombardment's sake. We're getting ready to bomb the hell out of a country, but there's no war plan, no real goals. 65121
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 05/02/2026I do strongly empathize with the experience of being a few hours late on your response to New START expiration www.axios.com/2026/02/05/n...axios.comScoop: U.S. and Russia agree to observe New START nuclear pact after expirationNew START is the last major guardrail constraining the nuclear arsenals of the two countries that together hold some 85% of the world's warheads. 110
Reposted by @emmaclairefoley.bsky.socialSam Ratner @samratner.bsky.social · 04/02/2026I've said this before, but it's worth repeating: the Biden nuclear policy team bears a huge amount of responsibility for normalizing this nonsense. What was once a fringe right wing position became the settled wisdom of Vipin Narang and Jake Sullivan, and now here we are. 021
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 08/01/2026We are descending ever faster into a period of violence & epistemic collapse from which we may never emerge, but on the other hand I've got plenty of material for the course on modern misinterpretations of ancient & Classical history I teach in the spring: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/u...nytimes.comTexas A&M, Under New Curriculum Limits, Warns Professor Not to Teach Plato 030
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 02/01/2026Definitely having a ghost of Christmas future-type reaction to 2026 as a number 000
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 17/12/2025The hype around new nuclear tech, & the well-publicized shift toward a more tech-industry model for military production, along with the crippling effects of haphazard cuts to federal gov't capacity has made me worry the Trump admin might reduce nuclear safety standards w/ long-term consequences 020
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 17/12/2025Looking at polling there seems to be a sort of sighing acceptance: www.pewresearch.org/science/2025...pewresearch.orgHow Americans View AI and Its Impact on People and SocietyAmericans are worried about using AI more in daily life, seeing harm to human creativity and relationships. But they’re open to AI use in weather forecasting, medicine and other data-heavy tasks. 020
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 17/12/2025Are people actually excited though? I find it almost impossible to tell what's an effect of massive funding/PR and actual reception of AI, + an Iraq War-bred skepticism of the idea that I live in a basically airtight cultural bubble while the rest of the world putters on happily with whatever horror 140
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 17/12/2025Clocking in for my server shift at the restaurant of success 000
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 12/12/2025My villain origin story is having to wait two months for a high-quality audio copy of Daniel Deronda 010
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 12/12/2025Doing a career pivot to become the guy the public library sends around to make sure you're actually listening to the audiobook you checked out 110
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 11/12/2025The default logic around AI seems to be built, tragically, on carefully cultivated low expectations: it's not just "we can't have nice things," but "we can't take the obvious action to avoid a totally unnecessary, avoidable bad thing" 010
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 11/12/2025What are we doing here folks 120
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 10/12/2025To the extent that it viewed the natsec state politically, rather than as a character--as the products of a set of behaviors and decisions rather than a perfect, if tragically flawed, system--it made a pretty good case for ending presidential sole authority to order a nuclear strike 000
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 10/12/2025Portraying rapid-fire shop talk among people who share a very specific outlook and set of expectations is hard, but a lot of the characters seemed strangely green rather than having spent years or decades in contexts where emergencies like this are extensively discussed as possible and urgent 110
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 10/12/2025It did seem unrealistic in that a Secretary of Defense would almost definitely not be learning basic facts about missile defense after a nuke was already in the air (unless there's a particular backstory about this administration--which, again, the film didn't seem that interested in!) 200
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 10/12/2025I finally watched House of Dynamite, and it was okay! I enjoyed it. It didn't do much with its structural conceit--maybe it would have it it were more interested in the human characters who animate the lumbering national security state, the closest thing it has to a main character with a personality 110
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 03/12/2025Ending my Keynes lecture before I refer to him as a noted bisexual 000
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 02/12/2025I saw somewhere on the Internet someone doing an advent calendar but it was just 24 arduous life-management tasks 110
emmaclairefoley.bsky.social @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social · 25/11/2025For @jacobinmag.bsky.social, I addressed a recent article in @foreignaffairs.com arguing that the U.S. should give nuclear weapons to Germany, Japan, and Canada: jacobin.com/2025/11/nucl...jacobin.comThe Return of Nuclear ProliferationA recent article in the establishment security journal Foreign Affairs makes the case for nuclear proliferation among America’s allies. Not only are its arguments unsound, but they also understate the... 020
Reposted by @emmaclairefoley.bsky.socialJohn Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 24/11/2025Good @emmaclairefoley.bsky.social piece pushing back against a recent Foreign Affairs article: "Below the confidence in America’s power to shape the global status quo seems to lurk a quiet admission that the American empire is fracturing" jacobin.com/2025/11/nucl...jacobin.comThe Return of Nuclear ProliferationA recent article in the establishment security journal Foreign Affairs makes the case for nuclear proliferation among America’s allies. Not only are its arguments unsound, but they also understate the... 033