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Michael Cohen

@indecisionwins.bsky.social
482 followers 334 following 76 posts

Political junkie and social-cognitive neuroscientist studying misinformation and political extremism

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Reposted by Michael Cohen
Dannagal Goldthwaite Young @dannagal.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Excellent reporting by @eileenguo.bsky.social & colleagues at @technologyreview.com about the roots & spread of the right's allegations of a "censorship industrialization complex". Including the little tidbit that @ninajankowicz.com highlights below.... www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/07/1...
urldefense.com
How ideas of a vast censorship network moved from the online fringe to Trump policy
Narratives about a “censorship-industrial complex” spread in right-wing circles for years; then they took hold of Washington. What—and who—is behind them?
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Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
“Trump has rejected disaster aid for Democratic-run states at the highest rate in the 47-year history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” Right now people in blue states are basically paying federal taxes as if they’re colonized territories of red states. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...
Trump has denied most disaster requests from Democratic-led states

A graph  showing Presidential approval rates for disaster requests from Democratic-led states and Republican-led states

Source: POLITICO's E&E News analysis of FEMA records
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Reposted by Michael Cohen
SfN Journals @sfnjournals.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
#JNeurosci: Findings from van Geen et al. support an integrated view of decision-making where mnemonic and value-based systems interact even in basic learning contexts, and highlight age-related disruptions in the transfer of info across brain regions. doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1459-25.2…
Diagram showing decision-making task with images of houses and participant information including sample sizes.
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Michael Cohen @indecisionwins.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
My comment on the disastrous OMB rule
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Reposted by Michael Cohen
Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
A moving—and, I will say, profound—reflection by JVL on our current situation: “That is what makes this moment different. We have moved decidedly backwards…What worries me most about the regression is that our lurch toward illiberalism is the result of success.” www.thebulwark.com/p/america-at...
thebulwark.com
America at 250: We Had a Good Run
It’s not a celebration. It’s a vigil.
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Michael Cohen @indecisionwins.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
I hadn't seen this highlighted before, and it's horrifying -- this implies that for anyone who gets a federal grant, any American can report you, have the government sue you, and get a reward for evidence that you're not following the draconian new grant terms. Truly Stasi-level intrusiveness.
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Reposted by Michael Cohen
Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Imagine that the only labs that remain open and receive (ample) funding are those: - With only American citizens in their labs; - With no international collaborators; - Who have never participated in a protest or donated to a Democratic campaign; - Whose research aligns with Trump’s priorities.
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The American Prospect @prospect.org · 09/06/2026
I conclude that for the next president, the first, most straightforward, and arguably most important task is to destroy X. prospect.org?p=139475
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@amybisinthewoods.bsky.social 🍄🍄‍🟫 @amybdogsandfungi.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
We have to end his power in November. It is life or death.
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 03/06/2026
What's happening to CBS News is what the tech oligarchs call "parallel" strategy. Buy an existing institution, gut it, and convert it into a right-wing zombie version of itself. They are doing this to media, government, education, biotech, defense tech, etc. Some call it the "Network State."
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Look, I know I sound crazy, but WHY WOULD RUSSELL VOUGHT, mastermind behind Project 2025, WRITE THAT OMB CAN CANCEL ANY GRANT FOR ANY REASON IF THEY WEREN'T GOING TO DO EXACTLY THAT?! Mark my words: Agencies will send out blanket grant cancellation emails that will make 2025 look like child's play.
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
What's really astonishing is not the far right authoritarian party doing this, but the near-total lack of <loud public collective action> by university chancellors & presidents to oppose this existential crisis. Almost impossible to overstate how total a failure of leadership this is.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 29/05/2026
"The plan is to kill off publicly funded academic science in this country." Correct. And that means killing off the whole US science and innovation industry. Because it's all built on a foundation of basic research—which. can. only. be. funded. by. public. dollars.
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Forbes @forbes.com · 06/05/2026
California Bill Would Create A $23 Billion Fund For University Research
forbes.com
California Bill Would Create A $23 Billion Fund For University Research
A California bill would give voters the chance to vote on whether the state should create a $23 billion bond that would be used to award grants to university researchers.
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
600k a year, over 4 or 5 years, that’s getting up into the mass murder big leagues. Trying to unseat the big H.
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Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
"Too many scientists are willing to collaborate with Trumpism in the mistaken assumption that obedience will save their own necks." www.thenation.com/article/soci...
thenation.com
The Rise of the Vichy Scientists
Too many scientists are willing to collaborate with Trumpism in the mistaken assumption that obedience will save their own necks.
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Dori & Wren 🐾🎗️🧷 @jfc-already.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
The young man was just peacefully protesting at the DC Hilton Saturday night. Just like that group of patriots on Jan 6th. I'm not sure what the fuss is all about. 🥱
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Micah @rincewind.run · 27/04/2026
I do think this a genuinely worrying aspect of this incident we know the kind of guy who commits political violence and up until now he has not looked like this, and there are a lot more guys like the latter than the former it’s a very bad sign for a society when someone like this picks up a gun
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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 27/04/2026
The United States now has the most government restrictions on academic freedom of any high-income country. www.chemistryworld.com/news/academi... Raw data from @vdeminstitute.bsky.social —> academic-freedom-index.net/research/Aca...
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Michael Cohen @indecisionwins.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Heartbreaking. Such a waste of good people’s lives and expertise, who could be doing good for the world, but instead are suffering themselves. All so Trump and his buddies can pocket more money and build more bombs to lob around the world. Good job, MAGA.
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Michael Cohen @indecisionwins.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
I mean...she's correct on both counts, but it's still striking to see!
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Reposted by Michael Cohen
The Coalition for Independent Technology Research @thecoalition.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
The Coalition for Independent Technology Research has filed a lawsuit with the @knightcolumbia.org and @protectdemocracy.org challenging a US State Department policy to revoke or deny visas of non-citizen researchers because of their work studying the societal impacts of technology. (1/4)
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Shannon Bond @byshannonbond.com · 09/03/2026
Independent tech researchers accuse the Trump administration of trying to silence them with threats of visa revocations and deportation. It's leading some to change the focus of their work, self-censor, and even leave the country.
npr.org
Trump is using immigration policy to suppress speech, lawsuit claims
A new lawsuit accuses the administration of violating the First Amendment by threatening the visas of researchers for work on disinformation and content moderation of social media.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
This is absolutely insane: DHS claims the right to subpoena your emails and to send investigators to your house. In this case, because a retiree sent the mildest possible criticism to a prosecutor. No judges involved. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
washingtonpost.com
Homeland Security is targeting Americans with this secretive legal weapon
Under Trump, the Department of Homeland Security has weaponized administrative subpoenas to attack free speech, according to privacy and civil rights groups.
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Michael Cohen @indecisionwins.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Excited to share a new preprint on psychological characteristics among voters that predict support for Donald Trump: specifically, low empathy, low agreeableness, and complaints about unfairness. (1/4) osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io
OSF
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Blue Wave @votebiue.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
He keeps referring to Greenland as Iceland. His dementia is on full display. Just look at him slumped over the podium . Time for people to get up and leave the clown show.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16/01/2026
"There comes a point where we have to start questioning whether or not he’s actually aware of what’s happening around him & the harm he’s doing. It’s similar to historical figures like Nero or Caligula. Their madness took over & they started doing wildly destructive things. Trump is in that place."
publicnotice.co
Simon Rosenberg on Trump’s no good, very bad year
"It’s grotesque. He’s become a grotesque figure."
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 10/01/2026
I've noticed that ICE agents keep yelling "18 USC § 111" at people filming them. I'd like to see the memo they all got on that talking point, and I'd like to know who sent it. Filming ICE or alerting your neighbors to their presence doesn't violate § 111.
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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
But what if Maduro’s involvement in the drug trade was an “official act”?
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Michael Cohen @indecisionwins.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
In a new review paper that I led (with Jean Decety), we explain how research in psychology and neuroscience supports the need for more regulation of social media algorithms to protect against threats to democracy. The EU Digital Services Act is a good model for this type of regulation. (1/5)
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
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Reposted by Michael Cohen
Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
This is a grim read. I don't know how we construct even a semi-functional party system when the rising generation of Republican leaders are going to be even more Nazi than the current batch. www.city-journal.org/article/manh...
city-journal.org
Everyone Wants to Know What Gen Z Republicans Think. We Asked Them.
Twenty GOP Zoomers on Trump, Hitler, dating, racism, politics, the economy, and more
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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
11/20: Coast Guard classifies swastikas as "potentially divisive" www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec... 11/21: Guard leader's new policy calls them "[d]ivisive or hate symbols" www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec... Today: Back to "potentially divisive" www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
so now if you worked in content moderation you are visa-blackballed like you'd be if you're friends were all al qaeda
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Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
The Republican Party is a death cult. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Trump’s anti-climate agenda could result in 1.3m more deaths globally, analysis finds
Fallout from increased emissions linked to president’s ‘America First’ policies expected to most affect those in poor, hot countries
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Max Berger @maxberger.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
The pro-Nick Fuentes Administration destroying people and institutions on the basis of “fighting antisemitism” has me losing my damn mind. The Nazi-sympathizers pretending to be protectors of American Jews has to be one of the most profound mindfucks in an era rife with them.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Three German universities offering post-docs for researchers "who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. " www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
uni-konstanz.de
Early Career Rescue Fellowship
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Reposted by Michael Cohen
M.J. Crockett @mjcrockett.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Nice piece, and consistent with our findings that misinformation exploits outrage to spread online www.science.org/doi/full/10....
science.org
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Kat Abughazaleh @katmabu.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
This is the facility that I and many others have been protesting. We’ve been hit, thrown, gassed, and shot with pepper bullets but none of that holds a candle to what is being done to people *in* the actual facility. Read this thread. Don’t look away. Keep your eyes and the pressure on Broadview.
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Kat is being federally charged by the FBI for protesting at Broadview. This is a flagrant political prosecution by the Trump administration, which is trying to prevent free speech and free association. I am proud of Kat. Her movement is being targeted by the government. She needs your support.
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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
When anti-Semites claim to be fighting anti-Semitism they trivialize a very real problem and thereby deliberately make it worse. Attacking universities was always about spreading anti-Semitism, not combatting it. forward.com/fast-forward...
forward.com
Trump lawyer who praised ‘Mein Kampf’ is now accusing Harvard of antisemitism, report says
Michael Velchik reportedly praised 'Mein Kampf' after graduating from Harvard, where he also wrote an essay from Hitler's perspective.
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Michael Cohen @indecisionwins.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
I've been inspired by the courage shown by @katmabu.bsky.social in protesting ICE. Now the fascist fucks are charging her criminally for protesting. She is the kind of leader we need right now.
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Matthew Facciani @matthewfacciani.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
I’ll be giving two talks in Chicago this week! • Wednesday: “The Brain and Misinformation” at Theater Wit • Thursday: A talk on my book and research at Northwestern University’s Department of Communication Fall Colloquium
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Politico @politico.com · 14/10/2025
EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat. Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇
politico.com
‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat
Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
I have been trying to get this published as an op-ed, but I am going to post it here since I think it is timely in light of the "consent" extortion events. Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g... 1/14
jeremymberg.github.io
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Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
Macron remarks are notable- some quotes: "We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks that are controlled either by large American entrepreneurs or large Chinese companies, whose interests are not at all the survival or proper functioning of our democracies."
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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
According to eyewitnesses, armed ICE agents dragged kids out of their beds in the middle of the night, zip tied them and put them in rented vans while raiding an * entire apartment building* on the South Side of Chicago. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOXO...
youtube.com
‘F--- them kids’: ICE agents drag children out of bed, ransack Chicago building
YouTube video by MSNBC
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Ullrich Ecker @ulliecker.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored Quite proud of this paper, which just received the journal's APA Editor's Choice award 😊 Big thanks to my coauthors Li Qian Tay, Jon Roozenbeek, @profsanderlinden.bsky.social, John Cook, @naomioreskes.bsky.social, and @lewan.bsky.social
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