iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

⭐Job Alert!⭐ Know someone doing great research on how public policy affects democracy's processes, performance, or robustness? Maybe you do? 🤩 The Ford School of Public Policy at UMICH is searching at the senior level in democracy policy. Apps due 9/13. Deets here: careers.umich.edu/job_detail/2...

careers.umich.edu

Professor of Public Policy, Democracy Policy | U-M Careers

043

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

University of Michigan Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy @fordschool.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

@jennabednar.bsky.social, professor & founding faculty director of UMich Votes recently spoke with @michiganadvance.com about how she helped transform student voting at U-M, cutting Election Day wait times from 6 hours in 2022 to 20 minutes in 2024. Read: myumi.ch/WDQXW

152

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

If you’re in need of a good dose of humility, go out birding during warbler migration season with people who really know what they’re doing.

120

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

Want a deep dive into ocean health? Watch nasonline.swoogo.com/nas163_sympo... on acidification, O2 depletion, Sargossum spread, coral death/recovery, and seabed mining. It's depressing but the scientists are outstanding and committed, working across disciplines to understand this complex system.

nasonline.swoogo.com

Symposium

000

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Michigan has two open statewide elections this fall. The US Senate Dem primary (August) is a 3-way dead heat, and the gubernatorial race will also be a 3-way competition with Detroit mayor Duggan running as an independent. Much to watch!

010

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

Santa Fe Institute @sfiscience.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

SFI External Professor Mark Newman (University of Michigan) has been awarded the 2026 SIAM John von Neumann Prize, for his contributions to the theoretical and algorithmic foundations of network science and their application to real-world systems.

santafe.edu

Mark Newman Awarded 2026 SIAM John von Neumann Prize

SFI External Professor Mark Newman (University of Michigan) has been awarded the 2026 John von Neumann Prize from the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics for his contributions to the theore...

0346

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

Ben Phillips @benphillips76.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

I don’t know who needs to hear Jesse Jackson leading the kids on Sesame Street in this beautiful call-and-response reminding them that every child is somebody, but here it is

303216767673

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

"Regimes that rely on repression face a challenge: The more force they deploy, the more they risk exposing their own brutality to politically persuadable observers. Overreach doesn’t just project strength; it also undermines legitimacy." @owasow.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | We’re Seeing the Weakness of a Strong State

050

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

If you need some hope today — and don’t we all? — read @adambonica.bsky.social . As a bonus, you’ll also find an agenda and a source of resolve to make it happen. open.substack.com/pub/data4dem...

open.substack.com

The Wall Looks Permanent Until It Falls

On the optimism of preparation in a time of democratic decay.

18130

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Here is a poem Renee Good, under her earlier name Renee Macklin, wrote, "On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs." It won a prize. It's really good. "it’s the ruler by which i reduce all things now; hard-edged & splintering from knowledge." poets.org/2020-on-lear...

poets.org

2020 Academy of American Poets Prize

On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs by Renée Nicole Macklin

4258105

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

Santa Fe Institute @sfiscience.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

Applications open for SFI’s 2026 UCR program. Are you fascinated by transdisciplinary questions that transcend or combine disciplines? UCR is a fully funded, 10-week summer research experience for undergraduates curious about complexity science. Apply by Jan 14, 2026 santafe.edu/ucr

01710

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

From interim President Mahoney's letter: "We seek no special treatment.... the integrity of science ... depends on merit-based assessment." Yay UVa.

040

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

James Holland Jones @juemos.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

My department is hiring an assistant professor of environmental behavioral sciences. The research area is open but we are particularly interested in people with research on collective action or computational social sciences. Happy to answer questions about the Doerr School or the department.

facultypositions.stanford.edu

Stanford | Faculty Positions: Details - Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Social Sciences (Environmental Behavioral Sciences)

16158

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

Paul Krugman @pkrugman.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

If you think the attack on the Fed's Lisa Cook has nothing to do with you, you're wrong — any one of us may be next paulkrugman.substack.com/p/we-are-all...

paulkrugman.substack.com

We Are All Lisa Cook

Nobody is safe from weaponized government

7029381031

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

⭐ Book rec to understand Trump's Epstein August: www.harpercollins.com/products/the.... There's no better guide to the evangelicals’ embrace of Trump. This is no outsider’s ethnography; he is a pastor’s son trying to understand how the church he loves has chosen earthly power over the Gospel.

harpercollins.com

The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory

Instant New York Times Bestseller One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of the Year An Economist and Air Mail Best Book of the Year \"Brave and abso...

100

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

The launch of an important new public resource. The Anti-Corruption Tracker: Mapping the Erosion of Oversight and Accountability www.justsecurity.org/117267/anti-... The Tracker is a living document that will be continually updated. A screenshot below gives you a sense of the Chart and its data.

14501248

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

"Fear is the tool of a tyrant."

010

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Cutting the CPB devastates rural public radio. On a recent roadtrip w @scottepage.bsky.social we listened only to public radio. It was incredibly...local: hog sales, new biz, swaps, & in western KS, a book club of Verghese's Covenant of Water. We lose more than emergency alerts. We lose community.

010

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Over 1K rejected kings in Brighton, MI, a red town of 8k in the midst of a deep red county. The vibe: highly patriotic, pro people power, pro freedom. A rousing collective pledge of allegiance. Pro constitution signs on fishing poles and marshmallow sticks.

1252

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated last night, was the Speaker of the Minnesota House in the 2023-2024 session, when Democrats ran the state government. That means she had a leading role in shepherding the many landmark reforms that Dems adopted in that period—an important legacy. Brief 🧵.

4989383399

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Can federalism hold? Here's a decent review of recent federalization of national guard troops. Last time done over a gov's wishes was 60 years ago, to protect protesters. BTW the president's order can include all states, not just CA. Where are the R governors? D govs? Pritzker? wapo.st/3ZXocaZ

wapo.st

When have presidents called in the National Guard to quell domestic unrest?

The National Guard was also called during the 1992 L.A. riots and the unrest that followed Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968. Trump’s order was unlike any other.

020

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

this @adambonica.bsky.social piece deserves to be read beside the yeoman work that @donmoyn.bsky.social and @pamherd.bsky.social have been doing. The dismantling of administrative expertise is one of those stories that is so big that pro journalists with beats find it hard to focus on or explain .

data4democracy.substack.com

How to Dismantle a Democracy, One Job Posting at a Time

OPM’s new hiring memo imports the authoritarian playbook—quietly, bureaucratically, and by design.

13832427

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

On the flight to Amsterdam a rowdy group of septuagenarian women from New Orleans kept saying 86 this trash, 86 this movie, 86 this wine, it’s terrible. It’s true, they killed me.

020

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

A lot has changed in the world, so my colleagues and I at the @fordschool are opening up a special emergency admissions cycle for folks who want to start a Masters of Public Policy this fall. Deets are here: fordschool.umich.edu/masters-prog... I hope to see you in class in September!

fordschool.umich.edu

Master's programs

Become the leader you've always wanted to be and work to create meaningful change in public policy and affairs that impact our communities and the world.

4424140

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

Beth Popp Berman @epopppp.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Is it just me, or is <checks notes> military.com significantly more clear-eyed about this than most news sources? www.military.com/daily-news/2...

The change reflects the expanding Trump administration censorship across the Department of Defense aimed at erasing acknowledgment of those groups. It also follows a series of executive orders issued by President Donald Trump and internal policy shifts championed by Hegseth, who has made the erasure of those groups a core goal of his tenure so far.

The administration has labeled materials related to women, minorities and gay people as "diversity, equity and inclusion," or DEI, a term that once described efforts toward racial equality but has been repurposed under Trump as a catchall term used to conduct a government-wide purge.

2706

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

HAPPENING NOW: Following the Supreme Court's decision requiring the government to "facilitate" the release of Abrego Garcia, a hearing before Judge Paula Xinis is about to begin. I'm in Greenbelt, Maryland for @lawfare.bsky.social Follow along for updates

302123152707

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Consumer confidence is in free fall, across all segments of the population. www.sca.isr.umich.edu/files/featur...

120

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

George Pearkes @peark.es · 11/04/2025

Oh man *UMICH PRELIM APRIL CONSUMER SENTIMENT FALLS TO 50.8; EST 53.8 *MICHIGAN 5-10 YR INFLATION EXPECTATIONS RISE TO 4.4% VS 4.1% *UMICH YR-AHEAD EXPECTED INFLATION AT 6.7%, HIGHEST SINCE 1981

1552985

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Problem solving by cognitively diverse teams is such a dangerous idea that the Navy has pulled @scottepage.bsky.social ‘s book The Difference from their shelves. press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...

press.princeton.edu

The Difference

230

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 05/04/2025

A coalition of 21 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit on Friday challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the federal agency charged with supporting the nation’s libraries.

nytimes.com

States Challenge Trump’s Effort to Dismantle Library Agency

In a lawsuit, 21 state attorneys general argued that the steep cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services violate the Constitution and other federal laws related to spending.

131028211

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Tune in now to catch Cory Booker finish his filibuster. He is speaking lovingly of John Lewis now. The past hour has been on the rule of law, the spirit of liberty, and asking: is the Constitution in your heart? He reminds us that our country is worth loving, and it’s because of our Constitution.

170

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

"Democracy dies in darkness, so we're shining our spotlight on free markets."

050

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Over 400 showed up in the midst of a snowstorm last night to learn about executive orders, the rule of law, and democratic norms. They stayed for 3 1/2 hours. Go Blue! Go Team Democracy!

2245

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

HOPE ALERT: For everyone worried about the devastating implications for universities of the change to the NIH indirects, @sbagen.bsky.social explains the feasibility of a successful legal challenge. buttondown.com/sbagen/archi...

buttondown.com

Indirect Costs and Trump's Attack on Independent Voices

By Samuel Bagenstos A strong democracy requires a robust independent sector. Organizations and associations that stand apart from the governing state regime...

001

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

Beth Popp Berman @epopppp.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

It turns out that the best way to get a lot of quick, clear-eyed explainers of a really technical bureaucratic thing is to do it to scientists.

118421

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

I'm hoping that this photo might inspire a few of you today. Anna Hall, US heptathlete, photo credit www.instagram.com/jeffcohenpho...

Anna Hall, US heptathlete competing at the Paris Olympics, about to throw the javelin. Photo credit Jeff Cohen.

020

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Last week on a plane I sat next to a woman who despaired of being able to make a difference. I happened to have a copy of Snyder's On Tyranny in my backpack, and gave it to her, pointing to ch12: Make small talk and eye contact. Dehumanization of others is the tyrant's tool to kill democracy. 1/2

152

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Handy for those wondering whether a president can freeze spending authorized by Congress. Hint: it's going to be a battle. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/a-pr...

lawfaremedia.org

A Primer on the Impoundment Control Act

Refusals to undertake required spending are already a major theme of Trump’s second term, but the law limits such executive action.

010

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

In thinking about the future of LA and elsewhere, I recommend this documentary about living sustainably with growing wildfire risk. The sequence on the insurers' study of housing, and the extent that the guy who gets to set stuff on fire loves his job is alone worth the watch. www.elementalfilm.com

elementalfilm.com

Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire

Can we live - and thrive - with wildfire, even as entire towns are burned off the map? This film answers with a resounding yes. Streaming June 13th on AppleTV, Google Play, Amazon, & Vimeo.

030

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

Prof Dynarski @dynarski.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

Seeking historical perspective on challenges of rebuilding after LA fires Chicago fire of 1871 destroyed 17K buildings (LA 12K) & displaced 100K pp. Just 2K acres; V dense Anything else comparable? Chicago built back a beautiful city en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_C...

en.m.wikipedia.org

Great Chicago Fire - Wikipedia

228914

Reposted by Jenna Bednar

Susan Crawford @scrawford.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

California's state insurer of last resort, described by a state legislator: "It feels like a big gamble in many ways. Quite frankly, if this were on Wall Street, I'm not sure you'd be able to get away with this." susanpcrawford.substack.com/p/what-happe...

susanpcrawford.substack.com

What happens when a state insurer of last resort goes belly-up?

A possible next act in this new drama: California

24020

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

We were in Washington today with a few spare hours, so Scottie and I went to the Nat’l Museum of Natural History and the National Archives to see a few endangered things: butterflies, ocean life, the Constitution.

Photo of one of the original signed copies of the US Constitution

1384

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Send your students to Santa Fe @sfiscience.bsky.social this summer to learn about complexity science in a highly inter- and transdisciplinary environment. Gain exposure to the breadth of complexity theory and applications, develop skills, and build enduring research networks. Three opportunities:

182

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

Hello fellow Brian Eno & complexity fans: one of the great film experiences I've had was seeing Gary Hustwit's experimental documentary about Eno; each screening is an algorithmic selection from 600 hours of clips. Here's your chance to stream it at home in January! variety.com/2024/film/ne...

variety.com

‘Eno’ Documentary Streaming Debut Is a 24-Hour Event With Multiple Versions and Surprise Guests (EXCLUSIVE)

Gary Hustwit's "Eno" documentary will be available in a 24-hour livestream with multiple versions of the film about the British musician and producer.

140

Jenna Bednar @jennabednar.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

The 2026 MIchigan governor's race is heating up. Bombshell news this week: Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan will run as an independent, avoiding a primary battle with MI SOS Jocelyn Benson and perhaps also Pete Buttigieg and Lt Gov Garlin Gilchrist. www.bridgedetroit.com/why-mike-dug...

bridgedetroit.com

Why Mike Duggan is running for Michigan governor as an independent

Duggan said both the “far right” and “far left” have stood in the way of good ideas.

262