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Jess Calarco

@jessicacalarco.com
47K followers 2.4K following 10K posts

Sociologist. Author. Professor. Roosevelt Institute Fellow. Expert on families, schools, kids, privilege, and power. Bylines in NYT, WaPo, MSNBC, Atlantic, etc. "Other countries have social safety nets. The US has women." www.jessicacalarco.com

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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 10h
So-called AI detection tools might be an even bigger scurge than AI. I was talking today with a student (a senior), who shared that they now have to spend time "dumbing down" their papers--shortening sentences, removing advanced vocab and punctuation--because otherwise they get flagged as "AI."
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 19h
This is crap for two reasons. 1: polls show, clear majorities of all parties support expanding childcare access 2: if parents are wary of childcare, it's because Reps spent four decades vilifying employed moms, stoking false fears of daycare, and underfunding programs in ways that limit care quality
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Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 20h
Aaron is not underrating this. It's cinema. The sly smirk when Schmitt thinks he's gotten Smith to perjure himself. The hasty vanishing of the sign. Klobuchar getting Kennedy to hold it up. Schmitt getting LOUD and ANGRY when Klobuchar points out he mixed up the Hawks and Hawkeyes.
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Assigned Media @assignedmedia.org · 29/09/2026
Democrats seem headed for big wins, but one avenue for self-sabotage would be adopting R's framing on trans rights. @billiejsweeney.bsky.social spoke with insiders incl Lanae Erikson of Third Way and Rep. Sarah McBride for this substanial piece of new reporting. assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...
assignedmedia.org
Democrats Lose by Punching Down on Trans Issues, Strategists Say - Assigned Media
Insiders, including at centrist think tank Third Way, are cautioning Democratic candidates against echoing Republican talking points on trans rights.
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Charlotte Clymer @charlotteclymer.bsky.social · 21h
Dear god... GOP Sen. Eric Schmitt clearly loses his shit after it's revealed by Sen. Klobuchar that Schmitt confused the Iowa Hawkeyes college basketball team with the Atlanta Hawks NBA team in his attempt to claim Jack Smith was in Atlanta and colluded with Fani Willis. I'm gobsmacked. Holy shit.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 23h
I teach a 9:30am seminar for first-year undergrads, and this semester, I started bringing snacks to class every day. Nothing fancy--usually just granola bars. But it means students can still get some fuel before class, even if they don't have time for breakfast. Which means more engagement in class.
A stash of snacks, including some clementines and a few different types of granola bars
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Emily L. Hauser (she/her) ❌👑 @emilylhauser.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I managed to mostly not know any of this until today. This detail is new to me. The horror coursing through my body feels like poison. My God, men. Decide RIGHT FUCKING NOW what you'll do if a woman is sexually harassed or assaulted in your vicinity. Ask another man to do the same. TALK ABOUT IT.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 28/09/2026
Just got a crime warning from my university with "reports of possible drugging incidents and sexual assaults" at off-campus fraternities. One occurred after last week's Cornell news. And I hate that the lack of consequences there might've emboldened young men to perpetrate similar violence here.
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Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 28/09/2026
Well well well, I wonder how we got here, Mr. Karl Rove: www.sacurrent.com/news/politic...
sacurrent.com
Karl Rove says Republican Party is being taken over by 'Nazis'
The Bush-era GOP political operative also said Republicans would be winning the battle for Texas' U.S. Senate seat if John Cornyn was the nominee.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 27/09/2026
Effective altruism is closely linked to the Epstein-backed Edge network of big-name scholars/thinkers, many of whom believe their brilliance makes them better than everyone and uniquely capable of saving the world. So it's not surprising to me that these men see women as less than full human beings.
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 27/09/2026
The bizarre culture that’s sprung up around Silicon Valley AI companies - which overlaps hugely with rationalist and effective altruist circles - appears to be seriously pressuring some women into attending sex parties for the sake of networking. This is, needless to say, horrifying.
taco belle
@ animalologist
Multiple things can be true at once
22h
The purpose of SlutCon is to help ease men who are scared of approaching women, and for women who simply enjoy flirting to be in an environment where that happens a lot, since there's generally a dearth of that
At the same time, many - probably most! - women do Not want to be flirted with or propositioned by men they don't know. When a small scene only has a handful of large, well-known events, each one has disproportionate impact on everybody's ideas of acceptable behavior among other members of their milieu.
Attending the same events = specific shared context. Means
you're somewhat on the same page.
I suspect that the men who publicly raised concerns about SlutCon's impact on the scene are being megaphones for private objections and distresses they've heard from women in the scene who would NOT be comfortable at an event like that, but who don't voice it publicly because they suspect they'd suffer socially for doing so. That going to SlutCon to be flirted with gives women social cachet, and squirming at the idea means you're [not cool, can't get with the program, are probably a wokescold or a prude etc etc other pejoratives] and therefore, that you'll be excluded or held at a distance
Now, if this scene were purely a social scene, that'd be perfectly fine. Don't go to parties that don't suit you!! The issue arises because it's NOT purely a social scene. This scene is inarguably tied up with Al safety, research, and the SF tech scene in general.
When consistently being invited to the right parties is professionally advantageous, and when SlutCon itself **is** going to be an excellent networking opportunity for people in those fields, it's not neutral that {sexual proclivities} are the filtering mechanism that determines who's in the room. It means that promiscuity & forwardness is explicitly professionally advantageous.
And, if the norms of SlutCon influence the norms of that milieu outside of the e…My suspicion is that men come out of the event more bold, more forward, and with the expectation that events attended by former flirt-girls are fair game for SlutCon-style forwardness. This creates a hostile environment for women who just want to socialize and work with these men, without being propositioned. And without pretending that they're cool with being sexualized for the sake of their inclusion in the scene.
I don't think we have solutions yet, but it's important that we can talk about it, at least.
Jakeup • @ myhandle
Sep 25
the purpose of SlutCon is to help men who are scared of women to start liking women, by putting them in proximity to women who like men and aren't scared of men
I'm not attending or involved in any way, but this is very aligned to my own mission and I'm rooting for their success
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 27/09/2026
My husband is in charge of machine sewing, so he usually makes the kids' Halloween costumes. But I'm in charge of crafting, so when my 12-year-old asked for a "mushroom fairy hat" this year, I knew that'd be on me. And I was worried. But based on what we have so far, I think it might turn out okay!
My 12-year-old wearing the mushroom fairy hat we built together, using cardboard, batting, stuffing, some sort of gauzy white fabric, red velvet fabric, and lots of hot gluing and staple gunning.The top view of the hat
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Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
As someone in a STEM discipline, I really abhor the kind of messaging that Mark describes. The messengers aren’t people who actually care about STEM. It’s really a shorthand for “do something practical, focus on your relation to the labor market”.
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
👇🎯 If you send kids the message that the only majors that are good are business & STEM from the time they’re in middle school, & then you don’t find the humanities & social sciences at the college level, it all becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy & that was clearly the point in the first place.
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Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The messengers generally look down on most scientific inquiry unless it’s a very specific form of applied science. We can’t let these folks divide us; in the end, much of STEM has more in common with the humanities and social sciences than with, e.g., business.
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Adam Bonin @adambonin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
They sent my client a cease-and-desist letter for this ad in PA's hotly contested 6th Senate District. As I wrote back, "We will neither cease nor desist from engaging in this truthful, accurate speech." Here's the "Data Senator" ad which Republicans don't want Lower Bucks residents to see.
youtu.be
Data Senator
YouTube video by Eileen Albillar
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 26/09/2026
9-year-old: What do birds eat? Husband: Mostly bugs and worms. 9: That's not nice! Me: It's the circle of life. We eat birds, and birds eat worms... Husband: And worms eat us. 9: What!??!?
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mbbendt @bendts2cents.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This is every Libra Mom ever. I just want a clean house and a long nap. My kids kept making me adorable dust-collecting popsicle stick crafts. They are young adults now and have upgraded to food projects.
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Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin @ecmclaughlin.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This post really pissed me off. As someone who has been an activist for forty years and training activists, organizers and non-profit leaders for 15 years, one of the most relevant factors for continued engagement is whether people enjoy the work, feel like they belong, and find community in it.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 26/09/2026
Me: So, kids, my birthday is next week, and I don't need any presents, but if you want to do something nice for me, you could... 9-year-old: Make you a craft? Like with popsicle sticks? Me: That sounds nice, but I was gonna say vacuum my car. 9: Or we can just give you lots and lots of hugs!
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 26/09/2026
Naked Emperor, convinced he's wearing invisible clothes, nevertheless complains when his a** gets cold. newrepublic.com/article/2158...
newrepublic.com
Trump’s Angry Tirade Over Failing Press Ban Reveals His Achilles’ Heel
Trump is furious that news organizations are fighting back against his vile efforts to punish their colleagues—because collective resistance to his authoritarianism actually works.
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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Send this to every university President in the country.
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Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Elite universities mea culpas about the “loss of trust” in higher education so often fail to consider the force of the longterm propagandistic attack on universities, given extensive play in conservative media, that long preceded Trump, but which he has massively accelerated.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 26/09/2026
I forgot to post this yesterday, but Week 38 of my stitch-the-news daily news diary included: An air raid siren A weed A canceled press pass A WB logo A dark TV screen A red carpet A set of footprints
Embroidered icons representing:

An air raid siren for the attacks on Saudi Arabia
A weed for investigations revealing that the EPA allowed Bayer to pick regulations for its dangerous weed killer products 
A canceled press pass for Trump's threats about kicking news outlets out of the White House Press Pool
A WB logo for the finalization of the Paramount merger
A dark TV screen for news outlets banding together in solidarity and refusing to give any video or audio coverage to the president until all the banned news outlets had their access restored
A red carpet for Xi Jinping's state visit
A set of footprints for the walkout of Netanyahu's UN speech
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 26/09/2026
12-year-old: Why did humans invent money? Me: It makes trade easier--a hat-maker can get milk even if the milk-maker doesn't need hats 12: Why not give everyone the same amount of money? Me: The idea is to make people work harder 12: But once someone has more, they can just cheat to stay ahead
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letithappenalreadymama @pnutsmama.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
this does not solve male loneliness
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Right, okay everybody, I’ve had a lot of meetings and talks this week and I have to share some top line thoughts. Things are quite a bit worse than i am usually willing to share with people because panic does no good. It’s kinda bad. The baddies have the wind at their back. No denying that.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 25/09/2026
That thing where spend a whole bunch of time on something, finally finish it, and then realize that you won't get the relief of seeing your to-do-list reduced by one, because you never actually added it to the list.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 25/09/2026
Articles like this aren't for people in serious debt (who probably can't afford WaPo, let alone to "free up money"). Articles like this are for people who want to feel better about getting by while others struggle. Reassuring them--the strugglers would be fine if they made smart choices money-wise.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 24/09/2026
Pretty rich for the prince of personal responsibility politics to be like, "please someone get us out of this!" after playing such a big role in getting us into this mess in the first place.
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Linda Holmes @lindaholmes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This is my take as well. If you create a car that spontaneously accelerates because of how it’s designed, nobody says the car went rogue. You, who designed and sold the car, are on the hook. It’s not everybody else’s problem. Can’t keep it from spontaneously accelerating? Don’t sell it.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
“The customer is always wrong, now” is a great way to capture how specialize finance has ruined everything from our favorite store to your political process. Margins are now the only customer. The only voter. We have but one real way to exert power over any of it anymore.
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Denali @denali.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
According to the announcement this is an ongoing partnership between the City and the Met. I love it. But there's a fiscal angle too. Cultural institutions don't pay taxes but they should still be on the hook for public benefit. Figuring out how to deliver on that for everyone is important.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 24/09/2026
My 12-year-old, who subscribes to and reads NPR's daily newsletter, asked me the other day, "Mom, is it going to be safe to vote this year?" I told her I hope so, but also that I get why she's worried about what November might bring.
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Nina Metz @ninametz.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
“A traveling bookmobile displaying copies of the Jeffrey Epstein files stopped in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood Wednesday as part of a national campaign to educate the public on the 3.5 million declassified federal documents” Hadn’t heard about this until now Gift 🔗
chicagotribune.com
Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Bookmobile stops in Chicago
A traveling bookmobile displaying the Jeffrey Epstein files stopped in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood Wednesday as part of a national campaign to educate the public on the 3.5 million declassifi...
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Sandy Ernest Allen @sandyernestallen.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Did ANY mainstream outlets, non-queer, cover this?
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Council on Contemporary Families @ccfamilies.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The White House has a plan to pay thousands to stay-at-home parents. @ccfamilies.bsky.social Board Member @jessicacalarco.com argues that this plan is simply another way lawmakers enforce purity-test policymaking and pit stay-at-home moms against working moms. www.europesays.com/people/225944/
europesays.com
JD Vance’s new childcare proposal: pit mothers against each other - People
“Normal Americans,” JD Vance wrote in 2021, “want a family policy that doesn’t shunt their kids into crap daycare so they can enjoy more ‘freedom’ in the paid
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Nathan Kalmoe (he/him) @nathankalmoe.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Hey Dane County friends! 👋🏻 If you live in West Madison, Middleton, Waunakee, Verona, Cross Plains, Mazo, Black Earth, or smaller NW Dane villages… …And you’d like a bumper sticker or yard sign to help spread the word about my progressive write-in campaign… Let me know, & I’ll get that to you! 🥳
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 24/09/2026
Also: If you want crispy edges and gooey middles, form the dough for each cookie into a cylinder instead of a sphere, and keep the dough super cold until it goes in the oven. That way, the dough doesn't spread as much, and the middle stays super soft.
A tray of homemade chocolate chip cookies
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 24/09/2026
In related news, I recently learned that you can make cookies look extra professional by swirling them in a circle cookie cutter/biscuit cutter just after they come out of the oven.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 24/09/2026
If you give your students cookies, it makes stuffing hundreds of envelopes (with invitations for a class research project) much more fun.
Homemade chocolate chip cookies, coolingA box of envelopes, stuffed and ready to go in the mail
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 23/09/2026
Thanks to those who came out last night to the Middleton Library to learn about Why Rich People Cheat (And Why We Let Them Get Away With It). It was great to have a packed house and such an engaged audience! And thanks to @uwmadison.bsky.social's @uwbadgertalks.bsky.social for supporting the event!
Me, presenting, with the title slide: "Why Do Rich People Cheat?" under the BADGER TALKS logoMe presenting a slide summarizing evidence from research showing the various types of unethical behavior that are disproportionately common among economic elites
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Yell In a War @jelenawoehr.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
the real proof that companies use AI to break labor power, not because it can actually replace human work: OpenAI hires entire humans to prevent other humans from using AI to train the AI, and those humans can get fired for using AI to stop the other humans from using AI
404media.co
People Training OpenAI’s AI Fired for Using AI to Train the AI
OpenAI has thousands and thousands of contractors helping improve the company's AI models. Multiple contractors have been fired for using AI to train the AI.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 22/09/2026
One of the things I love most about teaching freshman seminars in sociology is that I get to witness so many lightbulb moments in class--moments where students connect the dots and suddenly see new meaning in things that they've recognized but maybe not fully understood about the social world.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 22/09/2026
This is the country that four decades of "personal responsibility" politics have wrought.
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Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
There is something so unbelievably bleak about an article that calmly walks readers through how to navigate being laid off after 50, losing your health insurance, and somehow surviving the years until Medicare. What a broken country.
nytimes.com
Laid Off After 50, and No Health Insurance? Here’s What to Consider. (Gift Article)
At best, older workers will struggle to find health insurance that bridges the years before they qualify for Medicare at age 65.
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Frankie de la Cretaz @thefrankiedlc.news · 18/09/2026
I'm really glad that Code Switch included this part of my interview, because I think these are the points that so often get lost in the discussion of trans panic and why the WNBA might be an ideal target for those anti-trans groups to latch onto. www.npr.org/2026/09/15/n...
We're talking about actual bigotry and the belief that this group of people shouldn't have, like, the same human rights as another group. It legitimizes them. And so the WNBA is a big platform for them to be able to do that. But I think what's actually really insidious about being the target is that transphobia is rooted in white supremacist ideas of who is allowed to be a woman and what a woman should look like. Those beliefs have, you know, negatively impacted Black and brown and non-Western women throughout history.

So what you have is a league in the WNBA that is full of Black women, 7-foot-tall women, masculine women, women who don't fit kind of the traditional markers of conventional white Western ideas of womanhood. And so I don't think it's surprising that transphobic ideas around the acceptable kind of woman are coming and impacting this league.

And I think the last piece that I will say is, I think, in some ways, the lack of visibility that the league had for a lot of years really protected it. Like, it wasn't as successful as it should have been because of racism and homophobia and misogyny. And once it becomes successful, the flip side of that is it really does become a different kind of victim of those ideas. And the fact that you have a league that is all women, predominantly Black women, largely queer women who have been successful and they don't need men to do it, and their product is not necessarily for men. I think that's a threat to the status quo. And so it's not just about protecting women's sports. It's actually about dismantling them from the inside.
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Grudgie the Whale @grudgie.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Where the women’s sports protectors at?
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Ally Whelan @amwhelan.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
"The directive aims to create a new external committee with the power to veto awards in the nation’s vast biomedical research portfolio that do not conform to Mr. Trump’s political agenda, according to people with knowledge of the effort." This is bad for science. This is bad for us all.
nytimes.com
White House Moves to Take Control of N.I.H. Grants (Gift Article)
Federal officials are drafting an executive order that would place grants under review by an outside panel, the latest effort to redirect billions of dollars in research spending.
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