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Madeleine Baker

@madeleineebaker.bsky.social
4.7K followers 376 following 584 posts

Historian at Harvard, senior editor at The Drift, contributing writer at Jewish Currents, author of Make Your Own Job madeleineebaker.com

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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 21h
In the September installment of her advice column, Sophie Haigney responds to a reader who struggles to imagine digital technology finding a place in a compelling love story. newsletter.thedriftmag.com/p/can-the-ap...
newsletter.thedriftmag.com
Can the apps appear in my love story?
The Drift’s advice column #7
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 21h
Sophie's September advice column considers the mutual repulsion between phones and plot and what that means for L-O-V-E newsletter.thedriftmag.com/p/can-the-ap...
newsletter.thedriftmag.com
Can the apps appear in my love story?
The Drift’s advice column #7
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Christopher Deutsch @drchrisdeutsch.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Getting to talk @madeleineebaker.bsky.social's intellectual history of work culture with my graduate students today!
Make Your Own Job: How the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic Exhausted America by Madeleine Baker
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The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 29/09/2026
To mark the publication today of his new book “Man in the Mirror,” @anandwrites.bsky.social spoke with @madeleineebaker.bsky.social about Daniel Penny’s killing of Jordan Neely and the “chronic hum of dehumanization” that pervades our society. newsletter.thedriftmag.com/p/the-emotio...
newsletter.thedriftmag.com
"The emotional inner life of an authoritarian age"
Anand Giridharadas in conversation with Madeleine Baker
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
For our newsletter today, I spoke with @anandwrites.bsky.social about his excellent new book about the killing of Jordan Neely by Daniel Penny newsletter.thedriftmag.com/p/the-emotio...
newsletter.thedriftmag.com
"The emotional inner life of an authoritarian age"
Anand Giridharadas in conversation with Madeleine Baker
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
In the newsletter today, NY state senator-to-be Aber Kawas talks to Krithika Varagur about the sea change among Democratic primary voters newsletter.thedriftmag.com/p/we-no-long...
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
Paul Kelly @pjthinker.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
www.thedriftmag.com/the-last-day... Interesting piece on the Potemkin village of postliberal Budapest but Goodmans piece ends with the note that perhaps all is not done with Orbanite Postliberalism as it returns to the US.
thedriftmag.com
The Last Days of the Danube Institute | A Report from Postliberal Budapest
By Brian Goodman. In the wake of Viktor Orbán’s defeat, Budapest’s postliberals face end times.
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Fresh out of the oven
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 22/09/2026
The “postliberal” intellectual scene that thrived in Viktor Orbán’s Hungary has often been characterized as mere regime propaganda. But when @briankgoodman.bsky.social visited himself, he found something more complex — and more troubling. www.thedriftmag.com/the-last-day...
thedriftmag.com
The Last Days of the Danube Institute | A Report from Postliberal Budapest
By Brian Goodman. In the wake of Viktor Orbán’s defeat, Budapest’s postliberals face end times.
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
David_j_roth @davidjroth.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
This is good, and has an appropriately acid punchline. www.thedriftmag.com/the-last-day...
thedriftmag.com
The Last Days of the Danube Institute | A Report from Postliberal Budapest
By Brian Goodman. In the wake of Viktor Orbán’s defeat, Budapest’s postliberals face end times.
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
If you have not yet read Brian’s incredible essay on the twilight of Orbán’s postliberal salon, well, what are you waiting for?
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
Dan Sinykin @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Killer first graf from Brian Goodman in this essay on Hungary for @thedriftmag.com www.thedriftmag.com/the-last-day...
thedriftmag.com
The Last Days of the Danube Institute | A Report from Postliberal Budapest
By Brian Goodman. In the wake of Viktor Orbán’s defeat, Budapest’s postliberals face end times.
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 17/09/2026
In Issue Eighteen’s Dispatches section, a group of anonymous contributors — including novelists, academics, doctors, organizers, and more — report on how they are using, not using, or being pushed to use A.I. www.thedriftmag.com/into-the-fun...
thedriftmag.com
Into the Funhouse Mirror | Anonymous A.I. Confessional
Fourteen anonymous contributors share how they’re using, not using, or being forced to use A.I.
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
In the coming weeks we'll be spotlighting each contribution to Issue Eighteen of @thedriftmag.com. First up: anonymous Dispatches on A.I. www.thedriftmag.com/into-the-fun...
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The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 16/09/2026
Join us on October 8 at Tavern 29 starting at 7 p.m. to celebrate the launch of Issue Eighteen! Print subscribers get in free.
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"le mec à McCabe là", un truc comme ça @socfrimphmcc.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Que deviennent les intellectuels d'extrême droite us financés par Orban après la chute de leur protecteur? www.thedriftmag.com/the-last-day...
thedriftmag.com
The Last Days of the Danube Institute | A Report from Postliberal Budapest
By Brian Goodman. In the wake of Viktor Orbán’s defeat, Budapest’s postliberals face end times.
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 14/09/2026
Read a special set of anonymous Dispatches on the A.I. rollout from workers in a wide range of industries. www.thedriftmag.com/into-the-fun...
thedriftmag.com
Into the Funhouse Mirror | Anonymous A.I. Confessional
Fourteen anonymous contributors share how they’re using, not using, or being forced to use A.I.
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
Brian K Goodman @briankgoodman.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
It turns out "infiltrating" the Danube Institute mostly requires filling out an online registration form. That, and eating a lot of dry pastries. The essay is finally out in @thedriftmag.com www.thedriftmag.com/the-last-day...
thedriftmag.com
The Last Days of the Danube Institute | A Report from Postliberal Budapest
By Brian Goodman. In the wake of Viktor Orbán’s defeat, Budapest’s postliberals face end times.
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 14/09/2026
Read the full issue online today. www.thedriftmag.com/issue/issue-...
thedriftmag.com
Issue 18
Issue 18 of The Drift
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The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 14/09/2026
Issue Eighteen is here! 🧵
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 14/09/2026
To learn more about postliberalism, @briankgoodman.bsky.social infiltrates Budapest’s Danube Institute in the last days of the Orbán regime. www.thedriftmag.com/the-last-day...
thedriftmag.com
The Last Days of the Danube Institute | A Report from Postliberal Budapest
By Brian Goodman. In the wake of Viktor Orbán’s defeat, Budapest’s postliberals face end times.
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
Brian K Goodman @briankgoodman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
One of the stranger experiences of my life! Thanks to the wonderful editors @thedriftmag.com. Happy (and just a little scared) to finally share it...
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Our new issue also contains a Mention from me
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 14/09/2026
Read Issue Eighteen Mentions from @izzyampil.bsky.social, @madeleineebaker.bsky.social, @juliangeorge-abhf.bsky.social, @aaronwistar.bsky.social, and more. www.thedriftmag.com/mention/issu...
thedriftmag.com
Issue 18 Mentions
Extremely abbreviated reviews by Isabella Cacdac Ampil, Max Arambulo, Madeleine Baker, Elizabeth R. Blackburn, Sascha Cohen, Ariel Courage, Drew Dickerson, Greta Dieck, Ben Gambuzza, Julian George, Dr...
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
🚨ISSUE EIGHTEEN OF THE DRIFT IS NOW ONLINE🚨 www.thedriftmag.com/issue/issue-...
thedriftmag.com
Issue 18
Issue 18 of The Drift
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
happy pubversary for Karl Marx's Das Kapital, Sept 14, 1867! open thread of good C21 critiques of p.e. and more:
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Boston Review @bostonreview.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Thoughts on how to disenshittify science and the NSF, from: @pamukz.bsky.social @jeremymberg.bsky.social @alondra.bsky.social @madeleineebaker.bsky.social @cbo.bsky.social @nataliebaviles.bsky.social @sbagen.bsky.social @heatherdouglas.bsky.social @jamesowenweatherall.com + others
bostonreview.net
How to Save Science
Trump has killed the postwar social contract, but its demise was long in the making. To protect science as a public good, we need a different approach.
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 10/09/2026
Reminder: our Labor Day sale is still running through Monday! Take advantage of 25% off subscriptions and 50% off back issues. www.thedriftmag.com/subscribe/
thedriftmag.com
Subscribe
Choose a combination print & digital subscription to receive issues in the mail, or continue reading us right here with a digital-only subscription. We publish three print issues per year…
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 10/09/2026
Rachel Cusk’s new novel, “Life of M,” has garnered hostile reviews. But the most dismissive assessments, Colton Valentine argues in our newsletter today, fail to grapple adequately with the roman à clef as a genre. newsletter.thedriftmag.com/p/why-genre-...
newsletter.thedriftmag.com
Why genre matters
Colton Valentine on Rachel Cusk and the roman à clef
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
One of my favorite things I've read on "alignment" and AI risk is this piece by my friend Jordan Ecker on how we are already living in a society dominated by an inhuman rationality we created and which escaped our control, namely, capital clereviewofbooks.com/beverley-bes...
clereviewofbooks.com
Inhuman Intelligence: on “The Automatic Fetish” and “The MANIAC” - Cleveland Review of Books
Labatut and Best both fear this outcome. But Labatut does not realize we already live in a world governed by an alien intelligence.
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Luke Herrine @lookheron.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
cc @madeleineebaker.bsky.social
As Read shows, this style of salesmanship and culture building owes a great deal to the Positive Thinking movement that has shaped so much of contemporary religious and spiritual culture and (as Madeleine Baker’s fascinating recent book explores) management theory. The basic idea that drives this movement—that the key to success is “manifesting” it into existence by force of will—grew out of the New Thought tradition of the late nineteenth century, whose early proponents included Phineas Quimby and Ralph Waldo Trine. It was popularized in the twentieth century by Napoleon Hill, whose Think and Grow Rich (1937) became a foundational text for the self-help industry, and came to be called “Positive Thinking” after Norman Vincent Peale published his bestseller The Power of Positive Thinking in 1952. Peale was, notably, the Trump family’s pastor: Donald Trump’s parents drove into Manhattan every Sunday to worship at Peale’s Marble Collegiate Church, and Peale officiated Trump’s first wedding. The tradition has since been repackaged in many guises—most recently as The Secret and the Prosperity Gospel.

Following Biggart’s suggestion that MLMs organize their sales forces like social movements, we can usefully understand Positive Thinking’s relationship to MLMs as akin to Marxism’s relationship to (radical) labor unions. It motivates effective organizing by giving both the lead organizers and the rank-and-file an understanding of why it makes sense for them to engage in a shared project and take the personal risks that they do, even as it draws on an account of social reality that can be used by people whether or not they are part of that project. Those who use this ideology to make sense of their work with MLMs will also use it to make sense of other social relationships. And those who accept the ideology because it is common in their community will find the MLM pitch more amenable.
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Today in the newsletter: Colton Valentine in defense of Cusk's Life of M newsletter.thedriftmag.com/p/why-genre-...
newsletter.thedriftmag.com
Why genre matters
Colton Valentine on Rachel Cusk and the roman à clef
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
Anthropology of Work Review @anthropologyofwork.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Rethinking the American Work Ethic: A Conversation with historian Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social www.hup.harvard.edu/features/ret... @harvardpress.bsky.social
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The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 09/09/2026
“A vague feeling somewhere between shame and pleasure held me for a moment.” In Henri Lipton’s Issue Eighteen story, an underemployed freelancer joins a secretive community of morbid gamblers on the Dark Web. www.thedriftmag.com/unlike-things/
thedriftmag.com
Unlike Things | Fiction
A short story by Henri Lipton from Issue Eighteen.
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Fantastic review by a fantastic scholar of a fantastic book by a fantastic journalist and writer 🚀 (with a little shout-out to yours truly)
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Sorry to be cheesy but I really appreciate the support and hope that you will pick up a copy if you are able. It means a lot to know that this work I poured so much into will be circulating in physical form under my real name.
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
New Drift fiction about using the computer www.thedriftmag.com/unlike-things/
thedriftmag.com
Unlike Things | Fiction
A short story by Henri Lipton from Issue Eighteen.
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The most joyous unboxing of my life! The paperback of Make Your Own Job is out today, with a very special new cover. You can find a copy wherever you like to buy your books.
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 08/09/2026
“To an extent that the public often remains unaware of, insurers are among the most important institutional investors in the financial system, and their investments often belie the industry’s reputation for sobriety and restraint.”
thebaffler.com
I Might Need Security | Madeleine Baker
Capitalism transforms the quest to control risk into the most reckless gambling—just look to the insurance industry.
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 08/09/2026
The past few years have seen a spate of novels, films, and plays featuring content moderators, @lorakelley.bsky.social writes in a new Issue Eighteen preview. But many of these works give a misleading impression of how the tech industry actually functions. www.thedriftmag.com/everything-i...
thedriftmag.com
Everything in Moderation | Tech Fiction’s Discontents
By Lora Kelley. The recent slate of content moderation fiction might depict a world that no longer exists.
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Website was having trouble earlier but all good now – ICYMI!
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The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 08/09/2026
In the space of a couple of generations, America’s insurance companies evolved from risk managers into risk seekers. @madeleineebaker.bsky.social describes their transformation in our new issue.
thebaffler.com
I Might Need Security | Madeleine Baker
Capitalism transforms the quest to control risk into the most reckless gambling—just look to the insurance industry.
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William Clare Roberts 🇵🇸 @marxinhell.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Madeleine subbed in and 30 people showed up to say hi!
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The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 03/09/2026
“Violent incursions and new outposts are becoming ubiquitous.” For our newsletter, @infinitejaz.bsky.social spoke with @madeleineebaker.bsky.social about the state of the West Bank settler movement. newsletter.thedriftmag.com/p/the-moveme...
newsletter.thedriftmag.com
"The movement is growing in both numbers and strength"
A Q&A on West Bank settler violence with Jasper Nathaniel
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Today in the newsletter: I talk with @infinitejaz.bsky.social about West Bank settler violence newsletter.thedriftmag.com/p/the-moveme...
newsletter.thedriftmag.com
"The movement is growing in both numbers and strength"
A Q&A on West Bank settler violence with Jasper Nathaniel
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
APSA attendees: I am subbing in last-minute for a panelist who can't make it on the roundtable on "Zionism and the Future of Imperialism" at 10 this morning (Hynes 208). Say hi!
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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I want to ride the everyone mocks Seth Moulton train until the end of the line
An Instagram post from @salemtrash 01970 showing Seth Moulton's office with a Spirit Halloween sign taped on it
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
ICYMI: My new piece for @thebaffler.com on how the financialization of insurance almost blew up the world once and threatens to do so again thebaffler.com/salvos/i-mig...
thebaffler.com
I Might Need Security | Madeleine Baker
Capitalism transforms the quest to control risk into the most reckless gambling—just look to the insurance industry.
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Reposted by Madeleine Baker
Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I spent much of the first half of this year working on a new history of the financialization of the insurance industry for @thebaffler.com. It's online now as part of a great issue on risk and gambling. thebaffler.com/salvos/i-mig...
thebaffler.com
I Might Need Security | Madeleine Baker
Capitalism transforms the quest to control risk into the most reckless gambling—just look to the insurance industry.
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Madeleine Baker @madeleineebaker.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
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