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Michael Brownstein

@michaelbrownstein.bsky.social
301 followers 230 following 259 posts

professor of philosophy and department chair, John Jay College professor of philosophy, CUNY Grad Center alum, Deep Springs College author, Somebody Should Do Something: How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change

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Reposted by Michael Brownstein
In Medias Malone @professormusgrave.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
As a professor, most of what I do is log in to things
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Bill McKibben @billmckibben.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Ezra Klein @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social did the country 2 big favors this week His talk with the Nvidia CEO revealed a shallow, glib, defensive man (and thus a technology) nowhere near safe maturity His talk with Abdul El-Sayed revealed a humane, responsive, and morally rich man ready for leadership
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Michael Brownstein @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Chuffed to learn that my book with @dryan149.bsky.social and @madva.bsky.social has been shortlisted for the Goddard Riverside Book Prize for Social Justice. The winner will be announced Oct 7th. @mitpress.bsky.social @goddardriverside.bsky.social
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Brian Nosek @briannosek.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I am sad to share that Project Implicit, my first non-profit and foundation of my career, is closing. The IAT website will continue, managed by the next generation of leaders in implicit bias research. Here's the statement I posted to LinkedIn. It didn't vibe right as a bsky thread.
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Freedom of Species @freedomofspecies.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Today Lottie and Hayden covered the book Somebody Should Do Something by @madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social & @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social from the lens of #animaljustice. Think about how YOU can encourage #vegan ethics to the people around you #systemchange www.3cr.org.au/freedomofspe...
3cr.org.au
Somebody Should Do Something: How to help create social change for the animals and environment
Lottie and Hayden discussed how anyone, yes even YOU, can help create social change for important issues like animal justice and the climate. They drew from the book 'Somebody Should Do Something: How...
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G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 26/08/2026
trump now underwater on every policy issue, including border security. dems drawing even on handling deportations, immigration, and crime -- the GOP's last significant issue advantages. is that bad? seems bad www.gelliottmorris.com/p/2026-08-25...
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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
brutal south
Follow
@Paul Bowers
Did you see the teacher's note on Seesaw?
Check the Remind app. It's literally on PowerSchool. Photos are on Dakiki.
Homework is in Canva. Do the i-Ready. The parents mentioned it on WhatsApp. It's in the GroupMe. It's on Bloom. Check the Band app.
Log their reading in Beanstack
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Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford @casbsstanford.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
So awesome that this book now is in paperback. Consider listening to CASBS's podcast episode about the book with two of its coauthors, @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social (CASBS fellow 2019-20) & @dryan149.bsky.social (CASBS fellow 2018-19) 🎙️🎧 ➡️ bsky.app/profile/casb...
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Sam Ladner @sladner.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Pete Hegseth is “out here performing a masculinity that is not real, not healthy, and not sustainable” says El-Sayed. Didn’t think we’d have a Gender Trouble Candidate but I’ll take it.
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whet moser @whetmoser.com · 11/08/2026
"One important element is a person’s comfort with uncertainty; people who get involved in fights for justice tend to be more comfortable than others in recognising that they don’t know what the future holds."
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MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Newly released in paperback, @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social, @madva.bsky.social, and @dryan149.bsky.social's “Somebody Should Do Something” provides a novel approach to creating transformative social change—and the ways that each of us can help make a difference: mitpress.mit.edu/978026204978...
A photo of the book "Somebody Should Do Something" against a plain white background.
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CUNY Graduate Center @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Prof. @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social explains how ‘structure-facing virtues’ tie the personal to the big picture psyche.co/ideas/mother...
psyche.co
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 06/08/2026
In July, on ABC, CBS, and NBC, there were 194 segments on the extreme heat waves rolling across the US. Number that mentioned climate change: 0.
mediamatters.org
ABC, CBS, and NBC aired nearly 200 segments about three U.S. heat events without mentioning climate change
From late June through July, successive heat waves swept across large portions of the United States, breaking temperature records and placing more than 100 million people at a time under heat alerts. ...
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Philip Laughlin @philiplaughlin.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
The paperback edition of "Somebody Should Do Something" set to publish on August 11! mitpress.mit.edu/978026204978...
mitpress.mit.edu
Somebody Should Do Something
Changing the world is difficult. One reason is that the most important problems, like climate change, racism, and poverty, are structural. They emerge from o...
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Psyche Magazine @psyche.co · 08/08/2026
There’s more to virtue than how we treat other individuals. ‘Structure-facing virtues’ tie the personal to the big picture. An Idea by @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social & @madva.bsky.social
psyche.co
Mother Teresa was virtuous, but she was wrong about virtue | Psyche Ideas
There’s more to virtue than how we treat other individuals. ‘Structure-facing virtues’ tie the personal to the big picture
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Michael Brownstein @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Great piece by @leahstokes.bsky.social dispelling two myths: that Trump killed the full IRA and that the political theory behind it was proven wrong.
theatlantic.com
Bidenomics Was More Successful Than People Think
Conventional wisdom holds that Joe Biden’s bet on climate investment was a bust. The data suggest otherwise.
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Alex Madva @madva.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Mother Teresa was virtuous, but she was wrong about virtue 🧵 “If there are people who feel that God wants them to change the structures of society, that is something between them and their God,” Mother Teresa wrote in 1975... psyche.co/ideas/mother...
Screenshot for article published in Psyche, with the title "Mother Teresa was virtuous, but she was wrong about virtue," by Michael Brownstein and Alex Madva, philosophers, above a photo of Mother Teresa with a group of people
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Alex Madva @madva.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Our book's final chapter explores how people can focus on the social roles they already occupy—in their jobs, families, pastimes, and friend networks—to find opportunities to make a difference. We begin with a profile of Nigerian feminist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. 🧵 www.youtube.com/shorts/q6N1e...
youtube.com
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti: The Lioness of Lisabi #history #community #FunmilayoRansomeKuti #shorts
YouTube video by California Center for Ethics and Policy
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Alex Madva @madva.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Spent the last 2 days bingeing all 8 episodes of the latest season of The UnMute Podcast with Myisha Cherry, and every one is a banger! Honored to be interviewed on one of the OG philosophy podcasts, "where philosophy and real-world issues collide" www.unmutepodcast.com/all-episodes...
Flyer for the latest season of the UnMute Podcast with Myisha Cherry, featuring photos of Stephen Darwall, Robin Dembroff, Nick Buccola, Remy Debes, Joel Krueger, Maria Acosta-Lopez, Olivia Bailey, Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva, & Dan Kelly
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Alex Madva @madva.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Too cool to be part of this event at @molimuseum.bsky.social! Amazing commentators who share the commitment to merge scholarship with public engagement and civic activism (... and who were also very careful readers of our work for @mitpress.bsky.social!) www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVqp...
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Michael Brownstein @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Not every day that you get to give a talk with an opener, the opener plays 17th century Irish folk music, and previous speakers in the series were Thoreau and Emerson. Bet those chumps didn't even have good slides. @madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
youtube.com
Michael Brownstein ; Somebody should do something
YouTube video by Monadnock Summer Lyceum
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Michael Brownstein @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Four philosophers on social change and why our personal choices still matter in the face of intractable, global, wickedly complex problems @madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
unmutepodcast.com
Episode 72: Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva, and Daniel Kelly on Social Change — The UnMute Podcast
Myisha Cherry chats with philosophers Michael Brownstein (John Jay College/CUNY), Alex Madva (Cal Poly Pomona), and Daniel Kelly (Purdue) about structural change, either/or thinking, why individual ch...
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Opinion Today @opiniontoday.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Fox News Poll: Voters say Democrats can better handle income inequality (+22 points), healthcare (+21), inflation (+10), the economy (+9), and foreign policy (+7). More, via Opinion Today: opiniontoday.substack.com/p/260723
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Michael Brownstein @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
AQI in ft. greene is 278. Looks and feels awful outside.
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Michael Brownstein @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
New podcast appearance! (Recorded in December, but still.) @madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
earthboundpodcast.com
Individual Action vs. Systemic Change: Finding Agency
Individual action vs systemic change: Are individual actions pointless against climate change? Bridge the gap between either/or to both/and thinking.
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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Journalists: please, please get ready for this in ADVANCE. We know Trump's going to claim "new evidence shows the 2020 election was stolen". You've got 3 days to write a story that confronts that lie head-on before he says it - pre-write this like an obit. America is begging you: plan ahead. 1/
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Michael Brownstein @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Good thread
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Michael Brownstein @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The threat of Trump is vast. But don’t underestimate incremental change | Michael Brownstein
The work of making change is difficult. Most of it is boring, unsexy and, at best, modestly incremental from day to day
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G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 24/06/2026
Generally speaking, polls have shown the Democratic Party's problem is not being seen as too woke, but weak and ineffective. Judging by tonight's primary results, Democratic Primary voters are intent on fixing this www.gelliottmorris.com/p/new-poll-d...
gelliottmorris.com
New poll: Democrats' real problem isn't being too liberal — it's being seen as too weak
Americans, including swing voters, see the Republican Party as 20 points more extreme than Democrats — and the Democrats as weak and ineffective. So why would the *Democrats* moderate?
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Daniel Kelly @dryan149.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
newbooksnetwork.com/somebody-sho... News Books Network!
Screenshot of a podcast conversation hosted by Thomas Discenna with the authors of the book Somebody Should Do Something in the New Books network
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 18/06/2026
Mamdani's speech at the Knicks parade was easily the best I've ever heard at an event of that sort. I posted the whole thing on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. Highly recommended.
youtube.com
Mamdani Remembers Some Knicks Guys during phenomenal parade speech
YouTube video by Aaron Rupar
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Alex Madva @madva.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Who made the call to swap out bologna sandwiches for PB&J at the March on Washington? I found out from Tom Discenna for the @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social as we shared stories of social change newbooksnetwork.com/somebody-sho... @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social
newbooksnetwork.com
Michael Brownstein et al., "Somebody Should Do Something: How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change" (MIT Press, 2025) - New Books Network
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Michael Brownstein @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Bad day for the manifest image
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 06/06/2026
Every single refugee we've let in since December is supposedly fleeing white genocide.
motherjones.com
US accepts only white refugees for sixth consecutive month
The Trump administration is spending more than $100 million to fight the "emergency" of "white genocide" in South Africa.
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Michael Brownstein @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
DC always clutch
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Michael Brownstein @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Got to visit my grad school alma mater for a book talk and conversation about "moral fragmentation" with @dryan149.bsky.social, @dcameron.bsky.social, @mattlindauer.bsky.social and other terrific scholars. Good times! @madva.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
vimeo.com
Panel - Somebody Should Do Something-
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Alex Madva @madva.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
"Meaningful change happens when individuals work with others to challenge and reshape existing structures" Had a wonderful conversation with Dr Waseem Akhtar for the podcast, Bridging the Gaps: A Portal for Curious Minds www.bridgingthegaps.ie/2026/05/some...
bridgingthegaps.ie
“Somebody Should Do Something: How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change” with Professor Alex Madva
In their recent book “Somebody Should Do Something: How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change” Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva, and Daniel Kelly present a novel and scientific account of how personal ch...
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Alex Madva @madva.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Episode of @goodisinthedetails.bsky.social with me and @dryan149.bsky.social is 1 of 3 finalists (out of 155 submissions) for Episode of the Year for HigherEd PodCon! www.edupexperience.com/podconawardf... @mitpress.bsky.social @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social
edupexperience.com
And the HigherEd PodCon Awards finalists are...
It's YOUR time to #EdUp! And the HigherEd PodCon Awards finalists are... Outstanding Podcast Series “Where What If Becomes What’s Next” (Carnegie Mellon University)…
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CUNY Graduate Center @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
In Slate, Prof. @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social explains how virtue signaling can often be virtuous slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
We Do a Lot of Sneering at “Virtue Signaling.” It May Be Time to Rethink Our Approach.
Yes, it's good to do good things. It may be even more effective to tell people you're doing them.
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Alex Madva @madva.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Slate hooked us up with the non-paywalled link too: slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
We Do a Lot of Sneering at “Virtue Signaling.” It May Be Time to Rethink Our Approach.
Yes, it's good to do good things. It may be even more effective to tell people you're doing them.
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Alex Madva @madva.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
"It may feel like nothing we can do as individuals will make a difference to stem the climate crisis. But this is a mistake. Individual actions do matter, just not the way we usually think." Check out my new piece with @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social for @slate.com slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
We Do a Lot of Sneering at “Virtue Signaling.” It May Be Time to Rethink Our Approach.
Yes, it's good to do good things. It may be even more effective to tell people you're doing them.
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Michael Brownstein @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Short essay in @slate.com today with @madva.bsky.social on using social influence for good. Draws from ideas in our recent book with @dryan149.bsky.social. Check it out!
slate.com
We Do a Lot of Sneering at “Virtue Signaling.” It May Be Time to Rethink Our Approach.
Yes, it's good to do good things. It may be even more effective to tell people you're doing them.
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
slate.com/news-and-pol... It’s @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social & @madva.bsky.social in Slate! & if you’re one of those already thinking about next semester’s syllabi, highly recommend their book ‘somebody should do something’ (w @dryan149.bsky.social)!
slate.com
We Do a Lot of Sneering at “Virtue Signaling.” It May Be Time to Rethink Our Approach.
Yes, it's good to do good things. It may be even more effective to tell people you're doing them.
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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
For this holiday weekend, here’s the mother of all #ScholarSunday threads, my epic 275th of public scholarly writing, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ + blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...
blackwhiteandread.com
#ScholarSunday Thread 275 (5/10/26) – Black and White and Read All Over
For this holiday weekend, here’s the mother of all #ScholarSunday threads, my epic 275th of public scholarly writing, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, shar...
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 18/04/2026
yeah it is critical that dems win the senate
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Daryl Cameron @dcameron.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
@michaelbrownstein.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mattlindauer.bsky.social, Chuck Huff and Ben Jones will all be on hand to talk about their books. Come by and say hi! Thanks to @wiktoriampedryc.bsky.social for the poster and helping to organize. More on the rest of the event here...
moralconsortium.psu.edu
Moral Fragmentations and Boundaries - Consortium on Moral Decision-Making
This event through the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making will bring together several scholars in the social sciences and humanities to talk about different disciplinary approaches to the study of “f...
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cpp-ccep.bsky.social @cpp-ccep.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Celebrating Dr. Alex Madva 👏 As part of the 2025–26 Provost’s Awards for Excellence at Cal Poly Pomona, Dr. Madva—Professor of Philosophy, CO-Director for the DHC and CCEP—is recognized for his exceptional, field-shaping scholarship. His work spans
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mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
this is a boring take but if we want this from a Dem President in 2029 we need to deliver the type of huge legislative majority Magyar just achieved and not the razor-thin one that Biden was forced to work with.
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 11/04/2026
A milestone in March: for the first time ever, renewables provided more power on the US grid than natural gas.
canarymedia.com
In a first, renewables beat natural gas on US grid last month
It’s just one month, but it’s a sign of where the U.S. is headed as renewable energy — namely solar — surges onto the grid.
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