iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Milwaukee-area folks: Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's latest is getting rave reviews from crowds and critics alike. Tickets still available, but they're going fast! www.milwaukeechambertheatre.org

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

- Overall, rings true - Law seems somewhat but not entirely more forgiving - The contrast between my own stumbling blindly through my educational journey and the guidance I could offer my daughters was/is striking - Thank God for the Midwest, which softens the edges of nearly everything

karenkelsky.substack.com

Academia Is Easier When You’re Rich: Yes or No

I am interviewed for a NYT piece on the “class gap” in academic careers

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

You could do worse than to start your Friday morning with Georgia Davies’s Substack: georgiadavies.substack.com/p/people-wat...

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

It was 20 y/o me who (who knows why I remember this) made a snide remark about Milwaukee to a friend wearing a t-shirt she got here on a family trip. He'd be pretty surprised to learn that he'd be living there (and loving it) for longer than he had then been alive.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

This. And also no one. Or is it noone? Or how about just not anybody.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

As good an answer to the question “what motivates your scholarship?” as anything else I could come up with. It’s not a recipe for maximizing the returns to ambition but it sure does lead to some interesting places.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Twenty-five minutes in, my first condo board meeting is making me appreciate faculty meetings.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

When my first book came out I got invited to the Kentucky Book Festival. Wendell Berry was also on the schedule. I went to the author reception the night before thinking I might get to meet him. Didn't happen. Not his sort of scene, I imagine, which is just another reason to have admired him. RIP

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

There are probably more: Prince, impromptu show at Paisley Park (I was a baby lawyer who thought that whatever I had to do at work the next day was too important) Van Halen, the original lineup (they started feuding again) Tom Waits (the friend assigned to get tickets failed the assignment)

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Category: Things that are common in Milwaukee but may not be elsewhere Scene: the Wisconsin Athletic Club Client: “I had five beers in four hours last night” Trainer: “That’s not even that many”

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Seeing as how I've pretty much given up on the idea of using this platform to enhance my professional standing, I might as well pass along the random fact that to this day I associate the song "Jolene" with my farm kid days and a litter of baby chicks for whom we had a radio playing in the barn.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Live look-in, downtown Milwaukee.

Tribute to Dolly Parton on the marquee of the Riverside Theatre.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I don’t think I can rightfully claim to have grown up poor—because, as my mom says of her own childhood, we were never cold and we were never hungry—but this hits just the same.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

We don’t talk enough about how difficult it can be to tell whether that person on the sidewalk is talking on the phone, to themselves, or to me.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

I am only aspirationally Canadian (and a native Minnesotan, which’ll maybe do in a pinch), but if you haven’t listened to The Weakerthans you’ve been missing out. Sun in an Empty Room was the gateway drug for me:

youtu.be

The Weakerthans - "Sun In An Empty Room"

YouTube video by ANTI- Records

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Current life status: It just took me ten minutes to figure out what I meant by an item I put on my to-do list two weeks ago.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Opened the day helping with 1L orientation which means it’s time for my annual link to Karl Llewellyn’s Elements of Law introductory lecture:

law.uchicago.edu

Karl Llewellyn, "Elements of the Law - Introductory Lecture" | University of Chicago Law School

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Reposted by Chad Oldfather

Tom Flood @tomflood.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

"To be honest I don't even know what urbanism means and I don't really care"

a bar with empty stools

Local woman who just wants to be able to walk to a bar to drink and stumble home now a leading urbanist.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

A guy we hired to do some stuff as part of selling our house was weirdly into the idea that we should move somewhere with lower taxes. (We moved from inner-ring to the heart of the city.) "You could get a place in M****o and pay much lower taxes." True enough. But then we'd have to live there.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

I haven’t studied this closely enough to endorse all its specifics, but as someone who stumbled onto the law teaching market in approximately the least sophisticated way possible (and now long-time appointments chair), I can recommend it as a good source of information that I wish I had had.

papers.ssrn.com

<div> <span> </span><span>Field Notes from the U.S. Law Teaching Market</span> </div>

The U.S. law teaching market is highly competitive and traditionally reliant on specific institutional signals. For non-traditional candidates, accessing the un

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Unfortunately for me there have also been lots of things I didn't know earlier where time wasn't really a factor. (Which is not to deny that this is good.)

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

If you’re at all interested in the life of a touring musician, Georgia Davies of The Last Dinner Party has a Substack that’s absolutely worth reading. Her latest here:

substack.com

Georgia Davies (@georgiadavies)

In which France’s festival catering blows me away so much I have to ask what the fuck England is doing

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

No surprise I think Paul is mostly right throughout the post, though here I am on social media (even as I find it an incredibly frustrating medium through which to attempt to say anything serious).

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Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

A lot of law schools wonder how they can create faculty community and encourage faculty gathering in a world where it's so easy to work from home or just work in offices with doors closed. /1

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

The best part of teaching at two law schools this coming semester is two sets of emails from associate deans.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Came across this just now in an old book. Possibly the last game I went to at Fenway before starting law school. Six entire dollars for a front row bleacher seat.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

We’ve recently moved to downtown Milwaukee and I’m here to tell you there’s not much better than an early morning walk through the city on a perfect summer day.

A photo of a red delicious apple on a sidewalk with Milwaukee city hall and the Pabst Theater in the background

A pair of dogs walking along the Milwaukee River Walk with the streetcar and a portion of the city skyline in the background

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Area Professor Clears Throat As Prelude To Yelling At Cloud

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

I can only assume these relate to the same thing.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

I don't know who needs to hear this, and there's a very good chance you don't either. But it's probably a useful reminder for all of us.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Q. Have I been toting around a napkin from Phillips Exeter Academy since that one time I visited with one of my college roommates? A. Apparently so. Q. Why? A. 🤷‍♂️

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Yes, I study courts. But I was also an actor, minor-league pitcher, and NBA player.

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Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

I know that in many ways the window on what I imagine as "back to normal" has closed, but I still hope for a "back to normal" that means boring bureaucracies do boring professional comms and not partisan Dear-Leader-worshipping shitposting.

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Aaron Bruhl @aaronbruhl.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

I have posted a revised version of my forthcoming article on “The General Law and the Local Law of Interpretation.” I hope it may be of value to people interested in: (1) the early American history of statutory interpretation, (2) state statutory interpretation (where the action was), and …

papers.ssrn.com

The General Law and the Local Law of Interpretation

Long presumed obsolete after Erie Railroad v. Tompkins, the "general common law" has reemerged as a subject of serious inquiry in recent scholarship i

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

On the other hand, what if I enjoy daydreaming about the day, a hundred or so years from now, when, my work finally having received its due, people say of me “the great tragedy is that he died penniless and alone, thinking himself a total failure”?

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

I don’t have a strong opinion on multiple clerkships. But I do recall a moment a couple years after my clerkship when I jokingly asked Judge Roth if I could come back. She told me it was time for me to grow up.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

As someone who could not find his book on the shelves in the Strand despite the website saying it was there, I tip my cap in honor of this very relatable moment. (Did I ask the staff to help me find my book? Of course not. That would be way too embarrassing.)

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

As good a day as any to flag this hopeful, timely, and surprisingly enjoyable film for those who haven’t seen it. sliceoflifedoc.com

sliceoflifedoc.com

Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts. [OFFICIAL WEBSITE]

Available to rent/buy May 27, 2025

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 16/06/2026

i have been obsessed with this for years. allowing manufacturers to sell direct to consumers would be good for consumers and also destroying the car dealership would be an existential crisis for republicans

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Interesting read. “Rural” surely captures a wide range of vibes, as do “urban” and “suburban.” The M-S Matrix (see the screenshot) gets at it a bit. The nearest McD’s and Subway were at least 25 miles away from my hometown both when I was a kid and now. More telling, I think … 1/2

thedispatch.com

What Does ‘Rural’ Even Mean?

Politicians, surveys, and the Census all use the word. Are they all talking about the same thing?

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Dylan, on life in your 80’s, is incredible. @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/06/14/o...

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Battlebots Or maybe, on account of my farm kid heritage, an antique tractor pull. The farmer gene mostly skipped me, but I still find something soothing in the sound of a two-cylinder John Deere straining against a heavy load.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

As someone who grew up conditioned to be scared of cities, I can (still) very much relate to the joy of discovering that American cities are, in fact, amazing. Amen to all of this.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

We in WI are a bit numb to it by now, but outsiders might still find the tone of the dissents shocking (these are *relatively* restrained). Egregious examples of what Thomas Bennett calls breaking kayfabe. Or maybe they’re examples of a different type of kayfabe, for a different sort of audience.

scholarship.law.missouri.edu

Breaking Kayfabe

The membership of the Supreme Court affects how it decides cases. This maxim is well accepted among the public. But it is exceedingly rare for Supreme Court opinions to acknowledge this fact, even whe...

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Not a lot of dull moments in Wisconsin state constitutional law these days.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Worth another share, because the world needs more people like him.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Starting to read the “Report on the State of Scholarship …” and idly wondering how much of higher ed’s PR problem is a function of the fact that many/most people don’t understand that “liberal” in “liberal arts” doesn’t mean “politically liberal.” Certainly not everything, but also not nothing.

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Chad Oldfather @oldfatherc.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Shoutout to the very resilient spider who’s lived in my side view mirror for the last month or so. Rain, wind, highway speeds, it’s all just another reason to rebuild a web.

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