iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Many places make recommenders answer several institution-specific questions rather than submitting a general-purpose letter of rec. Well does it work? Does it give them any extra information? No, never. I mean they somehow delude themselves into thinking it might, but…

000

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

IBM 5155. It was “portable.” (Or, at 30lb, more accurately “luggable.”)

110

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

This is great time to introduce the concept of “taking turns.” I also recommend a rule against playing any song more than once per car ride.

120

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

It’s all very much heading the same direction the books did. So this doesn’t feel like the make-it-up-as-you-go sprawl of, say, Lost.

010

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

www.espn.com/college-foot...

100

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

3) A bo. (The martial arts weapon used by the purple Ninja Turtle.)

000

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Today's amusement is providing a different answer to everyone who asks what is in the extremely long box I have outside my office. 1) Fishing pole.

100

Reposted by Timothy Ryan

Political Science Research and Methods @psrm.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

🧪 Can measuring racial attitudes before a survey experiment bias its results? ➡️ @leahchristiani.bsky.social, Nathan Kelly & @janamorgan.bsky.social find little evidence of treatment bias overall, but show that stereotype endorsement measures are an important exception doi.org/10.1017/psrm...

0116

Reposted by Timothy Ryan

Drew Engelhardt @handle.invalid · 18/08/2026

Working on a dissertation in American political behavior and need money for survey research? Apply for a grant worth up to $15,000 from the Rapoport Family Foundation. They’re planning on awarding up to 15 grants this cycle. Deadline Oct. 21. www.rapoportfamilyfoundation.com/phdgrant

rapoportfamilyfoundation.com

Rapoport Doctoral Dissertation Grants

Supporting projects for PhD students doing political science research, democracy and social justice.

17790

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

In any event, my beef here is less with the paper authors—people can humbly report what they will, as long as they accurately describe their techniques—than with the uncritical secondary coverage of it.

000

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

say, 100 induction stoves?: A) find 100 eligible people and give them the stoves (what the study did) versus B) find 1,000 eligible people and give 100 of them the stoves via lottery. In either case, 100 people get stoves. But (b) provides a far more credible estimate than (a).

110

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

That really doesn’t seem right to me—for two reasons. First, it assumes we know that the treatment is helpful. If we know that, then I’m not sure why we need a study. Second, even if we have a hunch that the treatment helps, is there an ethical difference between these two ways to distribute,

100

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

The underlying study has no control group and only enrolls people with poorly controlled asthma. It's just pre/post comparison of asthma symptoms. Results are entirely consistent with reversion to the mean. Or seasonal change, for that matter. Come on people, we can do better!

3268

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Link to the peer reviewed article or it didn’t happen!

000

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

I do enjoy adding a bit of poetry to my Concur expense reports--especially when I am subjected to the indignity of filing a full report (date, expense type, receipts, everything) for a charge that was reversed and nets to $0.00

030

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Yes, because of what those words mean.

020

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Very nicely articulated, Yamil! I like the island metaphor.

030

Reposted by Timothy Ryan

Angry Staff Officer @pptsapper.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Happy “liberal arts professor helps save the Union” day to all who celebrate

Charge of the 20th Maine at Little Round Top

10156371504

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

(Missed my screenshot of the ending of the opinion.)

100

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The unsung hero---credit where it is due---is Amy Coney Barrett, who provided a crucial fifth vote here. Had ACB flipped the other way, I suspect Kavanaugh's flabby concurrence would have been the controlling opinion, and the understanding of US citizenship would have been the worse for it.

200

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

And it ends---after 26 brisk pages, thank you---on just the right note.

100

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

In several places, the opinion draws out the untenable implications of the alternative views.

100

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The opinion avoids interpretive alchemy. It asks us to read the plain text of the Constitution and take the words at face value. This is not hard! (In contrast, see Trump v. United States.)

100

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The opinion correctly conceptualizes the 14th Amendment's very purpose as being to end the conversation. As it mostly did for more than a century.

110

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The opinion correctly contextualizes the 14A as a repudiation for the Dred Scott decision, the Southern rebellion, and the racist logic they sought to instill.

100

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

First, the opinion, through and through, focuses on the 14th Amendment---not (as Kavanaugh would have had it) on a statute. This makes the opinion weightier and harder to overturn.

100

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

There has been much anger--and I share it--about the 3 (or 4 depending on how you count) dissenting votes in the birthright citizenship case. But let's also take some time to sit with the controlling opinion by CJ Roberts. It's… quite good? (Thread, ending with a remark about an unsung hero.)

100

Reposted by Timothy Ryan

◥◤Kriston Capps 250 @kristoncapps.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

This is the one true recipe for a Reflecting Pool: 2oz rum, 4oz pineapple juice, 1oz blue curacao, one Blue Razzberry Fruit Roll-Up

11044711280

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

“When, in the course of human events…”

030

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

How many strikes does it take for a cease fire to stop counting as a cease fire?

110

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Now I’m curious who got 8 APSR publications in ten years. 😯

100

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

I think I might've gotten that one from Akhil Amar. (A self-described originalist, though he sometimes endorses things that seem not-so-originalist to me, such as the national popular vote plan.)

110

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Agreed on the amendment. Do you think the following is too clever?: A regular statute defining two periods of SCOTUS service. Regular = first 18 years. Emeritus = after. There are always 9 regular justices, and this is who votes on cases. Emeritus justices fill vacancies, e.g. if there's a recusal.

110

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Re-upping this. Applications for tomorrow. Note that the position is one year *renewable*. We expect it to be a two year gig.

020

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Grades are submitted and UNC semester #24 is in the books. Be kind to yourselves, everyone.

150

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

That's fine, but suppose the journal rejects my paper despite its Amazing Insights. Now the Amazing Insights have been ingested by the LLM and are being distributed to other people---without me getting any credit at all.

220

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

And with that, have a good weekend, everyone.

000

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

"It's like an H.O.A. out of control," the man said, referring to [checks notes] the Adirondack Park Agency saying he's not allowed to fire a 4-ton Howitzer artillery gun off on his property. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/24/n...

nytimes.com

A Man, a Howitzer and His Battle to Fire It Into the Adirondack Woods

121

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Wouldn't this use case require uploading the paper being reviewed to the LLM? There is some ethical peril there, since it amounts to giving the LLM someone else's IP.

260

Reposted by Timothy Ryan

Center for Political Studies @umisrcps.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

👏 Congratulations to @nickvalentino.bsky.social, one of the three U-M leaders newly elected to the 2026 American Academy of Arts & Sciences. A PI of the @electionstudies.bsky.social, Valentino's work has advanced what we know about electoral participation, empathy, and race. myumi.ch/y176R

Elected to the Class of 2026
American Academy of Arts & Sciences

NICHOLAS VALENTINO
university of michigan

donald r. kinder collegiate professor of political science

RESEARCH PROFESSOr, center for political studies

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, american national election studies

44412

Reposted by Timothy Ryan

Christina Wolbrecht @cwolbrecht.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Lots of amazing and well-deserving political scientists on the 2026 American Academy of Arts & Sciences inductees list, but a special shout out to my friend and collaborator, Dave Campbell. A great scholar and an excellent friend. So pleased to see him recognized. www.amacad.org/new-members-...

0332

Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

🚨Job opportunity🚨 UNC Poli Sci is hiring a postdoc (one year renewable) to advance research on political behavior, with a special focus on free expression in higher education. Competitive salary and benefits. No teaching. Please encourage people to apply. Ad: timryan.web.unc.edu/wp-content/u...

timryan.web.unc.edu

01927