Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 01/10/2026From Doge to DoD ... just one more way for this monster to kill people.theguardian.comPete Hegseth appoints Elon Musk to US taskforce on future of warfareA year after his explosive tenure at Doge, the SpaceX CEO is back in the Trump administration’s good graces 001
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Have we talked about how embarrassing it all is? 000
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Good news--we're hiring in the department of political science at TCNJ! If you are or know someone who is an IR scholar, please consider us. tcnj.taleo.net/careersectio...tcnj.taleo.netAssistant Professor-Political ScienceClick the link provided to see the complete job description. 000
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 08/09/2026How Tesla beat Sweden: "Unlike many European countries, Sweden has no law or extension mechanism obliging an employer to sign or observe a collective agreement. There are only norms, which are widely respected. As we are painfully aware, people like Musk and Trump take pride in breaking norms."socialeurope.euTesla Outlasted the World’s Strongest Union MovementAfter 1,027 days, severance deals with confidentiality clauses emptied the picket line at Sweden’s Tesla workshops. 001
Reposted by Nicholas ToloudisKendra, spooky version @kendrawcandraw.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Tim Curry and Dolly Parton have taught us not only that you should be bigger, weirder, gayer, and freakier, but also that those qualities are what people will love about you. The things that make you strange and amazing are the things that will resonate with other strange and amazing people 59220357579
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 18/08/2026"But seriously, bro, Anne with an E is straight-up shit and if you keep it up I will personally hand you your kneecaps and piss fire in your eyeballs." 001
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 17/08/2026I'm knee-deep in the final edits of my book. At this point, I really hope it's awesome, because it's really hard to tell any more. 010
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 17/08/2026The title of the late Jane McAlevey's book is No Shortcuts. For all the stuff in my own book about the CPUSA, an awful lot of it could be summarized by the phrase No Shortcuts. I focus on lots of day-to-day organizing, along with the political campaigns the union fought in the 1930s and 40s. 000
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 15/08/2026"Dave shows us the world...and then he shows how rock and roll prodded him to envision the possibility of a new one. The music helped Marsh to observe, as another of his heroes, James Baldwin, once wrote, that freedom lurked all around us and we could be free if only we would listen."nofencesreview.substack.comHeart On His Sleeve: Some Thoughts on Dave MarshDavid Cantwell on a new anthology from an old friend 010
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 15/08/2026Bouncing between the news and book edits today, when I learned that Dave Marsh passed away. Now I'm reading piece after piece about him and his work. We've lost a great one. Here's one from a few years ago. slate.com/culture/2023...slate.comThe Greatest Music Critic You’ve (Probably) Never Heard OfDave Marsh made me want to write about music. 020
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 15/08/2026"...some uncertainty remains, especially in New Hampshire, where a state law requires its primary be the first in the nation." How can a law like that be upheld? www.nytimes.com/2026/08/15/u...nytimes.comDemocrats Make South Carolina the First Contest in 2028 Presidential Primary CalendarThe party’s membership finalized the new order for the first six states to winnow the candidate field, pushing back Iowa and New Hampshire. 100
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 12/08/2026The (ideological) state of the Italian extreme right. 000
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 09/08/2026This is an Onion story, right?nytimes.comChuck Grassley Announces the Death of His Beloved Vacuum, BethSenator Chuck Grassley mourned his decades-long cleaning companion, writing on social media: “GOOD BYE BETH. U hv been a real workhorse.” 000
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 08/08/2026The magnitude of these losses is striking, no pun intended, except in the sense that it was totally intended.nytimes.comThe U.S. Is Burning Through Weapons in Iran. Russia and China Are Taking Note.The Iran war has depleted U.S. weapons stockpiles, resulting in a significant erosion of firepower. A more drawn-out Iran conflict benefits Moscow and Beijing, some analysts say. 020
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 08/08/2026"As for Roy’s congressional seat, Republicans have rallied around former MLB Player Mark Teixeira as their nominee to Texas’ deep red 21st Congressional District."sanantonioreport.org‘My voice is not going to go anywhere’: Chip Roy falls in AG runoffA late infusion of campaign cash tightened his uphill bid to replace Texas AG Ken Paxton, but Roy couldn’t quite catch up to Mayes Middleton. 000
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 05/08/2026www.euractiv.com/news/italy-t...euractiv.comItaly to negotiate extra spending on energy, defence with Brussels | EuractivThe plan to use the EU's extra budget flexibility could make around €36 billion available 000
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 05/08/2026That's a lot of luck to go around.dw.comItaly: Garbage workers help woman find €1 million jackpotA woman who won €1 million mistakenly threw her lottery ticket in a trash bin in Bitonto, southern Italy — prompting her local sanitation company to launch an hourslong search. 000
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 03/08/2026""The organizations that bring young staffers to Washington, D.C. have spent the last decade prioritizing blind ideological loyalty instead of competence or intelligence,” said a senior GOP congressional staffer....“We have a generation of rabid, incompetent idiots.”"politico.comGOP Staffers Say the Party Has a Groyper ProblemParty veterans are concerned that the pipeline of young Republican talent is veering off course — and into terminally online extremism. 000
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 03/08/2026The Special Collections at @temple-libraries.bsky.social features a ton of great material, without which I never could have written my book. 010
Reposted by Nicholas ToloudisOlúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 31/07/2026there are a lot of philosophical concepts that get egregiously misused out of the seminar room (and in the seminar room, to be fair). but in terms of sheer pernicious misuse "social construct" has gotta be top 5 somewhere and it's not number 5 743503585
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 30/07/2026To be read with @reecejones.bsky.social's book Violent Borders, @pollypw.bsky.social's work, and so forth. An encapsulation of post-colonial and xenophobic anxieties in the European Union.nytimes.comSpain Mobilizes Military as Thousands of Migrants Cross Into CeutaThe arrivals in Ceuta, a six-mile-long peninsula on Morocco’s northern coast that Spain has governed for centuries, have fueled political tensions. 021
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 30/07/2026Obviously, this is a good thing. But it's also up to the Democrats to makes something of it. Given past performances, that means it's up to the rest of us to push them into it.newrepublic.comWe’ve Officially Entered the Twilight of Late-Stage TrumpismIt’s all there in a new CNN poll, and it’s heartening to see: Large majorities are sick of Donald Trump’s vanity, venality, and megalomania. 000
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 29/07/2026More often than not, it's not that clever anyway. 000
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 28/07/2026Unmentioned in this otherwise useful article: the Merz government recently approved a 2026 budget for Germany that features record-level public spending and borrowing.politico.euGermany’s Merz says EU budget needs cut of ‘several hundred billion’ eurosChancellor also argues it is “unacceptable” for European institutions to add 2,500 new jobs. 000
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 27/07/2026Denmark privatized its postal service at the end of 2025 and proceeded to demonstrate, once again, that the private sector doesn't always do things as well as the public sector.euractiv.comDenmark killed its public postal service. Is the EU next? | EuractivDanish postal workers warn Brussels against putting profit before public service 101
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 24/07/2026"The most common response from those against or still skeptical about creating an elected school board is: well, we don’t want to let politics into the process." That's been the objection for the past 100+ years. Philadelphia is the only big city in the US that has never had an elected school board.hallmonitor.orgPhiladelphia Needs An Elected School Board – Philadelphia Hall MonitorCommunity members urge Board of Education to vote No on facilities plan at April 30 meeting. (Photo: Lisa Haver) This year, Philadelphia hosts the nation’s 250th birthday party. We celebrate our right... 000
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 23/07/2026My new book is about a Communist-led teachers union in Philadelphia. I wanted it to be about all things Philadelphia, all things teachers, all things Communist. 010
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 15/07/2026The magnitude of this level of derangement is something to behold.apnews.comHegseth announces new policy to test troops for low testosteroneDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he's rolling out a new screening program for “testosterone deficiency” among troops. 0104
Reposted by Nicholas ToloudisGreg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 18/05/2026Unreal. Now that Trump dropped IRS lawsuit, DOJ just announced a new slush fund for alleged victims of "weaponization." Two Qs: *Will there be *any* congressional oversight? Most reporting suggests not. *Would payments to J6ers violate 14A? Raskin explains here: newrepublic.com/article/2105... 931157422
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 15/05/2026The line "I am a great admirer of America's, but right now my admiration is not increasing" would've made me laugh too. In fact, it did.france24.comGermany's Merz says wouldn't advise young people to move to USGerman Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday he would not advise young people in his country to move to the United States for study or work, in the latest sign of cooling ties between Berlin and Washi... 010
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 15/05/2026As I review my chapter on the Second Red Scare in Philadelphia, I start to integrate more thoughts along this line. 010
Reposted by Nicholas ToloudisBrent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 13/05/2026“Unfortunately for the vice president, there’s video” will be an increasingly common sentence.newrepublic.comJD Vance Insists Trump Never Said He Doesn’t Care About AmericansUnfortunately for the vice president, there’s video. 211127209
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 13/05/2026People trained to do X are asking machines to do X for them and, in turn, forget how to do X. Film at 11. 010
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 12/05/2026I missed this piece when it first came out, and I'm sorry I did. It's quite good. Fwiw, my soon-to-be-published book will touch on some of these issues in Red Scare-era Philadelphia. 162
Nicholas Toloudis @toloudis.bsky.social · 12/05/2026"With credit increasingly serving as the glue holding daily life together, the consequences can be dire if that safety net disappears." It's telling that the NYTimes thinks of credit as a safety net. I mean, the gist of the rest of this story is that it isn't a safety net at all.nytimes.comConsumers Lean on a ‘Hamster Wheel’ of Credit to Manage Rising Costs 000
Reposted by Nicholas ToloudisKen Tremendous @kentremendous.bsky.social · 10/05/2026Trump gathered all of the very worst people in the country in one place and got them to break a million laws and then pardoned all of them, and now local law enforcement has to go get them one by one as they commit new crimes. 362826789
Reposted by Nicholas ToloudisMarc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 10/05/2026I often say that the fight for democracy is the fight of our generation. But let me be clear, if you aren’t fighting for Black voting rights right now then you aren’t really fighting for democracy. 203111193481
Reposted by Nicholas ToloudisSeth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 07/05/2026Just had Canvas stop working as I was typing comments on a student paper. I now can’t access anyone’s work or grades. Strangely, this never happened back when I used a grade book and had students email me their papers, a system no shareholders extracted money from. 593473991