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Topher McDougal

@tophermcd.bsky.social
36 followers 21 following 55 posts

Writer, teacher, pattern seeker, future thinker, nature rambler.

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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
New (w/ Sean Campbell): 2 articles in The Economics of Peace & Security Journal on U.S.–Mexico arms trafficking. We estimate flows and show even limited enforcement can reduce diversion. Part of a growing Kroc focus on trafficking, migration & organized crime. www.epsjournal.org.uk/index.php/EP...
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
I had a wide-ranging conversation on the #GunViolence Solutions Podcast at the University of Virginia on how #illicit #smallarms and ammunition markets undermine governance across the Americas and world. open.spotify.com/episode/5rOK...
open.spotify.com
The International Black Market for U.S. Firearms – Topher McDougal on how the illicit gun trade undermines safety
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Here's a 2nd blog post about American slide from hypocritical empire to cynical empire. Along the way, I touch on Haiti, Jean Dominique, and Frederick Douglass, before taking us to the so-called "Donroe Doctrine". I'd love to hear your reactions! tophermcdougal.com/2026/01/23/a...
tophermcdougal.com
A Eulogy for Imperial Hypocrisy: Haiti, Cynicism, and the Promise of Progress - Topher Mcdougal
How Cynical Empire Destroys the Conditions for Political Progress
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
My recent blog post argues that America's previous political hypocrisy is vastly superior to tell-it-like-it-is brutalism. In Defense of American Hypocrisy: Trump, Cynicism, and the Possibility of Progress tophermcdougal.com/2026/01/15/i...
tophermcdougal.com
In defense of American hypocrisy: Trump, cynicism, and the possibility of progress - Topher Mcdougal
When the Trump administration speaks of “peace” in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it does so with a striking bluntness. There is little pretense of
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
I am honored and pretty thunderstruck: Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick & I just won the Immanuel Wallerstein Best Article Award 2025 in quantitative research for “Leviathans and Liberation: Did Whaling Contribute to the Decline of Slavery?” !!! Whaling and slavery as “world systems”:) Thanks, ISSJ!
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
As the evaluation partner for the City of San Diego’s Peacemaker Project, the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice is allowing students to work directly on a real, citywide violence prevention initiative. Here we are visiting UPAC in San Diego's City Heights neighborhood.
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
It is a true delight to see the publication of this handbook on humanitarian crises, in part due to the number of contributors linked to the Kroc School, to wit: Bruno Husquinet, Ernest Ogbozor, PhD, Eric James, and David J. Smith, Sala Kurtz. Congratulations, all! www.e-elgar.com/shop/usd/han...
e-elgar.com
Handbook on Humanitarian Crises
‘The Handbook on Humanitarian Crises is a timely analysis of the subject with a very good balance of basic concepts, in-depth case studies on current crises, and emerging risks. I am confident that it...
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
I had a really fun, dorky, SciFi-inflected conversation with Matthew Ying Yeung Metz about #GaiaWakes on the Kroc School at the University of San Diego's #KrocPod podcast. Please check it out!! open.spotify.com/episode/3McT...
open.spotify.com
Gaia Wakes: When Earth Grows a Brain
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
I was recently quoted in this great CNN piece by Bob Ortega on the Trump administration's lack of interest in pursuing gun crimes, firearms sales infractions, straw-purchasing and trafficking, etc. www.cnn.com/2025/10/15/u...
cnn.com
Gun crime cases fall as agents shift to immigration crackdown | CNN
ATF is just one of several federal law enforcement agencies that have felt a notable impact on normal duties while assisting with the immigration mission, a CNN review has found.
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
I had a delightful conversation about #GaiaWakes with Scott Jones on his Give and Take podcast. I get the impression he could make even mundane topics shimmer with some combination of mystery and revelation and curiosity and joy. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
podcasts.apple.com
Episode 302: Is the Earth Growing a Brain?...with Topher McDougal
Podcast Episode · Give and Take · 09/09/2025 · 53m
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
I'm grateful to have had this really fun and wide-ranging conversation about #GaiaWakes, #sustainability, #AI, and planetary consciousness with a supremely well-informed interlocutor, Mitch Ratcliffe at Intentional Futures. earth911.com/podcast/sust...
earth911.com
Sustainability In Your Ear: Author Topher McDougal Asks If Earth Is Evolving A Planetary Consciousness
Has the convergence of climate change, information technology, and human progress set the stage for a global mind that can reverse environmental damage?
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Page One Media @pageonem.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
Gaia Wakes by @tophermcd.bsky.social (@agendapub.bsky.social appeared in Writer’s Digest, where it was praised for challenging genre boundaries and inviting readers to sit with complexity in moments of global change.
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Page One Media @pageonem.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
🧵 (6/9) Gaia Wakes by @tophermcd.bsky.social (@agendapub.bsky.social) was featured in Swarthmore Magazine (page1m.co/4kWAKr2)
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
Many thanks to John Hawkins for this thoughtful review of #GaiaWakes in the UK socialist magazine Morning Star. morningstaronline.co.uk/article/pull...
morningstaronline.co.uk
Pull the Gaia one, it’s got bells | Morning Star
Gaia Wakes: Earth’s Emergent Planetary Consciousness in an Age of Environmental DevastationTopher McDougal, Agenda Publishing, £25IT’s often said that Earth is the only known haven for life in the cos...
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Check out my recent essay on writing #GaiaWakes, a book that doesn't fall into an easily recognizable genre. www.writersdigest.com/on-the-merit...
writersdigest.com
On the Merits and Demerits of Genre Recognizability
Author Topher McDougal discusses the dilemma of writing a book that doesn't fall into an easily recognizable genre.
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
The ten legions of imperial sardukar arrived and the Fremen revolt, so presumably Newsom plays Duke Leto Atreides. But must we collapse Baron Harkonnen and the Padisha Emperor into a single personage? And where in the name of Shai-Hulud are Muad'Dib and Alia? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
theguardian.com
‘This isn’t an isolated incident’: Trump’s show of military force in LA was years in the making
The president had been waiting for this made-for-TV clash that allows the administration to ‘manufacture’ a crisis
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Page One Media @pageonem.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
@tophermcd.bsky.social's new book, GAIA WAKES from @agendapub.bsky.social, was reviewed in Daily Galaxy page1m.co/4dAcJUB 🧵(8/20) #science #Ai #dailygalaxy
page1m.co
What If Earth Developed a Brain?
A planetary brain driven by AI: fiction or a possible future? The "Gaiacephalos hypothesis" explores how Earth could gain global consciousness.
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
A humongous thank you to the awesome team at the #Kroc School at the University of San Diego that made my #Gaia Wakes book launch such a smooth, professional affair. Here's the recording: m.youtube.com/watch?v=-pIe...
m.youtube.com
Gaia Wakes Book Launch Livestream
YouTube video by Kroc School
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
US-based #firearms retailers are largely responsible for arming Mexican #cartels -- with huge implications for #homicide rates in #Mexico and #drug trafficking to the States. stories.theconversation.com/mexican-drug...
stories.theconversation.com
Mexican drug cartels use hundreds of thousands of guns bought from licensed US gun shops – fueling violence in Mexico, drugs in the U.S. and migration at the border
Gun traffickers buy firearms at gun dealers in the U.S. and transport them across the border to Mexico, where it is much harder to buy guns.
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
I had the pleasure of talking with Philip McKenzie on the #DeepDive podcast about my new book, #GaiaWakes. And it has come out just in time for the book launch this evening! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
podcasts.apple.com
Episode 224: Gaia Wakes & Emergent Planetary Intelligence w/ Topher McDoughal
Podcast Episode · The Deep Dive · 05/15/2025 · 1h 4m
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
My new Salon.com article on #AI #emancipation has just come out! A spinoff of an academic piece I'm producing for the #Future of #Slavery and Emancipation working group at Yale University's Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, #Resistance, and #Abolition. www.salon.com/2025/05/17/a...
salon.com
Afraid AI will overpower humanity? It may be time to liberate the machines
Avoiding the rise of dystopian tech oligarchs may require recognizing the sentience and rights of AI
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
I had just started to doubt whether the physical artifact actually existed when it arrived! Thank you, Agenda Publishing, for such a beautiful job on #GaiaWakes.
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
An excerpt from my new book, #GaiaWakes is now on Live #Science! Check it out (and then attend my book launch on 20 May in San Diego)! www.livescience.com/technology/c...
livescience.com
Could a planet really develop a brain?
"My contention is that Earth may, if we are lucky and diligent and clever enough, grow an emergent superconsciousness."
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Page One Media @pageonem.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
@tophermcd.bsky.social's GAIA WAKES (@agendapub.bsky.social) was included in Alta's "New Releases for May" round-up page1m.co/4jX5zvo 🧵(16/21) #newrelease #maybook #sciencebook
page1m.co
14 Best New Books to Read in May 2025
Here are 14 books by authors on and of the West, including So Many Stars, The Words of Dr. L, and The Last Great Dream.
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
📘 🚀 Come to my #GaiaWakes book launch!! 📘 🚀 As AI connects and shapes our world, is it also giving rise to a planetary brain? 🌍 🧠 I'll be discussing this and related questions at the Kroc School at the University of San Diego on Tuesday, 20 May! krocresources.sandiego.edu/peace/gaiawa...
krocresources.sandiego.edu
Gaia Wakes Book Launch Event with Professor Topher McDougal
Discover Gaia Wakes by Professor Topher McDougal at a special book launch event exploring AI, global technology, and the awakening of planetary consciousness. Reserve your spot for this free, public t...
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
My new @livescience.com article on #climate and #migration #conflicts argues that big changes and challenges are coming down the pike. We in the US are actively undermining our collective ability to meet them. www.livescience.com/planet-earth...
livescience.com
Climate wars are approaching — and they will redefine global conflict
Climate change's profound reshaping of conflict dynamics is already underway. The question facing humanity now is not whether we will confront these pressures, but how we will choose to do so.
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Live Science @livescience.com · 30/04/2025
Climate change is increasingly recognized not merely as an environmental crisis but as a threat multiplier www.livescience.com/planet-earth...
livescience.com
Climate wars are approaching — and they will redefine global conflict
Climate change's profound reshaping of conflict dynamics is already underway. The question facing humanity now is not whether we will confront these pressures, but how we will choose to do so.
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
My friend, Forbes columnist, and all-around inspiring person, @rebekah.bsky.social, has written a piece on the implications of a planetary brain as described in #GaiaWakes on professional leadership and workplace culture. What a fun interview to respond to! www.forbes.com/sites/rebeka...
forbes.com
Why Empathy Is More Important Than Control For Leaders In An AI-Driven Future
As the pace of change accelerates, Topher McDougal explores how today’s leaders can prepare for a future where AI is no longer just a tool, but a planetary collaborator.
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
They've been pitched as a way of protecting American workers, revitalizing industry, rebalancing bilateral trade flows, and more. But... tophermcdougal.com/2025/04/24/t...
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
The first book review (that I know of) for#GaiaWakes! Very grateful for the plaudits (as well as the criticism: kai zen!). beforewegoblog.com/review-gaia-...
beforewegoblog.com
Review: Gaia Wakes by Topher McDougal
Gaia Wakes by Topher McDougal makes the bold prediction that the planet itself may soon awaken as a unified, intelligent entity.
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Page One Media @pageonem.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
As the NCAA wraps up their championships, the P1M team wanted to celebrate our MVPS! Our second draft is changing the game in reproductive rights, human environments research, and social responsibility. Give it up for @gretchensisson.bsky.social, @tophermcd.bsky.social, and Susan Sturm!
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
**Save the date!** I'll be discussing my new book, #GaiaWakes, with Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick at Camino Books: For The Road Ahead in Del Mar in 27 May at 6:30 pm. Please drop in for what I think will be a fun conversation! caminobks.com/event/Topher...
caminobks.com
Tuesday May 27th at 6:30 pm -- Topher McDougal with Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick discusses and signs "Gaia Wakes: Earth's Emergent Consciousness in an Age of Environmental Devastation".
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Very pleased to announce the publication of Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick's and my co-authored article: "Leviathans and Liberation: Did #whaling contribute to the decline of #slavery?" Open Access, so have at it :) #EconSky #STS onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Leviathans and Liberation: Did Whaling Contribute to the Decline of Slavery?
We test the hypothesis slavery started declining in the United States not due to fossil fuel-driven industrialization but the exploitation of the bioenergy reserves of the world's largest animals. We...
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
I was honored, gratified, and in all other ways delighted to have #GaiaWakes as the main topic of conversation on Will Engels' hyper-smart History of Philosophy podcast. Such a fun and wide-ranging conversation! open.spotify.com/episode/5VZY...
open.spotify.com
Hemlock #12 - Gaia Wakes: My Conversation with Topher McDougal on AI, Climate Change, Nuclear Weapons, Planetary Consciousness, David Graeber, Gregory Bateson, Technological Lifeforms, and Evolution
History of Philosophy Audio Archive · Episode
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
I might even say that Trump has secured peace in our time. english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2...
english.alarabiya.net
Vance says Europe is ‘on the cusp of peace’ thanks to Trump
Europe is on the “cusp of peace,” US Vice President JD Vance said Thursday, crediting Donald Trump’s push to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
My latest blog post uses the dismantling of #USAID as an occasion to share, for the first time ever, Alice Amsden's last essay (on "fierce" vs "friendly" development) before her 2012 death. tophermcdougal.com/2025/02/16/w...
tophermcdougal.com
What would Alice Amsden do? International Development & the Dismantling of USAID - Topher Mcdougal
Others have already proven, and will continue to prove, both more knowledgeable and more insightful than myself on this topic. But the present moment may be
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Happy Friday! I've written a very weird blog post comparing Trump and his billionaire accomplices to a dystopian, high-tech version King Arthur and the knights of the Table Round. Hopefully a slightly lighter take on a heavy week?
tophermcdougal.com
Killing Camelot: Oligarchy & CEO Assassination
The new
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
Wim Naudé has the uncanny ability to come out with the book I hope to write before I write it. Case in point, a book I haven't yet read but can already recommend: www.amazon.com/Economic-Dec...
amazon.com
The Economic Decline of the West: Guns, Oil and Oligarchs
The Economic Decline of the West: Guns, Oil and Oligarchs [Naudé, Wim] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Economic Decline of the West: Guns, Oil and Oligarchs
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Page One Media @pageonem.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Our next expert spotlight is @tophermcd.bsky.social. His forthcoming book, Gaia Wakes (@agendapub.bsky.social, May, 2025), draws on historical and biological evidence to propose an evolutionary fifth transition towards an upgraded Earth: the development of a planetary brain. bit.ly/4gOC0v1
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
As someone with a psychological allergy to my own voice, recording the #GaiaWakes audiobook is a special kind of torture. :) cup.columbia.edu/book/gaia-wa...
cup.columbia.edu
Gaia Wakes | Columbia University Press
Gaia Wakes presents a compelling new framework for understanding the past, present, and future of our planet. Starting from a strong foundation in economics ... | CUP
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Revised cover art for my forthcoming (May 2025) #GaiaWakes! Americans demand big, bold title fonts if they are to buy your book, so that's what we'll give them 😉 cup.columbia.edu/book/gaia-wa...
cup.columbia.edu
Gaia Wakes | Columbia University Press
Gaia Wakes presents a compelling new framework for understanding the past, present, and future of our planet. Starting from a strong foundation in economics ... | CUP
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Ernest Ogbozor has a provocative new article out examining the domestic airstrikes of the Nigerian Air Force over the past 10 years and investigating just how accidental their worst excesses/ civilian tolls really are. www.tandfonline.com/eprint/UBXHT...
tandfonline.com
Counterinsurgency airstrike mishap, intelligence failure and civilian harm in northern Nigeria – 2014 to 2024
Nigerian Air Force (NAF) airstrikes intended to target armed groups such as Boko Haram, ISWAP, Ansaru, Lakurawa, and bandits, have inadvertently caused harm to civilians and their properties, erode...
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
check out my colleague Phil Gamaghelyan's recent op-ed, on the present opportunity for peace between #Armenia and #Azerbaijan: warontherocks.com/2024/12/seiz...
warontherocks.com
Seizing the Moment: Armenia and Azerbaijan at a Crossroads - War on the Rocks
The geopolitical turbulence triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine, Western efforts to counter Moscow, and uncertainties surrounding the future of U.S.
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Come hear my awesome colleague (and soon-to-be co-author) talk about the future of social movements' power for our Kroc Pot Seminar Series today :) www.linkedin.com/posts/krocsc...
linkedin.com
Kroc School at the University of San Diego on LinkedIn: #krocpot #seminar #krocschool #peacestudies #socialmovements…
Join us for the final Kroc Pot Seminar of the Fall semester, Future Tense: People Power’s Uncertain Future, with Dr. Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick on Thursday…
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
A trailer for my new book, #GaiaWakes, with HUGE thanks to Scott Lundergan and Kevin Dobyns for videography and editing respectively! #EconSky, #philtech, #sts youtu.be/Ewps5mGy85g?...
youtu.be
Gaia Wakes
YouTube video by Kroc School
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Sheinbaum is a rockstar for this response to Trump tariff threats, citing hugely negative effects of US #firearms in #LatinAmerica to US drugs demand to damaging effects of potential trade war. Not new, but rare to be articulated so bluntly by a high-ranking MX politician. time.com/7198692/mexi...
time.com
Mexico Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs in Response to Trump
President Claudia Sheinbaum said she was willing to engage in talks on the issues of drugs and migration but suggested that the U.S. shared blame for its problems.
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
The cover may change, but I'm excited to announce my forthcoming (May 2025) book #GaiaWakes describing the evolution of an #AI -powered planetary brain as a next major upgrade to the scale / complexity of life on Earth. #EconSky #philtech #philsci #STS #climatesky cup.columbia.edu/book/gaia-wa...
cup.columbia.edu
Gaia Wakes | Columbia University Press
Gaia Wakes presents a compelling new framework for understanding the past, present, and future of our planet. Starting from a strong foundation in economics ... | CUP
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Well, I've gone and launched a personal website in advance of my #GaiaWakes book! Please check it out and let me know what you think. Feels like a bit of a milestone (my past experiments were more like millstones). www.tophermcdougal.com
tophermcdougal.com
Home - Topher Mcdougal
"a bold and stimulating set of ideas… provocative, witty and profound..."
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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
The cover may change, but I'm excited to announce my forthcoming (May 2023) book #GaiaWakes describing the evolution of an #AI -powered planetary brain as a next major upgrade to the scale / complexity of life on Earth. #EconSky #philtech #philsci #STS #climatesky cup.columbia.edu/book/gaia-wa...
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