Chad Levinson
@chadlevinson.com
Academic in DC (Virginia Tech SPIA) né CHI, NYC, omnivore, decent cook, novice gardener, puppy papa, LLM hater, he/him
The President’s Echo System: How Foreign Policy is Sold to Americans (2026) https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674302518
The President’s Echo System: How Foreign Policy is Sold to Americans (2026) https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674302518
Paul McCartney's impression of Kash Patel's testimony today
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lays...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lays...
Paul McCartney Tells a Dirty Joke
YouTube video by Kevin Boyd
www.youtube.com
September 15, 2026 at 8:06 PM
Paul McCartney's impression of Kash Patel's testimony today
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lays...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lays...
Trump thought he would finally feel love from the culture set, that the cast of Les Miz would name him an honorary Jean Valjean on stage at the Kennedy Center, but instead he was humiliated when nearly every artist cancelled their gigs. Everything that has happened since then has been a tantrum.
September 15, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Trump thought he would finally feel love from the culture set, that the cast of Les Miz would name him an honorary Jean Valjean on stage at the Kennedy Center, but instead he was humiliated when nearly every artist cancelled their gigs. Everything that has happened since then has been a tantrum.
Maybe it's a matter of over-learning childhood lessons, but 59 points just seems gluttonous.
September 13, 2026 at 8:48 PM
Maybe it's a matter of over-learning childhood lessons, but 59 points just seems gluttonous.
Democratic candidates are responsible for their supporters’ online personas but Republican candidates are not responsible for their own online personas. Make It Make Sense should do a piece on this.
Mike Johnson is backing a GOP candidate who called children “cum trophies” and made Nazi jokes. Confronted on CNN, Johnson’s excuse: “That was his persona online.”
Mike Johnson Defends Backing Candidate Who Called Children ‘Cum Trophies’
Speaker: “That was his persona online.”
meidasnews.com
September 13, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Democratic candidates are responsible for their supporters’ online personas but Republican candidates are not responsible for their own online personas. Make It Make Sense should do a piece on this.
Make a band edible:
The Rolling Scones
The Rolling Scones
Make a band edible:
The Psychedelic Fries
The Psychedelic Fries
Make a band edible:
Modest Mousse
Modest Mousse
September 13, 2026 at 3:27 AM
Make a band edible:
The Rolling Scones
The Rolling Scones
Reposted by Chad Levinson
I sure as hell hope that a Democratic administration, if we are ever lucky enough to have one, has the guts to rip this shit down.
Donald Trump’s 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery doesn’t have congressional approval. It doesn’t even have final sign-off from the commission that oversees DC’s monuments.
But of course, that’s not deterring the president or his apologists.
But of course, that’s not deterring the president or his apologists.
Trump to Break Ground on Arch Before Getting Approval (Gift Article)
Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, announced plans to start work on the site of the 250-foot-tall triumphal arch. Final approval of the project is still pending.
www.nytimes.com
September 11, 2026 at 12:09 PM
I sure as hell hope that a Democratic administration, if we are ever lucky enough to have one, has the guts to rip this shit down.
Google's decision to shut it down seemed incomprehensible at the time. What company would kill one of it's most beloved services? In hindsight, we know exactly why: it gave users too much control over content, control that the company wanted for itself.
that’s right
the internet started going irreversibly downhill the day Reader died
the internet started going irreversibly downhill the day Reader died
September 10, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Google's decision to shut it down seemed incomprehensible at the time. What company would kill one of it's most beloved services? In hindsight, we know exactly why: it gave users too much control over content, control that the company wanted for itself.
RT if you've never had a tab of ChatGPT open, period.
RT if you've never had a tab of ChatGPT open, period.
RT if you've never had a tab of ChatGPT open, period.
September 10, 2026 at 4:55 PM
RT if you've never had a tab of ChatGPT open, period.
Pet peeve left over from a childhood as a math nerd: the use of “exponential” to mean “a lot”
September 10, 2026 at 1:05 AM
Pet peeve left over from a childhood as a math nerd: the use of “exponential” to mean “a lot”
I've never been good about predicting which Apple products are going to succeed (except the original iMac/iBook, the candy-colored ones), but the folding phone seems like a terrible idea.
September 9, 2026 at 6:26 PM
I've never been good about predicting which Apple products are going to succeed (except the original iMac/iBook, the candy-colored ones), but the folding phone seems like a terrible idea.
I still find this video a bit traumatizing, so my apologies for dropping it in your feed. It's important to make sure people know Trump is lying about being in the rubble of the Twin Towers. Instead, he was musing about having the tallest building in the neighborhood.
September 8, 2026 at 9:52 PM
I still find this video a bit traumatizing, so my apologies for dropping it in your feed. It's important to make sure people know Trump is lying about being in the rubble of the Twin Towers. Instead, he was musing about having the tallest building in the neighborhood.
"America's Mayor" had a few charismatic moments on and immediately after 9/11, and was politically aligned with first responder unions, but he made several significant decisions that materially exacerbated the tragedy.
September 8, 2026 at 5:18 PM
"America's Mayor" had a few charismatic moments on and immediately after 9/11, and was politically aligned with first responder unions, but he made several significant decisions that materially exacerbated the tragedy.
Did Alan Turing ever consider what it would mean if a machine could continue to trick someone into believing it was a person even when that someone knew it was a machine?
September 8, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Did Alan Turing ever consider what it would mean if a machine could continue to trick someone into believing it was a person even when that someone knew it was a machine?
The only reason to be on X is to get screenshots of idiot racists you can post here, where those idiot racists will never visit, never to feel the heat of your sick burns
September 8, 2026 at 3:38 PM
The only reason to be on X is to get screenshots of idiot racists you can post here, where those idiot racists will never visit, never to feel the heat of your sick burns
Carney played college hockey (ok 3rd string goalie at Harvard, but still) and the closest Trump ever came to skating is when he made a back room deal with Ed Koch to take over Wollman ice rink.
September 8, 2026 at 2:47 PM
Carney played college hockey (ok 3rd string goalie at Harvard, but still) and the closest Trump ever came to skating is when he made a back room deal with Ed Koch to take over Wollman ice rink.
Reposted by Chad Levinson
It has been criminally underreported but Kelsey Pfendler has just rowed solo across the Pacific Ocean from the US coast to Hawaii in record time. A 2,400-mile unsupported journey in 43 days, 17 hours, and 55 minutes. Notably beating the Men’s record by 9 whole days.
July 8, 2026 at 2:18 PM
It has been criminally underreported but Kelsey Pfendler has just rowed solo across the Pacific Ocean from the US coast to Hawaii in record time. A 2,400-mile unsupported journey in 43 days, 17 hours, and 55 minutes. Notably beating the Men’s record by 9 whole days.
It's hard to say how much her affect is due to knowing the camera is on her, but... She is so intentionally looking him in the eyes, never breaking for longer than it takes for her eyelids to cycle closed and open again, I can't even call it blinking.
youtube.com/watch?v=GGJS...
youtube.com/watch?v=GGJS...
You Can See Everything | Official Teaser HD | A24
YouTube video by A24
youtube.com
September 7, 2026 at 6:39 PM
It's hard to say how much her affect is due to knowing the camera is on her, but... She is so intentionally looking him in the eyes, never breaking for longer than it takes for her eyelids to cycle closed and open again, I can't even call it blinking.
youtube.com/watch?v=GGJS...
youtube.com/watch?v=GGJS...
It's undoubtedly true that the medical establishment has blind spots. But there's a difference between "maybe de-wormer can work on viruses" and "ovaries exist."
September 7, 2026 at 6:27 PM
It's undoubtedly true that the medical establishment has blind spots. But there's a difference between "maybe de-wormer can work on viruses" and "ovaries exist."
We knew big tech reproduces racism. Here’s one more way it is does that. Now racist filmmakers can make their racist movies without having to find any Black people to play along.
Paul Schrader Says He Turned To AI Because “No Black Actors Wanted To Play In A Movie Where There Are No Good Black People”
Paul Schrader Says He Turned To AI Because “No Black Actors Wanted To Play In A Movie Where There Are No Good Black People”
Just days after Paul Schrader revealed that he plans to make his long-gestating crime noir “Three Guns At Dawn” entirely with AI-generated performers, the filmmaker has explained why he abandoned human actors in the first place. According to Schrader, Black actors rejected the original version because all three of its Black protagonists were criminals. His solution? Make the movie without them.
Schrader has spent the past week gradually clarifying his plans for “Three Guns At Dawn.” As The Playlist previously reported, the filmmaker originally conceived the South Central Los Angeles noir around three Black brothers—a corrupt cop, a drug trafficker, and a third criminal—with Antoine Fuqua attached to produce.
Continue reading Paul Schrader Says He Turned To AI Because “No Black Actors Wanted To Play In A Movie Where There Are No Good Black People” at The Playlist.
dlvr.it
September 6, 2026 at 9:54 PM
We knew big tech reproduces racism. Here’s one more way it is does that. Now racist filmmakers can make their racist movies without having to find any Black people to play along.
I would like to file an appeal
September 5, 2026 at 6:21 PM
I would like to file an appeal
Calling it Dear White People was a mistake. David Brooks thought it was talking directly to him, watched it, encountered the term "woke," and decided it would now belong to him and his people.
August 31, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Calling it Dear White People was a mistake. David Brooks thought it was talking directly to him, watched it, encountered the term "woke," and decided it would now belong to him and his people.
I just made the mistake of breaking my Meta boycott by clicking a link to a facebook post, and I was reminded that facebook wipes the tab's back-button history.
It's a completely sociopathic website design choice.
It's a completely sociopathic website design choice.
August 29, 2026 at 8:59 PM
I just made the mistake of breaking my Meta boycott by clicking a link to a facebook post, and I was reminded that facebook wipes the tab's back-button history.
It's a completely sociopathic website design choice.
It's a completely sociopathic website design choice.
When someone tells me they ONLY use LLMs for this one ethically-sound task, I picture them frothing the milk for their fancy coffee with the residual steam coming off of a Dr. Seussian forest eating machine.
August 28, 2026 at 4:49 PM
When someone tells me they ONLY use LLMs for this one ethically-sound task, I picture them frothing the milk for their fancy coffee with the residual steam coming off of a Dr. Seussian forest eating machine.
Why should I pay any attention to someone who needed help writing this post?
August 20, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Why should I pay any attention to someone who needed help writing this post?