Michael Brownstein
@michaelbrownstein.bsky.social
professor of philosophy and department chair, John Jay College
professor of philosophy, CUNY Grad Center
alum, Deep Springs College
author, Somebody Should Do Something: How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change
professor of philosophy, CUNY Grad Center
alum, Deep Springs College
author, Somebody Should Do Something: How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change
Pinned
My new book--with Alex Madva and @dryan149.bsky.social--has a cover!
In print 9.16.25, but why not preorder a copy now? mitpress.mit.edu/978026204978...
@mitpress.bsky.social #CoverReveal #Bookstagram
Thanks to Frank Augugliaro for the cover design
In print 9.16.25, but why not preorder a copy now? mitpress.mit.edu/978026204978...
@mitpress.bsky.social #CoverReveal #Bookstagram
Thanks to Frank Augugliaro for the cover design
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
I am sad to share that Project Implicit, my first non-profit and foundation of my career, is closing. The IAT website will continue, managed by the next generation of leaders in implicit bias research.
Here's the statement I posted to LinkedIn. It didn't vibe right as a bsky thread.
Here's the statement I posted to LinkedIn. It didn't vibe right as a bsky thread.
September 14, 2026 at 10:51 AM
I am sad to share that Project Implicit, my first non-profit and foundation of my career, is closing. The IAT website will continue, managed by the next generation of leaders in implicit bias research.
Here's the statement I posted to LinkedIn. It didn't vibe right as a bsky thread.
Here's the statement I posted to LinkedIn. It didn't vibe right as a bsky thread.
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
Today Lottie and Hayden covered the book Somebody Should Do Something by @madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social & @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social from the lens of #animaljustice. Think about how YOU can encourage #vegan ethics to the people around you
#systemchange
www.3cr.org.au/freedomofspe...
#systemchange
www.3cr.org.au/freedomofspe...
Somebody Should Do Something: How to help create social change for the animals and environment
Lottie and Hayden discussed how anyone, yes even YOU, can help create social change for important issues like animal justice and the climate. They drew from the book 'Somebody Should Do Something: How...
www.3cr.org.au
September 13, 2026 at 7:02 AM
Today Lottie and Hayden covered the book Somebody Should Do Something by @madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social & @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social from the lens of #animaljustice. Think about how YOU can encourage #vegan ethics to the people around you
#systemchange
www.3cr.org.au/freedomofspe...
#systemchange
www.3cr.org.au/freedomofspe...
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
trump now underwater on every policy issue, including border security. dems drawing even on handling deportations, immigration, and crime -- the GOP's last significant issue advantages.
is that bad? seems bad
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/2026-08-25...
is that bad? seems bad
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/2026-08-25...
August 26, 2026 at 1:55 PM
trump now underwater on every policy issue, including border security. dems drawing even on handling deportations, immigration, and crime -- the GOP's last significant issue advantages.
is that bad? seems bad
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/2026-08-25...
is that bad? seems bad
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/2026-08-25...
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
So awesome that this book now is in paperback. Consider listening to CASBS's podcast episode about the book with two of its coauthors, @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social (CASBS fellow 2019-20) & @dryan149.bsky.social (CASBS fellow 2018-19) 🎙️🎧
➡️ bsky.app/profile/casb...
➡️ bsky.app/profile/casb...
Newly released in paperback, @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social, @madva.bsky.social, and @dryan149.bsky.social's “Somebody Should Do Something” provides a novel approach to creating transformative social change—and the ways that each of us can help make a difference: mitpress.mit.edu/978026204978...
August 11, 2026 at 4:08 PM
So awesome that this book now is in paperback. Consider listening to CASBS's podcast episode about the book with two of its coauthors, @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social (CASBS fellow 2019-20) & @dryan149.bsky.social (CASBS fellow 2018-19) 🎙️🎧
➡️ bsky.app/profile/casb...
➡️ bsky.app/profile/casb...
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
Pete Hegseth is “out here performing a masculinity that is not real, not healthy, and not sustainable” says El-Sayed. Didn’t think we’d have a Gender Trouble Candidate but I’ll take it.
Don't get me wrong, I lift every morning. But being a man is not really about how you show up in the gym.
It's how you show up for your family. It's about how you show up for your community.
It's how you show up for your family. It's about how you show up for your community.
August 11, 2026 at 12:10 PM
Pete Hegseth is “out here performing a masculinity that is not real, not healthy, and not sustainable” says El-Sayed. Didn’t think we’d have a Gender Trouble Candidate but I’ll take it.
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
"One important element is a person’s comfort with uncertainty; people who get involved in fights for justice tend to be more comfortable than others in recognising that they don’t know what the future holds."
Prof. @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social explains how ‘structure-facing virtues’ tie the personal to the big picture psyche.co/ideas/mother...
psyche.co
August 11, 2026 at 1:54 AM
"One important element is a person’s comfort with uncertainty; people who get involved in fights for justice tend to be more comfortable than others in recognising that they don’t know what the future holds."
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
Newly released in paperback, @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social, @madva.bsky.social, and @dryan149.bsky.social's “Somebody Should Do Something” provides a novel approach to creating transformative social change—and the ways that each of us can help make a difference: mitpress.mit.edu/978026204978...
August 11, 2026 at 12:15 PM
Newly released in paperback, @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social, @madva.bsky.social, and @dryan149.bsky.social's “Somebody Should Do Something” provides a novel approach to creating transformative social change—and the ways that each of us can help make a difference: mitpress.mit.edu/978026204978...
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
Prof. @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social explains how ‘structure-facing virtues’ tie the personal to the big picture psyche.co/ideas/mother...
psyche.co
August 10, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Prof. @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social explains how ‘structure-facing virtues’ tie the personal to the big picture psyche.co/ideas/mother...
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
In July, on ABC, CBS, and NBC, there were 194 segments on the extreme heat waves rolling across the US.
Number that mentioned climate change: 0.
Number that mentioned climate change: 0.
ABC, CBS, and NBC aired nearly 200 segments about three U.S. heat events without mentioning climate change
From late June through July, successive heat waves swept across large portions of the United States, breaking temperature records and placing more than 100 million people at a time under heat alerts. ...
www.mediamatters.org
August 6, 2026 at 4:14 PM
In July, on ABC, CBS, and NBC, there were 194 segments on the extreme heat waves rolling across the US.
Number that mentioned climate change: 0.
Number that mentioned climate change: 0.
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
The paperback edition of "Somebody Should Do Something" set to publish on August 11!
mitpress.mit.edu/978026204978...
mitpress.mit.edu/978026204978...
August 9, 2026 at 1:07 PM
The paperback edition of "Somebody Should Do Something" set to publish on August 11!
mitpress.mit.edu/978026204978...
mitpress.mit.edu/978026204978...
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
There’s more to virtue than how we treat other individuals. ‘Structure-facing virtues’ tie the personal to the big picture. An Idea by @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social & @madva.bsky.social
Mother Teresa was virtuous, but she was wrong about virtue | Psyche Ideas
There’s more to virtue than how we treat other individuals. ‘Structure-facing virtues’ tie the personal to the big picture
psyche.co
August 8, 2026 at 3:00 PM
There’s more to virtue than how we treat other individuals. ‘Structure-facing virtues’ tie the personal to the big picture. An Idea by @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social & @madva.bsky.social
Great piece by @leahstokes.bsky.social dispelling two myths: that Trump killed the full IRA and that the political theory behind it was proven wrong.
Bidenomics Was More Successful Than People Think
Conventional wisdom holds that Joe Biden’s bet on climate investment was a bust. The data suggest otherwise.
www.theatlantic.com
August 7, 2026 at 7:45 PM
Great piece by @leahstokes.bsky.social dispelling two myths: that Trump killed the full IRA and that the political theory behind it was proven wrong.
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
Mother Teresa was virtuous, but she was wrong about virtue 🧵
“If there are people who feel that God wants them to change the structures of society, that is something between them and their God,” Mother Teresa wrote in 1975...
psyche.co/ideas/mother...
“If there are people who feel that God wants them to change the structures of society, that is something between them and their God,” Mother Teresa wrote in 1975...
psyche.co/ideas/mother...
August 7, 2026 at 5:59 PM
Mother Teresa was virtuous, but she was wrong about virtue 🧵
“If there are people who feel that God wants them to change the structures of society, that is something between them and their God,” Mother Teresa wrote in 1975...
psyche.co/ideas/mother...
“If there are people who feel that God wants them to change the structures of society, that is something between them and their God,” Mother Teresa wrote in 1975...
psyche.co/ideas/mother...
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
Our book's final chapter explores how people can focus on the social roles they already occupy—in their jobs, families, pastimes, and friend networks—to find opportunities to make a difference.
We begin with a profile of Nigerian feminist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. 🧵
www.youtube.com/shorts/q6N1e...
We begin with a profile of Nigerian feminist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. 🧵
www.youtube.com/shorts/q6N1e...
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti: The Lioness of Lisabi #history #community #FunmilayoRansomeKuti #shorts
YouTube video by California Center for Ethics and Policy
www.youtube.com
August 6, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Our book's final chapter explores how people can focus on the social roles they already occupy—in their jobs, families, pastimes, and friend networks—to find opportunities to make a difference.
We begin with a profile of Nigerian feminist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. 🧵
www.youtube.com/shorts/q6N1e...
We begin with a profile of Nigerian feminist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. 🧵
www.youtube.com/shorts/q6N1e...
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
Spent the last 2 days bingeing all 8 episodes of the latest season of The UnMute Podcast with Myisha Cherry, and every one is a banger!
Honored to be interviewed on one of the OG philosophy podcasts, "where philosophy and real-world issues collide"
www.unmutepodcast.com/all-episodes...
Honored to be interviewed on one of the OG philosophy podcasts, "where philosophy and real-world issues collide"
www.unmutepodcast.com/all-episodes...
July 22, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Spent the last 2 days bingeing all 8 episodes of the latest season of The UnMute Podcast with Myisha Cherry, and every one is a banger!
Honored to be interviewed on one of the OG philosophy podcasts, "where philosophy and real-world issues collide"
www.unmutepodcast.com/all-episodes...
Honored to be interviewed on one of the OG philosophy podcasts, "where philosophy and real-world issues collide"
www.unmutepodcast.com/all-episodes...
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
Too cool to be part of this event at @molimuseum.bsky.social!
Amazing commentators who share the commitment to merge scholarship with public engagement and civic activism (... and who were also very careful readers of our work for @mitpress.bsky.social!)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVqp...
Amazing commentators who share the commitment to merge scholarship with public engagement and civic activism (... and who were also very careful readers of our work for @mitpress.bsky.social!)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVqp...
July 29, 2026 at 11:07 PM
Too cool to be part of this event at @molimuseum.bsky.social!
Amazing commentators who share the commitment to merge scholarship with public engagement and civic activism (... and who were also very careful readers of our work for @mitpress.bsky.social!)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVqp...
Amazing commentators who share the commitment to merge scholarship with public engagement and civic activism (... and who were also very careful readers of our work for @mitpress.bsky.social!)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVqp...
Not every day that you get to give a talk with an opener, the opener plays 17th century Irish folk music, and previous speakers in the series were Thoreau and Emerson. Bet those chumps didn't even have good slides.
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
Michael Brownstein ; Somebody should do something
YouTube video by Monadnock Summer Lyceum
www.youtube.com
July 28, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Not every day that you get to give a talk with an opener, the opener plays 17th century Irish folk music, and previous speakers in the series were Thoreau and Emerson. Bet those chumps didn't even have good slides.
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
Four philosophers on social change and why our personal choices still matter in the face of intractable, global, wickedly complex problems
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
Episode 72: Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva, and Daniel Kelly on Social Change — The UnMute Podcast
Myisha Cherry chats with philosophers Michael Brownstein (John Jay College/CUNY), Alex Madva (Cal Poly Pomona), and Daniel Kelly (Purdue) about structural change, either/or thinking, why individual ch...
www.unmutepodcast.com
July 27, 2026 at 11:35 PM
Four philosophers on social change and why our personal choices still matter in the face of intractable, global, wickedly complex problems
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
Fox News Poll: Voters say Democrats can better handle income inequality (+22 points), healthcare (+21), inflation (+10), the economy (+9), and foreign policy (+7).
More, via Opinion Today:
opiniontoday.substack.com/p/260723
More, via Opinion Today:
opiniontoday.substack.com/p/260723
July 23, 2026 at 10:36 PM
Fox News Poll: Voters say Democrats can better handle income inequality (+22 points), healthcare (+21), inflation (+10), the economy (+9), and foreign policy (+7).
More, via Opinion Today:
opiniontoday.substack.com/p/260723
More, via Opinion Today:
opiniontoday.substack.com/p/260723
AQI in ft. greene is 278. Looks and feels awful outside.
July 17, 2026 at 1:14 AM
AQI in ft. greene is 278. Looks and feels awful outside.
New podcast appearance! (Recorded in December, but still.)
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
Individual Action vs. Systemic Change: Finding Agency
Individual action vs systemic change: Are individual actions pointless against climate change? Bridge the gap between either/or to both/and thinking.
www.earthboundpodcast.com
July 15, 2026 at 10:49 PM
New podcast appearance! (Recorded in December, but still.)
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
Reposted by Michael Brownstein
Journalists: please, please get ready for this in ADVANCE. We know Trump's going to claim "new evidence shows the 2020 election was stolen". You've got 3 days to write a story that confronts that lie head-on before he says it - pre-write this like an obit. America is begging you: plan ahead. 1/
it's even dumber than you think
July 13, 2026 at 8:39 PM
Journalists: please, please get ready for this in ADVANCE. We know Trump's going to claim "new evidence shows the 2020 election was stolen". You've got 3 days to write a story that confronts that lie head-on before he says it - pre-write this like an obit. America is begging you: plan ahead. 1/
Good thread
I enjoyed listening to Bill McKibben on Ezra Klein's podcast. Its refreshing to hear a strong case for a future of clean energy abundance and highlight a lot of positive energy trends.
That said, there are a few points where I'd add nuance to Bill's arguments.
www.nytimes.com/2026...
That said, there are a few points where I'd add nuance to Bill's arguments.
www.nytimes.com/2026...
July 12, 2026 at 7:55 PM
Good thread