Bill Harder, PhD
@wlharder.bsky.social
Director of #FacultyDev & Teaching Excellence & Political Science Prof. at Goucher College | critical & inclusive pedagogies | presidential/executive politics #highered #Faculty #EduSky #woodworking #cats | he/him
Chait gonna Chait.
Critics on the left and the right are, for different reasons, obscuring the Democratic Party’s long commitment to universal health care, Jonathan Chait argues:
You Don’t Need to Vote for Socialists to Get Universal Health Care
Critics on the left and the right are, for different reasons, obscuring the Democratic Party’s long commitment to this cause.
bit.ly
July 15, 2026 at 6:26 PM
Chait gonna Chait.
"Despite" is an absolutely wild way to spell "because of"
Darializa Avila Chevalier’s victory against an incumbent in New York’s Democratic primary underscored the turbulence surrounding Israel and federal immigration enforcement. It also showed that political baggage doesn’t matter the way it used to.
Avila Chevalier Won Despite Far-Left Views. Will They Hurt Democrats?
Darializa Avila Chevalier’s questionable social media history and outlier politics are already being highlighted by Republican leaders as they look to November.
nyti.ms
June 25, 2026 at 6:40 PM
"Despite" is an absolutely wild way to spell "because of"
There is nothing quite like the promise and possibility of a #WorldCup. There is something incredible about watching things like the world falling in love with Bosnia & Herzegovina’s story and Kansas City welcoming Algeria with open arms. (1/3)
June 11, 2026 at 1:44 PM
There is nothing quite like the promise and possibility of a #WorldCup. There is something incredible about watching things like the world falling in love with Bosnia & Herzegovina’s story and Kansas City welcoming Algeria with open arms. (1/3)
There is no reason to issue this ruling at this moment other than pure partisanship.
In December, SCOTUS stayed a district court ruling blocking TX from using its new maps because the lower court ruled "on the eve of an election."
That district court ruling was issued 15 weeks before the TX primaries.
Callais was issued *17 days* before the LA primaries.
That district court ruling was issued 15 weeks before the TX primaries.
Callais was issued *17 days* before the LA primaries.
This is partisanship at its rawest. SCOTUS has clamped down on lower courts for rulings that could alter maps many *months* before an election—even when those maps have been judged illegal.
Here, it's rushing to let the Louisiana GOP change a map *while an election is underway.*
Here, it's rushing to let the Louisiana GOP change a map *while an election is underway.*
May 5, 2026 at 2:49 AM
There is no reason to issue this ruling at this moment other than pure partisanship.
I - like I'm sure every #TeachingandLearning Center director - have a lot of feelings about a certain @chronicle.com article about how worthless teaching and learning centers are, but I will just leave it at saying... what an embarrassingly bad strawman argument for a philosophy professor to make.
April 23, 2026 at 8:42 PM
I - like I'm sure every #TeachingandLearning Center director - have a lot of feelings about a certain @chronicle.com article about how worthless teaching and learning centers are, but I will just leave it at saying... what an embarrassingly bad strawman argument for a philosophy professor to make.
Reposted by Bill Harder, PhD
What a beautiful moment.
April 6, 2026 at 6:14 PM
What a beautiful moment.
Reposted by Bill Harder, PhD
What if in 20 years an actor named LeBron B. James comes along and people spend weeks arguing about whether him or Michael B. Jordan made better films
May 5, 2025 at 11:52 PM
What if in 20 years an actor named LeBron B. James comes along and people spend weeks arguing about whether him or Michael B. Jordan made better films
Reposted by Bill Harder, PhD
The words coming out of Trump's mouth are 100% reactive, a reflection of what he believes will impress/pressure/deceive the people he's talking to. Again, the most useful comparison is an LLM trying to complete the prompt. He's doing autocomplete all the time, independent of truth or reality.
Trump saying things has no probative or epistemic value whatsoever, including as to his own state of mind and intentions
We all know this, by now. And yet somehow the lesson does not sink in
We all know this, by now. And yet somehow the lesson does not sink in
An hour apart. Perhaps we should stop treating the mindless weathervane spinning in the breeze as if it has a clear strategic direction we can ascertain.
March 9, 2026 at 11:15 PM
The words coming out of Trump's mouth are 100% reactive, a reflection of what he believes will impress/pressure/deceive the people he's talking to. Again, the most useful comparison is an LLM trying to complete the prompt. He's doing autocomplete all the time, independent of truth or reality.
Reposted by Bill Harder, PhD
The SAVE Act is a voter suppression bill - full stop.
February 25, 2026 at 3:13 AM
The SAVE Act is a voter suppression bill - full stop.
Ron Charles is a goddamn national treasure and should be treated as such.
After 20 years, I've been laid off at The Washington Post.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
I’ve Been Laid Off. I’m Not Done.
After 20 years at The Washington Post, I’m suddenly on my own — and still writing about books.
substack.com
February 13, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Ron Charles is a goddamn national treasure and should be treated as such.
Reposted by Bill Harder, PhD
Ok, you can stop texting me, I saw the Ring ad. Troubling things about it 🧵:
-The long awaited (much warned about) intro of “AI” recognition. It starts w/ searching for a “brown dog” but means the tech is there for lisence plate reading, face recognition, searching for suspects by description, etc
-The long awaited (much warned about) intro of “AI” recognition. It starts w/ searching for a “brown dog” but means the tech is there for lisence plate reading, face recognition, searching for suspects by description, etc
February 9, 2026 at 2:45 AM
Ok, you can stop texting me, I saw the Ring ad. Troubling things about it 🧵:
-The long awaited (much warned about) intro of “AI” recognition. It starts w/ searching for a “brown dog” but means the tech is there for lisence plate reading, face recognition, searching for suspects by description, etc
-The long awaited (much warned about) intro of “AI” recognition. It starts w/ searching for a “brown dog” but means the tech is there for lisence plate reading, face recognition, searching for suspects by description, etc
Reposted by Bill Harder, PhD
Having seen several abductions up close, it is really hard to convey how much the thing they’re doing is roaming in military convoys until they see someone who is alone and isn’t white, and then jumping out in large numbers, pulling them into a van, and screeching off, all in 90 seconds or so.
"“They specifically asked me if I knew where the Hmong families lived on my street & in the neighborhood.” Lugert-Thom responded, “I don’t know anything about that” & she said they then asked, “Well, what about the Asian families?”"
"“I was a bit shaken & a bit shocked of what I was asked to do.”"
"“I was a bit shaken & a bit shocked of what I was asked to do.”"
A St. Paul resident says federal officers knocked on her door and asked her to identify Hmong and Asian households in her North End neighborhood last week.
January 14, 2026 at 2:31 PM
Having seen several abductions up close, it is really hard to convey how much the thing they’re doing is roaming in military convoys until they see someone who is alone and isn’t white, and then jumping out in large numbers, pulling them into a van, and screeching off, all in 90 seconds or so.
Reposted by Bill Harder, PhD
When I asked students to include citations to academic research in their papers, they often included articles from disreputable journals. I realized maybe no one had ever told them about predatory publishing. A short guide to searching the literature responsibly, in light of predatory publishing:
How to Avoid Citing Research Published in Dishonest Journals
Don't be duped by deceptive or fake journals!
open.substack.com
January 13, 2026 at 5:53 PM
When I asked students to include citations to academic research in their papers, they often included articles from disreputable journals. I realized maybe no one had ever told them about predatory publishing. A short guide to searching the literature responsibly, in light of predatory publishing:
[slow clap]
Martin Peterson's creative response to being banned from teaching Plato (shared with his permission).
January 8, 2026 at 9:12 PM
[slow clap]
Reposted by Bill Harder, PhD
For those keeping score, Bellingcat, The New York Times Visual Investigation Team, & Washington Post's Visual Forensic team have all published analysis showing the ICE shooter wasn't in the path of Renee Nicole Good’s vehicle when he shot her, contradicting statements by the President & his cronies
January 8, 2026 at 3:35 PM
For those keeping score, Bellingcat, The New York Times Visual Investigation Team, & Washington Post's Visual Forensic team have all published analysis showing the ICE shooter wasn't in the path of Renee Nicole Good’s vehicle when he shot her, contradicting statements by the President & his cronies
Literal thought police
Plato Censored as @tamu.bsky.social Carries Out Course Review
A&M officials have also instructed English faculty not to teach books in core classes that have major plotlines concerning gay, lesbian or transgender identities. https://bit.ly/3Lreb1J
#EDUSky #AcademicSky #HigherEd
A&M officials have also instructed English faculty not to teach books in core classes that have major plotlines concerning gay, lesbian or transgender identities. https://bit.ly/3Lreb1J
#EDUSky #AcademicSky #HigherEd
January 8, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Literal thought police
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists." - Hannah Arendt
Trump: "I have just viewed the clip of the event which took place in Minneapolis. It is a horrible thing to watch. The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator, and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting ... "
January 7, 2026 at 10:00 PM
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists." - Hannah Arendt
Greenland is just a tool for Miller to try to destroy NATO in all but name. He is counting on being able to force the US into an Article 5 violation & sees either potential response from NATO as a win (capitulation that takes the teeth out of A5 long-term or a military conflict).
TAPPER: Can you rule out the US is going to take Greenland by force?
MILLER: Greenland should be part of the US. By what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? The US is the power of NATO
T: So force is on the table?
M: Nobody is gonna fight the US militarily over future of Greenland
MILLER: Greenland should be part of the US. By what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? The US is the power of NATO
T: So force is on the table?
M: Nobody is gonna fight the US militarily over future of Greenland
January 7, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Greenland is just a tool for Miller to try to destroy NATO in all but name. He is counting on being able to force the US into an Article 5 violation & sees either potential response from NATO as a win (capitulation that takes the teeth out of A5 long-term or a military conflict).
Reposted by Bill Harder, PhD
Just a reminder that at least 600 Americans were fired for failing to show sufficient respect after Charlie Kirk's murder.
December 15, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Just a reminder that at least 600 Americans were fired for failing to show sufficient respect after Charlie Kirk's murder.
Reposted by Bill Harder, PhD
New from Michael Miller and me at @thejop.bsky.social: Evidence that, in most areas that were affected by the decision, the Supreme Court decision gutting the Voting Rights Act in 2013 (Shelby County v Holder) increased the racial turnout gap. A thread...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
December 8, 2025 at 6:32 PM
New from Michael Miller and me at @thejop.bsky.social: Evidence that, in most areas that were affected by the decision, the Supreme Court decision gutting the Voting Rights Act in 2013 (Shelby County v Holder) increased the racial turnout gap. A thread...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
If only there had been a Gooooood Boyyyyy with a gun present.
November 17, 2025 at 3:25 PM
If only there had been a Gooooood Boyyyyy with a gun present.
A roundup of some recent Goucher College #facultyscholarship.
[Full disclosure: I had nothing to do with selecting the key art for this website.]
www.goucher.edu/news/faculty...
#HigherEd #LiberalArts #Faculty
[Full disclosure: I had nothing to do with selecting the key art for this website.]
www.goucher.edu/news/faculty...
#HigherEd #LiberalArts #Faculty
Recent Faculty Scholarship | Goucher College
www.goucher.edu
October 13, 2025 at 7:47 PM
A roundup of some recent Goucher College #facultyscholarship.
[Full disclosure: I had nothing to do with selecting the key art for this website.]
www.goucher.edu/news/faculty...
#HigherEd #LiberalArts #Faculty
[Full disclosure: I had nothing to do with selecting the key art for this website.]
www.goucher.edu/news/faculty...
#HigherEd #LiberalArts #Faculty
As someone who just did an unplanned 30-minute explainer on the government shutdown, this is your periodic reminder that sometimes you’ve got to call an audible and throw out the lesson plan. #HigherEd #Faculty #Teaching&Learning.
October 2, 2025 at 9:03 PM
As someone who just did an unplanned 30-minute explainer on the government shutdown, this is your periodic reminder that sometimes you’ve got to call an audible and throw out the lesson plan. #HigherEd #Faculty #Teaching&Learning.
So thrilled to celebrate these exciting new #GoucherCollege #faculty projects this afternoon. Really excited to hear about this wide ranging research. #scholarship #liberalarts
September 24, 2025 at 6:46 PM
So thrilled to celebrate these exciting new #GoucherCollege #faculty projects this afternoon. Really excited to hear about this wide ranging research. #scholarship #liberalarts