Ari Kohen
@kohenari.bsky.social
Political theory professor, husband, dad, native Detroiter, MSU and Duke alum. I publish on heroism, human rights, and Holocaust education. Posts are from me, not the U.
If there’s one thing I find myself saying to my students in every class I teach, it’s this: we need to spend more time together.
The Scenius at the Heart of Liberalism
If there’s one thing I find myself saying to my students in every class I teach, it’s this: we need to spend more time together.
arikohen.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:03 PM
If there’s one thing I find myself saying to my students in every class I teach, it’s this: we need to spend more time together.
With another successful “No Kings” protest in the books, there are some who are—rightly, I would say—feeling buoyed by the effort. The crowd sizes were impressive, the signs were both deeply funny and deeply serious (sometimes at the same time), and the people in adorable costumes...
October 21, 2025 at 6:01 PM
With another successful “No Kings” protest in the books, there are some who are—rightly, I would say—feeling buoyed by the effort. The crowd sizes were impressive, the signs were both deeply funny and deeply serious (sometimes at the same time), and the people in adorable costumes...
As I often tell my students, time is always running out; there’s always going to be less of it than you hope for and, as a result, it’s probably the truest expression of our priorities.
open.substack.com/pub/arikohen...
open.substack.com/pub/arikohen...
A Palace in Time
Last week, as my family walked back and forth to our local synagogue, we had a fair amount of time to talk.
open.substack.com
September 30, 2025 at 4:34 PM
As I often tell my students, time is always running out; there’s always going to be less of it than you hope for and, as a result, it’s probably the truest expression of our priorities.
open.substack.com/pub/arikohen...
open.substack.com/pub/arikohen...
Charlie Kirk’s murder hit me harder than I ever could have anticipated, not because I liked or agreed with him but because I disliked and disagreed with him so vehemently. I felt as though I had a personal relationship with Kirk over the past decade, one that consisted of him making my life worse.
September 22, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Charlie Kirk’s murder hit me harder than I ever could have anticipated, not because I liked or agreed with him but because I disliked and disagreed with him so vehemently. I felt as though I had a personal relationship with Kirk over the past decade, one that consisted of him making my life worse.
In about 30 minutes, we’ll be hosting a great event and, if you’re not in Lincoln, you can tune in online using the following link:
September 15, 2025 at 1:32 PM
In about 30 minutes, we’ll be hosting a great event and, if you’re not in Lincoln, you can tune in online using the following link:
The surest sign that a liberal democratic society is falling apart is when it becomes commonplace to use and to celebrate violence against people because of their politics.
This is an extremely bad and dangerous time.
This is an extremely bad and dangerous time.
Our Degraded Liberal Society
The surest sign that a liberal democratic society is falling apart is when it becomes commonplace to use and to celebrate violence against people because of their politics.
arikohen.substack.com
September 10, 2025 at 8:03 PM
The surest sign that a liberal democratic society is falling apart is when it becomes commonplace to use and to celebrate violence against people because of their politics.
This is an extremely bad and dangerous time.
This is an extremely bad and dangerous time.
On Tuesday, in my first class of the semester, the students had a lively debate about the limits of toleration … though perhaps not in the way you might imagine. They weren’t interested in figuring out when they could “cancel” someone.
August 29, 2025 at 2:41 PM
On Tuesday, in my first class of the semester, the students had a lively debate about the limits of toleration … though perhaps not in the way you might imagine. They weren’t interested in figuring out when they could “cancel” someone.
I'm incredibly honored to announce that I've been named the inaugural Kripke Chair of Judaic Studies at @unlincoln.bsky.social.
Rabbi Myer and Dorothy Kripke were pillars not only of Nebraska's Jewish community but the wider Jewish world as well, making this appointment especially meaningful to me:
Rabbi Myer and Dorothy Kripke were pillars not only of Nebraska's Jewish community but the wider Jewish world as well, making this appointment especially meaningful to me:
Ari Kohen Named Inaugural Kripke Chair
The Norman and Bernice Harris Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln is pleased to announce that Dr. Ari Kohen has been named the inaugural Kripke Chair of
www.omahajewishpress.com
August 20, 2025 at 1:34 PM
I'm incredibly honored to announce that I've been named the inaugural Kripke Chair of Judaic Studies at @unlincoln.bsky.social.
Rabbi Myer and Dorothy Kripke were pillars not only of Nebraska's Jewish community but the wider Jewish world as well, making this appointment especially meaningful to me:
Rabbi Myer and Dorothy Kripke were pillars not only of Nebraska's Jewish community but the wider Jewish world as well, making this appointment especially meaningful to me:
I was incredibly privileged to spend several days last week in Chapel Hill at a joint Duke/UNC seminar on teaching civil discourse. I joined professors from universities around the country to talk about why and how to teach controversial topics at a moment of deep polarization.
August 15, 2025 at 1:35 PM
I was incredibly privileged to spend several days last week in Chapel Hill at a joint Duke/UNC seminar on teaching civil discourse. I joined professors from universities around the country to talk about why and how to teach controversial topics at a moment of deep polarization.
In this week's post, we’re not going to solve the Israel/Palestine problem. Instead, I write about the central point of Matti Friedman’s recent article, namely that facts are an uncertain thing, especially when bad actors can benefit from the spread of misinformation.
August 1, 2025 at 6:58 PM
In this week's post, we’re not going to solve the Israel/Palestine problem. Instead, I write about the central point of Matti Friedman’s recent article, namely that facts are an uncertain thing, especially when bad actors can benefit from the spread of misinformation.
When a moment of moral emergency comes—when vulnerable people are in danger or when liberal democracy itself is threatened—we look to those leaders to make the hard choice rather than the politically convenient one.
July 25, 2025 at 9:17 PM
When a moment of moral emergency comes—when vulnerable people are in danger or when liberal democracy itself is threatened—we look to those leaders to make the hard choice rather than the politically convenient one.
This is how you behave when the leader of your party definitely isn't implicated in an absolutely horrific child trafficking and sexual exploitation cult, right? Right?
July 22, 2025 at 3:48 PM
This is how you behave when the leader of your party definitely isn't implicated in an absolutely horrific child trafficking and sexual exploitation cult, right? Right?
If liberalism was a dish at a restaurant, it would be buttered noodles. If liberalism was a musical genre, it would be pop hits of the 2010s. It feels like the political philosophy of people who want to stay home on a Saturday night and take a nice warm bath.
Read more here:
Read more here:
Zealots for Liberalism
As I sat listening to a sermon on Shabbat about the zealotry of Pinchas in this past week’s Torah reading, it struck me that almost no one — or maybe no one at all — ever talks about being a zealot fo...
arikohen.substack.com
July 22, 2025 at 2:27 PM
If liberalism was a dish at a restaurant, it would be buttered noodles. If liberalism was a musical genre, it would be pop hits of the 2010s. It feels like the political philosophy of people who want to stay home on a Saturday night and take a nice warm bath.
Read more here:
Read more here:
I love arguing, always have.
This penchant for argument is part of my heritage as a member of both a liberal democratic society and the Jewish people. In both traditions, debate and disagreement is absolutely central.
This penchant for argument is part of my heritage as a member of both a liberal democratic society and the Jewish people. In both traditions, debate and disagreement is absolutely central.
Why We Argue
Hillel, Shammai, and Liberal Arguments for the Sake of Heaven
arikohen.substack.com
July 11, 2025 at 3:17 PM
I love arguing, always have.
This penchant for argument is part of my heritage as a member of both a liberal democratic society and the Jewish people. In both traditions, debate and disagreement is absolutely central.
This penchant for argument is part of my heritage as a member of both a liberal democratic society and the Jewish people. In both traditions, debate and disagreement is absolutely central.
I’m always surprised when I hear adults who have subscribed to the infantile idea that prayer is basically just making a wish, that God is some sort of lamp-bound genie or rarely-glimpsed shooting star. It’s such a sad and impoverished vision of the Divine.
Rep. Roger Williams on people questioning the response to the Texas floods: "Why don't they write a nice letter to somebody? Why don't they down there and say 'we're gonna pray for these people'? Let's hold hands and do that."
July 9, 2025 at 4:24 PM
I’m always surprised when I hear adults who have subscribed to the infantile idea that prayer is basically just making a wish, that God is some sort of lamp-bound genie or rarely-glimpsed shooting star. It’s such a sad and impoverished vision of the Divine.
The thing is, when a person’s off-the-cuff remarks are salted with bigoted language, it’s because he’s used to thinking and saying them. In case anyone wasn’t clear on why this man keeps saying bigoted stuff, across a whole decade of ad libbing during political speeches.
July 4, 2025 at 2:21 AM
The thing is, when a person’s off-the-cuff remarks are salted with bigoted language, it’s because he’s used to thinking and saying them. In case anyone wasn’t clear on why this man keeps saying bigoted stuff, across a whole decade of ad libbing during political speeches.
This is the guy we’re supposed to believe is devoted to fighting the antisemitism, right?
Trump Rails Against ‘Shylocks And Bad People’ In Iowa Speech
President Donald Trump employed a term often used as a slur against...
talkingpointsmemo.com
July 4, 2025 at 1:26 AM
This is the guy we’re supposed to believe is devoted to fighting the antisemitism, right?
Happy 4th of July!
This week, I spent a lot of time thinking and writing about political violence and what it means for liberalism. Before you start grilling burgers and lighting sparklers, check it out:
arikohen.substack.com/p/political-...
This week, I spent a lot of time thinking and writing about political violence and what it means for liberalism. Before you start grilling burgers and lighting sparklers, check it out:
arikohen.substack.com/p/political-...
Political Violence and the End of Liberalism
What happens when our rules no longer apply
arikohen.substack.com
July 3, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Happy 4th of July!
This week, I spent a lot of time thinking and writing about political violence and what it means for liberalism. Before you start grilling burgers and lighting sparklers, check it out:
arikohen.substack.com/p/political-...
This week, I spent a lot of time thinking and writing about political violence and what it means for liberalism. Before you start grilling burgers and lighting sparklers, check it out:
arikohen.substack.com/p/political-...
Reposted by Ari Kohen
News flash, if the president is successfully coercing news coverage of him in major national outlets, it’s not a free country with a free press.
WSJ editorial board: “The President is using government to intimidate news outlets that publish stories he doesn’t like. It’s a low move in a free country with a free press.”
www.wsj.com/opinion/dona...
www.wsj.com/opinion/dona...
Opinion | Trump’s Lawfare Against the Free Press
He suggests prosecuting CNN, while pressuring a settlement out of CBS.
www.wsj.com
July 3, 2025 at 1:05 AM
News flash, if the president is successfully coercing news coverage of him in major national outlets, it’s not a free country with a free press.
There’s something about political liberalism, with its vocabulary of toleration, pluralism, deliberation, and process, that feels, to many people today, like weakness.
June 27, 2025 at 10:41 PM
There’s something about political liberalism, with its vocabulary of toleration, pluralism, deliberation, and process, that feels, to many people today, like weakness.
There is a temptation, I think, to view last weekend’s “No Kings” demonstration as a protest about the political landscape in one country (the United States), of one policy (the treatment of migrants), or of one person (the current occupant of the White House).
June 20, 2025 at 7:09 PM
There is a temptation, I think, to view last weekend’s “No Kings” demonstration as a protest about the political landscape in one country (the United States), of one policy (the treatment of migrants), or of one person (the current occupant of the White House).
It’s fun because Tucker spent something like three full years peddling the classic antisemitic Great Replacement conspiracy theory on his Fox show but Cruz can’t call him on that because then he’d lose all his extremist supporters who totally bought into that when Tucker was selling it every night.
The Tucker-Ted Cruz interview goes off the rails when Ted calls Tucker an anti-Semite and Tucker calls Ted a “sleazy feline.”
June 19, 2025 at 3:11 AM
It’s fun because Tucker spent something like three full years peddling the classic antisemitic Great Replacement conspiracy theory on his Fox show but Cruz can’t call him on that because then he’d lose all his extremist supporters who totally bought into that when Tucker was selling it every night.
Reposted by Ari Kohen
Not caring what Tulsi Gabbard said is, in fact, the most defensible stance, especially regarding what she says about the Middle East or Europe.
Except that's why she should be a kook doing hits for Russian State media, rather than Director of National Intelligence for the United States.
Except that's why she should be a kook doing hits for Russian State media, rather than Director of National Intelligence for the United States.
COLLINS: Tulsi Gabbard testified in March that the intelligence community said Iran wasn't building a nuclear weapon
TRUMP: I don't care what she said
TRUMP: I don't care what she said
June 17, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Not caring what Tulsi Gabbard said is, in fact, the most defensible stance, especially regarding what she says about the Middle East or Europe.
Except that's why she should be a kook doing hits for Russian State media, rather than Director of National Intelligence for the United States.
Except that's why she should be a kook doing hits for Russian State media, rather than Director of National Intelligence for the United States.
Last week, I wrote about antisemitism and what its resurgence means not only for the Jewish people but also for liberalism. At the same time, I wrote a companion piece about the danger of using illiberal tactics to combat antisemitism. That's here:
arikohen.substack.com/p/the-enemy-...
arikohen.substack.com/p/the-enemy-...
The Enemy of My Enemy
Last week, I wrote about antisemitism and what its resurgence means not only for the Jewish people but also for liberalism.
arikohen.substack.com
June 13, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Last week, I wrote about antisemitism and what its resurgence means not only for the Jewish people but also for liberalism. At the same time, I wrote a companion piece about the danger of using illiberal tactics to combat antisemitism. That's here:
arikohen.substack.com/p/the-enemy-...
arikohen.substack.com/p/the-enemy-...
It’s impossible to write something that doesn’t discuss the back-to-back attacks on American Jews in DC and in Colorado. I had a couple of days over Shavuot to do some quiet thinking about what terrorist attacks on Jews can tell us about the health of American liberal democracy.
June 6, 2025 at 5:28 PM
It’s impossible to write something that doesn’t discuss the back-to-back attacks on American Jews in DC and in Colorado. I had a couple of days over Shavuot to do some quiet thinking about what terrorist attacks on Jews can tell us about the health of American liberal democracy.