Zak Taylor
@mzak.bsky.social
Prof. of public policy at Georgia Tech. My posts don't represent my university or USG. They are random reads & vents that I find interesting or provocative.
New study: cellphone bans in schools result in reduced unexcused absences and significant improvements in student test scores.
www.nber.org/papers/w34388
www.nber.org/papers/w34388
The Impact of Cellphone Bans in Schools on Student Outcomes: Evidence from Florida
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
December 2, 2025 at 3:33 PM
New study: cellphone bans in schools result in reduced unexcused absences and significant improvements in student test scores.
www.nber.org/papers/w34388
www.nber.org/papers/w34388
Reposted by Zak Taylor
The Times piece by @brendannyhan.bsky.social about No Kings made me curious about the political activism of young people over time. So I pulled some CES data and made some charts. www.pbump.net/o/how-severe...
How severe is the political pessimism of young Americans?
Somewhat buried in the pre-Thanksgiving conversation, Dartmouth University's Brendan Nyhan offered an interesting observation in an essay for the New York Times. "[T]he scale of the protests" targetin...
www.pbump.net
December 2, 2025 at 4:09 AM
The Times piece by @brendannyhan.bsky.social about No Kings made me curious about the political activism of young people over time. So I pulled some CES data and made some charts. www.pbump.net/o/how-severe...
Reposted by Zak Taylor
1/ For six months, I've been traveling the world on Pulitzer Ctr & Fund For Investigative Journalism grants investigating Trump's effect on HIV & LGBTQ health. On World AIDS Day, @theintercept.com is publishing an overview essay of Afeef Nessouli & my findings. theintercept.com/2025/12/01/w...
Trump Gutted AIDS Health Care at the Worst Possible Time
By the first World AIDS Day of his second term, Trump gutted LGBTQ+ employment globally and put humanity at greater risk of AIDS.
theintercept.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:03 PM
1/ For six months, I've been traveling the world on Pulitzer Ctr & Fund For Investigative Journalism grants investigating Trump's effect on HIV & LGBTQ health. On World AIDS Day, @theintercept.com is publishing an overview essay of Afeef Nessouli & my findings. theintercept.com/2025/12/01/w...
Reposted by Zak Taylor
Jay Bhattacharya and Matthew Memoli aren't bringing "gold standard science" to the #NIH, they are gutting research slowly but surely. When this time is over, they should be hauled before Congress, and shunned for the rest of their lives. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine (Gift Article)
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Jay Bhattacharya and Matthew Memoli aren't bringing "gold standard science" to the #NIH, they are gutting research slowly but surely. When this time is over, they should be hauled before Congress, and shunned for the rest of their lives. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Zak Taylor
NEW: Reports of DOGE’s death aren’t highly exaggerated, they’re wrong. Follow @makenakelly.bsky.social and @telliotter.bsky.social on a voyage into the federal agencies where all your favorite young engineers are burrowed in ”like ticks.”
DOGE Isn’t Dead. Here’s What Its Operatives Are Doing Now
Contrary to popular reports, DOGE has “burrowed into the agencies like ticks,” government sources tell WIRED.
www.wired.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:30 AM
NEW: Reports of DOGE’s death aren’t highly exaggerated, they’re wrong. Follow @makenakelly.bsky.social and @telliotter.bsky.social on a voyage into the federal agencies where all your favorite young engineers are burrowed in ”like ticks.”
Reposted by Zak Taylor
NEW: President Trump has repeatedly threatened to bring federal agents, or even soldiers, to San Francisco to battle crime. His administration has actually done the opposite, quietly taking federal law enforcement away from the city to do immigration work instead.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
December 2, 2025 at 12:26 PM
NEW: President Trump has repeatedly threatened to bring federal agents, or even soldiers, to San Francisco to battle crime. His administration has actually done the opposite, quietly taking federal law enforcement away from the city to do immigration work instead.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Reposted by Zak Taylor
If blowing up survivors in the water was the right thing to do because they are “narco-terrorists” (trust us, bro) and deserve no quarter, why did we rescue two other survivors in a different strike, fly them home, and let them go free?
December 2, 2025 at 2:16 AM
If blowing up survivors in the water was the right thing to do because they are “narco-terrorists” (trust us, bro) and deserve no quarter, why did we rescue two other survivors in a different strike, fly them home, and let them go free?
Reposted by Zak Taylor
Reposted by Zak Taylor
Hitler was bad.
An essay that, you know, I didn’t think I’d need to write.
An essay that, you know, I didn’t think I’d need to write.
Perry: The pro-Hitler problem with the American right
"We need to get back to the basics: Hitler was bad. The people who suggest otherwise are also bad," David M. Perry writes.
www.startribune.com
November 29, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Hitler was bad.
An essay that, you know, I didn’t think I’d need to write.
An essay that, you know, I didn’t think I’d need to write.
Reposted by Zak Taylor
"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."
Analysis: OpenAI is a loss-making machine, how can it survive?
Don't call it a bubble! Loss-making monster OpenAI is on the hook for $1.4 trillion (with a T) in compute commitments. How can this go on?
www.windowscentral.com
November 29, 2025 at 11:30 PM
"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."
Best discussion of AI policy I’ve heard recently: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
The Limits of the American Way of AI
Podcast Episode · The Foreign Affairs Interview · 11/27/2025 · 55m
podcasts.apple.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Best discussion of AI policy I’ve heard recently: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
This thread is distressing.
An issue we're seeing at all levels of university is that many students are simply refusing to do *anything*. They aren't reading the syllabus, aren't following assignment guidelines, aren't engaging with material, ignoring deadlines. And this might seem like old news, but it truly has ramped up.
November 29, 2025 at 3:43 PM
This thread is distressing.
Why are the National Guard patrolling DC? What problems are they solving? There is no insurrection or foreign invasion to put down. If you want to lower crime, then use law enforcement. In fact, the Nat Guard are being sent to low-crime, tourist areas, not the high-crime eastern neighborhoods.
November 29, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Why are the National Guard patrolling DC? What problems are they solving? There is no insurrection or foreign invasion to put down. If you want to lower crime, then use law enforcement. In fact, the Nat Guard are being sent to low-crime, tourist areas, not the high-crime eastern neighborhoods.
There’s a reason we separate the military from the police. The military defends against enemies of the state. The police protect & serve the people. But when the military does both, then the people tend to become the enemies of the state. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
D.C. police to begin patrolling with National Guard after fatal attack
If enacted on a long-term basis, the change would significantly shift the way National Guard troops have worked with law enforcement in the District since their arrival.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:42 AM
There’s a reason we separate the military from the police. The military defends against enemies of the state. The police protect & serve the people. But when the military does both, then the people tend to become the enemies of the state. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Zak Taylor
h/t @adamwren.bsky.social
Michael Bohacek, a Republican state senator from Indiana who has a daughter with down syndrome, says he will vote against redistricting in Indiana after Trump used the word "retarded."
Michael Bohacek, a Republican state senator from Indiana who has a daughter with down syndrome, says he will vote against redistricting in Indiana after Trump used the word "retarded."
November 28, 2025 at 8:57 PM
h/t @adamwren.bsky.social
Michael Bohacek, a Republican state senator from Indiana who has a daughter with down syndrome, says he will vote against redistricting in Indiana after Trump used the word "retarded."
Michael Bohacek, a Republican state senator from Indiana who has a daughter with down syndrome, says he will vote against redistricting in Indiana after Trump used the word "retarded."
Reposted by Zak Taylor
Just sent out this free piece. Trump's 28 point plan put one thing in stark relief--and that was how much better the Biden Administration was for Ukraine than Trump's. There is no comparison. Biden was Ukraine's friend and Trump is not (he is Russia's). open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
The Change From Biden To Trump Has Been Devastating For Ukraine
And Why it is Important for the Direction of US Foreign Policy
open.substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Just sent out this free piece. Trump's 28 point plan put one thing in stark relief--and that was how much better the Biden Administration was for Ukraine than Trump's. There is no comparison. Biden was Ukraine's friend and Trump is not (he is Russia's). open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
Reposted by Zak Taylor
.. including 23 judges appointed by Trump himself, hailing from “at least 35 states, according to a POLITICO analysis of thousands of recent cases.”
@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
November 28, 2025 at 12:06 PM
.. including 23 judges appointed by Trump himself, hailing from “at least 35 states, according to a POLITICO analysis of thousands of recent cases.”
@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Reposted by Zak Taylor
AI Adoption Rates Starting to Flatten Out
Torsten at Apollo
Torsten at Apollo
November 28, 2025 at 12:07 PM
AI Adoption Rates Starting to Flatten Out
Torsten at Apollo
Torsten at Apollo
Reposted by Zak Taylor
A way to cope with grade inflation: Transcripts should include a student’s course grades along with the average grade for each course. "GPA" is then calculated not as a function of letter grades earned but whether the student was above/at/below the course averages. Less precise, but more meaningful.
November 27, 2025 at 8:14 PM
A way to cope with grade inflation: Transcripts should include a student’s course grades along with the average grade for each course. "GPA" is then calculated not as a function of letter grades earned but whether the student was above/at/below the course averages. Less precise, but more meaningful.
Reposted by Zak Taylor
Labor income share shrinking as income from capital takes share
November 27, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Labor income share shrinking as income from capital takes share
We can protect 2A *and* take guns away from mental health cases, violent criminals, and domestic abusers.
November 26, 2025 at 9:31 PM
We can protect 2A *and* take guns away from mental health cases, violent criminals, and domestic abusers.
All Pies Matter!
Just FYI:
My most controversial tweet ever, from Thanksgiving three years ago, back when Twitter was Twitter and Bluesky didn’t exist.
_____________
Pies ranked.
1. Cherry (if not too sweet).
2. Mixed berry.
3. Peach/blackberry.
4. Peach.
5. Apple.
…
9. Key lime.
…
99. Pecan.
…
999. Pumpkin.
My most controversial tweet ever, from Thanksgiving three years ago, back when Twitter was Twitter and Bluesky didn’t exist.
_____________
Pies ranked.
1. Cherry (if not too sweet).
2. Mixed berry.
3. Peach/blackberry.
4. Peach.
5. Apple.
…
9. Key lime.
…
99. Pecan.
…
999. Pumpkin.
November 25, 2025 at 11:33 PM
All Pies Matter!