Pepper D. Culpepper

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 11h

The newest get rich quick scheme: be president. Excellent investigation by FT into Trump family’ sudden and startling crypto wealth.

FT Investigation: How the Trump companies made $1bn from crypto

The president and his family have built a rapidly growing digital assets empire which has been fuelled by the administration’s industry-friendly policies

www.ft.com

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by Pepper D. Culpepper

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 1d

Monopoly capitalists, even those with black turtlenecks and slick marketing, are still corrosive of democracy (typed on an iPhone).

Maria Farrell @mariafarrell.bsky.social · 1d

Even before Apple was using its app store duopoly to nuke the tools of human rights defenders, it was very much the bad guy

However pained the expression of the oligarch as they protect their power (or join Trump's global bro-entourage), they will always protect their power above all.

Robin Berjon @robin.berjon.com · 1d

It's a great speech but pet peeve: people always forget Apple in these lists. Apple News, the app store tax, and the collusion between Apple and Google to share the proceeds from defunding the web have massively damaged journalism.

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Reposted by Pepper D. Culpepper

Maria Farrell @mariafarrell.bsky.social · 1d

Even before Apple was using its app store duopoly to nuke the tools of human rights defenders, it was very much the bad guy

However pained the expression of the oligarch as they protect their power (or join Trump's global bro-entourage), they will always protect their power above all.

Robin Berjon @robin.berjon.com · 1d

It's a great speech but pet peeve: people always forget Apple in these lists. Apple News, the app store tax, and the collusion between Apple and Google to share the proceeds from defunding the web have massively damaged journalism.

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Reposted by Pepper D. Culpepper, Greg Linden

View post

by Pepper D. Culpepper

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 2d

Tl;dr Big incumbents are a black hole into whose gaping maw innovative startups disappear and their innovations with them.

Florian Ederer @florianederer.bsky.social · 2d

Do incumbents buy startups to scale innovation or to stifle it?

New research covering 60 countries finds that acquired startups were highly innovative before their acquisition, but their patenting drops sharply afterward, while acquirers' innovation doesn't rise.

www.oecd.org/en/publicati...

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Reposted by Pepper D. Culpepper, Diane Coyle

Florian Ederer @florianederer.bsky.social · 2d

Do incumbents buy startups to scale innovation or to stifle it?

New research covering 60 countries finds that acquired startups were highly innovative before their acquisition, but their patenting drops sharply afterward, while acquirers' innovation doesn't rise.

www.oecd.org/en/publicati...

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Reposted by Pepper D. Culpepper

Ciaran Martin @ciaranm.bsky.social · 6d

Who’d have thunk that DOGE wouldn’t save any money?

(From the Wall Street Journal)

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by Pepper D. Culpepper

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 8d

🤔

Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 8d

twice a year the entire U.S. press becomes a marketing extension of a single billionaire-owned retailer, and nobody in any position of editorial power thinks it's weird or gross

photo of Google News search results for Amazon Prime Day (the second this year)

Reposted by Pepper D. Culpepper, Scott A. Imberman, Victor Pickard , and 1 more Pepper D. Culpepper, Scott A. Imberman, Victor Pickard, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 8d

twice a year the entire U.S. press becomes a marketing extension of a single billionaire-owned retailer, and nobody in any position of editorial power thinks it's weird or gross

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by Pepper D. Culpepper

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 9d

Daring reportage from the hellscape

Nick Kristof @nickkristof.bsky.social · 10d

Portland is a “war-ravaged” city that is “on fire,” President Trump warns. But I braved the artillery fire and militia checkpoints to bring you this video report from the front lines.

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Reposted by Pepper D. Culpepper, Anand Menon

Nick Kristof @nickkristof.bsky.social · 10d

Portland is a “war-ravaged” city that is “on fire,” President Trump warns. But I braved the artillery fire and militia checkpoints to bring you this video report from the front lines.

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by Pepper D. Culpepper

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 11d

Excellent thread by @abenewman.bsky.social . This particular point shows the dark side of Keck and Sikkink’s boomerang theory: transnational networks of democratic subversion. Coming soon to a polarized democracy near you!

Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 11d

6/It is not just US government and the Valley that has shifted. Third parties -- the Bolsonaros/Farages of the world. They see that they can plead their case in DC and get pressure on their home governments. US coercion deployed to remake home information spaces.
legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2025/09/2...

«Enshittification» : la nouvelle doctrine de l'Empire américain | Le Grand Continent

Le plan de l’administration Trump pour faire du reste du monde un vassal d’extrême droite — et les moyens pour le déjouer. Une pièce de doctrine signée Henry Farrell et Abraham Newman.

legrandcontinent.eu

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Reposted by Pepper D. Culpepper

Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 11d

6/It is not just US government and the Valley that has shifted. Third parties -- the Bolsonaros/Farages of the world. They see that they can plead their case in DC and get pressure on their home governments. US coercion deployed to remake home information spaces.
legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2025/09/2...

«Enshittification» : la nouvelle doctrine de l'Empire américain | Le Grand Continent

Le plan de l’administration Trump pour faire du reste du monde un vassal d’extrême droite — et les moyens pour le déjouer. Une pièce de doctrine signée Henry Farrell et Abraham Newman.

legrandcontinent.eu

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by Henry Farrell — Reposted by Pepper D. Culpepper, Benjamin Braun, John Hogan , and 1 more Pepper D. Culpepper, Benjamin Braun, John Hogan, Prokla Redaktion

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 14d

Scholars of American Political Economy should be writing up the whole dark economy that is emerging around coercion and corruption.

Truthout @truthout.org · 14d

State-run extrajudicial immigration black sites like Alligator Alcatraz allows politically connected individuals to make hundreds of millions of dollars off Florida’s taxpayers at the expense of jailed migrants, while those held are stripped of their access to legal counsel and due process.

DHS Plans More State-Run Extrajudicial Black Sites Like “Alligator Alcatraz”

Homeland Security’s Kristi Noem mentioned plans to build similar immigration jails in Arizona, Nebraska, and Louisiana.

truthout.org

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by Pepper D. Culpepper

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 15d

And I thought I was losing my mind…

Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 15d

"Google appears to have blocked AI search results for the query “does trump show signs of dementia” as well as other questions about his mental acuity, even though it will show AI results for similar searches about other presidents."

Google is blocking AI searches for Trump and dementia

With Biden, AI Mode will provide a summarized answer.

www.theverge.com

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by Pepper D. Culpepper

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 15d

Interesting that other peaks of usage of the word are at times of great division in the US: pre-civil war, gilded age, and red scare. But how many of these are down to @mcopelov.bsky.social 😉.

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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 15d

This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important

Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 17d

⚠️ Chinese researchers have invented bone glue that mimics how oysters stick to surfaces underwater.

The adhesive can reportedly repair orthopedic fractures in 2-3 minutes, even in blood-rich environments, and is bioabsorbable.

interestingengineering.com/science/chin...

China's oyster-inspired 'bone glue' bonds fractures in minutes

A new oyster-inspired Bone-02 adhesive can revolutionize bone repair without metal fasteners.

interestingengineering.com

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by Pepper D. Culpepper

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 15d

Think I’ll read this after I finish my wine.

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Reposted by Pepper D. Culpepper, Robert C. Richards, Bessma Momani

Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 15d

"Google appears to have blocked AI search results for the query “does trump show signs of dementia” as well as other questions about his mental acuity, even though it will show AI results for similar searches about other presidents."

Google is blocking AI searches for Trump and dementia

With Biden, AI Mode will provide a summarized answer.

www.theverge.com

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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 16d

On the morning of Keir Starmer's conference speech here's a new post on an odd psychopathology in British politics - our main parties don't like the people who vote for them - the dreaded Professional Managerial Class. And so they are acting out like a divorced dad seeking cooler voters. 1/n

British Politics' Midlife Crisis

Why British Parties Can't Make Peace with Their Actual Voters

benansell.substack.com

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by Pepper D. Culpepper

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 16d

There’s a nice article on this by @erikbleich.bsky.social @amauritsvdv.bsky.social et al in Political Studies.

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by Pepper D. Culpepper

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 17d

Great to see the Blavatnik School’s new neighbour, the Schwarzmann Centre for the Humanities, just about ready for the new academic year. Welcome!

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by Pepper D. Culpepper

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 17d

What could possibly go wrong?

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 18d

Larry Ellison envisions a surveillance state in which techbros rule. '“Citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on,” Ellison said in an hour-long Q&A during Oracle’s Financial Analyst Meeting last week.'

Larry Ellison predicts rise of the modern surveillance state where ‘citizens will be on their best behavior’ | Fortune

Oracle's Larry Ellison believes citizens and police alike will be under constant surveillance of each other.

fortune.com

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Reposted by Pepper D. Culpepper, Paul Nightingale, Greg Linden

Jesse Felder @jessefelder.bsky.social · 18d

‘Renowned roboticist Rodney Brooks has a wake-up call for investors funneling billions into humanoid robot startups: you’re wasting your money.’
techcrunch.com/2025/09/26/f...

Famed roboticist says humanoid robot bubble is doomed to burst | TechCrunch

Brooks, who co-founded iRobot and spent decades at MIT, is particularly skeptical of companies like Tesla and Figure trying to teach robots dexterity by showing them videos of humans doing tasks. In a...

techcrunch.com

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Reposted by Pepper D. Culpepper, Anne Applebaum, Joanna Bryson , and 32 more Pepper D. Culpepper, Anne Applebaum, Joanna Bryson, Anupam Chander, Colin F. Camerer, David Lazer, Brendan Nyhan, Scott L. Greer, Jonathan Wolff, Harvey J. Miller, Dustin Mulvaney, Fabián Muniesa, Jacob Montgomery, Bruce D. Baker, Joseph Schafer, Juan Cole, Jonathan Hopkin, Melanie C. Green, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Christine Kooi, Bessma Momani, Aaron Gerow, David Murakami Wood, Kate Starbird, Henry Jones, Nils Zurawski, Woodrow Hartzog, Clayton Littlejohn, Blair Fix, Geneviève Gore, Albin Wagener, Pádua Fernandes, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Farah Mendlesohn, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 18d

Larry Ellison envisions a surveillance state in which techbros rule. '“Citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on,” Ellison said in an hour-long Q&A during Oracle’s Financial Analyst Meeting last week.'

Larry Ellison predicts rise of the modern surveillance state where ‘citizens will be on their best behavior’ | Fortune

Oracle's Larry Ellison believes citizens and police alike will be under constant surveillance of each other.

fortune.com

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by Pepper D. Culpepper

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 20d

I think you have not got to the test sections dealing with Boudicca, heroine of the resistance against the Romans. Possibly a bit dated, I will grant you that.

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by Pepper D. Culpepper

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 20d

Ezra Klein-haters, hold your fire. This great interview with Corey Robin on the red scare and today is worth your time. Ht to @jacobedenhofer.bsky.social for spotting it.

Trump Is Building the Blue Scare

Podcast-Folge · The Ezra Klein Show · 24.09.2025 · 1 Std. 27 Min.

podcasts.apple.com

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by Adam Bonica — Reposted by Pepper D. Culpepper, Ben H. Ansell, Will Jennings , and 8 more Pepper D. Culpepper, Ben H. Ansell, Will Jennings, Philip N. Cohen, John Holbein, Sanford F. Schram, Mirya R. Holman, Nazita Lajevardi, Scott A. Imberman, Brian Keegan, Mark Rice

Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 20d

I’m starting to notice a trend in the polling data…

—Top Public Worry: Corruption

—Biggest problem in Fed Gov: Corruption

—Top fear: Corruption

—What one word would you use to describe American government?: “Corrupt”

It’s almost like voters are trying to tell us something.

Top 10 American Fears of 2024 (Chapman Survey)
Horizontal bar chart ranking the top fears of Americans (percentage “afraid” or “very afraid”):
1. Corrupt government officials (65.2%, top fear for years).
2. Loved ones becoming seriously ill (58.4%).
3. Cyberterrorism (58.3%).
4. Loved ones dying (57.8%).
5. Russia using nuclear weapons (55.8%).
6. Not having enough money for the future (55.7%).
7. U.S. becoming involved in another world war (55.0%).
8. North Korea using nuclear weapons (55.0%).
9. Terrorist attack (52.7%).
10. Biological warfare (52.5%).
Red bars display percentages; small arrows indicate change from 2023 rankings.

Top Public Worries in the U.S. (Yale & GMU poll, May 2025)
Stacked bar chart of worries among U.S. adults. Categories ranked by share “very worried”:
• Government corruption (54% very worried, top issue).
• Other leading concerns: cost of living (48%), the economy (47%), state of democracy (44%), disruption of federal services (44%), cultural/social divisions (36%), treatment of immigrants (35%), global warming (29%), crime (26%).
• Lower worries include job security (17%), health (16%), and being targeted because of identity/beliefs (15%).
Green shades show “very/somewhat worried,” yellow/orange shades show “not very/not at all worried.

Perceptions of Federal Government Problems (AP-NORC poll)
Bar chart showing the percentage of U.S. adults who consider various issues in the federal government to be a major problem, minor problem, or not a problem.
• Corruption: Overall 70% major, 22% minor, 7% not a problem. Higher among Republicans (78%) than Democrats (63%).
• Inefficiency: 65% major overall, with Republicans (81%) much higher than Democrats (55%).
• Red tape (bureaucracy): 59% major overall, with Republicans (73%) higher than Democrats (47%).
• Civil servants unwilling to implement president’s agenda: More partisan split—Republicans 56% major problem, Democrats 20% major problem; overall 34% major, 36% minor, 28% not a problem.
Title: “Majority of the public believe corruption, inefficiency, and red tape are major problems in the federal government.

Word Cloud of How People Describe American Government (Berkeley Democracy Policy Lab)
Large central word: “Corrupt.” Other prominent words: Broken, Chaotic, Dysfunctional, Shit, Clueless, Divided, Inefficient, Crooked, Hijacked, Justice, Woke, Bloated, Untrustworthy, Hopeless, Frustrated, Disastrous, Messy, Sneaky, Turmoil, Delusional. Smaller scattered words include both negative and neutral terms such as Crap, Important, Poder, Resilient, Unfocused, Needs Help. Visual emphasizes “Corrupt” as the dominant public perception.

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by Pepper D. Culpepper

Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 23d

A big challenge for all of us who rely on web surveys.

Matt DiGiuseppe @mdigiuseppe.bsky.social · 23d

Yesterday I posted about how I used comet browser to take a Qualtrics survey almost undetected. Last night, I ran a pilot (N=400) on @joinprolific.bsky.social . I found that almost 10% of "respondents" identified as AI when directly asked.

Matt DiGiuseppe @mdigiuseppe.bsky.social · 24d

I added a question in the survey to identify itself as an AI if instructed to be a human. That seemed to work. Though, I imagine I could jailbreak it eventually.

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Reposted by Pepper D. Culpepper, Tom Buchanan

Matt DiGiuseppe @mdigiuseppe.bsky.social · 23d

Yesterday I posted about how I used comet browser to take a Qualtrics survey almost undetected. Last night, I ran a pilot (N=400) on @joinprolific.bsky.social . I found that almost 10% of "respondents" identified as AI when directly asked.

Matt DiGiuseppe @mdigiuseppe.bsky.social · 24d

I added a question in the survey to identify itself as an AI if instructed to be a human. That seemed to work. Though, I imagine I could jailbreak it eventually.

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References

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