Adam Pontius

@ampontius

Ph.D. Candidate @ceu IR, pol theory, and history. Research consultant, recovering campaign hack, and hockey fan. Vienna/Belfast UK depending on the season.

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Adam Pontius@ampontius· 12d

Consider for instance the way meaning changes between this screen shot of the transcript of the interview, and the truncated descriptions of her quip in the headlines:

Transcript from NPR interview:

DAVIES: In interviews before Christopher Nolan's film was released, you recommended that people should go and see it. You wrote a pretty tough review. Do you still think people should see it?

WILSON: Absolutely, I think people should see it. I think there's a lot to think about and talk about, and I think it's a good time at the movies. It's a big spectacle. There's a lot to think about both in terms of what is this film saying about our times and about war, violence and deception in our times, and also what it's doing with the source material. I do think that it would have been better if Nolan had hired a scriptwriter because that would have solved a lot of the issues. But I also think the actors are amazing. It's a star-studded cast, and they're doing their absolute best with the script they were given.

Screenshot of the title of the Emily Wilson interview: "'Odyssey' translator Emily Wilson says Nolan shouldn't have written the movie himself."

Header for the post of the Emily Wilson interview which runs: "'Odyssey' translator Emily Wilson says Nolan should have hired a scriptwriter"

Adam Pontius@ampontius· Jul 10

I mean to suggest that social science education is the problem here more so than underlying causal research itself. Jason Blakely makes a compelling case for this, IMO: hedgehogreview.com/issues/ameri...

Quote from the linked Hedgehog Review article:

"As I argue in my recent book, We Built Reality, much of the confusion surrounding scientific authority in modern society stems from either the exercise of fraudulent scientific expertise or the extension of scientific authority into areas where it does not belong.88xJason Blakely, We Built Reality: How Social Science Infiltrated Culture, Politics, and Power (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2020). In particular, specialist claims of scientific authority in matters of governance and social organization have come to be seen by more and more Americans as a bid for power by elite cliques contemptuous of the broader public. Furthermore, there is a connection between this dubious use of scientific authority (which is often based on research that violates the best practices of science or social science) to much that has gone wrong in contemporary America, from excessive regulations and financial crashes to militarized and racialized policing to overly biological and medicalized understandings of happiness and love, and even to scientific polling and surveys that misread the real needs and inclinations of American citizens."

Adam Pontius@ampontius· Jul 6

The effect of German speaking refugees on American intellectual culture after WWII was so great that it’s often easy to forget how few such refugees were actually granted entry during the war:

Underlined passage from Young-Bruehl’s biography Arendt: “The situation was dreadful: of the 1137 names submitted to the United States Department of State, only 238 received visas between August and December 1940.

Adam Pontius@ampontius· Apr 17

Would be fascinated to read a genealogy of the idea of 'world as audience,' very prominent in John Winthrop's 'city upon a hill as well,' an interesting tension with the 'new world/old world' figuring. minio.la.utexas.edu/webeditor-fi...

A screen shot of the linked text:

"Now the onely way to avoyde this shipwracke, and to provide for our posterity, is to followe the
counsell of Micah, to doe justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end, wee must be
knitt together, in this worke, as one man. Wee must entertaine each other in brotherly affection. Wee
must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of other's necessities. Wee must
uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekeness, gentlenes, patience and liberality. Wee must
delight in eache other; make other's conditions our oune; rejoice together, mourne together, labour and
suffer together, allwayes haueving before our eyes our commission and community in the worke, as
members of the same body. Soe shall wee keepe the unitie of the spirit in the bond of peace. The Lord
will be our God, and delight to dwell among us, as his oune people, and will command a blessing upon
us in all our wayes. Soe that wee shall see much more of his wisdome, power, goodness and truthe, than
formerly wee haue been acquainted with. Wee shall finde that the God of Israell is among us, when ten
of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies; when hee shall make us a prayse and glory that
men shall say of succeeding plantations, "the Lord make it likely that of New England." For wee must
consider that wee shall be as a citty upon a hill. The eies of all people are uppon us. Soe that if wee shall
deale falsely with our God in this worke wee haue undertaken, and soe cause him to withdrawe his
present help from us, wee shall be made a story and a by-word through the world. Wee shall open the
mouthes of enemies to speake evill of the wayes of God, and all professors for God's sake. Wee shall
shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and cause theire prayers to be turned into curses
upon us till wee be consumed out of the good land whither wee are a goeing."

Adam Pontius@ampontius· Jul 23

Well... this take didn't age well! 😂 From Daniel Deudney and G. John Ikenberry's initial coining of 'liberal international order' in 1999.

A screenshot of a long quote with the following text: "The opponents of liberal pluralism are a loud but small minority of the alienated and economically dislocated. Their voices are not, however, a cause for a crisis of self-conﬁdence. The ethos of the West remains overwhelmingly tolerant and receptive to diversity. Indeed, the anti-foreigner violence and ethnic ferment have been most revealing in the magnitude of the condemnation they have evoked. Measured by the standards of the past—even the recent past of the 1930s—these episodes are marginal and highlight the strong majorities committed to a liberal civic order."

Adam Pontius@ampontius· Jun 26

A real winner, to be sure.

Text from Wikipedia: “He is known for his staunch support for Donald Trump,[4] his statements which suggest misunderstanding of the US Constitution,[5] and sending Christmas cards featuring a photo of his family holding high-powered rifles.[6]”

Adam Pontius@ampontius· Jun 18

Sure, the early bird gets the worm. But the later bird (for registration) gets the handwritten badge! #BISA2025

Adam Pontius@ampontius· Jun 10

Seems like the operative category is whether he has “significant authority?” But in this admin who knows what that means. constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay...

Adam Pontius@ampontius· Mar 19

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Text reads: “The reality became clear: Ice detention isn’t just a bureaucratic nightmare. It’s a business. These facilities are privately owned and run for profit.

Companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group receive government funding based on the number of people they detain, which is why they lobby for stricter immigration policies. It’s a lucrative business: CoreCivic made over $560m from Ice contracts in a single year. In 2024, GEO Group made more than $763m from Ice contracts.”

Adam Pontius@ampontius· Jul 12

Relevant excerpt: