Michael Brownstein

Workers who love ‘synergizing paradigms’ might be bad at their jobs | Cornell Chronicle Employees who are impressed by vague corporate-speak like “synergistic leadership,” or “growth-hacking paradigms” may struggle with practical decision-making, a new Cornell study into “corporate BS” r...

Solidarity with all my fellow department chairs

h/t @madva.bsky.social and @jayvanbavel.bsky.social

When the Auto Industry Changed the Narrative #audiobook #history #socialchange #books #bookshorts YouTube video by California Center for Ethics and Policy

You asked -- We answered!

Somebody Should Do Something is an audiobook! 🎧

Sit back and enjoy the dulcet tones of John Keating in 14, story-packed chapters about people making social change. 📘

How it starts: www.youtube.com/shorts/shz5r...

Somebody Should Do Something, So Why Not You? | Audiobook Introduction YouTube video by California Center for Ethics and Policy

Prefer more of a preview before diving into the full 9-hour, 2-minute, 46-second experience? Here are the first 5 minutes:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtO1...

@michaelbrownstein.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social

Chart showing in many countries, people see their fellow citizens as morally good.

We asked people around the world to rate the morality and ethics of others in their country.

The U.S. is the only place we surveyed where more adults describe the morality and ethics of others living in the country as bad than good. See our full morality report here: www.pewresearch.org/...

We are getting there!
Come to beautiful MoLI to chat about social change!
Registration here buff.ly/mvyj9dY @madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social

How Change Really Happens #system #socialchange #social #futurethinking #positivechange #shorts YouTube video by California Center for Ethics and Policy

Systems are made of people (and people are made of systems!)

#socialchange #futurethinking #positivechange #tippingpoints

@dryan149.bsky.social @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social

www.youtube.com/shorts/4bWcQ...

Pairs well with "Somebody Should Do Something"

mitpress.mit.edu/978026204978...

Thanks! I tried a version of this. But yeah, looking for examples of university policies.

Academic friends: have you seen any examples of university AI policies which you think are well-done? Could you share links to them if so?

In our book that came out last September, my co-authors and I asked if we could do lower case and the press said no.

Painful to read this and think about the 2021 coup attempt, which was as blatant as it gets. An utter failure of US elites to seize the moment when everybody saw the threat right in front of their eyes.

If we have history books in the future, they will be unkind.

During protests in Iran last month, government forces killed 7,000 protesters, most of them gunned down over three nights. Today big crowds of student protesters rallies at three top universities, chanting “Death to the dictator” and “Our target is the entire system.”

Courage.

Papers I learned from (Part 8: Somebody should do something) - Reflective altruism Brownstein, Madva and Kelly examine the role of personal choices in systemic change.

New short essay out today with @madva.bsky.social and @dryan149.bsky.social on all kinds of ways to do good visibly. Thanks to @reflectivealt.bsky.social for the opportunity to share ideas with the EA crowd.

reflectivealtruism.com/2026/02/20/p...

Flyer for Serving Up Power: Hospitality Worker Organizing in LA on Wednesday 2/18 at 3:30pm

then get back online in the afternoon for @cpp-ccep.bsky.social's panel on organizing hospitality workers in LA!

serving-up-power-la.eventbrite.com

Flyer for Alex Madva's CSU's Got Talent presentation, "Somebody Should Do Something: How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change--CSU Edition"

Somebody Should Do Something & that Somebody Could Be in the CSU!

CSU's Got Talent on Wed 2/18, 10a (online)!

Come for the TLDR of my book, stay for the exploration of concrete strategies for applying the book's lessons through our roles in the CSU!

Register: events.zoom.us/ev/AjbgeQFT5...

SXSW 2026 Schedule Browse events, build your schedule, and get personalized recommendations for the 2026 SXSW Conference & Festivals from March 12–18, 2026 in Austin, TX.

Sorry to all the famous musicians whose ticket sales we crush

"How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change: A Conversation with the authors of Somebody Should Do Something"

Mar 13, 2026
4:00pm – 5:00pm CT
Hilton Austin Downtown - Room 410

@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social

Man if I was like 1/100th as quick on my feet as Mamdani

So pumped!

Somebody Should Do Something A new book about how individual people, working together, can create systemic social change Where to find it... MIT Press Penguin Bookshop Amazon Porchlight Books Greenlight Books Montclair Book ...

The book

Somebody Should Do Something YouTube video by Under The Desk News

The full interview with the amazing V. Spehar

@mitpress.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social

Try stuff! Philosophers like me sometimes overthink questions about the best and right way to make change. I'm trying to learn how to adopt an experimental mindset instead.

A real honor to talk about this and other themes from the book with @madva.bsky.social on @underthedesknews.bsky.social.

Had a blast on @underthedesknews.bsky.social with V Spehar and @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social yesterday!

Catch the full video here, plus some links to YouTube shorts in the thread below: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYGz...

@dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social

Democrats can’t simply react to polls. They must lead. Adam Bonica and Jake Grumbach reply to their critics.

@adambonica.bsky.social and @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social’s reply to commentaries is 🔥

www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-no...

Yes! So many of us are so desperate for satisfying things to do. I love a good protest but “walk from here to there” can feel aimless.

"Every day, I wake up and see the news and I'm horrified. I think it is crazy that some people make it sound like it's acceptable, like the murder of civilians is acceptable." - Victor Wembanyama says about the killings in Minnesota

Via DonHarris4/X

If you like "It's On You," check out "Somebody Should Do Something." We discuss many of the same case studies but reach different (we hope more actionable) conclusions. You can also check out our comment on C&L's BBS paper or our earlier work. More links in the next post www.somebody-book.com

@timharford.ft.com I actually think "It's on You" could become a cautionary tale! (One of my fave podcasts, btw; I listen with my kids.) The either/or systems-or-individuals framing misses crucial ways individuals and systems interact, as we argue in the book @madva.bsky.social linked to above.

Overheard at the sledding hill: “you have to wear your hat because your brain shrinks in the cold!” Snow days are so educational.

Defend markets, ignore everything else Alex Pretti and the one true omnicause

Very good piece from @jerusalem.bsky.social