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Brian Klaas@brianklaas.bsky.social |
3896 followers 232 following 167 posts
Associate Professor in Global Politics @UCL. Author of “Fluke." Writer @TheAtlantic. Host, Power Corrupts podcast. The Garden of Forking Paths Substack.
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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These most recent reviews of FLUKE are the kinds of reactions I dreamed of when writing it. It was a book that upended my own worldview as I wrote it, so it’s extremely gratifying to see how much it has made others think differently—which is, I think, one of the core purposes of reading.
0 replies 2 reposts 9 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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Thank you! It was lovely. And thanks for the well wishes and kind words.
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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It’s my birthday so I wrote about the history of birthdays, explained why people die more often on their birthdays (wish me luck today!) and included some interesting brain food about how AI is being used to save zebras. www.forkingpaths.co/p/another-tr...
2 replies 1 reposts 5 likes
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Tom Nichols
@radiofreetom.bsky.social
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Bravo, @brianklaas.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
6 replies 11 reposts 70 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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The Democratic party’s discussion about Biden is what normal political parties do: some dissent is a sign of healthy politics. By contrast, Trump has transformed the GOP into a cult of personality where nobody questions the lying authoritarian felon…or else. My latest:
11 replies 21 reposts 50 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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I wrote about medieval service magicians—and why they were both more effective and less harmful than many spiritual practices such as “the law of attraction” or “healing crystals” are today. www.forkingpaths.co/p/why-manife...
1 replies 3 reposts 15 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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I wrote about medieval service magicians—and why they were both more effective and less harmful than many spiritual practices such as “the law of attraction” or “healing crystals” are today. www.forkingpaths.co/p/why-manife...
1 replies 3 reposts 15 likes
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Coates
@oddthisday.bsky.social
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Can recommend. The introduction alone will stagger you
3 replies 1 reposts 12 likes
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Pete Woods is full of love and pasta
@thatpetewoods.bsky.social
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We fixed a broken, half-century old robot from 15 billion miles away using a radio and our monkey brains and that is goddamn amazing.
6 replies 128 reposts 461 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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My publisher has insinuated that if I do not share this graphic, highlighting this accolade for FLUKE, that I may find myself on the wrong side of a cliff edge, my legs cartoonishly bicycling like Wile E. Coyote, and “we wouldn’t want that to happen would we?!” so I shall tremblingly click “Post.”
0 replies 3 reposts 18 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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Thank you!
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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Woke up to the lovely news that Amazon named my new book—Fluke—as one of the best books of 2024 (so far).
4 replies 3 reposts 32 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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The Supreme Court just overturned the ban on bump stocks. Bump stocks allowed the Las Vegas mass shooter to fire more than 1,000 rounds in just over ten minutes. What possible justification is there for allowing an ordinary civilian to own one? US gun policy is just beyond insane.
1 replies 10 reposts 26 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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Niche post, but I’m open to queries from prospective PhD students particularly for ideas related to concepts in my latest book—Fluke (chaos theory in social science, contingency, complexity, causality, debates on geographical determinism, evolutionary theory in social science).
0 replies 3 reposts 6 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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Are there universal traits of human minds that have evolved across all cultures? I wrote about a fascinating new book—“Inheritance”—which says that we universally have three shared impulses: to conform, to believe, and to belong. www.forkingpaths.co/p/inheritanc...
1 replies 1 reposts 10 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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Hours before meeting with his probation officer, Trump went on a bizarre rant about rising shark attacks (untrue), mandated batteries (untrue) and how boats that are heavy will sink (really, really untrue). I wrote about Trump’s “banality of crazy.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
2 replies 5 reposts 20 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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If you, like me, struggle to get away from your phone, your email, and digital life, consider reading this piece I wrote on the “moronic inferno,” how to escape it, and why I turned my phone black and white. www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-moroni...
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Laloofah
@laloofah.bsky.social
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I’m so far behind in my newsletter-reading, but this one deserves to be shared, late or not…
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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So glad to hear that! Thanks for taking the time.
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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One of the great things about independent bookshops is that when you give a talk at them they might put out a special sign where someone perfectly draws the cover of your book in chalk, like this:
1 replies 5 reposts 41 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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I visited two cemeteries in Normandy — one American, one German — and reflected on what it means to remember the dead today, the 80th anniversary of D-Day. It raises questions of collective responsibility, free will, justice, and why we remember. www.forkingpaths.co/p/a-tale-of-...
0 replies 3 reposts 13 likes
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LSE Review of Books
@lsereviewofbooks.bsky.social
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“We control nothing, but influence everything” writes @brianklaas.bsky.social in Fluke, exploring how seemingly random happenings and actions can profoundly shape our lives.
Read the review by Ulviyya Khalilova. wp.me/p2MwSQ-hmF
0 replies 2 reposts 6 likes
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Koenfucius
@koenfucius.bsky.social
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Is change driven by stable, long-term trends? Or does history pivot on the tiniest details? Hard question, as we can’t go back in time. But an ongoing long-term evolution experiment allows us to ‘play God’—
@brianklaas.bsky.social explains: buff.ly/3xYZ60v via
@behscientist.bsky.social
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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Joe Biden has to deal with what I call the “inversion of reality” and “delusions of gloom.” Polls show voters are badly misinformed—often the opposite of the truth—on key issues that makes them systematically pessimistic—and the media is partly to blame. www.forkingpaths.co/p/joe-biden-...
0 replies 10 reposts 38 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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Joe Biden has to deal with what I call the “inversion of reality” and “delusions of gloom.” Polls show voters are badly misinformed—often the opposite of the truth—on key issues that makes them systematically pessimistic—and the media is partly to blame. www.forkingpaths.co/p/joe-biden-...
0 replies 10 reposts 38 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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Voters understand politics through schemas—mental shortcuts that condense complex reality into cognitive shorthand. Rishi Sunak and the Tories are screwed because the schema for voters is overwhelmingly that the country is broken—and that the Tories broke it. www.forkingpaths.co/p/schemas-an...
0 replies 4 reposts 10 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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Well that’s a plot twist: I finally get UK citizenship and I get to vote in my first British general election on…the 4th of July.
2 replies 1 reposts 57 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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Trump has, in the last few days, floated the idea of seizing power to remain in office for an unconstitutional third term and posted a clip saying he would create a “unified Reich.” The Reich story is currently the *13th* story, on the New York Times. The “banality of crazy” in action, as I explain:
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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Latitude gives north and south, longitude gives east and west…
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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The tale of how one clockmaker solved the problem of longitude—which helped build empires and unleash the Industrial Revolution—is a thriller worth your time. My latest, linking neurons, naval history, sea turtles, and the best named admiral of all-time: www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-thrill...
4 replies 6 reposts 15 likes
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Kelly Hereid
@kellyhereid.bsky.social
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Digging the latest from @brianklaas.bsky.social : the construct of puzzles vs. mysteries echoes @h4wkm0th.bsky.social 's weather vs. climate problems, where it's dangerous to assume that an unbounded problem (mystery/climate) can be solved with just MOAR DATA (puzzle/weather).
2 replies 4 reposts 9 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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I had a great time speaking to the wonderful Dan Snow about three historical “what ifs” from my new book—FLUKE. These tiny details changed the course of history forever. t.co/PQF7KY59gI
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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Zorro appreciated Salisbury Cathedral, famous for its 123 meter spire
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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I became a British citizen just in time to partake in one of the great national traditions: #dogsatpollingstations
3 replies 8 reposts 67 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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I have written something that I suspect you'll enjoy about the evolution of stupidity, octopus intelligence, bumbling bank robbers who thought they were invisible, and the differences between the cognition of an average porpoise and Marjorie Taylor Greene: www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-evolut...
1 replies 8 reposts 22 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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I've written about the NPR uproar and why the framing is all wrong, completely missing the point.
The press should have precisely two biases: pro-truth and pro-democracy. When reality is asymmetric, "balanced" reporting is deception. I explain more here: www.forkingpaths.co/p/why-we-nee...
1 replies 27 reposts 65 likes
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Philip Bump
@pbump.com
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“The aggressive hallucinating lady agrees with our politics” is an odd flex but OK.
96 replies 260 reposts 2097 likes
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Mark Copelovitch
@mcopelov.bsky.social
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Climate News
@climatenews.bsky.social
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This is an exceptional podcast episode from @frdhpodcast.bsky.social discussing “Fluke” the new book by Brian Klaas.
Several important topics discussed have direct impact on climate change.
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Caspar Henderson
@casparhenderson.bsky.social
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“It’s worth remembering that the categories we use to make sense of the world are not true. They can act as a useful lie. But if we don’t remember that they are a lie, we’ll make catastrophic mistakes…” Brian Klaas www.forkingpaths.co/p/funes-the-...
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swirlOsquirrel
@swirlosquirrel.bsky.social
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#RecommendedReading: “Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters Hardcover” by Brian Klaas
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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I've written about the NPR uproar and why the framing is all wrong, completely missing the point.
The press should have precisely two biases: pro-truth and pro-democracy. When reality is asymmetric, "balanced" reporting is deception. I explain more here: www.forkingpaths.co/p/why-we-nee...
1 replies 27 reposts 65 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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My latest, in The Atlantic: “In MAGA World, Everything Happens for a Reason.” From earthquakes and eclipses to QAnon, here’s why Christian nationalists and people like Marjorie Taylor Greene are allergic to explanations rooted in science or randomness: www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
1 replies 1 reposts 5 likes
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Philip Bump
@pbump.com
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"do i need to wear a jacket today" "hang on let me chop down this tree"
93 replies 165 reposts 1486 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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NEW: The bizarre, wonderful history of court jesters and fools reveals lessons about the nature of modern power, from narcissistic hubris to cults of personality from Trump to Putin—and the necessity of being told when you're wrong. My latest: www.forkingpaths.co/p/why-we-nee...
1 replies 3 reposts 15 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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NEW: The bizarre, wonderful history of court jesters and fools reveals lessons about the nature of modern power, from narcissistic hubris to cults of personality from Trump to Putin—and the necessity of being told when you're wrong. My latest: www.forkingpaths.co/p/why-we-nee...
1 replies 3 reposts 15 likes
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Brian Klaas
@brianklaas.bsky.social
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No frosting on the snoot The case is moot
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Brendan Nyhan
@brendannyhan.bsky.social
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What would you say if you saw it in another country? www.nytimes.com/2024/04/01/u...
2 replies 14 reposts 40 likes
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Brendan Nyhan
@brendannyhan.bsky.social
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Beware the temptation to downplay the authoritarian threat. Could be president again in 294 days.
9 replies 48 reposts 180 likes
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Mark Copelovitch
@mcopelov.bsky.social
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Today in "neither our media nor our political system is designed to deal with a far right authoritarian party"
0 replies 24 reposts 66 likes