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Supreme Court heads into new term with one eye on President Trump
When the Supreme Court kicks off a new term on Monday, it’ll be without a docket full of Trump-driven, separation-of-powers blockbusters that defined the last term — for now.
California Politics 360 full episode
In Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump gathered leaders of major tech companies this week to talk about AI rules moving forward.
Trump launches ‘Super Intelligence Force’ after calls for AI slowdown
Leaders from the intelligence community, the Pentagon, the Federal Trade Commission and the Office of Personnel Management will serve on the task force.
Rahm Emmanuel says Democrats should focus on ethics reforms rather than impeaching Trump
Democrats have publicly weighed wether they should pursue impeaching Trump for a third time.
President Donald Trump announces creation of 'Super Intelligence Force' AI task force
President Donald Trump announced the formation of what he called a "Super Intelligence Force" to "ensure that America continues to lead the World" in AI.
Trump holds Ohio midterm rally, urging voters to consider him on the ballot during 32-day campaign tour
President Trump rallied in Ohio as part of a 32-day midterm campaign tour, pushing GOP candidates in a Senate race that could shift control of Congress.
Poll: Latino voters swing away from Trump and Republicans
Democrats have a significant lead among Latino voters in 2026 amid economic concerns, according to the NBC News/Telemundo poll, though the GOP has made some long-term gains.
Trump announces leadership of AI task force
President Donald Trump on Sunday announced the creation of a “Super Intelligence Force” to “ensure that America continues to lead the world” when it comes to artificial intelligence.
How Americans’ Financial Health Is Faring In The “K-Shaped” Economy
Hey all, Jason here. Money20/20 is still two weeks away, but I’ve already started packing (not procrastinating for once!). My calendar is already filling up with various sessions I want to catch, meetings, and of course happy hours, dinners, and other side events. If you’ll be in Vegas and want to catch up, let me know by replying to this email, and we can try to find a time amidst the chaos of the Venetian. A big if not totally unexpected piece of news dropped on Friday: the Independent Community Bankers of America, a trade group that represents smaller U.S. banks, filed a lawsuit against the OCC and Comptroller Jonathan Gould, arguing that the regulator’s move to grant trust bank charters to firms seeking to use them to conduct substantial non-fiduciary activities exceeds the authorities granted to the OCC by Congress. I haven’t had time to fully digest the legal filing or speak to folks in my network about it, but you can expect to see coverage and analysis on it in next week’s newsletter. Subscribe or Support by Upgrading The NerdCon agenda just dropped. It’s stacked. Partner content: Nubank built an AI-first bank. Chime built its own banking core. Figure and Valon are rebuilding the mortgage stack. At NerdCon, you’ll hear from the people behind those bets: what they chose, what they learned, and what they’re still figuring out. The agenda is live, with leaders from Nubank, Chime, OpenAI, Remitly, Mercury, Figure, Valon and more. Follow the mainstage conversations, bring the problem your team is wrestling with to a hands-on workshop, or pull up a chair at a roundtable. Pick your quests. Meet us in San Diego, November 18–20. Fintech Business Weekly readers save 20% with code FBW20. Explore the Agenda Things To Know & Other Good Reads Federal Reserve Board finalizes changes to enhance the transparency and public accountability of its stress test and reduce volatility in its stress test-related capital requirements (Federal Reserve Board of Governors) FDIC Announces Conclusion of Independent Monitorship (FDIC) Modernizing Financial Regulation: Initial Observations from eSLR (Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman) The Data Version of Godzilla versus Kong: FRED Takes on AI (Fed Governor Christopher Waller) Financing the AI buildout (Brookings) Q3’26: Rules for Banks but Not for Crypto (Fintech Takes Banking) The Inevitability of Local Stablecoins (Lombard Notes) Delusions of AI Governance: The Human-in-the-Loop Comfort Blanket (Fintech Snark Tank) Stripe agrees to acquire Parafin to expand revenue opportunities for platforms and help small businesses grow (Stripe) Listen: Fighting Fraud in the Age of AI, with SEON’s Tamas Kadar (Fintech Business Weekly) How Americans’ Financial Health Is Faring In The “K-Shaped” Economy If there is one overarching theme across the economy and politics in the U.S. at the moment, it’s “affordability.” The term is vague enough to encompass a panoply of factors shaping Americans’ day-to-day lives: rising costs for the hallmarks of being “middle class,” including healthcare, housing, childcare, and education, inflation and rising interest rates, and a job market with the specter of AI hovering over it. At the same time, policy shifts under the Trump administration have resulted in reduced subsidies to those who get health insurance under the Affordable Care Act and new restrictions on qualifying for Medicaid and SNAP, the impacts of which have yet to be fully felt. These factors are contributing to declining consumer confidence and general dissatisfaction with the economy, despite continuing GDP growth and stock market records. This divergence is encapsulated in the idea of the “K-shaped” economy, in which a small proportion of Americans have seen their wealth balloon, while the majority of American households struggle to preserve the lifestyle they have. Perhaps the greatest determinant of which branch of the “K” a household is on is whether their wealth and income are primarily derived from employment vs. from assets. Nearly two decades of low interest rates and, more recently, elevated rates of inflation have benefited asset owners, while those whose income is primarily or solely derived from labor have largely seen real purchasing power stagnate or decline. This is reflected in recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing that labor share of U.S. GDP — the fraction of economic output that accrues to workers as compensation in exchange for their labor — dropped to just 52.8% in Q2 2026, the lowest since the BLS began keeping records. In 1947, approximately 2/3rds of economic output accrued to workers; even as recently as 2001, labor’s share of GDP was 64.1%. Against this backdrop, we’ve seen the rise of more credit and credit-like products: cash advance apps, “no-fee” overdraft, earned wage access, and buy now pay later, which are often used as small-dollar short-term borrowing mechanisms to meet immediate consumption needs or pay other bills (eg utilities, cell phone, other debt payments). With the markers of a middle class existence and, increasingly, basic financial stability seemingly out of reach for many, it should be no surprise there’s been an increase in “financial nihilism,” something industry peers like Alex Johnson and Frank Rotman have discussed and analyzed the roots of. The explosion of gambling and gambling-adjacent products and services — often marketed under the guise of being an “investment” — is inextricably intertwined with the rise of financial nihilism. Crypto, sports betting, and, more recently, prediction markets offer an escape or even hope of sorts, like a contemporary, digital version of a scratch-off lottery ticket, while leaving the overwhelming number of people who use such products worse off. Share of Households That Are Financially “Vulnerable” Ticks Up The Financial Health Network’s 2026 Financial Health Pulse® report adds context on how American households are faring. (I linked to this report in last week’s newsletter, but wanted to take time to further unpack the data in the report this week.) The Financial Health Network publishes the report annually, providing insight into how Americans’ financial circumstances are changing over time. The 2026 report is derived from a survey fielded in April and May 2026. The report leverages survey responses to assess indicators of financial health across spending, saving, borrowing, and planning/protecting and to determine a zero to 100 “FinHealth” score. Those with scores between 0 and 39 are considered “Financially Vulnerable,” consumers with scores ranging between 40 and 79 are defined as “Financially Coping,” and those with scores of 80 to 100 are “Financially Healthy.” The report found that moderate improvements in 2025 were reversed, with the share of respondents considered financially “vulnerable” rebounding to 17%. The longitudinal data reflect the impact of pandemic-era programs, like expanded unemployment, cash stimulus payments, and pauses of federal student loan payments. The positive impacts of those programs, as reflected in the Financial Health Pulse reports, had largely disappeared by 2023. While pandemic-era inflation — to be fair, in part caused by the various support and stimulus measures — had come down from as high as 9% in 2022, it has rebounded since the start of Trump’s second term, with tariffs and energy market disruptions owing to the war in Iran pushing prices back up. Specific indicators in the survey that deteriorated from 2025 to 2026 include the share of respondents spending less than their income over the past 12 months, the share paying all bills on time over the past 12 months, the share that have a manageable amount or no debt, the share that are “moderately” or “very” confident their insurance is adequate to cover them in an emergency, and the share that “somewhat” or “strongly” agree that their household plans ahead financially. Unsurprisingly, lower- and moderate-income households are more likely to struggle to pay their bills on time and have any funds leftover to save. The share of low-income households whose income exceeded their spending dropped from 35% in 2025 to 31% in 2026, while the share of upper-income households whose income exceeded expenses remained unchanged at 63%. Households with student loans or revolving credit card debt reported having “a bit more” or “far more” debt than was manageable at rates far higher than those not carrying these types of debts. The share of those with student loan debt indicating their debt load was too high to manage increased from 50% in 2025 to 55% in 2026, while the share of those with revolving credit card debt saying the same ticked up from 51% in 2025 to 54% in 2026. Households that had student loans were markedly more likely to be financially “coping” or “vulnerable” vs. those without student loans. In 2026, 27% of households with student loans were considered financially vulnerable, a jump of 6% points vs. 2025. Households without student loans saw just a 1% point increase (not statistically significant) in those considered financially vulnerable. Households’ perception of the affordability of categories of goods and services paints a stark picture, with less than one-fourth considering higher education affordable, about a third deeming childcare affordable, and less than half viewing healthcare as affordable. Fintech Business Weekly is made possible by the generous support of paying subscribers — bringing you independent analysis of banking, fintech, and crypto without fear or favor. You can support my work by becoming a paying subscriber if you aren’t already. Paying subscribers enjoy: access to the entire archive of nearly six years of newsletters extended versions of the weekly newsletter, with additional content and analysis and (for founding member tier) quarterly personal 1:1 fintech Q&A / strategy calls with me, tapping into my unparalleled knowledge of the intersection of banking and fintech and experience working in the sector, including helping to launch Goldman Sachs’ retail bank Marcus Support Fintech Business Weekly You can also support Fintech Business Weekly by sponsoring a newsletter or podcast, putting you in front of 93,000+ of the most influential decision makers in banking, fintech, and crypto. Learn more about sponsor opportunities or request a media kit by dropping me an email. Democratic Senate Report Highlights How Iran Uses Tether to Evade U.S. Sanctions Iran uses stablecoins, specifically Tether, to evade sanctions, fund regional proxies, and to purchase military drones, a report released last week by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations says. The report was authored by committee ranking member Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and the minority staff. Crypto and stablecoin proponents will often push back on criticism that criminals make use of these assets by arguing that, on an absolute dollar basis, far more illicit funds flow through traditional banking systems and payment rails than via crypto and stablecoins. And while that is likely true, it elides the reality presented in news story after news story: whether state actors — Russia, Iran, North Korea — or criminal groups, those looking to engage in illicit transactions increasingly favor stablecoins and, specifically, Tether (USDT). The report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released last week adds context to how Iran uses Tether has a lynchpin in its shadow banking system. The report analyzed 846 wallets that have been sanctioned or targeted for seizure, finding that 84% of them transacted exclusively or primarily in Tether. The ability to create near limitless, anonymous wallets and to move funds effectively instantaneously and irreversibly have made crypto a favored financial mechanism for bad actors. Stablecoins solved key drawbacks of bitcoin, namely, the original cryptocurrency’s highly volatile value in dollars. And while Tether (the company) has the technical ability to “freeze” or destroy funds, the company is often limited and reactive in its approach to doing so, the Senate report argues. Tether, which is nominally based in crypto-friendly El Salvador, “has stated that its compliance with OFAC sanctions is ‘voluntary’ and that it follows ‘OFAC guidelines,’” the Senate report says. Owing to these favorable attributes, Tether “became a primary cryptocurrency for Iran, Hamas, Hizballah, and the Houthis beginning in 2023 and has expanded in scale since,” according to the report. Tether’s role in Iran’s shadow banking system, the report says, is enhanced by crypto exchanges like Bybit, Kyrrex, OKX, Gate, and Binance, and through “over the counter” exchanges and hawala networks. The consequences of these financial flows aren’t hypothetical. The Senate report links Tether as a funds transfer mechanism to Iranian proxies in the region, including Hizballah, the Houthis, and Hamas. Tether has also been used to make payments to secure components necessary to manufacture drones, the report says. The report concludes by arguing that “[s]tablecoin issuers with a significant nexus to the United States, particularly those that offer dollar-denominated stablecoins, should be subject to American sanctions law rather than being allowed to hide behind foreign jurisdictions.” Stablecoin issuers like Tether must be held accountable for repeated failures to prevent illicit finance and sanctions violations by law enforcement, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and OFAC, the report argues. [Paying Subscriber Exclusive] OUSD Goes Live, Make Your Own Neobank, U.S. Sanctions Russia’s A7 Network As “Transnational Criminal Organization” OpenUSD, the stablecoin issued by the Open Standard consortium that includes Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, core providers, crypto firms, and numerous banks, went live last week. Social commerce platform Whop raised eyebrows in fintech by offering creators on its platform the ability to launch their own neobanks, which the company describes as “great businesses that are easy to run,” in just 15 minutes. And OFAC and FinCEN target Russia’s “shadow banking” A7 Network — more on these stories after the paywall.
Politics chat: Midterm polls, Senate races, Trump in Texas
As polls come out with increasing frequency closer to the midterm election, how much credence should voters give them? Meanwhile, President Trump continues campaigning for GOP candidates.
Inside Democrats’ efforts to secure Election Day and respond to fears of Trump interference
Ahead of the November midterm elections, top Democrats are planning for doomsday scenarios for how President Donald Trump and his administration could intervene in the voting process and laying the groundwork for a forceful response.
The counties to watch on the massive midterm elections battlefield
The breadth of the public backlash against President Donald Trump’s tumultuous second term is rapidly widening the campaign battlefield for 2026.
How Democrats hope to reverse Trump’s changes to the presidency
As the midterms approach, some of the president’s foes are working to ensure his aggressive approach to executive power doesn’t outlast him.
Democrats Lead Governor Races Deep in Republican Territory, Polls Show
Democratic advantages in the races for governor in Texas, Iowa, Ohio and Alaska reflect deep unhappiness with President Trump and the economy. A Republican leads in Kansas.
How Trump Moved Ethical Lines With His Ads, Businesses and Summits
The president’s decision to hold an international summit at his own private golf club, an idea rejected in his first term, illustrates how much he has shattered norms.
The Trump Account app is boring, and that's a great thing
I opened up a Trump Account for my son, and was struck by how boring it was. That's great news for encouraging responsible investing.
‘And I beat them:’ Former U.S. Rep. Bob Livingston on ‘a politically motivated prosecution’
The former top leader in the U.S. House talks about his new book, Trump, and partisanship in Congress.
‘And I beat them:’ Former U.S. Rep. Bob Livingston on ‘a politically motivated prosecution’
The former top leader in the U.S. House talks about his new book, Trump, and partisanship in Congress.
‘And I beat them:’ Former U.S. Rep. Bob Livingston on ‘a politically motivated prosecution’
The former top leader in the U.S. House talks about his new book, Trump, and partisanship in Congress.
'SNL' skewers Trump, Mitch McConnell in midterms-themed cold open
"Saturday Night Live" is ready for the midterms.
Trump, campaigning in Ohio, says the midterms will bring a ‘big surprise’
The president rallied Saturday for Sen. Jon Husted, who faces a tough race against Democrat Sherrod Brown, and for Vivek Ramaswamy, the state’s GOP candidate for governor.
Trump Promotes Data Centers at Rally With Republican Facing Heat on Them
The president defended the complexes, which have become a liability for Senator Jon Husted in a challenging midterm race.
Trump defends data centers in Ohio as he rallies to boost Jon Husted in a tight Senate race
President Donald Trump is defending data centers powering AI projects during a campaign rally in Ohio.
Trump defends data centers in Ohio as he rallies to boost Jon Husted in a tight Senate race
President Donald Trump is defending data centers powering AI projects during a campaign rally in Ohio. He insists they benefit local communities and warns against losing them to China. The
Who will be Brazil’s next president?
The election could also serve as a bellwether of Donald Trump's influence in Latin America
Trump rally attendees react to war and the economy ahead of the midterms
CNN’s Alayna Treene speaks with Trump supporters about their views on issues like the Iran war, gas prices and the economy, as the US president campaigns in Vandalia, Ohio in a bid to help Republicans retain control of Congress in next month’s midterm elections.
Trump’s spat with GOP lawmaker over Daylight Saving Time
President Donald Trump railed against Sen. Tom Cotton in a series of posts on Saturday, accusing the Arkansas Republican of holding up a bill that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent and encouraging people to call the senator at his cellphone number.
Trump advocates for mail and early voting despite historically opposing both
President Donald Trump said Americans should cast their ballot using “every appropriate tool,” in a pre-recorded video imploring Republicans to vote in the midterm elections, including using methods that he has historically opposed like early and mail voting.
Trump told aide to use taxpayer money for TV ads praising him
Four spots have run, at a cost of about $5.5 million, and that is expected to grow, according to media tracker AdImpact and people familiar with the spending.
Trump rallies in Ohio to boost Jon Husted in a tight Senate race against Sherrod Brown
Saturday's rally is just outside Dayton, Ohio, where he'll stump for key candidates in competitive races for the House, Senate and the governor’s mansion in Columbus.
In social post, Trump endorses Cunningham, mispronounces Vasquez’s name and doubles-down on renaming New Mexico
By Pat Davis, New Mexico Political Report — President Donald Trump officially endorsed Republican Greg Cunningham’s bid for Congress in a social media post today where the president once again called on New Mexicans to rename the state “New America” and mispronounced the Hispanic pronunciation of current Democratic Congressman Gabe Vasquez’s name. This story was […]
Trump rallies in Ohio to boost Jon Husted in a tight Senate race against Sherrod Brown
WASHINGTON (AP) — After a few days campaigning in safe conservative territory, President Donald Trump on Saturday takes his midterm tour into Ohio, a battlegrou
Trump posts GOP lawmaker’s phone number amid spat over Daylight Saving Time
President Donald Trump railed against Sen. Tom Cotton in a series of posts on Saturday, accusing the Arkansas Republican of holding up a bill that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent and encouraging people to call the senator at his cellphone number.
Trump rallies in Ohio to boost Jon Husted in a tight Senate race against Sherrod Brown
President Donald Trump is taking his midterm tour to Ohio, a battleground state with a crucial Senate race.
Trump rallies in Ohio to boost Jon Husted in a tight Senate race against Sherrod Brown
President Donald Trump is taking his midterm tour to Ohio, a battleground state with a crucial Senate race | WWJ Newsradio 950
Trump reveals GOP senator’s phone number in battle over daylight saving time
Sen. Tom Cotton, usually a staunch Trump ally, has vowed to oppose efforts for year-round daylight saving time. He reiterated his opposition Saturday.
Rag Tag Team of Biologists Who Lost Funding Because of Trump Turned a Motel Room into Makeshift Lab and Made a Groundbreaking Discovery
A team of biologists brought together by Trump's funding cuts continued their research in a motel room and made a significant discovery.
Trump appears to post Sen. Tom Cotton’s cell number in push to make daylight saving time permanent
The House passed a bill in July to make daylight saving time permanent, and the Senate has yet to take up the measure.
Trump, Critic of Voting by Mail, Urges Republicans to Do It in Midterms
It was the latest mixed messaging from President Trump, who regularly votes by mail, but has made baseless claims that the practice is “inherently corrupt.”
Trump urges calls to Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton in push for permanent daylight saving time
“For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill and, in the Senate, it’s very easy to do, it only takes one!" Trump wrote on social media, noting that passing the bill would give professional golfers more time on the greens.
See where Trump's $90 checks to 20 million seniors are going
President Trump said he plans to send $90 check to more than 20 million seniors this month. See how much money is going to midterm battlegrounds.
A gut punch in Ohio: Nearly 1,400 laid off at truck factory just days before Trump rally
This year’s election is a test for the working-class coalition that lifted Trump into the White House and gave majorities to Republicans in the House and Senate.
Trump makes pitch to Ohio voters as midterms approach
President Donald Trump will lead a rally in a Dayton suburb Saturday in hopes of energizing GOP voters. He'll be joined by Sen. Jon Husted and others.
Why hasn’t the Trump administration decided the fate of TPS for Salvadorans?
The Trump administration still hasn't reached a decision, plunging the Salvadoran community into uncertainty and raising questions about what has prompted the delay.
A gut punch in Ohio: Nearly 1,400 laid off at truck factory just days before Trump rally
President Donald Trump is trying to rally voters in the Dayton, Ohio, area on Saturday. But days ago, 1,400 workers were laid off from a truck factory there.
Trump to give $90 to senior citizens for Medicare premiums
President Donald Trump said late Friday he will give around 20 million senior citizens $90 each to help pay for their Medicare Part B premiums, marking his latest effort to dole out funds to certain Americans weeks before the midterm elections.
Trump says Cornell 7 'won't get fair shake' because NY AG Letitia James
President Donald Trump's perceived political foe, the New York attorney general who won a $454 million judgement against him, is looking into Cornell.
Trump Negotiators’ Business Ties Collide With Multibillion-Dollar Russian Oil Deal: NYT
Trump’s negotiations with Russia about Ukraine reportedly now include an oil deal involving business figures connected to Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
When is the right time to compare US politics to the Nazi era? This expert on Christian nationalism says: now
Robert P Jones argues that declining white Christian influence has fuelled an alliance with Trump, and warns it is reshaping US democracy
Rural MAHA followers say Trump health policies haven’t reached their communities
About half of rural voters identify with Make America Healthy Again, a sprawling political movement championed by the Trump administration.
Global tech policymakers agree to embrace AI in science
A joint statement issued by the United States and 15 other countries touts the technology’s potential for accelerating scientific progress.
Change to bankruptcy law may help speed up, give relief to small biz
Small businesses may get an easier path to restructure their debt faster while offering greater flexibility in negotiating with creditors under a change in law waiting President Trump's approval.
Trump is campaigning in reliably red states, a sign of midterm concerns
Trump is rallying in Republican strongholds such as Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama, betting that his presence will be enough to energize voters who might be thinking of sitting out the election.
Are the Polls Too Good to Be True for Democrats?
Once again, pollsters’ inability to reach Trump voters might disappoint Democrats.
As midterms near, some Republicans are starting to question Trump
WASHINGTON — The most striking thing about the U.S. Senate leaving town early to campaign was all the grousing Republicans did about President Donald Trump before going.
Trump, Putin, Ukraine and an Oil Deal: 5 Takeaways
A proposal to bolster relations with the Kremlin through the purchase of Russian energy assets is striking even for an administration that regularly mixes personal business interests with foreign policy.
How Trump’s Deportation Policies Have Rocked a South Florida House Race
Representative María Elvira Salazar, a Republican, ran an ad criticizing the Trump administration. It may have jolted other Republicans — and drawn attention to her Democratic opponent.
U.S.-Russia Talks on Ukraine Now Involve an Oil Deal Tied to Trump Allies
President Vladimir V. Putin brought up a sale of Russian energy assets with President Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, pushing a deal that raises new questions about conflicts of interest.
'Double-edged sword': Trump blitzes red states amid plunging popularity
Trump is spending precious campaign time and funding in GOP states rather than challenging Democrats in the closest races for control of Congress.
A gut punch in Ohio: Nearly 1,400 laid off at truck factory just days before Trump rally
President Donald Trump is trying to rally voters in the Dayton, Ohio, area on Saturday.
A gut punch in Ohio: Nearly 1,400 laid off at truck factory just days before Trump rally
President Donald Trump is trying to rally voters in the Dayton, Ohio, area on Saturday.
Breaking down Trump’s new ‘drug factories’ claim about Iranian nuclear sites
The president’s refusal to admit the likely gaffe follows a pattern of insisting he is always correct.
Harold Branam: Talking back to money in politics (Opinion)
At the midterm Republican Convention last month, President Donald Trump promised to send every American adult a $5,000 check if the Republicans retain control of the House and Senate.
South Korean official says Trump announcement on Alaska LNG went ‘far beyond what was agreed’
The governor and Republican incumbents in competitive U.S. Senate and House races said they expect South Korea to ultimately invest $54 billion. Some industry observers cast doubt on that prospect.
What we know about Trump’s latest taxpayer-funded ad campaign
The Trump administration has created at least 13 campaign-style ads as part of its controversial taxpayer-funded, multi-million-dollar effort to promote President Donald Trump and his policies. CNN’s Betsy Klein reports.
In Alabama, Trump Relives His Glory Days (This Time With Some Empty Seats)
The Deep South was the birthplace of the mega MAGA rally. How do people on the Gulf feel about President Trump now?
Justice Department asks court to let Trump reinstate White House press ban
The Justice Department argued that President Donald Trump should be allowed to reinstate his White House ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico in a court filing late Friday ahead of a hearing next week in the lawsuit from the news companies.
NH families sue Trump administration over Medicaid ban on transgender health care
Four families say their minor children could lose access to gender-affirming treatment under a pending change in Medicaid rules.
Trump makes rare presidential visit to tribal land for rally
President Donald Trump's campaign rally on the Choctaw Nation puts him in rare company. He's among a handful of presidents who have visited Native American reservations while in office. Trump's
Agency diverted $1.4 billion in science funds mandated by Congress
The extraordinary move — holding back part of the National Science Foundation’s research budget — is another creative sidestep by the Trump administration.
Trump Suggests Cornell Defendants Won’t Get a ‘Fair Shake’ From Letitia James
President Trump weighed in on the case when asked about Ms. James, who has become a target of his second-term retribution campaign.
$7.5B plan for California science agency free from Trump’s influence will go to voters
California could create its own multi-billion-dollar science and health research agency under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Trump on possibly invoking Insurrection Act around midterms: ‘We’ll see’
Trump visa policies weigh on Columbia journalism program as admissions pause
The drop in international applications shows how uncertainty over Trump’s visa policies is affecting one of the preeminent U.S. journalism institutions.
Judge temporarily blocks border wall construction in Texas’ Big Bend region
A federal court in Texas has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from building a border wall in the Big Bend region. This decision is a win for landowners, businesses and
The shifting Senate map: From the Politics Desk
Plus, Trump broadcasts his midterm anxieties.
As Trump's proposed arch looms over D.C., protesters pin their hopes on the midterms
Democratic lawmakers, veterans and concerned citizens gathered in Memorial Circle to protest the arch Trump wants to build there. Their hopes lie primarily in a lawsuit and next month's midterms.
Supreme Court returns with high-profile emergency cases
The Supreme Court returns Monday, and the Trump administration is already appealing to the high court to make emergency rulings. Experts don’t see the commander in chief slowing down.
Supreme Court returns with high-profile emergency cases
The Supreme Court returns Monday, and the Trump administration is already appealing to the high court to make emergency rulings. Experts don’t see the commander in chief slowing down.
Trump heads back to Texas on Wednesday as GOP fights to keep state red
Texas, long a safe Republican state, has emerged as a top battleground in midterm races up and down the ballot — but especially in the U.S. Senate race.
Trump revisits the scene of his political ascent as Republicans struggle
A month before the midterms, the president is returning to Alabama and other places where his movement remains strongest.
Vote no on Prop 45 to Protect California’s environment and public health
This November, California voters will have a chance to push back against President Trump’s attacks on our clean air and water, public health, and open space by voting NO on Proposition 45. This deceptive ballot initiative is a 41-page recipe for pollution and sprawl. It would weaken California’s bedrock environmental law and make it easier to build data centers, warehouses and other polluting projects – with severely limited public oversight.
Kennedy Center Honors move to new venue amid building closure
The Kennedy Center Honors gala will move to Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., after the center’s closure amid a legal battle over the addition of Trump's name to the building.
Trump Directed Use of Taxpayer Money for Ads Praising His Presidency
The government-funded ads show just how much President Trump has been able to use federal money for his own aims.
Wynonna Judd Clarifies Rosie O’Donnell’s Trump Supporter Claims
“I’ve never spoken to her about politics in my life,” Judd said about O’Donnell.
Studying Science in an Anti-Scientific Time
This Chronicle Review Deep Cut was first published in 2025. By Julianne Werlin Thanks for reading The Chronicle Review! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Subscribe The last two decades have not been kind to science studies. Already bruised and battered by the “science wars” of the 1990s, by the 2000s sociologists of science — who had long argued that science had to be understood in its human context — were encountering the funhouse-mirror version of their own views in right-wing critiques of climate scientists. It was enough to give some prominent scholars pause. “Was I wrong to participate in the invention of this field known as science studies?” asked Bruno Latour, the most famous sociologist of science in the world, in 2003. “Should we apologize for having been wrong all along? Or should we rather bring the sword of criticism to criticism itself and do a bit of soul-searching here: What were we really after when we were so intent on showing the social construction of scientific facts?” In response, Latour proposed a change of method and attitude. Science studies, now chastened and contrite, would no longer seek to strip facts of their authority, but to enrich and enhance them. What this meant in practice was never fully clear. But his diagnosis of problems resonated, even if his solutions did not. Latour’s exercise in public hand-wringing signaled a shift in mood. By 2016, with the first election of Donald Trump, the idea that skepticism of science was a right-wing position, not a left-wing one, had become a commonplace, discussed eagerly in The New York Times. For liberals, vaccine denial during the Covid era and Trump’s second-term attacks on the funding of scientific research, covered extensively in these pages, added a new urgency to the defense of science on both practical and principled grounds. There was little appetite for a sociology or philosophy of science that emphasized the messiness and missteps of the scientific process rather than its integrity and triumphs. The distinguished historian of science Peter Dear’s new book, The World as We Know It: From Natural Philosophy to Modern Science (Princeton University Press, 2025), which seeks to tell the story of 18th- and 19th-century science for a general public, may seem comfortably remote from these bitter contests. In its 16 short chapters, Dear draws swift, sure sketches of major discoveries from Newton to Einstein, ably guiding the reader through debates on stellar nebulae, animal taxonomy, atomic chemistry, evolution, and other flashpoints in the history of science. But though a work of history, Dear’s book must still negotiate our polarized present. In a blurb on its back cover, the historian of biology Lynn K. Nyhart alludes to the “present moment, when scientific knowledge is being swamped by misinformation and its institutions are under siege.” Dear himself, in his conclusion, refers to the “yard signs” and “bumper stickers” that proclaim “Science Is Real.” One antidote to both anti-science propaganda and to reductive slogans in science’s defense is a robust history and philosophy of science: exactly what Dear’s scholarship has long offered. But his new book illustrates how difficult such work has become. Dear, an emeritus professor of history at Cornell University, is best known as a creative and philosophically minded historian of the Scientific Revolution. His edited volume The Literary Structure of Scientific Argument (1991) analyzed the rhetoric of Galileo’s thought experiments to brilliant effect. Discipline and Experience: The Mathematical Way in the Scientific Revolution (1995) was a major contribution to the analysis of scientific experiments in early modern Europe and beyond, while Revolutionizing the Sciences: European Knowledge in Transition, 1500-1700 (2001), now in its third edition, remains one of the best overviews of the profound epistemological upheavals of 16th- and 17th-century science. But Dear has also ventured into later periods. Nearly two decades ago, in The Intelligibility of Nature: How Science Makes Sense of the World (2006), he turned to the 18th and 19th centuries to sketch a history and theory of scientific knowledge. Aimed at a generalist audience, Dear’s simple prose belied serious philosophical ambitions. Science, Dear argued, has two aspects: “natural philosophy,” the quest to understand the true nature of the universe, and “instrumentality,” the applied skills and technologies that allow us to manipulate the world for human advantage. Both strands are ancient, but the innovation of the phenomenon we call “science” was to yoke them together. As Francis Bacon wrote, “Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known, the effect cannot be produced,” an insight typically abridged to “knowledge is power.” Or, in Bertrand Russell’s characteristically blunt phrase, science has two functions, “1. to enable us to know things, and 2., to enable us to do things.” So far, so conventional. But Dear took issue with this familiar story in one respect. Bacon’s formula implied that theory and practice could be fused in a single method. In fact, Dear argued, the quest to understand nature and the desire to manipulate it were coupled only loosely. They could come together, but they could also pull apart. Focusing on natural philosophy, the “knowing” half of the scientific circle, he used a series of case studies from cosmology, taxonomy, chemistry, electromagnetism, and quantum theory to show how theories changed over time, in dialogue with practice, but never reducible to it. Take the case of matter, the basic substrate of the physical world. In the 18th and 19th centuries, scientists not only disagreed about what it was, but also about how well it could be known. In 1789, the chemist Antoine Lavoisier dismissed speculation about the atomic composition of chemicals as “discussions entirely of a metaphysical nature,” as he sought to orient chemistry away from philosophical abstraction and toward laboratory results. But in the 19th century, atoms returned with a vengeance in the atomic chemistry of John Dalton, who wanted to explain the underlying structure of nature. It was not just that Dalton and Lavoisier had a different set of experimental results, or even a different theory, Dear showed. What counted as an explanation had changed. In arguing that scientific theories depended on their intelligibility to human beings with complex arrays of beliefs and commitments, Dear was in sympathy with science studies. Key figures such as the sociologist Steven Shapin emphasized the importance of psychological mechanisms like trust in the formation and acceptance of scientific ideas. But in focusing on the scientific pursuit of knowledge, not its politics or economics, Dear resisted the more cynical perspective of some of his colleagues. The Intelligibility of Nature strikes a very different note than Shapin’s collection of a few years later, Never Pure: Historical Studies of Science as If It Was Produced by People With Bodies, Situated in Time, Space, Culture, and Society, and Struggling for Credibility and Authority (2010), to name just one example. Walking a very fine line, Dear depicted science as driven at once by complex social dynamics and by the intellectual power of real discoveries. It was a testament not only to his own acumen but also to the vitality of the field that he was able to do so. Nearly two decades later, The World as We Know It returns to the questions broached in The Intelligibility of Nature. Like Dear’s earlier study, it begins with the Newtonian cosmos and ends with debates between Einstein and Bohr on quantum physics. Beyond its terminal figures, many of the same characters appear in both studies, including the naturalists John Ray and the Comte de Buffon; the chemists Étienne François Geoffroy, Antoine Lavoisier, and John Dalton; as well as Charles Darwin and Michael Faraday, among others. Its subject is nearly identical: As in The Intelligibility of Nature, The World as We Know It considers natural philosophy as opposed to instrumentality, here defined as the “desire to create a picture of what the world is really like — the world as God knows it — rather than simply having instrumental or operational control over it.” The two books also overlap in insights — and sometimes even in language. The reader who has learned in The Intelligibility of Nature that Buffon’s method of classifying animals “reflected his belief in the importance of the senses and empiricism in learning about nature (a doctrine associated with Newton and the philosopher John Locke)” will experience a sense of déjà vu on reading, in The World as We Know It, that the classification “reflects Buffon’s commitment to the epistemological stance of Newton and his philosophical underlaborer John Locke, who stressed the role of the senses in creating natural knowledge.” Later in the passage, we read that, “because of its stress on understanding the ways of life of animals in their environments, Buffon’s approach could almost be labeled (anachronistically) as ‘ecological.’” And again, “an anachronistic way of putting it would be to say that Buffon recommends an ecological mode of understanding.” Likewise, in The Intelligibility of Nature we read of Dalton that he was initially drawn to meteorology, and that: He did a bit of experimental work on these things, especially having to do with the water-holding capacity of gases, but his real interest lay in understanding what, at an underlying natural-philosophical level, was really going on physically.” Whereas, in The World as We Know It: He did experimental work on these things, especially concerning the water-holding capacity of gases — although not at a very refined level quantitatively — but he was continually trying to develop a theoretical conception of what was happening physically. The final full chapter of each book closes on the same resigned note. Intelligibility: These days, most serious work on the natural philosophical underpinnings and implications of quantum mechanics is performed not by physicists but by philosophers of science. Among scientific practitioners themselves, Bohr’s attempt to use instrumentality as sufficient grounds for a respectable science has met with a high degree of success. And again, in The World as We Know It: Bohr’s and Einstein’s concerns are now questions that are mostly discussed by philosophers of science rather than by physicists themselves. The marginalization of these sorts of questions amounts to the demise of natural philosophy, at least in physics, in the 20th century. Quantum mechanics “works,” and that’s good enough for most scientists who encounter it. Examples could be multiplied. When handling the same subject matter, some echoes are inevitable. Scholars should not feel that because they have written “Isaac Newton died in 1727” in one book, in the next they must describe him as perishing, expiring, or meeting his maker. But the repetitions of language and arguments (not to mention six reproduced images) threaded throughout The World as We Know It are more extensive than that. They should have been caught by Princeton University Press or its reviewers, and revised. Because the two books have so much in common, it is easy to see where they diverge. The World as We Know It is a less theoretical work than its predecessor. The sociology of knowledge that organized The Intelligibility of Nature has been reduced in scale and folded into readings and examples. The taut interplay between history and theory, which gave the earlier study so much interest, is there, but it is subtle. In the earlier book, the case studies demonstrated theoretical claims about the character and development of science. In the later work, each narrative of discovery is an end in itself. Insights emerge from the history, but they do not control the organization of the study. With the theory muted, it can be hard to understand the logic uniting Dear’s sprawling history of more than two centuries of scientific knowledge. The 16 brisk chapters cover an enormous amount of material. But the closer the volume edges to comprehensiveness, the more obvious the missing elements become. A chapter on “Institutions and Pedagogy,” describing the birth of the research university, illustrates the problem. Inserted roughly halfway through the book, the unnumbered chapter is designed as an “entr’acte,” in acknowledgement that it does not fit the study’s organization around scientific discoveries. Yet as Dear is well aware, no general history of the development of modern science can bracket its 19th-century institutionalization and professionalization. It was the 19th-century university, after all, that gave us the “scientist,” a term coined by the Cambridge philosopher William Whewell. Dear’s history of scientific discoveries implies a wider social and institutional history, but it remains largely subterranean, only occasionally extruded under the pressure of the narrative. It must be said that the balance is not all on the side of the earlier study. There are some advantages to the more historical, less theoretical organization of The World as We Know It. Dear’s accounts of paradigm shifts are remarkably lucid, no small accomplishment given that they span fields and centuries. He makes excellent use of the wealth of new scholarship on Darwin and his influences, to which he has himself contributed. It is satisfying to see puzzle pieces from Buffon’s natural history, Georges Cuvier’s animal taxonomy, Thomas Robert Malthus’s demography, and Charles Lyell’s geology recombined seamlessly in the Darwinian jigsaw. Likewise, Dear’s discussion of stellar nebulae, divided between chapters two and 15, shows vividly how Newton, Kant, Herschel, and Hubble reimagined insights and observations as they sought to discover whether the diffuse light that filtered through early telescopes was a glowing, gaseous substance or discrete but distant stars. Yet despite such pleasures, the book remains a more modest work than The Intelligibility of Nature. Dear has clearly not changed his views about the history of science. But in the two decades that have elapsed, the discipline and the world around it have changed, making it harder to write a sociologically and philosophically ambitious history of science for the general reader. That is a shame, because in the age of Silicon Valley and biotechnology, both the reciprocity and the tensions Dear identified between the epistemological and instrumental ambitions of science are more evident than ever. In recent years, some of the most exciting new books on the history of science in early modernity have focused precisely on this pressure point. Important studies such as Pamela H. Smith’s From Lived Experience to the Written Word (2022), James Poskett’s Horizons: The Global Origins of Modern Science (2022), and Vera Keller’s The Interlopers: Early Stuart Projects and the Undisciplining of Knowledge (2023) all shed new light on how early modern science negotiated the relationship between its instrumental and epistemological ambitions, or in Russell’s phrase, knowing and doing. There is every opportunity for a philosophically informed approach to draw new insights from this wealth of material. Dear, unfortunately, has not done so in The World as We Know It. But for future scholars of the history of science, his body of work over nearly four decades may provide just the model. Julianne Werlin is an associate professor of English at Duke University. 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