Programmable Mutter

How AI Madness Helped Fuel DOGE

Moloch the stunned governments! Moloch whose mind is pure machinery!

May 12 • Henry Farrell

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Four Theses on the Conservative Legal Movement

Originalism is the theory that the Federalist Society knows what it wants, and deserves to get it good and hard.

May 8 • Henry Farrell

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Power, democracy, and clarity

What does the end of the Voting Rights Act mean?

Published on Can We Still Govern? • May 1

April 2026

Our Future Is Being Devoured By Feral Thought Experiments

Here's a chance to start taking it back.

Apr 30 • Henry Farrell

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US is making Europe pay dearly for its half-hearted electrification

Europe's "small yard, big fence" moment

Published on Geoeconomic • Apr 25

AI has limits, even if many AI people can't see them

On Ben Recht's fantastic new book

Apr 6 • Henry Farrell

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March 2026

"Gooning Towards the Führer" as policy coordination

The Trumpist administrative style

Mar 23 • Henry Farrell

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Cosma Shalizi Is Aware of All Internet Traditions

Shalizi’s frame of artificial intelligence as mechanized tradition

Published on arg min • Mar 20

AI is a bureaucratic technology. So is fighting war.

What happens when AI slop hits targeting systems and civil liberties?

Mar 3 • Henry Farrell

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February 2026

Who loses from the Anthropic fight? Maybe Elon Musk and Alex Karp.

Arbitrary state power can cut in many directions

Feb 27 • Henry Farrell

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The Median Voter Theorem is a Clarity Trap

What the Democratic party needs - what it demands - is bold, persistent experimentation

Feb 12 • Henry Farrell

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January 2026

The limits to Trump's power in America and the world

Hubris and cruelty have consequences

Jan 27 • Henry Farrell

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