That’s gold, Jerry. Gold! Brilliant NBA Finals storyline for Seinfeld fans.

Academic writing should be addressed neither to the public nor to other academics. It should be addressed to a single interlocutor with whom you have a petty rivalry and whose work you are trying to discredit

Macy’s in Chicago. To be honest with you I only went in there because I desperately had to pee during my 4h walk but wow that’s giant flag 😂🇺🇸 I respect how proud Americans are of their country, unimaginable back home in Germany.

I never met Gordon Wood, but I have a story about him. In one of my grad school seminars, we read Wood’s Creation of the American Republic. The sheer erudition and evidentiary depth of the book bowled me over. Back then, before kids and before life accelerated to warp speed, I used to call my mother every Sunday to catch up. Lots of times, we ended up talking about what I was reading that week in my grad seminars or for leisure. Mom had an omnivorous mind, and she was always looking for something else to read. She was a true intellectual—curious about almost everything, always eager to integrate new arguments or ideas into her existing schemas of how the world worked or to have those schemas challenged and changed. When we talked that particular Sunday, I think I tried to describe to her part of Wood’s argument about the relationship between the state constitutions during the Articles of Confederation era and the federal Constitution. Maybe I was tired, maybe I didn’t completely understand her questions, but the end result of the conversation was that Mom had questions about Wood’s argument that I didn’t answer satisfactorily. I told her that she should probably just read the book, and we said goodbye. She did eventually read the book, but the next Sunday, Mom started our conversation by saying, “Well, I had a lovely conversation with Gordon Wood this week.” For a split second, I thought she was joking, but then I remembered who I was dealing with. I started to sweat. “How?” I asked. A whole variety of unlikely scenarios in which the foremost historian of the American Revolution and my mother, who lived in Wichita, Kansas, might have met ran through my mind. “Oh, I just looked up his office phone number on Brown’s website and called, and he picked up!” Mom said. I decided I would have to find another profession. As it ended up, Gordon Wood spent about an hour on the phone with my mother answering her questions about the Constitution. Ever since, I’ve had a soft spot for the man when I imagine him picking up the phone in Providence and finding Becky Elder from Wichita on the other end of the line. His generosity in that moment spoke very well of him. Rest in peace, professor.

This was meant to be for my 100 Econ followers, but like the Rebs it got a little hot. If Keith Carter sees this: I’m an Econ prof specializing in ticket pricing. I’ve worked with one of the 10 largest airlines in North America, and my research has been NSF funded. Hit me up

In the last 15 months, Ole Miss has been to a national semifinal in football, a women’s Sweet Sixteen, a men’s Sweet Sixteen, a women’s College World Series, and now a men’s College World Series. And it has an Econ department on the rise. Truly an everything school

Auburn Board Takes Full Curricular Control, Dissolves Faculty Senate The Auburn University Board of Trustees on Friday gave itself complete control over course offerings, curriculum, degree requirements and academic credentials while eliminating shared... bit.ly/4fqcUEZ

Jesse and Ashley Ridgway on the backlash for aborting their baby with Down Syndrome: "[People are saying] I don't deserve to be a mother because of the decision that we just made." "We've seen the darkest side of humanity through this."