- https://PayPal.Me/lukeisback
"Luke Ford reports all of the 'juicy' quotes, and has been doing it for years." (Marc B. Shapiro)
"This guy knows all the gossip, the ins and outs, the lashon hara of the Orthodox world. He’s an [expert] in... all the inner workings of the Orthodox world." (Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff) LATEST POSTS:
- Robert Putnam: The Man Who Counted What America Lost
- W. Bradford Wilcox: The Sociologist Who Tells America to Get Married
- Peter Moskos: The Cop Who Talks to People
- Julius Krein
- Ryan Burge: The Numbers Man in the Empty Church
- Emily Oster: The Economist in the Delivery Room
- The Most Ridiculous Story Ever Told
- Tanner Greer
- Economist Tyler Cowen
- Richard Reeves: A Life in Institutions
- Jake Adelstein: The Reporter Who Became His Story
- Jim Goad (1961-2026)
- Moira Greyland
- Robert Oscar Lopez: The Inconvenient Witness
- Two Ledgers: Decoding the Gurus and the Price of Talk
- The Pervert’s Progress: Costin Vlad Alamariu and the Making of Bronze Age Pervert
- Curtis Yarvin: A Life Against Democracy
- Mark Helprin: Against the Current
- Mark Brandt: The Man Who Asked Who Else Is Prejudiced
- John T. Jost: The Psychologist of Acquiescence
BEST POSTS:
- * The Enlightenment Wasn’t Enlightened (6-23-26)
* Mr. Burge Draws The Line (6-23-26)
* 'Improving on Democracy' (6-17-26)
* People Leak To People Who Are Fun (6-11-26)
* Why Does Australia Produce So Many Great Journalists? (6-11-26)
* Steve Wynn and the Press: Power, Litigation, and the Contest Over Las Vegas (6-3-26)
* Sheldon Adelson and the Journalists (6-3-26)
* The Vigilant Animal: Thinkers Who Reject the Myth of Human Gullibility (6-2-26)
* The Cost of Refusing the Misunderstanding Myth (6-2-26)
* Show Me How It Travels (6-2-26)
* The Norm Explainers (6-2-26)
* Centering Marginalized Voices (6-1-26)
* What would it look like if the Washington Post put its reader first? (6-1-26)
* What would it look like if the Financial Times put its reader first? (6-1-26)
* What It Would Mean for the Los Angeles Times to Put the Reader First? (6-1-26)
* What It Would Mean for The New York Times to Put the Reader First? (6-1-26)
* Why Wembanyama Lives on the Perimeter (5-31-26)
* The Emotional Palettes Of San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco & Sacramento (5-27-26)
* The Administrative Capital: Sacramento Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* San Diego - The Quiet Republic (5-27-26)
* The Quiet Bar: San Diego Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* SF v LA Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* Why Talent Travels Poorly Between San Francisco and Los Angeles (5-27-26)
* San Francisco and Los Angeles as Rival Models of Urban Access (5-27-26)
* Social Cliques in New York, 2026 (5-25-26)
* Social Cliques in San Francisco, 2026 (5-25-26)
* The Rival Courts of Washington (5-25-26)
* The City of Private Rooms (5-25-26)
Category Archives: Journalism
Decoding Jason Zengerle
ChatGPT says: Jason Zengerle is best decoded, through Alliance Theory, as a narrative stabilizer for liberal institutional politics whose job is to make elite power struggles intelligible without making them look illegitimate. Start with Pinsof’s premise. Political storytelling is alliance … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism
Comments Off on Decoding Jason Zengerle
Decoding John Ellis
ChatGPT says: John Ellis is best decoded, through Alliance Theory, as a displaced elite rationalist who uses procedural analysis as a refuge after losing institutional standing. Start with Pinsof’s premise. Moral and epistemic language are alliance tools. When a person … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism
Comments Off on Decoding John Ellis
Decoding Yossi Klein Halevi
ChatGPT says: Yossi Klein Halevi functions, in Alliance Theory terms, as a moral bridge builder whose job is to preserve cross-coalition legitimacy when raw power arguments would fail. David Pinsof’s core insight applies cleanly here. Moral language is used to … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism
Comments Off on Decoding Yossi Klein Halevi
Decoding Bret Stephens
ChatGPT says: Bret Stephens is best understood as a credentialed dissenter whose primary function is to stabilize elite institutions by absorbing controlled opposition. Alliance Theory starts with a blunt premise. Institutions do not tolerate open moral disagreement unless it serves … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism
Comments Off on Decoding Bret Stephens
Decoding Dan Senor
ChatGPT says: Dan Senor is not an analyst in the usual sense. In Alliance Theory terms, he is a coalition broker and reputational shield for a specific elite network linking American conservatives, pro Israel donors, US security institutions, and Israeli … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism
Comments Off on Decoding Dan Senor
Decoding Haviv Retig Gur
ChatGPT says: Haviv Retig Gur is best understood as a high-status alliance translator rather than a partisan polemicist. Haviv Retig Gur occupies a niche that David Pinsof’s Alliance Theory predicts will emerge in morally polarized environments. When coalitions are locked … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism
Comments Off on Decoding Haviv Retig Gur
NYT: In Court, Gisèle Pelicot Refused to Be a Victim. A New Memoir Explains Why.
This review jars me and I don’t know why. Alexander Jacobs writes: “Replete with details of modest domesticity in modern France, “A Hymn to Life” is also a rousing feminist manifesto, thanks to the phalanx that accompanied Gisèle, in protest … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, Journalism
Comments Off on NYT: In Court, Gisèle Pelicot Refused to Be a Victim. A New Memoir Explains Why.
Decoding Slopulism
The New York Times reports: What Is ‘Slopulism,’ Exactly? It’s a novel form of political behavior that has left many political commentators and researchers struggling to articulate what it is. Though many are quick to say what it’s not: investigative … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism, Neema Parvini
Comments Off on Decoding Slopulism
WEHT to the Conservative Dream of Creating a Newspaper as Rigorous as the New York Times?
The conservative dream of creating a newspaper as rigorous and broadly respected as The New York Times has not only never been realized, it’s never been tried. The New York Times started in 1851 and built its reputation over many … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism
Comments Off on WEHT to the Conservative Dream of Creating a Newspaper as Rigorous as the New York Times?
Decoding Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair functions as a primary engine for converting raw fame into enduring prestige. David Pinsof’s Alliance Theory suggests that people use prestige to signal their value as high-status allies. The magazine facilitates this by acting as a gatekeeper that … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism
Comments Off on Decoding Vanity Fair