Research associate, @livablefuture. Author, Perilous Bounty. Co-host of Unconfined. https://xitter.cf/t.co/RfJJzzBHoV
North Carolina/Baltimore
Joined April 2009
- Tweets52.3K
- Following6.6K
- Followers32.4K
- Likes15.4K
Pinned Tweet
ICYMI: this recent piece basically updates the corn belt section of Perilous Bounty & summarizes my thinking on farm policy. Give it a read! democracyjournal.org/magazin…
Tom Philpott retweeted
The long Democratic story since 2016 is the party leadership getting weaker and less popular as Sanders and his movement get (among Dems) more popular.
The most successful period for the anti-left faction (AIPAC, DMFI, etc) was 2021-2023, when Biden had won and was doing a lot of stuff that the left liked and Bernie supported. So the anti-left faction could beat Nina Turner with ads about her trashing Biden in 2020, beat Aaron Regunberg with a candidate who highlighted all his work for Biden, etc.
The 2024 election discredited the anti-left faction - they fumbled the ball against Trump again - and no one in that faction is as strong, popular, or good at building crowds as Sanders. Add to this that Obama *could* be but doesn't want to engage in primaries, and that a lot of NY Dems specifically wrecked their credibility by endorsing Cuomo in 2025. They look like retread losers who should just let Sanders et al run the ball.
NEW - Bernie Sanders' power is rising in Dem politics. But party leaders fear his primary meddling could cost big in midterms.
Jeffries and CBC leaders confronted Sanders about it this spring. Meeks: “He seemed to not care,”
w/ @mkraju @alisonkmain
cnn.com/2026/07/19/politics/…
Tom Philpott retweeted
I spoke to @NewLeftReview about the political economy of climate: supply chain geoeconomics, why Biden’s signature climate policy didn’t stick, the political weakness of green capitalism, Chinese industrial policies, global South resource nationalism &more newleftreview.org/issues/ii1…
Tom Philpott retweeted
Now that the California billionaire tax is officially on the ballot this November, voters deserve logical arguments.
This guest essay in today’s New York Times, by two economists from the Hoover Institution, is based on a shocking logical mistake. 🧵
Tom Philpott retweeted
Here is @triofrancos explaining the failure of the IRA in three paragraphs better than anyone has explained it, and debunking the entire new wave of "don't talk about climate" left punching bullshit in the process.
Thea Riofrancos, The New World Climate Order, NLR 159, May–June 2026 newleftreview.org/issues/ii1… via @newleftreview
Tom Philpott retweeted
Six years ago, CLF released Growing Solutions, a doc on farmers, ranchers & educators meeting agriculture’s challenges. On the new episode of Unconfined, 5 panelists + director Leo Horrigan join host @tomphilpott
to discuss regenerative ag & more. clf.jhsph.edu/unconfined-pod…
Tom Philpott retweeted
Trump says the most important aspect of the MOU is Iran affirms it will never develop or seek to acquire a nuke. He paints this as his big victory.
Preamble to 2015 JCPOA:
“Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons.”
Tom Philpott retweeted
Hard to think of a greater honor than to be considered The Economist‘s intellectual enemy #1.
My work is “intellectual ballast” for the largest number of Americans since 1975 wanting government to “improve the standard of living” of the poor, cut their costs, raise their incomes and stop AI from wrecking society, they say. Dream of an endorsement. Thank you @TheEconomist!
Tom Philpott retweeted
Trump, with one rash decision, egged on by Netanyahu, has severely diminished American power abroad, dealt a blow to Israel, and dramatically ramped up the clean energy transition.
China and Iran emerge empowered and Trump’s own approval rating is in the low 30s.
Now the same people who urged him to get into this mess are urging him to keep it going.
Tom Philpott retweeted
Waiting till after the midterms is a real chef's kiss here.
"[Harris] is signaling privately that she has more to say about the Middle East now that she is freed from the Biden White House policy, this person said, adding that she is likely to do so after the midterm elections" nbcnews.com/politics/2028-el…
Tom Philpott retweeted
Wrote about the behind the scenes battle a few years ago over whether to give Julie Brown a Pulitzer…
Tom Philpott retweeted
Ecuadorian fishers describe being attacked by drone, then detained by US soldiers. 178 people have been murdered in Trump’s airstrikes in the Caribbean and Pacific without any public evidence they were involved in drug trafficking. trib.al/0QrQrDg
Tom Philpott retweeted
Economics can either enable the slide toward fascism, or defend affordability, dignity, and democracy.
I wrote ANTI-FASCIST ECONOMICS with my baby by my side—a constant reminder that the future should be livable for all.
Out in October with @randomhouse.
Tom Philpott retweeted
It's interesting that production volume—"600 stories," etc.— is seen to be the value hill to climb in journalism right now. I know of few people who feel they're running out of news to read.
Tom Philpott retweeted
NEW: Jeffrey Epstein's close friendship with Woody Allen is well-documented. What's less well-known? Epstein spent years trying to influence Woody Allen's casting process, getting his "girls" cast in at least 2 of Allen's movies. My story for @NYMag thecut.com/article/woody-all…
Tom Philpott retweeted
On the opening day of Commodity Classic, there were some angry conversations between farm leaders and representatives of major fertilizer, seed, chemical and machinery companies as producers enter a fourth year of an ongoing #price-#cost squeeze.
dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag…
