Kenneth Fernandez

Professor of Political Science at CSN studying public opinion, policy, and American politics.

[CBS News Poll @CBSNewsPoll]

CBS News poll: A third of Americans are reading fewer books

Women are reading more than men

Many spending more time on screens, but also doing more physical activities
https://t.co/RXk3ZHniJQ

[The Economist @TheEconomist]

On this month’s episode, @DSORennie is joined by @sarah_birke and Dr @ChrisSabatini to discuss the future of Cuba, following Donald Trump’s threats of using force against the island https://t.co/BDmMgx8mqy

[Professor Chris Whitty @CMO_England]

A new study shows HPV vaccination in England has led to the number of deaths from cervical cancer falling to zero in vaccinated women under 25.

Please encourage all eligible children to get vaccinated.

https://t.co/YuX2BCR6gz

[ProPublica @propublica]

When the Pentagon announced a $620 million loan last year to a startup linked to Donald Trump Jr., defense officials and the company tried to tamp down suspicions of cronyism.

We found that the request came directly from the White House.
https://t.co/ejXPkLasNM

[Matthew C. Dempsey @matthewcdempsey]

New paper out today in @SSQ_Online Do voters judge judges differently based on sexual orientation? In 2014, yes. By 2023, mostly no, but not entirely. Nine years, two experiments, one persistent pattern for lesbian judges. #PoliSci #JudicialPolitics #PoliticalPsychology @ASU_SPGS

[Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw]

"U.S. officials and lawmakers with access to classified information ... say the administration’s assertions are incomplete, unsubstantiated, or flat-out wrong."

- Wall Street Journal

https://t.co/WRalaU7jGr

[Edward Wong @ewong]

NEW from @nytimes: The definitive story of how Trump took an almost inevitable path to a new US war in the Middle East: Netanyahu repeatedly urged him to attack Iran with Israel, and no aides voiced opposition. Netanyahu also undermined diplomacy. Regime change became the goal.

[YouGov America @YouGovAmerica]

New polling on Iran
65% of Republicans who say they're MAGA supporters strongly approve of the attacks
Only 27% of non-MAGA Republicans strongly approve
(Link in reply)

[Governor Tony Evers @GovEvers]

Wisconsin is not a red state or a blue state–we’re a purple state. After years of Wisconsinites living under the most gerrymandered legislative maps in America, I want to make sure we never go back.

[Hedgie @HedgieMarkets]

🦔 A neuroscientist who testified before the Senate says US schools weren't broken until tech companies convinced them they were. Jared Cooney Horvath found that test scores in Utah started declining right when schools implemented mandatory digital infrastructure in 2014. The US has spent $30 billion putting laptops and tablets in classrooms since 2002. According to international data, more time students spend on computers correlates with worse scores, not better. Gen Z is the first generation to score lower than their parents on standardized assessments.

Now the same cycle is repeating with AI. A Pew survey found more than half of US teens use AI for schoolwork. Teachers report students can't reason, think, or solve problems independently. Horvath argues that tools experts use to make their lives easier are not the tools students should use to learn how to become experts.

My Take
The "transfer problem" goes back to the 1950s. Students learn to master the tool but not the subject matter. Pressey and Skinner ran into this with teaching machines 70 years ago, and we're running into it again with AI. The tech changes but the outcome doesn't.

I think Horvath has it right. Learning requires friction. You have to struggle with a problem to actually understand it. AI removes that friction, which feels like help but functions as dependency. An expert can use AI effectively because they already know enough to evaluate the output. A student using AI to skip the hard part never builds that foundation. We're watching an entire generation learn to operate tools instead of developing the skills the tools are supposed to augment. The productivity gains go to the platforms, not to the kids.

Hedgie🤗

[Kenneth Fernandez @KenFernandezPHD]

Thanks a lot #Iceland for tanking our stock market. I will be boycotting all products coming from Iceland, including your wonderful lopapeysa wool #sweaters.

[James Surowiecki @JamesSurowiecki]

Just remarkable. We all heard Trump say "Our stock market took its first dip yesterday because of Iceland. So Iceland's already cost us a lot of money." But Leavitt is still lying and denying that he mixed up Greenland and Iceland. Shamelessness is their superpower.

[The Economist @TheEconomist]

Explore our list of film and television recommendations this week and you will find diplomats, professors—and monsters https://t.co/rdvh1ftH5f

[Simon F. Haeder @SimonFHaeder]

New article out in @ConversationUS about the federal government's shutdown's implications for health and how we got here

How the government shutdown is hitting the health care system – and what the battle over ACA subsidies means

https://t.co/rKxfvfx2qc

[Monica Lineberger @linebergerme]

Median # of pubs for tenure in 1980s: 7
2010s: 10
2020s (so far): 12 + more coauthors + broader outlets

What does this mean for junior scholars (and those who evaluate them)? Our new piece maps publication trends, coauthorship, and gendered patterns

@AbbyAMatthews @alyxmark

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

Our democracy is not self-executing. It depends on us all as citizens, regardless of our political affiliations, to stand up and fight for the core values that have made this country the envy of the world.

[Kenneth Fernandez @KenFernandezPHD]

Happy #ConstitutionDay (9/17) - Check out https://t.co/xW6Wq2DTh9 with 3 new videos:
· Grants Pass v. Johnson (2024) – Public Camping Bans & the Homeless
· Birthright Citizenship & the 14th Amendment
· Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886) – Due Process, Equal Protection, and Non-Citizens

[Matt McManus @MattPolProf]

Excellent piece by @GregTSargent in @newrepublic. Showcases the extent to which Trump is badly underwater in terms of his popularity and real performance; especially on all important economic issues...

https://t.co/uxlb3RGukU

[Cambridge University Press - Politics @CUP_PoliSci]

NEW ISSUE from @JEPS_ed -

Journal of Experimental Political Science - Volume 12 - Issue 2 - Summer 2025 - https://t.co/wEf0sI7UvP

Every article in this issue is #OpenAccess.

[RAND @RANDCorporation]

A pilot program that placed mental health information and peer specialists into 10 rural libraries in central Texas may be a useful model for other communities wanting to improve access to mental health support. https://t.co/DdfBEXEtNR

[Mackenzie Lockhart @lockhartm]

Elon has yet to learn the rule all social science PhDs learn:

If something looks this surprising, it's probably because you've screwed up the code not because you've discovered something massive.