MATT TAIBBI: Forget Trump and Greenland. Howard Lutnick Gave the Davos Speech that Mattered: The death of globalization is the real headline from the international self-indulgence festival at Davos.

IT WAS A JOKE MAJOR AMONG UNDERGRADS WHEN I WAS IN LAW SCHOOL AT YALE, AND THAT WAS DECADES AGO. IT HASN’T IMPROVED. American Studies Can’t Stand Its Subject: Eighty percent of articles in the field’s leading journal were negative, while not one was positive.

Imagine if, say, African-American studies approached its subject matter the same way.

American Quarterly is only one journal, but what’s found in its pages captures a much larger problem in education, particularly at the collegiate level. During our research, we contacted University of Texas at Austin historian Steven Mintz, who has analyzed the field of American studies. He told us: “A field that once asked, ‘What is America?’—exploring its myths, music, monuments, and contradictions—now too often narrows its focus to a different question: ‘Whom has America silenced, failed, or harmed?’”

This deeply pessimistic view of the U.S. has taken hold of many young people.

That is entirely by design.

OPEN THREAD: Like Schaeffer beer it’s there, it’s there for you, it’s what you want.

LOL, THE BULWARK ON J.D. VANCE. LIKE POLLING DER STURMER ON CHURCHILL:

This focus group was conducted by the publisher of The Bulwark and it’s being treated as legitimate news. https://t.co/hb1ddwuwKU

— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) January 23, 2026

THAT’S NICE, BUT THEY STILL WON’T TELL US WHAT WAS WRONG OR WHO IT HAPPENED TO: Astronauts Reveal Critical Medical Tool Used in ISS Health Crisis.

Which is weird.

PRETTY SURE THIS IS A FEDERAL CRIME:

🚨 HOLY CRAP! Anti-ICE leftists have STORMED the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, infuriating travelers and taking the location hostage

This is utter MADNESS!

Tim Walz has handed control to lawless rebels. Minnesota must save itself!pic.twitter.com/5JbzBeStjO

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 23, 2026

STEPHEN KING CAN’T END A NOVEL, OR MAKE A MEME:

This is disgusting. This cheapens the Holocaust.

It's 1940. Gestapo knocks at your door. Where are you going to wind up? No, not in a camp designed to kill you, but you're gonna get sent HOME.

And, you can just go there with $1,000 in your pocket if you say "ok, I'll… https://t.co/Bh5PBxa9mX

— Marc J. Randazza 🇺🇸 🇮🇹 🇧🇷 (@marcorandazza) January 23, 2026

I HAD VIRUS REFLUX A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, AND IT SENT ME TO THE E.R. I GIVE IT A LOW RATING TOO. ‘Vitus Reflux’ may be the lowest stakes episode of ‘Star Trek’ ever. Luckily, it’s also a lot of fun.

Oh, wait, what? Vitus reflux? Oh. Well, never mind.

THEY’RE WHAT REALLY MAKES A MONKEY BACHELOR PAD, FOR ONE THING: Snow Monkeys’ Hot Spring Baths Do More Than Keep Them Warm, Study Finds.

“THE TANK COMMUNITY FINDS IT UGLY:” The U.S. Army’s Future Tank: Lighter, Smarter, and a Hybrid. The Tank Community thought the Sheridan and the MBT-70 were sexy.

AREN’T YOU SUPPOSED TO CHANGE THEM OUT BEFORE THEY GET THAT HOT? The Year of the Can: The White Hot Silencer Business 20 Days In. “Here at SHOT Show, the busiest booths are those of suppressor manufacturers, with retailers and buyers looking for what’s new, when it will ship, and what the pricing will be.”

NIALL FERGUSON: How Trump Won Davos: I have never before seen a single individual so completely dominate this vast bazaar of the powerful, the wealthy, the famous, and the self-important.

Related:

As concerns Europe, I think there are four:

1) Trump told Europe: You're killing yourself with mass migration. Stop.

2) Trump told NATO: You've got to spend more on your own defense.

3) Trump told the EU: You're hurting yourselves with draconian regulations.

4) Trump told… https://t.co/I0dFHmujMl

— Byron York (@ByronYork) January 23, 2026

UPDATE: Link was bad before. Fixed now. Sorry!

THE FORECAST IS IN:

Are you in the liquor zone?? pic.twitter.com/HsjHu39Y3m

— Old Row (@OldRowOfficial) January 21, 2026

Related (From Ed):

I’ve been training for this moment my entire life https://t.co/Z4VFuKpDEv

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) January 23, 2026

I suspect that Steve might be willing to offer an assist as well.

21ST CENTURY SOLUTIONS: New York convict at large after slipping his ankle monitor onto a dog.

MOST OF TODAY’S #JOURNALISM IS JUST MIDWITS POSTURING FOR OTHER MIDWITS ABOUT THINGS THEY DON’T ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND:

4. Many a reader has gotten fed up with “The Magic Mountain,” and she knows it, but I doubt that Susan B. Glasser would regard Thomas Mann as some kind of nut. I picture her denouncing the reader for not digging in, paying attention, trusting the author, and taking the time to understand.

5. It’s not as though Glasser drew upon deep literary experience to come up with material from “The Magic Mountain.” It’s the famous book set in the location where Trump spoke. To quote it is like quoting your last fortune cookie or scrap of litter right at your feet.

6. What does Glasser really know of “The Magic Mountain”? She’s got 2 quotes, and if you go to Goodreads, you’ll find both quotes within the top 6 quotes from the book. They are #5 and #6.

Probably would have been a deeper piece if she’d just used Chat GPT.

OPENING UP BEACHES FOR THE TRUMP SAVISSIVIK RESORT: Amplifying feedbacks could drive Greenland ice sheet to near-complete disappearance.

I’VE BEEN UNIMPRESSED WITH GEMINI. CHAT GPT IS OKAY, BUT I LIKE CLAUDE, AND ESPECIALLY GROK BEST. Has Gemini surpassed ChatGPT? We put the AI models to the test.

GOOD: Exercise and enriched environments help protect brain barrier from stress-linked depression, finds study.

spread them: U. Washington in a tizzy over fake ICE rumors.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Authorities investigate UMass Lowell radio DJ’s threat to ‘kill JD Vance.’

HAHA:

🚨 BREAKING: ICE has now watched more kids in Minneapolis than a Somali daycare. pic.twitter.com/8zufjecsBX

— ☘️𝕃𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕪 Ƒʉͫcͧкͭιͪηͣ 𝕄𝕔𝔾𝕖𝕖‎ (@LuckyMcGee) January 22, 2026

BEST UNDER-REPORTED NEWS OF THE WEEK: Finally: Trump Pulls the US Out of United Nations’ International Gun Registry Scheme.

IT’S SPREADING:

To my English-speaking followers: You asked, and I listened! 🇩🇪🇬🇧

Due to massive demand, I’ve added English subtitles to the German Amelia/Maria video. Now the message can be understood worldwide

Please share this and help it go viral. Let’s reach everyone! 🌍#Germany #Maria… pic.twitter.com/s1UdU6w7iR

— Ragnarök (@Neogermane) January 22, 2026

ART OF THE TIK TOK DEAL: It took more than a year to make the deal but it’s finally done. Byte Dance has signed off on an agreement to sell US Tik Tok to a group of American and UAE investors.

SO FAR NO ONE HAS BEEN CANED OR SHOT IN A DUEL, BUT ONLY SO FAR: Andrew Jackson Comes to Davos.