Steve Sailer Newsletter

Articles

Great moments in ID-checking

1 day ago | stevesailer.net | Steve Sailer

With the press full of anecdotes of people being hassled over immigration status, it’s worth gaining some perspective by recalling the early 21st century’s crazy series of events around airport security. Our story starts in October 2000 with Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush, with his eye on winning over swing state Michigan’s electoral votes, denouncing profiling of Arabs by airport security at his second presidential debate with Al Gore.
Charles Portis on the Mediterranean Mind

4 days ago | stevesailer.net | Steve Sailer

The reputation of the late Charles Portis, author of True Grit and Norwood, has grown considerably over the years. He was always a popular writer, but as time goes by his renown seems to be slowly ascending from that of regional humorist to member in good standing of the national pantheon. Harper’s has an excerpt from an uncompleted Portis novel called The Woman from Nowhere, which appears to be set in Veracruz, Mexico.
One reason I don't always rush to defend the Administration

5 days ago | stevesailer.net | Steve Sailer

From the New York Times news section:Trump Officials Blame Mistake for Setting Off Confrontation With HarvardAn official on the administration’s antisemitism task force told the university that a letter of demands had been sent without authorization. By Michael S. Schmidt and Michael C.
Noblesse Oblige in San Francisco:

5 days ago | stevesailer.net | Steve Sailer

I haven’t been to San Francisco since the early 1990s, but by most accounts, the new mayor, Daniel Lurie, has been doing a bang-up job in his first 100 days at getting the depravity and despair off the sidewalks and back behind closed doors, where it belongs. Former mayor Willie Brown, Kamala Harris’s ex-boyfriend, is less enthusiastic than most observers.
Team Does Not Exist

6 days ago | stevesailer.net | Steve Sailer

You: So, which team do you think will win the NBA Championship? Him: Team does not exist. This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You: Huh? Him: Team is just a social construct. You: I’m going with Oklahoma City. I mean, 68-14, you can’t beat that record. Him: There’s more variation in talent within teams than between teams. You: You mean like the Lakers have both LeBron James and his kid Bronny James? Yeah, that is crazy.
Has life elsewhere in the universe just been found?

1 week ago | stevesailer.net | Carl Zimmer |Steve Sailer

From the New York Times science news section:Astronomers Detect a Possible Signature of Life on a Distant PlanetFurther studies are needed to determine whether K2-18b, which orbits a star 120 light-years away, is inhabited, or even habitable. By Carl ZimmerApril 16, 2025… Now a team of researchers is offering what it contends is the strongest indication yet of extraterrestrial life, not in our solar system but on a massive planet, known as K2-18b, that orbits a star 120 light-years from Earth.
Stancil: Yglesias is a scientific racist!

1 week ago | stevesailer.net | Steve Sailer

Meanwhile, over at BlueSky: Will Stancil is accusing NBA fan Matthew Yglesias of being a Richard Hanania-style scientific racist. You see, Yglesias not only believes that blacks tend to be better than average basketball players, but Yglesias also is aware of the fact that Balkans tend to be long on basketball talent as well!Case closed!Guilty as charged. This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Let's go there!

1 week ago | stevesailer.net | Steve Sailer

Yesterday, Matthew Yglesias, NBA fan, notoriously declared:I’m not sure why people from the Balkans outperform [in basketball] other people experiencing a lack of melanin. I am also not sure why Black Americans outperform white ones. You could imagine these dual outperformances having similar underlying causes or very different ones.
Who are the best crowds in sports?

1 week ago | stevesailer.net | Steve Sailer

Who are the best crowds in sports? Watching another dramatics Masters golf tournament on TV, the Augusta National crowd seemed once again like America’s best for knowledge of their sport, understanding of tradition, and fairness of discernment. This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Yglesias: Why are you so "unseemly and inappropriate?"

1 week ago | stevesailer.net | Steve Sailer

Matthew Yglesias writes on his Slow Boring substack about how, even though he is an NBA fan, he favors ignorance and lack of curiosity about the demographic patterns he sees with his own eyes when he watches the NBA on TV. Taboos can be goodI have noticed that Black people are significantly overrepresented in the top ranks of professional basketball, and my guess is that you have noticed this as well.