Assistant Director, Social, Cultural, Constitutional Studies @AEI | PhD Student @HistArthGMU | Wife | Rod Serling optimist, Hayao Miyazaki pessimist
Washington, DC
Joined December 2012
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I've accepted that I'm never going to "win" at Twitter because every time I'm tempted to send something into the void I imagine Yuval Levin's disappointed face
Nicole Penn retweeted
Mask off
(the last shreds of it, anyway) nytimes.com/2026/11/03/us/go…
Nicole Penn retweeted
Politics is not the cause of the gender rift, but it has made things worse. Young men have not become conservative so much as they have become politicially homeless.
While young men “might be drawn to an economic agenda that’s more Democratic, they have questions about whether they would be welcomed and wanted in the Democratic coalition,” said Daniel Cox.
nytimes.com/2026/11/02/upsho…
Nicole Penn retweeted
American voters have been seeking one thing above all others since at least 2014: change, writes AEI’s @ChrisStirewalt
thehill.com/homenews/analysi…
Nicole Penn retweeted
One of the things I note in Generation Uncoupled, but couldn't fully explore is the role of AI companions. It was still too early at the time to say much definitively.
New data suggests one of my fears has been borne out: Americans w/ fewer friends are using AI more often for therapy, friendship and romance. Stay tuned...
Nicole Penn retweeted
This afternoon, AEI’s @thomaschattwill will host Dr. Berkowitz to discuss the role of friendship in Hannah Arendt’s philosophy—and in our society today.
RSVP below.
aei.org/events/a-world-we-sh…
Nicole Penn retweeted
1. “the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption....
Dan and his team have poured so much careful research into this important book. If you want to understand the social, technological, and political transformations that explain why Gen Z men and women are uniquely struggling to relate to one another, read "Generation Uncoupled"!
It's out today!
I'll be sharing a lot more about Generation Uncoupled in the coming days. But for now, I just want to express my profound appreciation to all those involved in getting here. My research team at the Survey Center, AEI colleagues, my editor at Penguin Random House, the publicity team and the 100+ young people who were willing to share their thoughts and experiences on dating, politics, family and so much more.
I'm extraordinarily grateful. Read it here: penguinrandomhouse.com/books…
Nicole Penn retweeted
New newsletter: WHY AMERICANS STOPPED FALLING IN LOVE
An interview with @dcoxpolls on his new book, Generation Uncoupled, including the following facts, claims, and questions:
- the share of 40-year-olds who have never been married has quadrupled since 1980
- For all the viral essays about (surely, very real cases of!) educated people finding it harder to get together these days, the entire decline in marriage rates since 1990 have come from women without a college diploma
- According to one analysis of the General Social Survey, “most of the overall downturn [in American happiness] is attributable to decline in marriage post-2000"
- Men with larger social circles tend to have much more romantic success. But that’s only true for men! The number of close friends a woman has seems to have little bearing on her ability to go on dates.”
- "attention infidelity," or "the experience of [a partner who] disappears into their smartphone and leaves us, perhaps only for a moment, but in doing so they undermine a sense of trust and understanding that builds between two people who are sharing an experience"
Nicole Penn retweeted
LIVE from DC 🏛️ 📖 ❗️
History conference attendees concluded the morning with our second panel, which discussed "Individuals Reckoning with Independence" with discussions from C.C. Borzilleri (@ccborzilleri), Zachary Deibel, and Vaughn Scribner @VaughnScribner), led by Nicole Penn (@nmpenn of @AEI).
In cooperation with the American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati (@AmRevInstitute), this year's history conference commemorates 250 years of American Independence with the theme “The American Revolution and Its Legacies: Independence and a Candid World.”
Nicole Penn retweeted
Wrote about Cornell: nytimes.com/2026/10/08/opini…
My Instagram algorithm abruptly decided to start serving up nothing but AI-generated videos and foreign rage-bait content. It's completely unwatchable. Finally, sweet deliverance
Nicole Penn retweeted
One week from today, AEI will host a book event for @dcoxpolls’s Generation Uncoupled with @ChristineEmba and Christine Rosen.
RSVP below.
aei.org/events/generation-un…
Nicole Penn retweeted
A more constrained executive branch could begin to take shape with a smaller pardon power—and a bigger House of Representatives, Yuval Levin argues. theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1…
Nicole Penn retweeted
We're just one week out! Generation Uncoupled hits shelves next Tuesday, October 13!
New survey data and in-depth interviews with young adults on why social connection has gotten so hard.
Preorder this week here: penguinrandomhouse.com/books…
Nicole Penn retweeted
American politics in 2026: the Newsomander and the Abbottmander square off.
(These are CA-19 and TX-27, both from 2026 maps)
Nicole Penn retweeted
What Happens If Congress Gets Blown Up?
Yes, the continuity of Congress matters, and our legislature still has not enacted a critical reform to ensure it can function after a mass casualty event.
understandingcongress.org/po…
Nicole Penn retweeted
We’re less than two weeks away from the Generation Uncoupled launch event @AEI on October 14! Christine Rosen will join @dcoxpolls to discuss what a generation loses when connection moves onscreen—and what it would take to rebuild it.
Register to join us in person or online: aei.org/events/generation-un…
Nicole Penn retweeted
In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgent to distinguish human art from what machines produce. There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others. Algorithms lack the spark of humanity. For this reason, the Church wishes to renew an alliance with artists and cultural institutions to safeguard our humanity.