Mindy Weisberger

A stack of books on a nightstand, with a lamp behind them. Three spines face the camera. They read: Alif the Unseen, Nine Goblins, and The Dead Come to Stay.

One of the most important decisions of pre-travel prep is which books to bring. It's a 4-day trip; I'm starting with Alif the Unseen by @gwillow.me, next up is Nine Goblins by @tkingfisher.com then The Dead Come to Stay by @bschillace.brandyschillace.com. 4 days/3 books sounds about right!

Thanks!

Photo showing a high-angle view looking out over a city at sunset, with spectacular orange clouds overhead.

Yeah, the sunset clouds are looking pretty great tonight

They're stealing the voice of Sinead O'Connor, who risked her own career in 1992 by speaking up about child sexual abuse in the Catholic church, so let's make this theft an occasion to keep talking about Trump in the Epstein files.

Like Cats, but less naked?

Outstanding!

Rise of the Zombie Bugs takes readers on a jaw-dropping tour of the parasite world Parasites do creatively gruesome things to their host.

Other parasites reproduce in this roundabout way; they breed in certain host species, the eggs are pooped out & hatch in secondary host species, then adults return to the definitive host to reproduce. Some of these parasites are in my book, like the worms that turn snails into disco-eyed zombies

The neuro disease rat lungworm has reached California A neurological disease spread by rats and other animals may have become established in San Diego County.

That said, rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis) is a real parasite that can cause brain infections, and it's troubling to hear that it's now endemic (constantly present) in California. As adults, these worm reproduce in rats. But as larvae they have other hosts—that's how they infect people

RFK Jr. said in 2012 that he thought a worm ate part of his brain: 'I have cognitive problems, clearly' A major tenet of Kennedy's long shot presidential campaign has been on his health compared to Trump and Biden.

I've lost count of how many times the alleged "RFK brain worm" has come up during Q&As for Rise of the Zombie Bugs, which is about parasites & behavior manipulation! But this example is less about parasitic infection, & more about how some stories become canon despite any evidence backing them up

RFK Jr. claims a doctor told him a worm ate part of his brain, reports New York Times The claim comes from a 2012 deposition during divorce proceedings.

TW: suicide

In 2012, RFK Jr was getting divorced; it was not amicable. In depositions he claimed temporary impairment due to cognitive problems, as an argument for paying less alimony. That's where the brain worm story came from. The divorce was never finalized; his wife committed suicide that year

A Brain-Invading Worm Spread By Rats and Snails Has Reached California Researchers have found evidence the rat lungworm is now endemic in southern California

As the expected wave of RFK Jr "brain worm" jokes starts cresting, it's worth remembering that there was no diagnosis or evidence that he ever had a brain parasite—it was just a thing he said one time in a 2012 divorce deposition. These parasites DO affect people; whether he had one is debatable

I'm so sorry

They were cheap AND they fit in a pocket, I will mourn them forever

🏆 Our science communication awards are now open!

These awards recognize exceptional science journalists, communicators, and researchers whose work in 2025 made #STEM accessible and engaging for broad audiences.

Deadline: April 3, 2026

Apply now: www.nationalacademies.org/awards/excel... #scicomm

YouTube video by SearchlightPictures SUMMER OF SOUL | Official Trailer | In Theaters and on Hulu July 2

The Decline of Western Civilization I & II are both excellent, directed by Penelope Spheeris & respectively documenting L.A. punk & metal scenes in the '80s. Summer of Soul, about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival & directed by Questlove, is outstanding. Hype! is a great doc about Seattle grunge 🎸

hopefully by next week I'll have learned how to spell "Tucson" 🙃

A composite image of photos and text. Photos are of a book cover reading "Rise of the Zombie Bugs," and a white woman with glasses labeled "MINDY WEISBERGER." A banner on the left reads "Tuscon Festival of Books, Mar 14-15 2026, University of Arizona Campus, www.tusconfestivalofbooks.org"

The latest "pinch me" news about Rise of the Zombie Bugs is that I'm at the Tuscon Festival of Books next week, my first-ever festival! (cue internal screaming)

My panels: "The Strange & the Fierce: Stories from Earth’s Wild Side" & "Plants, Predators & Parasites" tucsonfestivalofbooks.org #BookSky

lol nothing I love more than trying to locate an author bio that I cleverly named "bio" & which is now lurking somewhere among eleventy thousand other files on my computer with names that include "biology," "biodiversity," "antibiotics," "bioluminescence" and "biomechanics," fml

Ugh, didn't realize. That's disappointing

Did you look at the PDF? It credits art and web design to Conni St. Pierre

Screenshot of a book cover showing an illustration of a crow perched on an "ICE" jacket lying in the middle of a snow-lined road under the light of a full moon. The cover reads "ICE Out " by Charles de Lint. Text to the right of the cover reads "ICE came to Newford. Big mistake." and "Download for free!"

Urban fantasy author Charles de Lint just published a new "novelet" and released it for free, his stories of myth and magic and community and found family are full of so much love and hope and we could all use some of that right now

www.charlesdelint.com/IceOut.html

A painted portrait of an older couple in formal wear, against a backdrop in shades of gray. The woman is standing behind the man, whose teeth are unnaturally white and bared in a grimace that he may have thought was a smile.

Went to a new (to me) imaging center for my annual mammogram and since then I have been haunted by the memory of this donor portrait in the lobby

Hello, book people! I am the book content editor for Reactor Mag and I'm looking for 2026 sci-fi, fantasy, horror, romantasy, and speculative books coming out in the second half of the year! If you have an adult or YA SFF/H book out July-Dec (or publicist), share the link/info here!

Those proposed bots were autonomous/remotely operable, but not swarms! This new proposal is for smaller bots that communicate with each other and can work independently or as a group, inspired by swarm behavior in insects like ants

A wheeled robot on a tabletop, its rugged chassis equipped with sensors. Its design resembles that of a miniature Mars rover.

"Swarm robots on the moon" sounds like the title of a sci-fi drive-in movie, but an NJIT student recently turned that idea into a proposal that won a $10K grant from NASA's L'SPACE Program. The project will prototype swarm robots that could construct a lunar base 🤖 🧪 🔭

news.njit.edu/robot-swarms...

These flies are SO FUZZY

You should apply for this award, starting today & through April 3.

I almost didn’t enter in 2025, and then someone reminded me my book was eligible. So I went for it - and won the top journalism prize! 💰

You can’t win contests you don’t enter. Submit your best work & you might win - just ask me.

My sister recently told the family (very excitedly!) how she used ChatGPT to "curate" a tour for her at the Met, and it made me want to curl up in fetal position under the table

Me too, I'd use it every day

These are so freaking adorable they deserve a cuttlefish emoji with heart eyes